Overlook Description
NPS Interpretive Sign at this overlook reads:
"Before you lies the massive Plott Balsam Range. On one of its eastern slopes Henry Plott, a German immigrant's son, made his home in the early 1800's. In this game-filled frontier, hunting dogs were a prized possesion. Here Henry Plott and his descendants developed the famous Plott Bear Hounds carefully selecting for the qualities of stamina, courage, and alertness the breed possesses today."
More information on the story of the Plott Hounds:
 North Caroina's state dog, the Plott Hound, is named after the family of Jonathon Plott who emigrated from Germany in 1750. After a long ocean voyage on a ship named the Priscilla, 16 year-old Jonathon arrived in Philadelphia, PA, on September 12, 1750. Oral history states that he was accompanied on this adventure by an older brother, who died at sea, and five dogs--three striped and two yellowish--that were to be used to protect him and his livestock from predators. After a short time in Philadelphia, Jonathon made his way south to North Carolina and eventually settled in Cabarrus County, where he married Margaret Littleton, purchased a farm, and raised a family of five sons and four daughters.
At the age of 30, Jonathon's son Henry moved his family and pack of dogs to Canton, NC, but eventually moved west toward the Balsam Mountains where game was plentiful. It is for this famous hunter and his descendants that the U. S. Park Service named three peaks in the Balsam Mountain range and erected the interpretive sign at mile marker 457.9 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The preceding information was contributed by Libby Bagby who is writing a book on the Plott's history entitled Talking Plotts, which should be published in 2008. For more information, visit Lucky's Plott Hound web site (pictured above).
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