Chattooga: Descending into the Myth of Deliverance River

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Chattooga This page intentionally left blank J O H N " L A N ! D E S C E N D I N G INTO T HE M YT H O F n KM v KR A\!C:K R I V E R Tiir. I \ I \ Lit S IT i OF ( i h ' ( ) K ( i t \ »* H r. S S •if.'.'.- IM L: /t«i./(.*fi Chattooga University of Georgia Press paperback edition, 2005 Athens, Georgia 30602©2004 by John Lane All rights reserved Designed by Kathi Dailey Morgan Printed and bound by Thomson-Shore The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed in the United States of America 09 08 07 06 OS P 5 4 3 2 1 The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lane, John, 1954Chattooga : descending into the myth of Deliverance river / John Lane. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8203-2611-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Chattooga River (N.C.-Ga. and S.C.)—History. 2. Chattooga River (N.C.-Ga. and S.C.)—Description and travel. 3. Dickey, James. Deliverance. 4. Chattooga River Region (N.C.-Ga. and S.C.)—History. 5. Chattooga River Region (N.C.-Ga. and S.C.) —Description and travel. 6. Chattooga River Region (N.C.-Ga. and S.C.)—Biography. 7. Natural history —Chattooga River Region (N.C.-Ga. and S.C.) I. Title. F217.C45L36 2004 917.5_dc22 2003020563 ISBN-13 978-0-8203-2775-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10 0-8203-2775-1 (pbk. :alk. paper) British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available Title page and chapter opener photograph: Bull Sluice, Chattooga River byJeff Beard Excerpts from Deliverance byJames Dickey.© 1970 byJames Dickey. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rightsreserved. ISBN for digital edition: 978-0-8203-4622-9 For Pilley and Payson Paddlers Past and Present and Rob and Russell Paddlers Present and Future This page intentionally left blank The river and everything I remembered about it became a possession to me, a personal, private possession, as nothing else in my life ever had. Now it ran nowhere but in my head, but there it ran as though immortally. . . . In me it still is, and will be until I die, green, rocky, deep, fast, slow, and beautiful beyond reality. JAMES DICKEY Deliverance This page intentionally left blank ...