Horace Kephart—author, naturalist, librarian—is a renowned authority on the cultural and natural history of southern Appalachia. His two most famous books, Camping and Woodcraft (1917) and Our Southern Highlanders (1922), remain popular to this day for their practical advice for outdoor activities and narrative account of the people and environment of the Great Smoky Mountains (“Horace Kephart, Biography”). Determined to preserve the last great forests in the Eastern United States, Kephart was instrumental in establishing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He also took an active role in the creation of the Appalachian Trail (Ellison xlv). His contributions provide an invaluable record of a previously overlooked and often misunderstood land and people.