There is so much history all around those of us who live in Pickens County, truly one of the most beautiful places on earth.

By Dr. Carl Thomas Cloer, Jr.
For The Courier

We have our Jocassee Gorges, the Blue Ridge Escarpment, and historic Clemson University with its magnificent forests and botanical gardens. We need no more than 30 minutes to be atop the escarpment and in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Most of my life has been spent atop the escarpment in the mountains. If one travels west in Pickens County on scenic Highway 11, the Keowee River (now lake) is crossed, and the traveler junctions with routes leading into the Jocassee Gorges. Highway 130, for example, travels north through the Jocassee Gorges and connects with Highway 107 into Jackson County (N.C.) and the historic Cashiers Valley, where the mighty Whitewater River of Jocassee Gorges fame originates. I have fished the mighty Whitewater all the way to Cashiers.

The story unfolding herein has the components of a Shakespearean tragedy, with bloody divisive politics, terrible tragedy, loyalty, and love. My father was a key actor in the tragedy, and related the story to me in vivid detail. I will have an imaginary Paul Harvey, the old iconic newscaster and storyteller, turn and address you, the audience, in the same manner Richard III does in that Shakespearean masterpiece. In Richard III, most all the bloody and violent acts are not viewed directly by the audience. Note that similarity as this story unfolds. I have always believed this story would make a marvelous novel and/or movie.