Editing Gatlinburg, Tennessee (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Gatlinburg-ogle-cabin1.jpg|thumb|left|The William "Old Billy" and Martha Jane Huskey Ogle Cabin in Gatlinburg]]
[[File:Downtown Gatlinburg From Aquarium.JPG|thumb|right|Downtown Gatlinburg]]

For centuries, [[Cherokee]] hunters, as well as other Native American hunters before them, used a footpath known as the Indian Gap Trail to access the abundant game in the forests and coves of the Smokies.<ref>Michal Strutin, ''History Hikes of the Smokies'' (Gatlinburg: Great Smoky Mountains Association, 2003), pp. 322–323.</ref> This trail connected the [[Great Indian Warpath]] with Rutherford Indian Trace, following the West Fork of the Little Pigeon River from modern-day [[Sevierville]] through modern-day [[Pigeon Forge]], Gatlinburg, and the Sugarlands, crossing the crest of the Smokies along the slopes of Mount Collins, and descending into [[North Carolina]] along the banks of the [[Oconaluftee River]].<ref>Strutin, pp. 322–323.</ref> US-441 largely follows this same route today, although it crests at [[Newfound Gap]] rather than Indian Gap.

Although various 18th-century European and early American hunters and [[fur trappers]] probably traversed or camped in the flats where Gatlinburg is now situated, it was [[Edgefield, South Carolina]], native William Ogle (1751–1803) who first decided to permanently settle in the area.<ref>Gladys Trentham Russell, ''Smoky Mountain Family Album'' (Alcoa, Tennessee: Gladys Trentham Russell, 1984), pg. 6.</ref> With the help of the Cherokee, Ogle cut, hewed, and notched logs in the flats, planning to erect a [[log cabin|cabin]] the following year.<ref>Carson Brewer, ''Great Smoky Mountains National Park'' (Portland, Ore: Graphic Arts Center Publishing, 1993), pg. 18.</ref> He returned home to Edgefield to retrieve his family and grow one final crop for supplies. However, shortly after his arrival in Edgefield, a [[malaria]] epidemic swept the low country, and Ogle succumbed to the disease in 1803.<ref name="Ref-3">Russell, 6.</ref>

His widow, Martha Huskey Ogle (1756–1827), moved the family to Virginia, where she had relatives. Sometime around 1806, Martha Huskey Ogle made the journey over Indian Gap Trail to what is now Gatlinburg with her brother, Peter Huskey, her daughter, Rebecca, and her daughter's husband, James McCarter. William Ogle's notched logs awaited them,<ref name="Ref-3"/> and they erected a cabin near the confluence of Baskins Creek and the West Fork of the Little Pigeon shortly after their arrival.<ref name="Ref-1"/> The cabin still stands today near the heart of Gatlinburg. James and Rebecca McCarter settled in the Cartertown district of Gatlinburg.<ref>Zeno Wall, "Gatlinburg", ''Newport'' (Newport, Tennessee: Ideal Publishing Company, 1970), pg. 132.</ref>

[[File:White Oak Flats Cemetery.JPG|thumb|right|White Oak Flats Cemetery]]

In the decade following the arrival of the Ogles, McCarters, and Huskeys in what came to be known as '''White Oak Flats''', a steady stream of settlers moved into the area.<ref name="Ref-3"/> Most were veterans of the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]] or [[War of 1812]] who had converted the {{convert|50|acre|m2|adj=on}} tracts they had received for service in war into deeds.<ref>Wall, 128.</ref> Among these early settlers were Timothy Reagan (c. 1750–1830), John Ownby Jr. (1791–1857), and Henry Bohanon (1760–1842).<ref>Donald Reagan, ''Smoky Mountain Clans'' (Gatlinburg: Donald B. Reagan, 1978), pg. 66.</ref><ref>Donald Reagan, ''Smoky Mountain Clans Volume 3'' (Gatlinburg: Donald B. Reagan, 1983), pp. 137–138.</ref> Their descendants still live in the area today.<ref>Russell, pp. 6–9.</ref>