Carbo's Smokey Mountain Police Museum

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

The spirit of rugged individualism that built Tennessee -- of men like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone -- is alive and well.

Or at least it was until the mid-1970s when Buford Pusser, the Walking Tall sheriff, who had been shot eight times and knifed seven times, died in a mysterious gas explosion behind the wheel of his Corvette. The charred 1974 Corvette (what's left of it) is on display behind glass at Carbo's Smoky Mountain Police Museum in tourist mecca Pigeon Forge, which devotes an entire wall of exhibit space to Pusserabilia. Buford, for the uninformed, is the ax handle-wielding sheriff of "Walking Tall" '70s movie fame (and a remake of sorts by The Rock).

Still popular? we ask the cashier. Down here, most everybody still remembers Buford, "and the young kids are interested, too." Exhibits change frequently, including 5000 police badges, confiscated drug paraphernalia and a video interview of Buford. Was his fiery crash outside Adamsville, TN, in 1974 an accident?

That is left for you to decide. The autographed photos of Bo Svenson, Jack Lord, and Eric Estrada let you know where Carbo's sympathies are.

Also see: Home of Buford Pusser