Story Published:
Oct 9, 2011 at 4:54 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Oct 9, 2011 at 4:54 PM CDT
Earlier in the day, the crowd was alert as Robert Rambo (not shown), portraying Cherokee Peace Chief Little Carpenter discussed the life and times of the Cherokee Indians at this year's Standing Stone Day.
Rambo's presentation was part of the rich and surprising heritage rooted in Monterey, Tennessee that is celebrated annually on Standing Stone Day. Dr. Opless Walker has been a student of this history since childhood and was a driving force beyind the original celebrations which begain in 1979.
The original dedication of the Standing Stone monument was held on Oct. 17, 1895 with an extraordinary crowd of an estimated 3,000. The stone had been brought back to the area and placed on a pedestal for all to see on land donated by the Cumberland Coal Company. The
monument still stands today in downtown Monterey, next to the Monterey Branch
Library.
Early white pioneer settlers thought the stone resembled a large grey dog in a sitting position,
looking west with its head and ears up, originally standing about 10 ft. high.
No one knows for certain the original reason the stone was erected by Native Americans. Some believe it was a marker set to mark hunting grounds between the tribes, others
say it could have been used as a marker for peaceful, tribal ceremonial worship.
By the time the railroad came through in 1893 and blasted it into bits and pieces, the
Stone had been whittled by weather and souvenir seekers down to about three feet, six
inches above the ground. With its height of just over three feet, settlers in the late
1800s used the stone as a hitching post just in front of the J.J. Whittaker home.
Whittaker was the earliest postmaster at “Standing Stone.”
Two of the larger pieces of the stone were pushed over to one side after the railroad
blasted it from their path in Aug., 1893. The Narragansett Tribe No. 25 of the
Improved Order of the Redmen loaded the smaller of the two large pieces on a railroad
flat car and took it to Cookeville.
“Nee Yah Kah Tah Kee,” meaning “Standing Stone” and a tomahawk were inscribed
on the stone.
For the last three years, the addition of a train full of passengers has added hundreds of people to the celebration. This year's train, which delivered passengers from Nashville, reloaded with local passengers who were taken to the sand quarry to witness a civil war battle reenactment in which union soldiers were "shot" as they departed the train.
A parade and fair-like atmosphere mixed with the exploration of history made for a rich 2011 Standing Stone day in Monterey this year.
