254 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



about 2 miles above Buffalo. A comparatively small area on the 

 south is drained by Trace Fork and other tributaries of the 

 Mud river, and a small area on the west is drained by Eighteen- 

 mile creek, a direct tributary of the Ohio. 



Original Timber Conditions. 



The timbers of the county were principally hardwoods, the 

 oaks, yellow poplar and beech predominating. The principal 

 softwoods were yellow pine and red cedar. There were small 

 quantities of white and scrub pine and hemlock. Mr. Louis 

 Barnhart, of Winfield, gives the names of 40 hardwoods that are 

 commonly found in his section, and speaks of oak, yellow poplar 

 and yellow pine as timbers that deserve special mention on 

 account of their abundance and good quality. A yellow poplar, 

 said to have been 10 feet in diameter and 80 feet to the first 

 limb, once stood in the southern end of the county. 



The Lumber Industry. 



Much of the rich bottom land and portions of the hill 

 country were cleared by the early settlers many years before the 

 timber had any commercial value. Only a small percentage of 

 the heavy stand of timber could be utilized for log houses, fences, 

 etc. and so the rest was rolled together in heaps and burned 

 just as it was in all other pioneer settlements. The only lumber 

 manufactured during these early times was sawed by hand- 

 operated whip saws or by primitive water saw mills. The latter, 

 however, were not used to a great extent as in many other coun- 

 ties. Ventroux mill, which ran many years ago on Hurricane 

 creek, was of this type. 



About the fi^rst timber cut for commercial purposes was 

 split into barrel and pipe staves by the owners of woodland and 

 sold for cash or traded for goods at the various stores located 

 at Buffalo, Redhouse, Winfield, Poca, and other points along 

 •the river. The merchants shipped most of the staves down 

 the river in barges. This industry began before the Civil War 

 and continued for 10 or 15 years. Later this grew into a large 

 business. Buyers came in and bought and shipped staves from 



