In late fall of 1925, Paul Adams was astonished to see a visitor walk into his camp on Mount Le Conte. Adams, a young man of 25, had been hired by the Knoxville-based Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association to oversee visitor facilities on this most iconic of Smoky peaks.

At this time, the mountain was owned by Champion Paper Company but was increasingly of interest to hikers, hunters, botanists, birders, and others attracted by the possible formation of the national park . Adams was to make guests comfortable, or as comfortable as he could, in the rudimentary structures he was able to build as part of his camp

It was not unusual for Adams to have guests, since accommodating visitors and protecting the mountain from fire and other damage was his job. But this particular gues

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