Sheep in Appalachia

The relationship between sheep grazing and appalachian balds

By Zach Johnson

Mountaintop balds are one of the most unique features of the Appalachian Mountains. Balds are distinctive ecosystems that are characterized by thick vegetation of grasses and shrubs on mountain tops or crests, unique in that the forests and woody coverage expected in these areas don’t exist. There are many investigations into the origins and maintenance of balds. One study in 1930 by botanist Stainly Cain based on soil samples suggests that megaherbivores during the last ice age grazed on the deforested fields.[i] While this is a possibility, most balds in the Appalachian region were likely created through use of cultural practices of Scots-Irish settlers. Despite their mysterious past, balds have served important ecological roles in maintaining flora and fauna, such as elk populations.[ii] During the arrival of European settlers and the growth of the United States, balds were used to help support the subsistence agrarian lifestyle that was popular in Appalachia. Although additional balds were added by settlers and some retaken by woodlands, balds in the late 1700s through early 1900s were mainly used and maintained for grazing livestock. Sheep and cattle were the two most popular grazing animals in the region. Homesteads relied on these animals for food and materials. Bald's open landscape, plentiful resources, and role in the prevention of milk sickness helped establish an important relationship to sheep grazing throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s.

Sheep are an important animal for southern Appalachia both culturally and economically. However, the scale of this importance seems to have been underestimated in much modern literature. Sociologist and environmental historian Donald Davis explains that the importance of sheep to mountaintop agriculture has been “grossly underestimated.”[iii] Sheep reigned second only to hogs in sheer numbers in Appalachia. Stemming from English cultural tradition and focus on subsistence farming, the practice of sheep herding had grown to a massive scale by the 1830s. By the 1850s, most sheep in southern Appalachia were Merino or Saxony stock, indicating a preference for specific sheep breeds. Although no area wholly dominated sheep production, both Tennessee and southwestern Virginia had substantial outputs of five thousand or more sheep per county.[iv] The large open grassy areas of the Blue Ridge were well suited to the grazing animals, who had large herds here. Notable counties include Alleghany County with 6,755 sheep for just 347 homesteads in 1859—however, even more typical counties such as Buchanan County, Virginia, had herds of around 10 sheep per household.[v] The sheep industry would continue to climb until the outset of World War I. This decline in the highlands agriculture was mainly due to globalization and industrialization efforts that competed with the existing industries of the area, namely sheep and wool production. Despite the eventual decline, the mountaintop grazing on grassy balds certainly played its part in supporting the Appalachians of the 1800s.

The grassy balds of the southern Appalachian Mountains were optimal as grazing for livestock for a variety of reasons. Grassy balds differ from heath balds in the selection of flora that they contain, as they contain large open fields of grasses and defy the typical forest landscape of higher altitudes. Heath balds are characterized by smaller evergreen shrubs, such as mountain laurel and rhododendron, that cover the area. Because of the shrubbery of heath balds, grassy balds were preferable for livestock grazing. Because of the low-lying fauna, they provided a clear view of livestock and potential threats such as bears, wolves, and panthers—despite declining numbers of all three. Additionally, many balds had springs that served as a water source for herds, supported by frequent rainfall and good, water-retaining soil. These characteristics made balds ideal grazing land for livestock farmers.

It is also important to consider mountaintop grazing in context, as doing so reveals more benefits to the practice. Early settlers saw the distance from farms in the valley to grazing land on mountaintops as an advantage, as it kept animals from breaking into crops. Additionally, “[t]he steep wooded slopes acted as natural fences, and these discontinuities in the upland pasture helped to keep herds separate.”[vi] Using salt licks kept the livestock from straying too far and left cultural marks in the names of places such as Licklog Gap or Lickstone Mountain.[vii] In the highlands, it was popular to keep livestock in the higher fields in the summer. Randolph Shields, born in Cades Cove and professor of botany at Maryville College, says that cattle were brought up to these higher fields and balds during April and taken to lower fields around October.[viii] This was mainly because frost would kill off the palatable plants, leaving unwanted poisonous ones like white and black snakeroot. Shields explained how sheep “…controlled [balds] more than anything else, those balds looked like they’d been mowed with a lawnmower.”[ix] Sheep tended to stay together on the crests, not roaming as much as cattle. This behavior helped to prevent deaths from eating white snakeroot closer to forests but could unfortunately cause deaths from lightning. When sheep grouped on top of the balds in rainstorms rather than searching for shelter, it could lead to herds being struck by lightning.[x] Shields also recalls from his childhood that the sheep they raised were mainly for wool production, although the wool they produced was used by his family and not sold off.

Balds were occasionally burned to gain more grazing land and increase productivity. This practice, called transhumance, was the annual burning of pastures during the winter months so that the livestock could graze on regenerated forage in the spring, summer, and fall months.[xi] Brought over by the Scots-Irish, this land-use practice would shape the commons practices of southern Appalachians. Spence Field Bald is one such area. It is estimated to have been cleared around the 1870s or 80s by the grandfather of Asa Sparks.[xii] However, many other balds are noted to have been bald since the arrival of settlers and have even been mentioned in Cherokee legends. While the validity of some claims has been challenged due to age, many balds are known to have existed before settlement. One example in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is Gregory Bald. The relative lack of information on the formation of new balds makes it difficult to distinguish between old and new ones. However, some of the known balds used for driving stock in the late 1800s include Hyatt, Newton, Hemphill, and Cataloochee. The U.S. Forest Service identified balds as favored summer grazing locations until around 1937 when it had become illegal to graze on balds in the national park.[xiii] Balds also offered the advantage of grazing for multiple types of livestock, helping to increase productivity. The Ohio State University “Sheep Team” research group claims a twenty-five percent increase in returning land when sheep and cattle graze together.[xiv] Sheep get much of the protein of their diet from weeds, which in turn helps control the amount of weeds in the pasture. They also mention the importance of transitioning between cold and warm season pastures, which is a practice that was already in use by 19th-century Appalachian settlers and farmers.

Another notable usage of balds as grazing locations was their protection against milk sickness, also known as trembles. This milk sickness is a prevalent topic of the 1800s agricultural history and had a large impact on the communities settling in the Appalachians and across the eastern United States. Milk sickness is a type of poison that affects animals who have consumed white snakeroot plants. It can also affect those who consume the milk or meat of animals that consume the plant. This was a threat to livestock and settlers alike. After contraction, a period of approximately two to five days pass wherein movement slows, walking begins to falter, and constipation occurs.[xv] Following this, muscle stiffness and partial paralysis sets in. The characteristic trembling that occurs soon after is a result of muscular weakness. The eye will begin to become red and be covered with a yellowish discharge. It becomes difficult to stand, commonly resulting in lying down. An irregular pulse can be felt approaching this stage. A sick stomach arises and can cause vomiting. Milk sickness can last for weeks, and can potentially result in death. Postmortem studies in cows show swelling in their fatty and muscular tissues as well as internal hemorrhages and liver damage.[xvi] Few medical conditions have caused such interest and concern at the time while vanishing as quickly as milk sickness.[xvii] This condition certainly took its toll on the settlers of the eastern United States, sometimes affecting large portions of communities or their livestock.

During the 1800s to early 1900s the cause of milk sickness was unknown, although there were many different speculations to what caused it. In 1845, Solon Borland, a physician and senator from Arkansas, concluded that it was a certain mineral that can be present in water but mainly builds up in vegetables.[xviii] Another suspect was some sort of fungus that appears in areas that are low elevation and moist. Borland also pays some credibility to the possibility that the mushrooms are responsible, stating “I am of the opinion that Mushrooms, more frequently than any or all other species of plants, are the cause of Milk Sickness”, after hearing an argument from another professor. In 1858, The Ohio Cultivator published a small section on the cause of milk sickness, claiming it to be a “mold that gathers near the roots of grasses, and along low, wet places.”[xix] White snakeroot began to be identified as a potential cause around 1900, however, in 1908, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, claimed no relationship between white snakeroot and milk sickness.[xx] This was later proven to be a fluke in the 1920s as James F. Couch showed that when using dried white snakeroot as Crawford had done the poisonous effect disappeared.

The many theories of the cause of milk sickness tend to link this condition to low altitude, moist, and shady locations—coincidentally overlapping with the best growing conditions for white snakeroot. The Appalachian variant, Ageratina altissima var. Roanensis grows in wooded and shady areas with medium to wet conditions, meaning that is it unlikely to grow frequently or well on balds despite the increased levels of precipiation.[xxi] Because settlers did not know the cause of the sickness, they likely gravitated towards balds as a safer location against milk sickness based on leading theories and common prevention of the sickness. Moist and low locations were popular places for mold and fungus to grow, providing incentives for grazing animals like cows and sheep to be moved to higher elations away from milk sickness’ presumed causes of water borne minerals, mold, and fungi. Combined with the natural fences that balds provided, settlers and farmers throughout the 1800s had good reasons to use balds as locations for livestock holding and grazing.

Sheep do well grazing on cool-season forages like oats, annual ryegrass, winter wheat, etc.[xxii] This means that sheep did well when grazing on the predominant vegetation of the Appalachian Balds, Danthonia compressa, or mountain oat grass.[xxiii] In addition to mountain oat grass, there are forbs such as three-toothed cinquefoil that are common on Appalachian balds making them a likely food for grazing sheep.[xxiv] Sheep have been shown to eat a relative of the three-toothed cinquefoil called sulfur cinquefoil. Sheep prove useful to the management of this non-native plant species as sulfur cinquefoil is considered noxious to humans, but sheep are able to eat it without issue.[xxv] Another species is the Allegheny blackberry, commonly found as shrubs on grassy balds. These species are still found in many balds today and can support grazing.

In 1959, the Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club published an article on the flora of 84 different balds in the region.[xxvi] 34 of these balds are described as true balds—balds presumed to predate European settlement. Another 32 of these sites are deforested balds, some of which are referred to as fields due to their human origin. The remaining sites are recently deforested hardwood summits, mostly cleared for fire tower construction. This article combines additional studies about bald flora from Mark A. F, Frank Scribner, John Davis, Dalton Brown, Bertram Wells, and Vernon Gilbert. This combined study finds the consistently important species of vegetation found is the mountain oat grass. It also found that two herbaceous species Potentilla canadensis and Rumex acetosella were common, although the general percentage is far less than the oat grass. An important feature of the grassy balds mentioned is the large portion of weedy and small grass species. The smaller amount of woody species was greater on ungrazed balds. The ungrazed balds having more of the woody species supports a conclusion that grazing helped maintain the bald’s openness and species coverage.

This collection of historical and environmental information helps build a greater understanding of the important relationship between balds and the livestock that graze upon them. The historical usage of balds for grazing was no accident. While the historical literature focuses on cattle production, leaving the importance of sheep underestimated, the truth is that sheep thrived alongside the cattle. The flora and climate of these ecosystems support grazing plants that can effectively make up the diet of both sheep and cattle. Vegetation such as mountain oat grass, three-toed cinquefoil, and other weeds and grasses proved to be prime grazing plants, benefitting from the highland climate. The increased rainfall, cool temperatures and wind patterns from the high elevation provided balds with a natural capacity for biodiversity. Balds offered safety from the threat of milk sickness because it wasn’t an ideal location for white snakeroot to grow, a solution that helped to prevent the loss of life for both person and animal. Even the physical landscape was used by settlers as a natural fence, helping to minimize lost animals and ward off the admittedly declining predator population. The beautiful and unique ecosystems that balds provide certainly have left their mark on the lifestyle and history of the Appalachian Region, many becoming celebrated locations of historical significance and environmental beauty.

Zach Johnson is a recent WCU graduate who studied Political and Environmental Science. He is from Greenville South Carolina, but has been visiting Western North Carolina since childhood and considers it a second home. He is currently studying coastal managment and policy and plans to attend graduate school in fall 2025. He aims to bridge the gaps between science and policy in order to address current and future environmental issues.

[i] Stanley Cain, Ecological Study of the Health Balds of the Great Smoky Mountains, Clemson americana, 177

[ii] Donald Davis, Where there are Mountains: An Environmental History of the Southern Appalachians, Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 32

[iii] Davis, 134

[iv] Davis, 134

[v] Davis, 135

[vi] Gershmel, 68

[vii] Gershmel, 68

[viii] Shields, Randolph, History of the Grassy Balds in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, 1975.

[ix] Shields

[x] Shields

[xi] Davis, 100

[xii] “Great Smoky Mountains:History of the Grassy Balds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, National Parks Service

[xiii] Susan Yarnell, The Southern Appalachians: A History of the Landscape, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, 9

[xiv] Brown, Kipp, and Rocky, Feeding Small Ruminants: Developing a Grazing System for Sheep and Goats, OSU Sheep Team

[xv] Elmuer, George, Milk Sickness. In Bedside Diagnosis- By American Authors, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders, 486

[xvi] Elmuer George, 487

[xvii] William Christensen. “Milk Sickness: A Review of the Literature.” Economic Botany 19, no. 3: 293

[xviii] Borland, Solon, The Milk Sickness of the Human Subject or Trembles of Animals Embracing it’s History, Cause, and Treatment, Surgeon General’s Office, Washington D.C, Dawson Printer, 23

[xix] Byers, George, Response from the Rural World, The Ohio Cultivator, Yours& Crawford, 162

[xx] William Christensen, 296

[xxi] Ageratina Altissima - Plant Finder. Accessed April 23, 2024.

[xxii] Brown, Kipp, and Rocky

[xxiii] Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

[xxiv] Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

[xxv] Mosley, Jeffrey & Frost, Rachel & Roeder, Brent & Kott, Rodney,. Targeted Sheep Grazing to Suppress Sulfur Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) on Northwestern Montana Rangeland, Rangeland Ecology & Management.

[xxvi] Mark A. F, The Ecology of the Southern Appalachian Grass Balds. Ecological Monographs