In Pursuit of The Grave of Tiger Whitehead

James "Tiger" Whitehead, who died in 1905, has both Tiger Valley and Tiger Creek named in his honor. Both of these picturesque geographic features are to be found lying in the western shadow of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. The story of Tiger Whitehead is certainly interesting and the fact that Whitehead seemed to gain more and more notice with the passing decades after his death only added to the curiosity factor for me. After a bit of research I came to understand the general vicinity where the grave was to be found.

Tiger Whitehead’s was a grave site that I have pursued for several years after first reading about it on one of the mountain blogs I frequent.  Tiger Whitehead is buried in the Tiger Valley area of Carter County, Tennessee, and he is likely the most famous hunter who ever hailed from  eastern Tennessee. Finding the access point beside the road is easy enough if you know what to look for, but finding that spot is only half the challenge to the unfamiliar. Leaving the roadside, one must negotiate an unmarked path to a nearly invisible footbridge over a roaring mountain stream. Once across the bridge, you must pick your way along a climbing, leaf-littered path up the hillside for a piece until the trail terminates in a small knoll-top cemetery. It is there, on the back row of tombstones that one will find the grave of Tiger Whitehead and his wife, Sally Garland Chambers. 

This is the stream one must cross to follow the path to Tiger's gravesite. 

The path up the hill to Tiger Whitehead's grave.

Reaching the top of the trail, one finds this small cemetery.

James “Tiger” Whitehead got his nickname from the fact that he once had to hunt and kill a tiger that escaped from a traveling circus near Bristol, Tennessee.  But Tiger’s most notable exploit is that he is said to have killed 99 black bears during his life­time. According to the legend, when Tiger was on his death bed, a group of his friends trapped a bear cub and brought it to Tiger's bedside and asked him to kill it so that he would meet his maker with 100 bear kills to his name. However, the legend goes, Tiger told his friends: "No! If it's not free and running wild, I can't kill it." And so it was that the bear was set free and Tiger passed into the eternal memory of the mountains he loved so dearly.

Tiger’s tombstone reads: "THE NOTED HUNTER, JAMES T. WHITEHEAD, BORN 1819, DIED SEPT. 25, 1905, (KILLED 99 BEARS), WE HOPE HE HAS GONE TO REST."  

Tiger's (left) and Sally's tombstones are the larger ones in this photo.

Tiger Whitehead's tombstone.

Sally's tombstone.

Tiger Whitehead is buried next to his wife, Sally Garland Chambers. Etched in Sally’s tombstone are the words: "NOT ONLY A MOTHER TO  THE HUMAN RACE, BUT TO ALL ANIMAL KIND AS SHE GAVE NURSE TO ONE FAWN AND TWO CUBS." Legend has it that Sally adopted two orphaned bear cubs and a fawn and raised them until they could fend for themselves.   

Many years after Tiger's death, Johnny Cash released a song, “The Ballad of Tiger Whitehead”, as part of a children's album in memory and honor of the hunter. Cash's song, "The Ballad of Tiger Whitehead," tells the legend of Tiger and Sally.  There is a version of the song on YouTube in which Johnny Cash recounts how a friend led him to the grave during a visit to Carter County. Here is the link to that video:

http://youtu.be/DjcegbdjH5g

I am deliberately omitting details of how to find this grave site, primarily for two reasons: 1) if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy the challenge of doing your own research to figure it out, rather than being spoon-fed the location; and, 2) out of respect to the family and the landowner as it has come to my attention that this may be private and posted property. There were no signs up when I visited, but I have since learned that visitors other than family may not be encouraged at this location. 

So, if you pursue this hunt for yourself, do so knowing full well that you may not be welcome.