284 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



Harper's Magazine for December, 1853, (Vol. YIII, p. 18) 

 contains a sketcli in which this region is spoken of in the fol- 

 lowing somewhat exaggerated terms: "In Randolph County, 

 Virginia, there is a tract of country containing from seven to 

 nine hundred square miles, entirely uninhabited, and so inac- 

 cessible that it has rarely been penetrated even by the most ad- 

 venturous. The settlers on its borders speak of it with dread, 

 as an ill-omened region, filled with bears, panthers, impassable 

 laurel brakes and dangerous precipices. Stories are told of 

 hunters ha^dng ventured too far, becoming entangled, and per- 

 ishing in its intricate labyrinths. ' ' The region is also described, 

 in somewhat similar terms, in a volume called "The Black^vater 

 Chronicle," (New York, 1853) which treats of a hunting trip 

 to the locality in question, and a brief allusion to it will be 

 found in "Picturesque America." (Vol. I, pp. 390, 391). 



The recorded impressions of visitors who saw this region in 

 its original, wild state, if slightly exaggerated, are suggestive 

 at least of the denseness of the forests which covered it then. 

 It is probable that nowhere in West Virginia, nor in the United 

 States, according to Major Hotchkiss, an authority on the re- 

 sources of the Virginias, did there exist a more luxuriant growth 

 of spruce and hemlock than over a large part of this area. ' ' The 

 trees were as straight as an arrow and frequently rose to a 

 height of 120 feet or more. In places their branches were so in- 

 terwoven that they formed a thick, dark shade, which, in the 

 summer season, was most delightful, but in winter, when the 

 sombre branches were droopiag with snow, the prospect was 

 gloomy beyond description." 



Disturbances in Canaan. 



Canaan Valley and the surrounding plateau country re- 

 mained practically undisturbed until 1863. That year a forest 

 fire occurred which, with other ''burnings" started by hunters, 

 destroyed the spruce timber on a large area. In 1877 a storm 

 swept a narrow path through the heart of the spruce belt, ex- 

 tending eastward from Dobbin Mansion for a distance of 6 or 8 

 miles. From this windfall other fires started and spread through 

 the forest. The timber suffered in 1882 from a severe drouth. 



