As I dusted off an old friend's storage unit recently, a little gem of a book caught my eye—the kind that had clearly never been opened but had been waiting, patiently, for the right set of hands to discover it. That book was Trek of the Ancient Spirits: The Early History of Bays Mountain, Tennessee by Brenda C. Calloway, first published in 2002 by The Overmountain Press, a name familiar to many local history enthusiasts. Immediately, I felt a connection, not just because of the book's subject, but also because I spotted a familiar name in the liner notes—Martha Egan, a colleague of mine from WJCW and later the Kingsport Library. It felt like a personal reunion with both friends and the past.

This is no ordinary history book; it sings with the cadence of a poet while weaving the threads of geology, Native American legend, and frontier life into a tapestry that tells the story of Bays Mountain. Calloway's lyrical prose takes you on a journey that begins long before Kingsport ever existed, back to a time when tectonic forces thrust what was once an ocean bed into the sky, creating the ridges that now overlook our city.

Bays Mountain is more than just a backdrop to Kingsport. In Calloway’s hands, it becomes a sentinel—standing watch over generations, from the earliest Paleo-Indians to the frontier settlers who tamed its foothills. And the stories she uncovers are as layered as the geology itself. From the Cherokee, who called the mountain Wa'dige 'tali (pronounced: wah-DEE-geh tah-LEE), named after a regal bay horse that roamed wild in the hills, to the European settlers whose arrival marked the beginning of a new chapter in this land’s long and complicated history.

Today, we know Wa'dige 'tali as Bays Mountain, a name that’s said to honor the very bay horse that inspired both Native Americans and settlers alike. While the mountain itself has taken on a new identity, the spirit of the bay horse still lingers in its valleys and along its creeks. Bays Mountain stands as both a natural landmark and a cultural monument, holding within its ridges the echoes of those timeless legends. As we walk its trails and overlook the city from its heights, we’re reminded that history here is alive, shared between the mountain and the people who cherish it.

It’s a relatively short book, yet it’s packed with insight—rich in detail, yet easy to pick up and enjoy in a weekend. Calloway doesn’t just recount facts; she paints the landscape with words that evoke the cerulean and viridian hues of our region, bringing to life the peace treaties signed on Long Island and the tragic wrestling of cultures along the Trail of Tears. You can almost hear the great buzzard of Cherokee myth soaring above as she ties ancient lore to the geological and human history of Bays Mountain.

One of the most compelling aspects of Trek of the Ancient Spirits is how Calloway weaves in personal stories, family names, and the day-to-day life of early settlers. She breathes life into the names of those who once lived and worked on this land, their struggles and triumphs etched into the mountain's very soil. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel a little closer to home, a little more connected to the place we live.

If you ever find a copy of this out-of-print treasure, grab it. It's not just history—it's a love letter to Bays Mountain, Kingsport, and all the stories that make up this place we call home.