 The hunting party stayed at a herding shack built by Jesse "Crate" Hall along the crest near Chestnut Bald.Kephart was fascinated by the crest of the Western Smokies, which in the early 1900s was a giant grassy bald.Although "Our Southern Highlanders" gives invaluable descriptions of several aspects of life in the Smokies in the early 1900s, the book has been criticized for focusing too much on the more sensational facets of mountain life, such as moonshining and those families living in extreme poverty.