James Keelan, Defender of the Bridge

In February of 1894, a feeble, one-armed man walked into the offices of Dr. W.T. Delaney in Bristol. His name was James Keelan, and though he was never one to take charity, he was in a bit of a pinch. His wife had died, and Keelan was the sole guardian of three granddaughters. And at age 76, he had no reasonable option for employment. However, the Tennessee legislature had funded a pension for former Confederate soldiers, and Keelan—claiming he was a veteran of the Civil War—was there to request his rightful payment. But when Delaney began to question the man about his service, he uncovered one of the most incredible and heroic stories he’d ever heard…which would forever earn Keelan a place in American Military history. This is his story:

James Keelan was born in Virginia in 1818. The son of farmers, Keelan learned to hunt, fish, and farm at a young age. He led a relatively quiet existence until the onset of the Civil War. By that time, he was 43 years old, but still enlisted in the Confederate Army within the Will Thomas Legion.

James Keelan

In October of 1861, unbeknownst to the Confederates, the pro-Union William B. Carter devised a plan to invade East Tennessee via the Cumberland Gap (a crucial crossing point for the Confederate Army). Without hesitation, the plan was approved by President Lincoln, General William Sheridan and General George Thomas. As the invasion started, some unexpected moves by the Confederates separated the Union regiments, and Carter’s army was left alone to invade Tennessee, burning bridges and destroying infrastructure. They were successful, to a point, until they reached the Strawberry Plains Bridge over the Holston River outside Knoxville. And as it turns out, the regiment assigned to protect the Strawberry Plains Bridge was none other than the Will Thomas Legion.

Welcome to Northeast Tennessee

A Revolutionary Battle, LIVE

It wasn’t so much what he said, or how he said it, that led to British Colonel Patrick Ferguson’s demise.

It was WHO he said it to.

During the Revolutionary War, Ferguson was charged with flushing out unruly settlers who’d defied a royal order and settled west of the Appalachian Mountains. But when he threatened them, saying he’d “lay their country to waste with fire and sword,” the settlers in modern-day Northeast Tennessee and the surrounding area decided they weren’t going to wait for the British to come find them. They were going to handle the matter themselves.

The Hotel In the Sky

It’s no secret that Northeast Tennessee features some of the most amazing natural beauty in the world. And among the picturesque mountains along the eastern edge of the state, perhaps none is more magical and memorable than Roan Mountain in Carter County.

One of the first people to take note of this was Union General John Wilder in the 1880s. Just a few years before, he’d commanded “Wilder’s Lightning Brigade” in the Civil War. He was quick-witted and extremely intelligent, not to mention an inventor, expert in hydraulics, and foundry owner. And when he laid eyes on Roan Mountain, he decided to add another title to his resume: Hotel Entrepreneur.

Originally from New York, Wilder had settled in Tennessee after the war. He quickly saw the strategic advantage of nearby Johnson City as a railroad junction, and with the nearby Cranberry Mines, he planned to establish the area as a center of iron and steel manufacturing. He built the Carnegie Furnace and established the Carnegie Land Company (which explains the Carnegie Hotel and Andrew Carnegie’s connection to East Tennessee). But standing at the top of Roan Mountain in 1884, Wilder realized that scenic beauty was a “mine” of a different sort. He envisioned a hotel that would seamlessly combine creature comforts with the serenity that only picturesque views of Northeast Tennessee could provide.

It would be called the Cloudland Hotel, and Wilder envisioned patrons from across the country praising its unique offerings. In fact, an advertisement in a local paper read:

Come up out of the sultry plains
to the land of the sky.
Magnificent views above the clouds
where the rivers are born.
The hotel is the highest human habitation
east of the Rocky Mountains.

Sarah Thompson: Housewife, Mother, Civil-War Spy

Sarah Lane was a normal lady. She was born in Greene County in the 1830s, married Sylvanius S. Thompson, and by all accounts, maintained a very “average” existence.

But when the Civil War broke out, her husband was one of the few Northeast Tennesseeans to align himself with the Union Army. So he (and Sarah) spent the next few months organizing Union sympathizers and infiltrating the Confederate ranks in Greeneville. And so, it was only a matter of time until, in 1864, Sylvanius was ambushed and killed by a Confederate soldier.

Sarah Thompson

Sarah was devastated. But instead of wallowing in self-pity, she vowed revenge. She dedicated herself more than ever to the Union cause.

The Wampus Cat: Kills Animals, Steals Children, Smells Awful

Loch Ness has its monster; the Pacific Northwest has Sasquatch; Mexico has the Chupacabra.

But what does Northeast Tennessee have?

The Wampus Cat. Half-woman, half-cat, and all-terrorizing—the cat kills animals, steals children and smells like a mixture of skunk and wet dog.

Nice, huh?

It’s really no secret that cats have long been associated with witches and/or evil in general. If a black cat crosses your path, you’re in for some bad luck. But if the Wampus Cat crosses your path, “bad luck” might be the best you can hope for!

Local legend gives numerous accounts of where the Wampus Cat came from, but one thing that everyone agrees on is that it’s been scaring the bejeezus out of people in Northeast Tennessee for hundreds of years.

The Legend of “Little Chicago”

We’ve all heard stories about mobsters during the Prohibition era, about bootlegging, speakeasies, and rings of organized crime. And from those stories, no figure is more notorious than Chicago’s Al Capone.

But here’s what you may not have heard: in those days, Chicago wasn’t the only center of vice in the United States. In fact, one little town in Northeast Tennessee was gaining plenty of notoriety for debauchery.

And that little town—was our very own Johnson City.

Love Cars? You will…

Imagine seeing a NASCAR pit road, a 1930s service station, a 1950s-era café, and a moonshine still under one roof. Sounds interesting, right?

Well, there’s a place in Greeneville where you CAN see all that. And interestingly enough, they’re not even the stars of the show.

I’m talking about the City Garage Car Museum on Main Street. The real stars here are the 40 cars, ranging from the super-fast to super-expensive to super-eccentric. It’s the kind of place that inspires an infatuation with automobiles, even if you’ve never been a “car person.”

You’ll see everything from a 5-horsepower 1901 Oldsmobile (manufactured 7 years before the invention of the Model T) to the Morgan-McClure Winston Cup car—which Sterling Marlin used to win the 1994 Daytona 500. You’ll see a 1940 Ford “moonshine hauler” (made famous by the likes of Junior Johnson), a 1933 Hudson Essex Terraplane (that won the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb in 1933), and an incredibly rare 1964½ Mustang V8 Convertible.

Sterling Marlins 1994 Daytona 500 winner