474 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vot. 84 



River and the Big Bend. In 1768 and for some years afterward 

 deer were quite common along Hackers Creek in Harrison County 

 (McWhorter, 1915, p. 80). George Washington refers in his journal 

 (Sparks, 1839, p. 112) to the abundance of deer near the mouth of 

 the Great Kanawha River on October 5, 1770. The Rev. David 

 Jones writes in his journal (1865, p. 27) under date of December 16, 

 1772, that Mr. Owens killed several deer near the mouth of the Little 

 Kanawha River. Historical accounts of West Virginia counties con- 

 tain other references to the former abundance of deer. Brooks 

 (1911, p. 12) mentions one hunter who had killed 600 deer. 



It is believed that native white-tailed deer still exist in Pendleton, 

 Randolph, and Pocahontas Counties. Nevertheless, W^est Virginia 

 has introduced deer from other States into many of its forests. Dur- 

 ing the summer of 1936, deer were fairly common on Cheat Mountain, 

 but only a few were reported to occur on Middle Mountain. Cal- 

 culations based on tally counts made during periodical drives on 

 twelve 160-acre plots within the Monongahela National Forest 

 indicate, according to Arthur A. Wood, forest supervisor, a mean 

 abundance of 1 deer to each 108 acres in middle and southern Poca- 

 hontas County, but only 1 deer to each 420 acres for the entire forest. 



Greenbrier Covinty: Meadow Creek Mountains, 5 miles northeast of Shryock, 1. 

 Preston County: Rowlesburg, 1. 



CERVUS CANADENSIS CANADENSIS Enleben 



« Eastern Elk, or Wapiti 



So far as can be ascertained from printed records, native elk dis- 

 appeared from West Virginia at least 65 years ago. Elk were present 

 throughout the State at the time when the first settlers arrived. In 

 1671 Sir William Berkeley sent a small exploring party (Brodhead, 

 1853, p. 193; Bushnell, 1907, p. 46) under the command of Thomas 

 Batts and Robert Fallam to explore the country west of the settlements 

 in Virginia. According to Beverley (1705, book 1, p. 64) "they set 

 out together from Appomattox [near Petersburg], and in seven days' 

 march reach'd the foot of the mountains. The mountains [Blue 

 Ridge] they first arriv'd at, were not extraordinary high or steep; 

 but, after they had pass'd the first ridge, they encoimter'd others, 

 that seem'd to reach the clouds, and were so perpendicular and full 

 of precipices, that sometimes in a whole day's march they could not 

 travel three miles in a direct line. In other places they found large 

 level plains and fine savanna's three or four miles wide, in which were 

 an infinite quantity of turkies, deer, elks, and buffaloes, so gentle and 

 undisturbed, that they had no fear at the appearance of the men; 

 but would suffer them to come almost within reach of their hands." 



The next mention of elk in West Virginia is found in the journal of 

 Christopher Gist (Darlington, 1893, p. 77). Gist writes under date 



