CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Most people who visit the Cherokee National Forest have never heard of Quentin Bass.
But if they walk on the Old Copper Road, read interpretive signs or hear of historic discoveries in the forest, they are seeing work largely due to the forest’s archaeologist.
Sitting at his somewhat cluttered desk in a hidden corner of the district office in Cleveland, Mr. Bass has a low-key way of explaining his job.
“We are charged with taking care of the cultural resources, structures and architectural remains in the forest,” Mr. Bass said of himself and assistant Chris Vassett.
He said the forest is a storehouse for signs from thousands of years of human occupation, and with 1,000 square miles of forest, “there has been a lot of occupation.”
Mr. Bass has techniques for finding sites of historical activity, many of which are kept secret until they are secured. But some of the major projects he’s worked on now are open to the public.
He oversaw restoration of sections of Old Copper Road, which was used to transport copper ore from the Copper Basin to smelters in Cleveland. He also renovated the old Richard Donnelly cabin in the North River area, which was built about 1811.
Cherokee forest spokesman Terry McDonald said he’s known Mr. Bass for 18 years.
“He is really passionate about what he does with cultural resources,” Mr. McDonald said. “He is highly intelligent, has an amazing memory, and it’s not just a job to him; he lives it.”
Mr. Bass campaigned to save structures at the Tellico Ranger District built during the Civilian Conservation Corps days early in the 20th century.
“I learn something new from Quentin every time I’m able to work with him,” said Ms. Vassett, who is working on a database of sites in the Cherokee. “It can be a real experience.”
Mr. Bass was born in Cleveland and attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He has triple undergraduate degrees in archaeology, anthropology and Russian language along with a master’s in archaeology.
After a stint as a translator with the U.S. Air Force and a job with the National Security Agency, he lived for a time in Turkey.
Now, at 59, he is writing a book on ecology and looking forward to developing other sites.
“People want the ‘now’ and often have no memory,” Mr. Bass said. “My job is to be their memory with findings. Truth remains where it has always been. People have a right to their opinions, but facts are facts. How long does it take to grow a 500-year-old oak?”
One of his current projects is a push to get the Unicoi Trail named a National Historic Trail.
Mr. Bass said the former turnpike, which starts at Fort Loudon and travels 173 miles to Fort Prince George, N.C., has been an Appalachian Mountain crossing for more than 10,000 years. Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto used it in the 1500s, and American Indians and pioneer settlers followed its path.
He’s also working on a project for college students to do hands-on surveys to search for archaeological sites. Next year a walking survey is planned for the North River area in Monroe County. Over several decades, Mr. Bass hopes the surveys will cover the Tellico, Hiwassee, Ocoee, and Conasauga watersheds.
“My goal is to just let people see what I see,” Mr. Bass said. “That not only includes settlements and other findings, but also to understand the ecology and growths of the forest and how it has changed over the decades.”
Or login with:
New Account