Buchanan, Tennessee - Day 2 (Paris Landing State Park Marina)

We met up with Alan again today and he gave us a personal tour of the park. He showed us another small cemetery on the park grounds. After I mentioned to him my curiosity of the other small cemetery's we've seen in the middle of nowhere within the Land Between The Lakes, he shared a wealth of knowledge on the subject.  In fact, his family traces back at least 5 generations to that area.  His parents are actually volunteer caretakers of all the cemetery's in Land Between The Lakes on the Tennessee side! They keep fallen trees and debris removed from the small cemetery's.  They have also put forth the efforts to not only preserve but to get the Veteran's who are buried there the proper Military headstones for recognition of their service. (More importantly, they are the family members that retain "claim" to these.)  As I researched the take over of this land further, I found this small victory for the original landowners being forced out, "..One of the few victories the land owners had was the concession to allow us to continue to use our cemeteries as long as the families maintained them; otherwise they would be allowed to disappear into the forest and we would lose all claim to them." Now, I completely understand and deeply appreciate Alan's family for continuing the effort to maintain and preserve their family's grave sites along with neighboring community grave sites. Alan did mention that now his parents are aging and he will take over the duties of preserving these sites. He will be the sole family member keeping these small grave sites protected (and claimed)  from simply disappearing into the forest.

Who knew?!

Land Between The Lakes History:

This area was once known as the land “Between The Rivers”.  It is comprised of 170,000 acres between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.  The area, now known as “Land Between The Lakes (LBL)”, was once home to more than 800 families which were forcibly removed by the power of eminent domain. Only the 250 cemeteries were left undisturbed. This land is now the largest inland peninsula in the United States.

Click below for a very moving account of families being removed by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to form what is now known as Land Between The Lakes: I feel it would be a shame to not learn of their plight.
http://www.betweentherivers.org/dnickell.html

Additional historical information:
http://www.grandrivers.org/notes.shtml
http://www.betweentherivers.org/index.html
http://www.betweentherivers.org/cemetery/index.html

Alan then drove us to the Raptor Sanctuary where birds of prey are cared for and rehabilitated then returned back into the wild. We were able to see a few owls up close being cared for! Thanks so much, Alan!
Later, we enjoyed a hike and saw many white tail deer and a very loud woodpecker.

Many of the graves here and in Land Between The Lakes are designated only by an unmarked stone.  A large number have no headstones at all.

Engraving reads: "Her happy soul has winged its way To one pure bright eternal day." Mary Lemonds 1848 - 1881

Alan and Charlie at the Raptor Sanctuary.

Recuperating owl.

Safe flying area for the birds.

Tennessee Geocache, "check".

Yes, it was.

Lantana's never grow this big in Texas!

Looking out at the beautiful State Park cabins across the river.

Coast Guard Station here at the park. These guys take care of the buoys along the river system and we appreciate them.

Looks like huge sunglasses.

Houseboat

Beautiful sunset illuminating the bridge piers.

Who knew?!

Founded in 1945, Paris Landing State Park was named after an old steamboat and freight landing on the Tennessee River.  In the 1800s, the river landing was an important spot for the delivery of goods to serve the settlements of the region and shipping point for produce and other agricultural products.