WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



221 



admit of easy cultivation. In some places, however, the hill- 

 sides are steep and rough. This is especially true of those that 

 slope abruptly to the Ohio river and to the narrow bottoms of 

 the larger creeks. The elevation of the land at the mouth of 

 Short creek in the northwestern corner of the county is 668 

 feet. The lowest point is found at the Ohio river where it 

 leaves the county on the south at an elevation of 610 feet. The 

 hills rise in many places to a height of 1,100 to 1,300 feet and 

 in the southeastern corner reach an elevation of 1,440 feet. 



The Ohio river forms the wetsern boundary of the county 

 for about 12 miles and all the streams flow directly into it or 

 into its larger tributaries. The principal tributary of the Ohio 

 in this county is Wheeling creek^ entering from Marshall county 

 on the south and emptying at the city of Wheeling. Other 

 smaller streams are Short creek, a direct tributary of the Ohio, 

 and Little A¥heeling creek, a tributary of Wheeling creek. 



Early Timber Conditions. 



According to Capt. Charles J. Rawling and Mr. William 

 H. Irwin, of Wheeling, both early settlers in Ohio county, the 

 valley of the Ohio river and of Wheeling creek and, in fact, 

 all parts of the county were exceptionally well timbered with 

 hardwoods of many kinds. The most abundant of these were 

 white oak^ chestnut oak, hickory, cherry, locust, ash, elm, pop- 

 lar, beech, black walnut and sycamore. The principal soft- 

 wood was red cedar which grew in scattered clumps through- 

 out the county. 



Early Settlements and the Lumber Industry. 



Much of the best timber of the county was destroyed by 

 early settlers in the process of clearing their land for cultiva- 

 tion. Settlement began at a very early date. Col. Ebenezer 

 Zane, one of the three Zane brothers who settled at Wheeling in 

 1769, cleared a small boundary of land for corn in the Ohio 

 Valley in 1771. During the period of early settlement timber 

 had little or no commercial value and, for this reason, all that 

 was cut down, except a small quantity used in the construction 



