WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



291 



to the same causes as for those on Fish and Fishing creeks and 

 on the Ohio river. 



' ' The tributaries of Middle Island in Tyler county are from 

 the north; Point Pleasant, Indian and McElroy creeks, all three 

 of which are fairly large streams, and Buffalo, Left Buffalo, 

 Shriver, Gorrell, Muddy, Jefferson and Camp Mistake runs. 

 Those putting in from the south in Tyler county are McKim, 

 Sugar and Sancho creeks, and Gorrell, Jug, Pitts, Wheeler, 

 Conaway, Purgatory, McGee, Big and Short runs."* 



Original Timber Conditions. 



The leading hardwoods of the county were white oak, yel- 

 low poplar and hickory. Residents of the county make the claim 

 that the best white oak timber in the state once grew here; and 

 if the areas of virgin timber that still remain uncut are fair 

 representatives of the original forests then their claim cannot 

 be greatly in error. Single acres — according to the word of ex- 

 perienced and reliable timber cruisers — are yet to be found 

 that contain not fewer than 25,000 feet of choice hardwood, 

 about 90 per cent of which is white oak. Other hardwoods 

 commonly found were black oak, black and white walnut, sweet 

 buckeye, basswood, white ash, black gum, sycamore, hackberry 

 (called hoop-wood), sugar and red maples, beech, and chestnut. 

 White elms are abundant also on low ground. An old tree of 

 this species now standing on Middle Island creek has a horizon- 

 tal expanse of limbs of 120 feet. A few slippery elms and cu- 

 -cumbers were to be found and a very few sweet birches grew 

 on McElroy creek, a tributary of Middle Island. The softwoods 

 were yellow pine, white pine, pitch pine, hemlock and red cedar. 

 None of these were abundant except yellow pine which grew 

 from the center of the county up Middle Island creek and its 

 tributaries. The white pine was scattered along the bluffs and 

 water courses in clumps throughout the hilly sections back from 

 the Ohio river. It is said that an average of a thousand feet to 

 the acre of yellow and white pine once grew in half of the 

 county. According to that estimate there were over 83,000,000 



*W. Va. Geo. Surv. county reports, "Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler 

 counties," pp. 46-47. 



