22 PHYSIOGRAPHY. 



Along the headwaters of the Little Kanawha in Lewis and 

 Upshur, there is a further deviation from the usual condition 

 caused by the fact that the river and its tributaries in this 

 region are still swift screams, not nearly so far advanced in the 

 erosive cycle as in the western part of the territory, this being 

 caused not alone by the greater elevation of the rocky folds of 

 the crust, but by their greater hardness through which the 

 streams cut more slowly. 



There are numerous instances of stream capture. In 

 Freemans Creek District, Lewis, the topographic map shows 

 that the Left Fork of Freemans Creek once was a continuous 

 stream from the Doddridge County Line, \ l / 2 miles south of 

 Coldwater, to Freemansburg as all the tributary streams along 

 this valley point at the proper angle to prove that this hypoth- 

 esis is true. In late years, however, Fink Creek, which be- 

 longs to the Little Kanawha River basin and lies at a level 

 approximately 200 feet lower than that of West Fork River 

 of which Freemans Creek is a part, cut through the dividing 

 watershed that once existed across the present valley of Fink 

 Creek about 2 l / 2 miles northwest of Churchville. and gradually 

 absorbed the drainage of the Left Fork to the low divide one 

 mile east of Churchville. It is evident that this portion of the 

 valley was once at a much higher level than at present, as the 

 low divide east of Churchville represents the old valley floor, 

 being 220 feet higher than the present drainage at Churchville. 



Another striking instance of stream capture is evident in 

 Skin Creek District, Lewis, and Buckhannon District, Upshur, 

 where the Right Fork of Stonecoal Creek has cut its way 

 through the soft shales of the Conemaugh Series, securing the 

 drainage from Wolfpen Run, Straight Run, Pringle Fork, 

 Brushlick Run, Bear Run, Spruce Fork and Glady Fork, all of 

 which, from their direction, evidently once flowed eastward 

 through Brushy Fork of Fink Run to the Buckhannon River. 

 It is plain from the topographic map that the watershed be- 

 tween Brushy Fork and Right Fork of Stonecoal was once 

 loc*ated in Lewis County, a short distance west of Wolfpen 

 Run. 



The West Fork River, in the region southwest of French- 

 ton, has robbed French Creek of much of its drainage, includ- 



