Ned Jilton II: Adventure and beauty defined a trip to the Cloudland Hotel

"Although you live right in its neighborhood, but few of your readers have any idea of the beauty or extent of the view over which the eyes sweep from the grounds of the hotel. We stand on top of the middle peak, the highest peak on the Roan. The great white building can be seen over 100 miles from any direction and commands a vast expanse of over 50,000 square miles of the most varied and picturesque scenery in any country in the world — the veritable 'Switzerland of America.' There are over 100 mountain tops in sight below, that are more than 4,000 feet high. The view reaches into seven different states."— Letter to the editor from the Johnson City Comet, Aug. 6, 1885, describing the Cloudland HotelWhen Union Gen. John T. Wilder settled in East Tennessee after the Civil War, he brought a lot of industry to the region — especially to Johnson City. He also built a major landmark of the day high atop Roan Mountain, the Cloudland Hotel.The Cloudland Hotel was covered in the newspapers of the day much the same way Dollywood is covered today. Reporters were regularly sent to write stories about the inn above the clouds, although a trip from Johnson City to there took longer than a trip to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg does today. Despite the difficulties of getting there, the inn was a prime destination for newly married couples.A trip to the inn would be broken into two parts. First, the ride on the E.T.&W.N.C. railroad from Johnson City, through the Doe River gorge, to Roan Mountain Station. From there, the second part of the trip was by stagecoach, carriage or horseback up the mountain to the inn.The railroad trip greatly impressed a reporter from the McMinnville Southern Standard, in McMinnville, Tennessee. I wish I could give you their name, but many newspapers of the day didn't use bylines to identify their reporters.The McMinnville reporter wrote, "No pen can adequately describe the magnificent scenery along the narrow gauge railroad from Johnson City, up the Doe River gorge, or the soul-inspiring views to be seen from the sides and summits of Roan Mountain and neighboring peaks."The reports continued in his July 23, 1887, story, "The Doe River canyon is four miles long and 1,500 feet deep. The mind grows tired at the very thought of trying to describe the wild grandeur of the scenery along this wonderful road. As the train toils laboriously up the steep grades, plunging through dark tunnels, spanning deep chasms, or hugging the mountain in short curves above dizzy heights, with the rock-ribbed mountains towering hundreds of feet above in almost perpendicular walls on the other side, one feels painfully the utter incapacity of the mind to so group words and phrases to fittingly describe the varied, grand and picturesque beauty of the place. On one side the eye sweeps over a vast mountain steep rearing its head into the clouds, while upon the other the Doe River leaps, foams and roars through the rocks and dense shades hundreds of feet below."The train ride is only half the trip. Once at Roan Mountain Station, travelers transferred to stagecoaches for the 12-mile ride to the hotel, as detailed by a reporter from the Johnson City Comet who wrote about his August 1889 trip to Cloudland Hotel. Again there is no byline, so I can't give you the person's name."The stage leaves the depot about noon, and, after passing over about four miles of comparatively level road, the base of the mountain is reached, and the balance of the way is spent in climbing the zig-zag road that leads to the top," wrote the Johnson City reporter. "In some places the road turns so abruptly that it looks almost impossible for a hack to make the turn, and nervous persons are liable to think of the mean things they have done as they look on the rocky bluff below. But there is no real cause for alarm. The road is safe, and none but careful and experienced drivers are allowed to handle the ribbons.""The trip up the mountains affords many magnificent views of the country below, which makes one forget the ills consequent upon a hack ride," continued the reporter. "One of the striking features of the trip is that all chestnut trees along the line are dead. This cannot be accounted for unless the scenery had been spoken of so often by the passengers that the trees died of grief."As you near the summit you try to form some idea of how the world will look from above, but it is not until you arrive at the hotel that you realize fully what imagination could not picture for you."The hotel is 6,394 feet above the sea, and is the highest human habitation east of the Rocky Mountains. It will be readily understood that the view from this point extends as far as the eye can reach in all directions," concluded the reporter.Once a traveler arrived at the top of the mountain, the sight was an amazing thing to behold for folks of the day. Remember, this all takes place in the 1870s and 1880s when there were no airplanes, and the view from this altitude was rarely seen.A writer for the Knoxville Daily Chronicle wrote, "I had often heard of Roan Mountain but any description falls far short of conveying anything like a clear conception of the beauty and grandeur of the scene. Standing on the summit, one can see the clouds floating hundreds of feet below him, while the sun is shining brightly from above. Then again the winds will sweep away the clouds hanging around the sides of the mountain and uncover the vast gorges lying beneath, which are rarely trodden by the foot of man. The bald grounds are covered with grass, and stock in great numbers and in excellent condition may be seen grazing on these natural meadows. Gen. Wilder has here a herd of Angora goats. No doubt this would be a very profitable business, as there is no place in America better adapted to the production of grasses that the rich coves around the sides of this mountain."The writer continued with, "The air on the top of the mountain is cool and bracing, even in the warmest part of the day, while at night it is necessary to have fires in the rooms. While I am now writing there is a bright, cheerful fire, made from the wood of the balsam fir, blazing on the hearth, and it certainly adds much to the comfort of the room."The Knoxville writer concluded with, "If any of the readers of the Chronicle wish to visit a place where as beautiful scenery as the eye ever rested upon is spread out before them, and where they can enjoy the pure, fresh and invigorating air, and the coldness of the water, and excellent fare, and every attention to insure their comfort, convenience and pleasure, let them come to Roan Mountain."The food at the Cloudland Hotel was noted by many to be first rate. The Johnson City reporter wrote, "A very important feature of the hotel is the cuisine. The table is supplied bountifully with all seasonable vegetables and delicacies, and they are palatably prepared. This is remarkable on account of the distance from market, and the universal remark of guests when they arrive is on of surprise and satisfaction at the variety of dishes set before them."Sleeping at the Cloudland Hotel was interesting as the place would rock you to sleep at night. It was said the three-story wooden building "rocked like a ship at sea when the wind blew."It was these mountaintop winds that would play a role in the end of the Cloudland Hotel. An economic downturn in the 1890s combined with the high costs of maintenance and taxes forced Wilder to try and sell the property. However, he could find no buyers, and the hotel was closed in 1910. The weather wasted little time, and by 1915 the building collapsed.Today there is a historic marker where the hotel stood.A trip up to the site atop Roan Mountain is still enjoyable, but I think it would have been a fun adventure to ride the train and then the stagecoach to the hotel in the 1880s.Ned Jilton II is a photographer, history lover and columnist. You can contact him at ndjphoto@aol.com.The Cloudland Hotel was covered in the newspapers of the day much the same way Dollywood is covered today. Reporters were regularly sent to write stories about the inn above the clouds.