When officials began buying land for what would become Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee farmer John W. Oliver refused to sell his 375-acre property in Cades Cove for $20 an acre. What followed was a years-long legal battle over whether the government could take his land for the ambitious national park project.
Oliver eventually lost the fight. In 1935, he received $17,000 for the farm, more than double the original offer on a per-acre basis. But the case became a lasting example of the difficult choices surrounding the creation of one of America's best-known national parks.
