Unto These Hills

Unto These Hills
The cast assembles for the drama, July 19, 2012.
Written by	Kermit Hunter
Date premiered	July 1, 1950 (1950-07-01)
Place premiered	Cherokee, North Carolina
Genre	Outdoor historical drama

Unto These Hills is an outdoor historical drama staged Monday through Saturday evenings during summers at the 2,800-seat Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee in western North Carolina. It is the third oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States, after The Lost Colony in Manteo in eastern, North Carolina, as well as Ramona in California. The first version of the play was written by Kermit Hunter and opened on July 1, 1950, to wide acclaim.

The play follows the story of the Cherokee of the Eastern region up to their removal in 1838 via the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. The drama includes notable Cherokee historic figures, including Sequoyah, Junaluska, Chief Yonaguska or Drowning Bear, and William Holland Thomas (the adopted son of Drowning Bear and the first and only white chief of the Cherokee), Selu the Corn Mother, and Kanati the Great Hunter.

The play has run for more than 60 years at the Mountainside Theatre.

Famous alumni of Unto These Hills include Michael Rosenbaum, best known for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville; Adam Richman, host of Travel Channel's Man v. Food; Polly Holliday, of the 1970s sitcom Alice; and actor and former U.S. Representative Ben L. Jones of Georgia, a regular on CBS's The Dukes of Hazzard.