280 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



Fork which joins the Blackwater at Hendricks; and Otter 

 creek and Glady Fork, tributaries of Dry Fork. Blackwater is 

 the only large tributary of the Cheat which rises, with all its 

 branches, inside the boundaries of the county. The principal 

 tributaries of this stream are the Little Blackwater, followed by 

 the "Western Maryland Eailroad and emptying into the river 

 about 1 mile below Douglas; Beaver creek, emptying at Davis; 

 and, farther up, the smaller tributaries of its upper course. The 

 Blackwater and its tributaries drain the entire area of the plat- 

 eau which covers the eastern part of the county. Through this 

 they flow sluggishly falling not more than 100 feet in a dozen 

 miles. But, on reaching a point about 1 mile below the town of 

 Davis, the river plunges over the southern rim of the plateau 

 and, by a succession of picturesque cataracts and rapids, de- 

 scends 1,350 feet in a distance of 10 miles. From the mouth of 

 the Blackwater to the point where the Cheat river leaves the 

 county its fall is about 250 feet. This descent is not made regu- 

 larly but, in part, by a number of shoals occurring at irregular 

 intervals. 



The Original Timber Conditions. 



The greatly diversified character of the Tucker county area, 

 with its rich river bottoms, its lofty plateaus and mountains, 

 together with its unusual range of altitude, fit it for the exist- 

 ence of a remarkable forest growth. "When the old pioneers 

 first settled the bottom lands along the river, they found there 

 the most gigantic oaks, hickories, walnut and other timbers."* 

 The ''other timbers" here mentioned would include such trees 

 as the yellow poplar, basswood, white ash, sycamore, sweet buck- 

 eye, and the birches, maples and others usually associated with 

 them. Hemlock, the most abundant timber of the county, grew 

 in nearly all sections. White pine grew plentifully on Horse- 

 shoe run, Upper Dry run, Mill run and Clover run, as well as 

 on the southern exposures along Haddix creek and on benches 

 and faces of the Cheat river hills from Hendricks to St. George. 

 It was found in greatest abundance on Horseshoe run, up which 

 it extended for a distance of not less than 7 miles. The original 

 stand of white pine in Tucker county was probably not far from 

 15 or 20 million feet. West of Backbone mountain the land was 



* Maxwell's Hist, of Tucker Co., p. 139. 



