The government tried to take their home, but these women refused to leave the mountains that they love so much. This is the incredible true story of the Walker sisters.
The year is 1866 and John Walker has just returned from the bloody war between the states. It had taken a toll on John. After all, his home state of Tennessee had officially sided with the Confederacy. But Jon had fought for the Union and was even imprisoned because of his actions. But somehow he had survived and found himself looking to rebuild his life in the Tennessee mountains. Jon and his wife eventually settled in an area known as Little Greenbryer Cove, where Jon inherited 200 acres when his father-in-law died.
It was a beautiful oasis hidden deep in the rugged wilds. The forest produced a bounty of everything that was necessary to survive: towering chestnut trees, black walnuts, hickory nuts, blackberries, huckleberries, and wild strawberries. John planted apple, peach, and plum trees, and cleared land for crops of onions, Irish potatoes, peppers, turnips, peas, tomatoes, cabbages, and most importantly, corn.
The forests were full of wild game: bears, deer, rabbits, and squirrels. John let his hogs run wild so they could fatten up on chestnuts throughout the year. Nature also provided all their medicine, and there was plenty of catnip and pennyroyal, sassafras, turpentine, and balsam oils.
Indeed, the mountains provided everything a man and woman needed to start a family. So it was here that John Walker, using an axe and a few primitive tools, built a cabin made of yellow poplar logs. And both he and his wife raised four boys and seven girls. The family of 13 were humble people who lived in harmony with the land. They built a one-room schoolhouse that also served as a church and lived a rich life. And for a time, they all lived in the humble cabin together as one big, happy family. Remarkably, all 11 children reached adulthood and the loving parents were able to see all four of their sons move away to start their own lives. They had lived a truly blessed life.
But as we know, the hands of time pause for no one. In 1909, John’s wife died. And a decade later, Jon would join her on the other side of eternity, leaving the land, cabin, and his wisdom behind to be carried on by his seven daughters: Hattie, Martha, Nancy, Sarah, Caroline, Margaret, Jane, and Polly, the Walker sisters. Of all the women, only Sarah Caroline would marry and move away. In an age when all mountain women married very young, the six Walker sisters never married and lived together in the cabin their father had built for them in the aftermath of the Civil War. They raised all their own livestock, spun wool, churned butter, tended the crops, canned vegetables, and smoked their pork just the way their father had taught them. There was no electricity. Instead, they kept all their food in a spring house to keep it cool. Each sister worked as hard as any man ever aspired in their mountain kingdom. They were isolated from the fast-paced world that was ever encroaching just beyond the hills. Yet little did they know that this new modern world would soon be knocking at their door, led by the federal government, looking to take everything from them. But the sisters were bound and determined to put up a fight with a government that would change the course of history.
By the 1920s, the mountains had been looted of much of their natural resources by the wealthy businessmen who ran the coal and timber industries. Gone were the virgin forests, and mining had polluted many of the mountain streams, all in the name of progress. Many folks today don’t even realize it, but the mountains were stripped bare back in those days, completely ravaged. And once those companies had extracted their riches, they had no more use for the land. So in the ultimate middle finger to American taxpayers, they sold their large tracts of land to the government, profiting one last time.
It was then that many groups began to push for legislation to protect this newly acquired land by declaring it to be a national park. The problem was that there were still thousands of families living in those mountains. In a twist of irony, the very families who had lived in harmony with the land were suddenly forced by the government to vacate their homes and give up their land and way of life. The entire movement was highly controversial, to say the least. Many families saw this as an opportunity to move out of the mountains into a valley town and trade their lives of pioneer living for a life of working in a factory job. But there were also many others who resisted the government, vowing to fight for their land. In their minds, it simply wasn’t for sale. And for those folks, the government simply used eminent domain to take the land from them.
Yet among the mountaineers who fought the hardest against the government stealing their land, none resisted as valiantly and as long as the Walker sisters. For over a decade, the state of Tennessee tried to purchase their land or use political coercion to force them off it. But the sisters wouldn’t budge. Even though the Great Smoky Mountain National Park was established in 1926, the government had a major problem. The Walker sisters hadn’t budged. They were still clinging to the cabin their father had built and to the only lifestyle they had ever known. Although Nancy died in 1931, the remaining five Walker sisters never stopped fighting the government in the courts. However, in the end, the result was that the government took their land and home through eminent domain. Yet, the powers that be knew it would be a political and public nightmare if taxpayers learned that five women were forced out of their homes. So, a deal was struck to let them live in their cabin for the rest of their lives.
I need to pause here for a moment because this is where folks will usually say things like, “It was a good thing the park was created to protect the land,” or, “They were allowed to live there for the rest of their lives so it wasn’t a big deal.” To that, I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts. First, I guarantee that those who had their homes taken by the government would disagree. And I’m willing to bet that no one living today would agree to have their home taken by the government. Secondly, yes, they were allowed to live the rest of their lives in their cabin, but make no mistake about it, they were now tenants, and the government was their landlord. No longer were they able to hunt or grow large crops. The land was now owned by the government, and their self-sufficient lifestyle was stolen from them.
With that said, the Walker sisters refused to leave, and despite the new restrictions, they lived the simple life the best they could. They still raised a garden, sheep, chickens, and hogs. They spun wool and made their own clothing and blankets. They once said, “The only thing they couldn’t grow themselves was sugar, salt, and coffee.”
They were living windows to the past. But it wasn’t until 1946 that the public found out about them when the Saturday Evening Post featured a story on them. And soon, people flocked from all over the world to their small cabin to see the Walker sisters for themselves. At first, the sisters were cautious and skeptical about all of the strangers who made the pilgrimage to their cabin. But eventually, they embraced the notoriety and would invite visitors in for lunch or supper. In true Appalachian spirit, they adapted and began selling handmade dolls, hot apple pies, and poetry to the visitors, which helped the sisters make a living.
As the years passed, each sister eventually left the world, with Louisa being the last in 1964. Today, their cabin still stands as a reminder of the Walker sisters’ legacy, a symbol of resilience and tradition in the Smoky Mountains. It stood sturdy against the elements, filled with the echoes of family stories, laughter, and the quiet sounds of daily work. The sisters grew their own food, tended to their animals, and spun their own wool to make blankets and clothes. They knew the seasons by heart, and each one brought its own set of tasks: gathering firewood for winter, planting vegetables in the spring, and foraging for wild berries in the summer.
What set the Walker sisters apart was not just their determination to live as their ancestors did, but the depth of their connection to the land they called home. The rugged beauty of the Smoky Mountains had shaped their lives, and they knew every tree, stream, and ridge like the back of their hands. They respected the mountains and took only what they needed, leaving the land as unspoiled as possible for the next generation.
Even in their isolation, the Walker sisters became legends. Visitors from nearby towns and distant cities would travel to Little Greenbryer Cove just to catch a glimpse of these women who seemed untouched by time. The sisters would welcome them with stories of their family’s history, offer a slice of freshly baked cornbread, and show off the handspun quilts they made on looms built by their father. Though they never sought fame, their way of life became an inspiration to many.
What an inspirational story and true testament of the Appalachian spirit. Today, all seven of the Walker sisters rest in Maddox Cemetery in Wear’s Valley, Tennessee. Each tombstone bears the inscription, “Sisters.”
