Another little known fact about Georgia. The first gold rush in the states happened in North Georgia in a little town called Delonaga. I used to go pan for gold there with the kids on the weekend. Great family fun. Anyway, most folks think of California when they think of gold but Delonaga has Cali beat. Another little known fact is about the white tailed deer. The whitetail deer in GA aren't native to the area. During the civil war, the deer were hunted out almost completely. Some time after the war, deer from the north were transplanted into GA to replace the whitetail stocks. Also the forests you see are not the original forests. The original forests were logged out completely. What you see know is mostly poplar and mixed hardwoods. Before the logging the forests were more Hemlocks, white pines, ect.
Like you say, most folks have a one dimensional view of GA history. In all actuality it's very deep and rich