Burgan's Creek Once Small Settlement by Marshall McClung-- Valley So Wild Blog Series 

Above: a photo from the internet of Mr. Marshall McClung 

 written by Marshall McClung and 

shared with  Dana Koogler 

Added to Valley So Wild Blog Series in the spirit of preserving the history

of the people of the Little Tennessee River watershed. 

March 18, 2024

BURGAN’S CREEK ONCE SMALL SETTLEMENT

By Marshall McClung

mcclungs@email.com

Earlier this winter, I took a trip to Burgan’s Creek Falls with a couple of friends,  Hoot and Virginia Gibbs.  Although I had made the visit a number of times while growing up on nearby Atoah Creek, I hadn’t been there in several years.

We went the “old way”  I had gone as a boy following an old trail that passes near the old Atoah landfill, and goes through a small gap.  By following this old trail, you can be on Burgan’s Creek in a matter of minutes.  In some instances, you may see the spelling of Burgin also used.  The old trail passes near what locals called “Surry” Branch.  According to Dewey Sharpe, who provided much of the information for this story, the name is probably Sarah Branch, named for Sarah Adams, the mother of Ish Adams who lived on what is now known as Atoah Circle.

According to Sharpe, there was once a small community located on Burgan’s Creek which is now part of the Nantahala National Forest and administered by the U.S. Forest Service.  A small dam was built on the lower end of the stream a number of years ago as part of the water supply system for the town of Robbinsville.

George Martin owned a house on Burgan’s Creek.  The house later fell into disrepair, and the floor rotted out.  Hogs which roamed on free range then,  would sleep in the old house.  Sometime in the 1920’s, and outbreak of cholera struck the hogs in this area.  There were 65 dead hogs piled five and six deep on top of one another in the old house, all victims of the cholera  John Holland, father of Ross and Ronald Holland, and Ben Sherrill lived on the Atoah side of Burgan’s Creek.

A man by the name of Burgan was an early resident of this area, but little is known of him. William “Bill” Sherrill, father of Bell Hyde once lived here also, not to far above the dam.  Bell married Lawrence Hyde who is credited with naming Hoot Owl Hollow on Atoah Circle.  Lawrence and Bell lived up near the head of the hollow in a large two story house.  Lawrence was fond of saying “Let’s go visit the hoot owls” when ready to head home.  A man by the name of Bill Meadows lived further up Burgan’s Creek.  Burgan’s Creek empties into Long Creek and there were some early families living near the headwaters of Long Creek also.  Another Meadows man lived near Tatham Gap, close to the Graham County-Cherokee County line.  Meadows had built a cabin there and later died of tuberculosis.  Just below Tatham Gap on the Graham County side, a road turns to the left to an area known as Panther Roughs.  A man known as “Rabbit” Long lived here, and it is thought that this is how Long Creek got its name.  

An old road turn right at Tatham Gap and runs along the ridge top dividing Graham and Cherokee counties to an area known as Walker Fields.  Dewey Sharpe says the area was originally known as Bronner Fields, named for a man who later sold to the Walkers.  According to Sharpe, the property exchanged hands a number of times.  Perd Shuler bought the property from the Walkers, and then sold it to a Jones man who lived above Andrews.  Jones apparently later sold Walker Fields to the U.S. Forest Service.

At one time, Whiting Lumber Company owned Burgan’s Creek and sold the property to Bemis Lumber Company.  Pat Griffith, a former Graham County sheriff, served as the land agent, and had let John Gladden live there. 

It is thought that John Gladden was the last person to live on Burgan’s Creek.  Pat Griffith, a former Graham County sheriff, served as a land agent, and let Gladden live on the property.  Whiting Lumber Company then sold Burgan’s Creek  to Bemis Lumber Company.  Bemis later sold the land to the U.S. Forest Service.  An old road built for the purpose of logging operations is still visible in places on Burgan’s Creek.

The view of the falls is well worth the trip, but be prepared to do a little” bushwhacking”.  Past storms have felled a number of trees across the old trail and the road leading up Burgan’s Creek from Long Creek.  In addition, areas of laurel and rhododendron are also encountered.    

Here is a link to an awesome interview with Marshall McClung by the writer Randell Jones

Mr. McClung is a well respected area historian, author, forest ranger, fire fighter and SAR expert. 

Here is a link to The Blind Pig and the Acorn write up about Marshall McClung. This is one of my favorite blogs and it is a great interview by a lady blogger named Tipper. 

She has a photo on there of the cabin Marshall grew up in along Atoah Creek. 

Above: Several photos of historic Graham Co I was able to find online.  Logging was the big industry back then and required trains to move the product. 

Above:  USGS Historic Maps Explorer was what I used to locate the former home site of the man described as "Rabbit" Long who Long Creek is named for.  It is the spot where the red cross hairs appear.  This must be the area near Panther Roughs he mentions.

Above:  Photo of Cal Topo map of the area shows where Walker Field is located just on the Graham County side of Tatham Gap Road.  Burgan Creek Falls is the blue tear drop. 

Above and below are a satellite view and a Cal Topo view of the old road that ran from just below Tatham Gap along the ridgeline.   The bottom photo shows it in red dashed lines.