History of Moonshine in the Smoky Mountains

The Smoky Mountains are well known for amazing fall foliage, black bears, and moonshine! Moonshine? Yes, moonshine is a huge historic part of life in the Smokies. You will find all kinds of distilleries, large and small surrounding the Smokies, but it wasn’t too long ago that these mountains were crawling with bootleggers running corn whiskey stills. In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours will tell you all about the history of Moonshine in the Great Smoky Mountains.

How It All Started

When Irish and Scottish immigrants settled in the Smoky Mountains in the 1700s, they brought along their tradition of whiskey making. The Irish and Scottish typically used grains and barley to make their traditional whiskey, but the plentiful amount of corn would soon become the product of choice.

The Whiskey Rebellion

On January 27th, 1791 the House approved legislation to impose an excise tax on whiskey. The Distilled Spirits Tax was implemented to pay down national debt that had accrued after the Revolutionary War. This new $2.00 tax was an increase of $.20 and many folks in the mountains were simply not going to pay it!

Moonshiners

After the tax increase, men decided to make whiskey and not obey the law. With access to much corn, these men built stills in the woods and would work their corn whiskey at night under the moonlight or “moonshine” rather. These men quickly realized this was an easy way to make money. It was more valuable than the corn itself and there was plenty of folks that were buying.

Moonshine Tunnels

In late March of 2019, the National Park Service announced that a massive network of underground tunnels had been found in and around the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The first tunnel was found in the Greenbrier section of the park by a family on a hike. The National Park Service contacted the University of Tennessee and a team of researchers came to investigate the tunnel. Archeologist explored the tunnel and found that it extended for almost six miles before it exited beside the East Parkway in Gatlinburg. While exploring the original tunnel researchers uncovered a network of underground tunnels. This network of tunnels is believed to been used by the bootleggers to easily transport their moonshine without getting caught by the law.

Famous Moonshiners of the Smokies

Moonshine became big business in the Smoky Mountains and many men rose to fame. Lewis Redman became to be known for being one who gave back to the people. He shot and killed a deputy that got in his way in 1876 and managed to escape capture for five years. During those five years, he would share his moonshine money with the Appalachians.


The Smoky Mountains provided a great place to make moonshine and to hide it. So, good in fact it is rumored that the infamous Al Capone hid booze in the mountains before being transported into Chicago. This is only a rumor and never proven to be factual, but not too hard to believe.

Making this amazing story even better. In 2009 Tennessee state law allowed for the distilling of legal moonshine. On your next visit to the Smoky Mountains, make sure you check out the many awesome local distilleries and try some old-fashioned white lightning. We sure hope you enjoyed the history of moonshining in the Smokies. Be sure to also check out the rich history and amazing beauty of Cades Coves with a tour with us at Cades Cove Heritage Tours. We provide public and private guided Cades Cove tours that the whole family will enjoy.


CADES COVE HERITAGE TOURS
865-448-8838
P.O. Box 268
Townsend, TN 37882-0268
info@cadescoveheritagetours.org


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