HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA, BY VIRGIL A. LEWIS, A.M. This file was scanned, OCRed, edited, and submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA. FROM PREHISTORIC TIMES TO THE PERMANENT SETTLEMENT OF WHITE MEN IN THE STATE. PART I. HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA. CHAPTER I. A GEOGRAPHICAL AND PHYSICAL VIEW. 1. Geographical Position of the State. West Virginia lies chiefly on the western slope of the Appa- lachian Mountain System, and is situated between 37° 6' and 40° 38' north latitude, and between 0° 40' and 5° 35' longitude west from Washington. It is territorially bounded on the north by Ohio, Pennsyl- vania and Maryland; on the east, by Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia; on the south, by Virginia and Kentucky, and on the west, by Kentucky and Ohio. 2. Description of Boundary Lines. West Vir- ginia is the most irregular in shape of all the States of the American Union. Why this is so, will appear as we progress in the study of its history. No legal description of its boundary lines has been prepared, but may be given thus: Beginning at a point on the summit of the Blue Ridge, one mile east of Harper's Ferry, where the Potomac breaks through that moun- tain barrier; thence with the said river to the mouth of the South Branch thereof; thence with the mean- derings of the North Branch to its source or first fountain, thence with the meridian passing through the said first fountain due north to the southern boundary of Pennsylvania; thence due west to the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, and thence due north to the low water mark on the west bank of the Ohio river; thence with the said low water mark along the Ohio, to the mouth of the Big Sandy river; thence with that river and Tug Fork thereof, to the mouth of Knox Creek; thence to the western extremity of the dividing ridge now separating Virginia and West Virginia, and thence with the lines separating the several adjoining counties of the two States to the place of beginning. To travel around the state by the boundary thus described, would require a journey of 1,170 miles. 3. Extent and Area of the State. The total area of the state is 24,715 square miles, of which 135 square miles are water surface. This area is almost twenty times that of Rhode Island; twelve times that of Delaware; five times that of Connecticut; three times that of Massachusetts, and more than twice that of Maryland. The longest straight line that can be drawn across the State is that between a point on the Blue Ridge, one mile east of Harper's Ferry, and Vir- ginia Point, at the mouth of Big Sandy river; it measures 274 3/4; miles. The longest line that can be drawn through the State from north to south, if extended from the northern limit of Hancock county to a point on Dividing Ridge, on the southern border of McDowell county, would measure 245 miles. 4. Physical Features of West Virginia. West Virginia is often called the "Little Mountain State." This is due to the presence of the western ridges of the Appalachian Mountain System, which extend parallel through the eastern part of the State. These mountains are grouped under the gen- eral term of Alleghanies, but are known by various local names in different parts of the State: as the Greenbrier, Peters', Big Clear, the Yew Pine, the Gauley, the Black, the Rich, the Cheat, the South Fork, the North Fork the Jersey, the North mountains and others. Amid the lofty elevations the scenery rivals in grandeur and beauty any to be found elsewhere on the conti- nent, or, perhaps, in the world. For this reason the State is frequently spoken of as the "Switzerland of America." 5. The Plateau Region of West Virginia. The mountain elevations around the sources of the Tug, Twelve Pole, Guyandotte and Cole rivers in the counties of Mingo, Logan, McDowell, Wyoming and Raleigh, are but a northern continuation of the Cumberland range of Tennessee and Kentucky, and they stand upon the Cumberland Plateau, which extends northward centrally through West Virginia, to the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. Upon this elevation lies all the hilly portion between the mountains and the. Ohio river. This is the most extensive region of the State; its general character is that of vast ranges of hills with ever recurring valleys and ever changing scenes. 6. Elevation Above Sea Level. The altitude of a country is a subject of much interest, for it not only determines in a great measure, the climatic conditions and products, but largely, the character of the inhabi- tants. The following elevations have been ascertained by the United States Geological Survey and may therefore be taken as accurate. At the mouth of Big Sandy river, the altitude is 510 feet above the Gulf of Mexico; at Wheeling, 645 feet; at the source of the Twelve Pole river, 997 feet; at Harper's Ferry, 279 feet above Chesapeake Bay; at the mouth of Tygart's Valley river, 875 feet; Loudoun Heights, Jefferson county, 1,000 feet; Little North Mountains, Berkeley county, 1,000 feet; Sleepy Creek Mountains, between Berkeley and Morgan counties, 1,500 feet; Mann Knob, Wayne county, 1,43 7 feet; Powell Knob, Gilmer county, 1,460 feet; Bragg Knob, Clay county, 1,674 feet; High Knob, Braxton county, 1,720 feet; Milam Ridge, Wyoming county, 2,500 feet; East River Mountain and Stoney Ridge, Mercer county, 2,500 feet; Mitchell Ridge, Raleigh county, 3,000 feet; Flat Top Mountain, between Raleigh and Mercer counties, 3,500 feet; Swope's Knob, Monroe county, 3,000 feet; Big Sewell mountains, Fayette county, 3,500 feet; South Branch mountain, Hardy county, 3,000 feet; Keeney's Knob, Summers county, 3,955 feet; Cold Knob, Greenbrier county, 4,318 feet; High Knob, Randolph county, 4,710 feet; Spruce Knob, Pocahontas county, 4,730 feet; Spruce Knob, Pendle- ton county, 4,860 feet. The latter is the greatest elevation yet determined in the State. 7. The Rivers of West Virginia. The whole of the State lies within the Mississippi basin, except the counties of Berkeley, Morgan, Jefferson, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Grant and Pendleton, which lie east of the mountains and belong to the Atlantic Slope drainage. All of the State west of the mountains, is drained into the Ohio by the Big Sandy, Twelve Pole, Guyandotte, Great Kanawha, Little Kanawha and Monongahela rivers, with smaller streams, all of which flow in a northwest direction. The Big Sandy river forms the boundary between West Virginia and Kentucky. The Great Kanawha has its source in western North Carolina, and its upper course above its junction with the Gauley river, is known as New River; its principal tributaries are the Greenbrier, the Gauley, the Elk, the Coal* and Pocatalico rivers. The principal tributary of the Little Kanawha is Hughes river which was once called Junius' river. The Monongahela, in its course, receives the waters of the Cheat and Tygart's Valley rivers. That portion of the state east of the mountains, is drained by the South Branch of the Potomac, the Opequon and Caca- pon rivers and several smaller streams. *The statement that this river was named for Samuel Cole and should be spelled C-o-l-e is a mistake. In 1742, John Peter Salley with John Howard, Josiah Howard and Charles St. Clair, left Augusta county, Virginia; crossed the mountains; descended New River to Richmond Falls; thence traveled westward to another river which they descended, and because "In those mountains we found great plenty of coals * * * we named it Coal River," and such it is today. From the mouth of the Great Kanawha they descended the Ohio which had been discovered by the French explorer Robert, Cavalier la Salle, in 1669. 8. Source of Six Rivers. From the lofty apex of the mountain region which connects the counties of Pocahontas, Randolph and Pendleton, flow six beau- tiful mountain rivers, five of which drain the principal part of the State. These are the South Branch of the Potomac, Cheat river, the Tygart's Valley river, the Elk river, the Greenbrier river and Jackson's river, the latter of which has its source beyond the State line and flows away to join the historic James river of Virginia. Each of the five rivers flowing through West Virginia has its first fountain on the highest elevation of the Alleghanies and two of them find their way to mingle their waters with those of Chesapeake Bay, whilst three of them by way of the Ohio and Mississippi, discharge their waters into the Gulf of Mexico. This mountain ele- vation may be called the "Birthplace of Rivers." 9. Where Our History has been Made. It was here in the valleys of the rivers of West Virginia, upon the hills and amid the mountain fastnesses, that the events which go to make up the history of our State, have taken place. And we are now to learn of them, that hereafter we may study the history of other States and of the Nation; but before we can successfully do that, we must know the history of our own State. It will be a task of rare interest to all who shall carefully study it and thus leam how the territory within the State has been changed from a howling wilderness inhabited by wild beasts and savage men, to a land of schools, churches and thou- sands of happy homes, the abode of a brave and intel- ligent people who dare to maintain the enduring State as a part of the great Nation. " No tyrant here can wield the accursed rod Where all breathe the atmosphere of God! This goodly land by Nature's stem decree Was preordained a land of liberty. "