FOREST AND STREAM. 
On- 
WKIfflltlM 
Officers of A. C. A., J904. 
Commodore— C. F. Welters', 14 Main St. E., Rochester, N. Y. 
Secretary-Treasurer— John Sears Wright, 519' West End Ave., 
Ro.chester, N. Y. . ^ " 
- - ATLANTIC DIVISION. 
Vice-Gonimodore— L. C. Kretzmer, L. C. Schepp Building, New 
. York. ■ ' 
Rear-Commodore— VV. A. Furman,. 846 Berkeley Ave., Trenton, N.J. 
Ptirser— M. Ohlmeyer, Jr., 201 Palisade. Ave., West Hoboken, N.J. 
Executive Committee— H. L. Pollard, 138 Front St., New York; 
N. S. Hyatt, Ossining, N. Y.; PI. C. Allen, 64 Prospect St., 
Trenton, N. J. 
Board of Governors— R. J. Wilkin, 26 Court St., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Racing Board— H. L. Quick, Yonkers, N. Y. • 
CENTRAL DIVISION. 
Vice-^;ommodore— H. W. Breitenstein, 511 Market St., Pittsburg, 
Pa. 
Rear-Commodore— H. C. Hoyt, 164 Crescent Ave., Buffalo, N. Y. 
Purser--Frank C. •Demmler, 526 Smithfield St., Pittsburg, Pa. 
Executive Committee — Jesse J. Armstrong, Rome, N. Y. ; John 
S. Wright, 519 West Ave., Rochester, N. Y. 
Board of Governors— G. P. Forbush, 14 Main St., East, Rochester, 
N. Y. 
Racing Board— Harry M. Stewart, 85 Main St., East, Rochester, 
N. Y. 
EASTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore — Plenri Schaeffer, Manchester, N. H. 
Rear-Commodore— H. M. S. Aiken, 45 Milk St., Boston, Mass. 
Purser, Edw. B. Stearns, Manchester, N. H. 
Executive Committee- B. F. Jacobs, Jr., West Medford, Mass.; 
D. S. Pratt, Jr., Wellesley Plills, Mass.; Marcus Butler, 
Lawrence, Mass.; 'William VV. Crosby, Woburn, Mass. 
Board of Governors — Paul Butler, U. S. Cartridge Co., Lowell, 
Mass. 
Racing Board— Paul Butler, U. S. Cartridge Co., Lowell, Mass.; 
H. D. Murphy, alternate. 
NORTHERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore— Chas. W. McLean, 303 St. James St., Montreal, 
Canada. 
Rear-Commodore — Wm. Sparrow, Toronto. 
Purser — J. V. Nutter, Montreal, Canada. 
Executive Committee— C. E. Britton, Gananoque, Ont. ; Harry 
Page, Toronto. 
Board of Governors— J. N. MacKendrick, Gait, Ont. 
Racing Board — E, J. Minet, Montreal, Canada. 
WESTERN DIVISION. 
Vice-Commodore— Burton D. Munhall, care of Brooks Household 
Art Co., Cleveland, O. 
Rear-Commodore— Chas. J. Stedman, National Lafayette Bank, 
Cincinnati, O. 
Purser— Geo. A. Hall, care of Bank of Commerce, Cleveland, O. 
Executive Committee— Thos. P. Eckert, 31 West Court St., Cin- 
cinnati, O. ; Dr. H. L. Frost, 10 Howard St., Cleveland, O. 
Board of Governors— Henry C. Morse, Peoria, 111. 
How to Join the A. C. A. 
From Chapter L, Section 1, of the by-laws of the A. C. A. : 
"Application for membership shall be made to the Division 
Pursers, and shall be accompanied by the recommendation of an 
active member and by the sum of two dollars, one dollar as 
entrance fee and one dollar as dues for the current year, to be 
refunded in case of non-election of the applicant." 
The Shenandoahs Cruise the 
Greenbrier, 
By F. R. WEBB ("commodore"), of STAUNTONj VIRGINIA; 
The Story Which "Won the Fourth Prize of $10 io 
^'Forest and Stream" Cruising Competition. 
' I. — Pro Log. 
The afternoon sun was getting well down towards the 
surnmit of Cheat Mountain, whose gigantic , crest loomed 
up in a towering wall across the western horizon in front 
of us, as our tired horses topped the range to the east, 
and the Greenbrier Valley lay below us. George and I 
sprang from the wagon, as the panting horses stopped for 
a short time to "blow" and rest, and essayed to get a 
glirnpse into the valley below. The gorge looked fathom- 
less from our standpoint. The sun had already set in the 
depths below, and the shadow lay purple and heavy under 
the frowning ramparts of Cheat. The densely wooded 
mountain slope at our feet seemed almost perpendicular, 
and from no point of view could we get a glimpse of 
the bottom. Far down under our feet smoke was rising 
frorn the stacks of the great lumber mill at Cass, our 
destination, and jets of steam curled up in feathery 
plumes from among the treetops in the bottom of the 
chasm a thousand feet below us, while the whistle of a 
railroad engine, faint and far away, came to our ears, 
mellowed and musical, from somewhere out of the depths 
below. The sandy, rocky road zigzagged steeply down 
the almost perpendicular mountain, which rose in an 
abrupt, tree-clothed wall on one side, and fell away in a 
frowzy precipice on the other, the while we bumped 
and rattled our uncomfortable and decidedly shaky way 
down into the gorge. It seemed as if that chasm had 
no bottom, but in due time the still, lake-like waters of 
the mill pond glimmered up at us through the trees, the 
15ft. dam shimmered jn the twilight, its apron, sides and 
ends lined with fishermen in pursuit of the bass supposed 
to congrega.te at the foot of the impassable barrier; and 
in a few minutes more we were drawn up in the strag- 
gling little wooden lumber village, prospecting for a 
site for camp, which was duly found, and we were soon 
comfortable for the next few days. 
For a great many years the Greenbrier Club, of Staun- 
ton, has made its annual pilgrimages to the far upper 
waters of the stream from which it derives its name in 
pursuit of trout; the pilgrimages generally proving quite 
satisfactory, te 'say nothing of the beautiful two days' 
trip over the mountains to get there; and from the time 
of our first trip George and I have been possessed with 
a desire to get our canoes otit there and cruise the river 
from the point where the East and West Forks (the 
"Near" and "Far Prongs" as they are locally known) 
unite, a few miles below our camp; but, as it is 75 miles 
out there from Staunton, which is (or was) also the 
nearest railroad station, our project seemed chimerical, 
until all at once the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Com- 
pany built a road right up along the banks of the river 
from Ronceverte to this very point, where, in the forks of 
the river, they located a promising town known as Dur- 
biii (which, like Mr. Scadder's Eden, has not been all 
built up yet), which at once made our visionary plan en- 
tirely practical. This year, therefore, we had shipped our 
canoes and cruising outfit around by rail to Durbin, the 
while we joined the club for our annual pilgrimage. We 
had been at Camp Cooke — our regular camping place on 
Van Buren Arbogast's farm on the "Near Prong," a few 
miles above Durbin — for a week, and had caught all the 
trout in the river, after which we had packed up and 
gone up on Cheat Mountain, and spent a night on Cheat 
River, that remarkable river that runs along right on top 
of a 4,oooft. mountain, where we met with no success, 
some other party having evidently caught all the trout 
out of this stream ; and had then returned to the Green- 
brier and driven down the country and crossed back into 
its valley at Cass, 15 miles below the confluence of the 
two forks at Durbin, at which point, as already intimated, 
there is a lumber mill and a 15ft. dam, which, since it 
forms a barrier ordinarily impassable to the ascent of the 
bass, had been recommended to us as a fine fishing place. 
As this is not a history of the doing of the Greenbrier 
Club, no further time and space will be devoted to its 
doings, further than to state that we stayed at Cass for 
four or five days, and enjoyed some really excellent fish- 
ing, and that on a certain June morning, and very early . 
in the morning at that, the camp was broken and packed 
and the return trip overland to Staunton was begun. 
George and I were left standing on the river bank while 
the rest of the party, after cordial good-bys and good 
wishes for our adventurous and unknown cruise, labor- 
iously climbed the mountain on their homeward trip, 
arid were lost to sight. In due time a passenger -train 
came spinning along up the river bank, and George 
and I were promptly and easily set back up the river 
15 miles to Durbin, from which place we proposed to 
begin our cruise; and where we found our canoes and 
outfit safely lying in the freight house, and very much 
at our disposal. 
After preliminary survey of the banks of the Near 
Prong, which ran but 100 yards back of the freight 
station, an eligible site for camp was located, about 
a mile above the confluence of the two forks, and the 
canoes and dufile transferred to the bank. We made 
no start on this first day, but erected our tents over 
the canoes and went into camp, and the afternoon was 
devoted to unpacking the camp outfit, and sorting, re- 
packing and otherwise arranging our outfit for what 
we fully expected would prove an arduous cruise, for 
the_ average mountain stream is no joke; and, as our 
United States Geological Survey map of the river, with 
which we were provided, has its 100 foot contour lines 
crossing the river at an average distance of about 10 
miles (with some few in a much less distance than that), 
we had every reason to expect a tolerably lively trip. 
It will be the duty of the veracious chronicler of this 
narative to show that this expectation was fully verified. 
We did pur sorting and packing leisurely and care- 
fully, and in due time everything was in readiness for 
the morrow's start. We had a good hearty camp 
supper, and after a pleasant evening around a little 
blaze of a camp-fire — for the evening was quite chill — 
we turned in for an early morning's start. 
The Greenbrier River lies wholly in West Virginia, 
and is formed in the extreme upper end of Pocahontas 
county, by the union of two small streams known as 
the East and West Forks; or, as they are termed in 
local parlance, the Near and the Far Prongs, both of 
which have their sources in the trackless wilderness of 
mountain land that lies along the hazy boundary be- 
tween Pocahontas and Randolph counties. The river 
pursues a general southwesterly course of about 90 
miles between the mountain ranges, in which distance 
it develops a winding length of 165 miles, and falls 
into the New River just above Hinton, flowing through 
the counties of Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Summers, 
and just touching the upper corner of Monroe, which 
county it divides from Greenbrier for about 3 miles. 
With its tributaries (none of which are of any con- 
siderable size) it drains the rather considerable valley 
bounded on the east by the giant backbone range of 
the Alleghany mountain, and on the west by the 
equally _ gigantic ranges of the Cheat and Greenbrier 
mountains; the actual valley of the river, however, is 
very narrow and circumscribed; the river being closely 
hemmed in by ranges and foothills, "ridges," as they 
are locally termed, which impinge so closely on the 
river that in many places the valley becomes a mere 
gorge or trough, of great depth, at the bottom of which 
the river vvinds its sinuous course in and out among 
the mountain spurs, which rise steeply from the water's 
edge, sometimes to a great hight, on either side. The 
scenery is therefore, as a rule, quite wild and picturesque. 
The mountaihs are densely wooded to their summits, 
with here and there lines of cliffs projecting from 
among the trees, or towering aloft along the summits 
above the treetops. The river is a bold, swift stream, 
with an average fall of 10 feet to the mile; and, as a 
consequence, is full of rapids, which, however, occur 
in such constant succession, with no pools or eddies 
of any length between them, that none of them offer 
any particular difficulty or danger to the experienced 
canoeist. About 25 miles below Marlinton the river 
cuts through the Droop mountain range, and probably 
the roughest water on the river is found in this gorge. 
Its waters are very clear, and of a beautiful amber tint 
in its upper reaches, changing to a slaty blue farther 
down. The two upper prongs are noted trout streams; 
and although the West Branch, or Far Prong has 
been practically fished out for some years, the East 
Branch or Near Prong still affords good fishing, not 
too late in the season, and is much visited by anglers 
in search of sport of this character. Below the junc- 
tion of the two forks no trout are found, except oc- 
casionally quite early in the season, although this sec- 
tion of the stream still preserves its characteristic 
trout-stream features. Bass begin to appear in this 
section of the river; and, indeed, are found in the lower 
.reaches of the two "prongs," but are not found in any 
numbers above the big dam at Cass, 15 miles below the 
confluence of the two prongs. There is a trout hatchery 
on Anthony's creek, about 90 miles down the river 
from the confluence, but it would be difficult to see 
how the trout could pass the dam at Cass. There is 
a technical fish ladder in this dam, but owing to the 
peculiar construction of both the dam and the ladder, 
to say nothing of the hight of the dam, it would take 
a peculiarly agile and well educated trout to make a 
success of the ladder. 
As a cruising stream the Greenbrier can be highly 
recommended. It combines to an unusual degree the 
qualities a good cruising stream should have: a small, 
rapid river, flowing through wild mountain scenery, 
full of rapids, which, while swift and rough enough to be 
exciting are in nowise dangerous; absolutely free from 
fish dams, and practically so from mill dams; for the 
only dams encountered on the cruise were the ones 
at Cass, Caldwell and Ronceverte; and I do not think 
that there are any dams below Ronceverte. The dam 
at Caldwell is so low as to present practically no 
obstacle, and canoes can go right over it at a fair stage 
of water. A healthful climate, free from malaria and 
mosquitoes; railroad facilities immediately at hand; 
farmhouses, railroad stations and villages close enough 
at hand to insure a renewal of supplies without special 
difficulty; a simple, rural, well disposed population, 
ready to render any needed assistance for the asking, 
and prompt to respond to any reasonable demands of 
the cruising stranger. It is a stream, however, that 
cannot be cruised at an extreme low stage of water, as 
most of the rapids or "riffles" spread out over wide, 
shallow bars that will not afford water enough to float 
even the lightest draft canoe. A stage of from 6 to 
12 inches above extreme low water mark will afford 
a favorable stage for cruising; and while I make this 
statement without consulting him I am confident that 
Dr. Norman Price, of Marlinton, Pocahontas county. 
West Virginia, will readily give information as to the 
stage of water, as well as of other points of interest 
desired by the canoeists wishing to cruise the stream. 
Canoeists are advised not to cruise the river between 
Durbin and Cass, as, while the stream is beautiful and 
interesting in this reach, the difficulties of running it 
entirely outweigh the satisfaction to be gained. Marl- 
inton, 40 miles below Durbin, is probably the best 
point from which to start, although the canoeist might 
well begin at Clover Lick or even at Cass; and the 
entire river, from these points through to Flinton will 
repay the running. There is said to be some quite 
rough water in the big bend between Talcott and Hin- 
ton, but as our cruise ended at Ronceverte, we did not 
run this lower section of the river, and I can tell noth- 
ing of the water from personal knowledge. 
No attempt is made on the map to show all of the 
rapids, or anything like all of them, as they occur so 
constantly that practically the entire river is a rapid, 
and only those of greater note are indicated. No 
special instructions are needed, as the river is so small 
that the most available channels down the rapids will 
be at once apparent to the eye of the experienced 
cruiser. As a general rule, it is safe, when the rapids 
occur alongside the railroad embankment, to keep out 
as far from the railroad as the water will allow, as in 
blasting out the road bed, huge masses of rock have 
been unceremoniously tumbled into the river, and 
generally lie up next to the roadway; this rule is ' 
particularly applicable to those rapids which occur in 
sharp bends, where the river impinges into the road- 
way. 
The figures on the map refer to the miles. The map 
is taken from the latest United States Geological Sur- 
vey charts. ~ 
Our outfit has been so often described in the various 
accounts of bur Shenandoah cruises, published from 
time to time in the columns of Forest and Strea^m, 
