Land of Everlasting Hills: George Masa, Jim Thompson, and the Photographs That Helped Save the Great Smoky Mountains and Blaze the Appalachian Trail

At the turn of the twentieth century, the rugged peaks and lush valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains, once home to the Cherokee, were little known outside eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. This dramatically changed with the arrival of two forces with very different visions: lumber companies who sought to fuel the nation’s growth and profit from harvesting the abundant timber, and tourists who discovered the healthful qualities and natural beauty of the mountains.

By the early 1920s, it became a race against time to protect the Great Smoky Mountain forests from decimation by commercial logging. Photography proved to be essential to this goal by showing the American people the extraordinary beauty of the landscape that was at risk of being lost. Two men—George Masa (raised as Shoji Endo), a Japanese immigrant in Asheville; and James “Jim” Thompson, a commercial photographer in Knoxville—were leaders in this effort, capturing exceptional images widely used in publications and portfolios for business and political leaders.

In addition, the two men helped guide the effort to blaze the route of the nascent Appalachian Trail through the Great Smokies and beyond to its southern terminus in North Georgia. Jim Thompson lived to see the fruits of his labors, but George Masa, who died in 1933 and was buried in a pauper’s grave, did not.

Land of Everlasting Hills details the lives and work of Masa and Thompson, both of whom were influential in the decade-long campaign to establish a national park and to protect the scenic beauty and rich diversity of the Great Smoky Mountains. In addition to the historical and biographical narrative—which includes more than thirty relevant photographs embedded within the text—the large-format book features a selection of photographic plates representing the exceptional images that Masa and Thompson created.