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An Environmental History of Canaan Valley
Kenneth L. Carvell

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 14, Special Issue 7 (2015): 428–432

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Southeastern Naturalist K.L. Carvell 205 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 428 Canaan Valley & Environs 2015 Southeastern Naturalist 14(Special Issue 7):428–432 An Environmental History of Canaan Valley Kenneth L. Carvell* Abstract - Today’s visitors to Canaan Valley know little about its former impenetrability and remoteness. Canaan Valley’s colorful parade of historical events began with the arrival of pioneer settlers and was followed by establishment of logging camps and railroads, devastating wildfires, and later, the US Forest Service era of planting and conservation programs. Recently, the Canaan Valley Resort and Blackwater Falls were developed as lodging and recreational facilities to help make Canaan Valley a vacation destination. Most of Canaan Valley’s (hereafter, the Valley) early history is poorly documented. The Valley has a rich past. For this summary historical descripton of the region, I have relied on the works of Allman (1976), Fansler (1962), Kennedy (1853), Maxwell (1984), and Mott (1972), and all factual statements are supported by one or more of these sources. It is believed that the first white men to scale the surrounding mountains and view the Valley were surveyors for Lord Fairfax in the late 1740s. When the men climbed Cabin Mountain on the east, Canaan Mountain to the west, and Brown Mountain to the north, they undoubtedly saw the great height and density of the lush forest growth on the surrounding slopes. As late as 1800, few permanent settlers lived in the area, and most frontiersmen were reluctant to venture far into the maze-like forests for fear of becoming lost and wandering aimlessly through the rhododendron thickets. The primary tree in the Valley’s virgin forest was Picea rubens Sarg. (Red Spruce). These giants, 25–30 in (64–76 cm ) in diameter and over 100 ft (30.5 m) tall, had deep, full crowns that created a closed canopy. The Red Spruces grew so close together that reports claim that it was impossible to read a newspaper within these stands, even at midday. Because of the dense shade, there was little undergrowth except Rhododendron sp. (rhododendron). In moist areas, rhododendron shrubs were so unyielding and troublesome to penetrate, that they were called slicks or hells. There are accounts of explorers and hunters stumbling through these thickets, only to find after wandering for hours that they had circled back to their starting point. Thus, few ventured into the Valley without a guide. Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman (White-tailed Deer), Ursus americanus (Pallas) (Black Bear), and occasionally Bison bison pennsylvanicus Shoemaker (Woodland Bison) and Cervus canadensis canadensis L. (Erxleben) (Eastern Elk), and many smaller mammals lived here in relative safety from hunters. Red Spruce was not the only component of the Valley’s coniferous forests. Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carriere (Eastern Hemlock) was a common associate, and together these species formed the Red Spruce-Eastern Hemlock forest, a *Division of Forestry (retired), West Virginia University, PO Box 6125, Morgantown, WV 26506. Address correspondence to Ron Preston: rpreston@comcast.net. Southeastern Naturalist K.L. Carvell 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 429 type unique within the 184,000-ha (460,000-ac) spruce forest of West Virginia. In the Northeast, Red Spruce usually grows with Abies balsamea L. (Mill.) (Balsam Fir), and in the Southern Appalachians it is mixed with Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir. (Fraser Fir). However, in the high-elevation forests of West Virginia, Eastern Hemlocks were the largest trees in these mixed stands, and often reached 4–5 ft (1.2–1.5 m) in diameter. Red Spruce grew even taller and provided more valuable lumber. Balsam Fir also grew in the Valley, but was restricted to wet glades; the Valley is one of only five locations in West Virginia where Balsam Fir grows. Despite the many changes in the Valley’s forests since settlement, Balsam Fir is common along the Blackwater River and in the wet areas next to the golf course at Canaan Valley Resort State Park. Locally, Balsam Fir was called Blister Pine because of the resin-filled blisters under its thin bark. This quaint name gave rise to such local place names as Blister Run, Blister Swamp, and Blister Swamp Run. In addition to conifers, the Valley also supported high-quality hardwoods. The first lumbermen to scout the area were particularly interested in the Prunus serotina Ehrh. (Black Cherry) trees, which grew with Acer saccharum Marsh. (Hard Maple) and Betula sp. (birch) on the slopes rising above the Valley floor. The tall, straight, well-pruned Black Cherry trees yielded high-quality materials for expensive furniture. The Valley contained other kinds of habitats including vast open areas and grassy glades. Tall grasses were most prominent along the Blackwater River and provided habitat for the Woodland Bison and Eastern Elk. Animal trails connecting these glades served as paths for the Valley’s first white trappers and hunters. A remarkable feature of this montane Valley is its size—13 mi (21 km ) long from north to south and 3–5 mi (4.8–8.0 km ) wide. The Valley floor is about 3200 ft (975 m ) in elevation, and the surrounding mountains are over 4000 ft (1219 m) tall. Today, visitors traveling along Route 32 see only the southern part of the Valley; there are no public roads in the Valley’s northern areas. To access the Valley’s upper reaches, hikers and hunters must follow old roads and tram-road grades, remnants of the logging era. Unfortunately, these tracks have been discovered by all-terrain vehicle riders, whose machines disturb vegetation and soils. The first permanent settlements in this remote, inhospitable place were established relatively late compared to those of adjacent states. Many emigrants moving westward from the East Coast were searching for deep, fertile soil to farm, and they passed through western Virginia and continued on to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, all of which were heavily settled before much of present-day West Virginia had any European population. The emigrants who settled on West Virginia’s rolling tablelands and steep slopes were often from mountainous areas of Europe, and the Valley reminded them of their homeland. The Valley and its surrounding spruce-covered mountains were relatively unexplored and even avoided during the great westward migrations. Forest clearing by lumbermen eventually opened up much of this high country to homesteaders. Southeastern Naturalist K.L. Carvell 205 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 430 Some early histories claim that a man named Canaan, or perhaps Kinnan, explored the Valley in 1791, but this report is unsubstantiated. The first settler’s identity is unknown, but it may have been Henry Fansler, who settled on Freeland Run in April 1800 on land now within the Valley’s state park. When he crested Cabin Mountain and looked down into the lush valley below, he is said to have proclaimed it the “Land of Canaan”, the fertile valley of wondrous beauty mentioned in the Old Testament. The Fansler family, however, remained in the Valley for only three years. The long, cold winters and short growing season forced them to retreat to lower elevations near Hendricks. In 1869, Solomon Cosner built a cabin on the same land formerly settled by the Fanslers. He owned 850 ac (344 ha), raised a large family, and reportedly killed over 500 bears during the two decades he lived in the Valley. The Cosners found the region strange, exciting, and wonderful—they were surprised to find wild horses and cattle, which had escaped during the Civil War from Confederate raiding parties in West Virginia sent to round up horses and cattle. The Cosner home became a favorite wilderness lodge for hunters and adventurers from eastern cities, and a great place to escape the summer heat. A few years after the Cosners arrived, the Nine family migrated from Terra Alta, WV, and in 1872 the Easthams joined the settlement. Soon thereafter, the Harpers, Freelands, Coopers, and Thompsons settled in the region. Although the first families subsisted primarily by hunting, the Coopers and Thompsons bought large acreages and cleared them for crops and grazing. Life for these early settlers was shaped by the Valley’s remoteness, although the Cortland post office, church, and school pre-date 1900. The town of Davis was not established until 1885; the Valley’s residents had to travel to Romney, Petersburg, or Winchester to buy and sell goods. In 1884, Henry Gassaway Davis, financier and developer of the West Virginia Central Railroad, extended tracks to Thomas and built a branch line to the site of present-day Davis, which quickly grew into a prosperous lumber town. By 1885, a lumber mill was operating, and a tannery, kindling-wood factory, and a pulp and paper mill soon followed. This fast-growing city had a profound effect on the Valley, and it was not long before logging engines were crossing Canaan Mountain into the Valley in harvest timber. The sites of the numerous logging camps, dating from 1880s to 1920s, are still discernible in the Valley. Young people from Canaan families worked as loggers in the camps or in Davis’ stores and factories. As the Valley’s remoteness was lost, a new prosperity developed. Many Valley residents sold timbering rights to lumber barons, and the soaring population meant an ever-expanding market for their farm products. Land clearing for crops and pastures accelerated, reaching its high point in the mid-1920s. Since that time, many cleared areas have been abandoned and have returned to their original vegetative cover. The Valley’s virgin spruce and hardwoods were not cut all at once. Stands in the western and northern sections were logged before 1910, but the difficulty of extending tracks over the unstable marshy ground in the Valley’s center spared Southeastern Naturalist K.L. Carvell 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 431 the stands on the eastern side of the drainage for almost a decade. By the mid- 1920s, all merchantable timber had been cut on Cabin Mountain and the tableland above (now known as Dolly Sods and Roaring Plains). The slash, or waste wood, on cutover areas created abundant fuel for forest fires. In addition, after trees were cut, the soils were exposed to the sun, allowing the deep humus layer, which was often 4–5 ft (1.2–1.5 m ) thick, to dry. Wildfires invariably followed logging operations. After the slash burned, the organic surface soil smoldered for months; not even a snow cover extinguished these fires. Eventually, nothing remained but a thin layer of topsoil over broken bedrock. Fires destroyed any remaining Red Spruce trees—the forest’s seed source—and the moist shady environment needed for Red Spruce seedlings to become established. Red Spruce has reinvaded many areas, gradually seeding in from the few trees that escaped the axes and fires because they grew on isolated rocky pinnacles and outcrops. After the virgin forest was cut and before the second-growth stands developed, grasses, ferns, and scattered brush dominated the slopes surrounding the Valley. Although these openings were extensive, they were poor pastures. However, the lumber companies generated further income from the former forest lands by fencing large areas and fattening cattle for the Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington markets. During the 1920s, the lumber mills, tannery, kindling-wood factory, and pulp and paper mill in Davis all closed because the supply of Red Spruce had been depleted. As Davis’ population declined, the demand for agricultural and dairy products also dropped, so many pastures and farms were abandoned; however, agriculture continued to be the basis for the Valley’s economy. In 1920, when the federal government established the Monongahela Purchase Unit, the forerunner of today’s Monongahela National Forest, most of the area acquired had been cut and repeatedly burned, and some of it was being grazed. The US Forest Service ambitiously planned to replant Red Spruce on all sites that it once occupied. However, they altered their plans and decided to introduce Red Spruce stands only on mountaintops and ridges so the trees would serve as seed sources for open areas below. It was challenging to plant on these sites because much of the soil was gone: for each seedling planted, workers added a bucket of soil to supplement the thin topsoil. It was slow work, aggressive fern growth smothered the seedlings, and Red Spruce seedling survival was low. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) continued this restoration work, often using Picea abies (L.) Karst. (Norway Spruce) or Pinus resinosa Sol. ex Alton (Red Pine), because they had learned that the latter two species competed successfully with the native vegetation. The mature forest stands present today at Canaan Heights and other points on the Valley’s surrounding slopes are a tribute to this era of tree planting. The Canaan Valley area began to attract vacationers around 1900 when summer visitors came to patronize hotels in Davis because of the cool climate, clean air, and excellent fishing. Tourist development started in 1934 when the West Southeastern Naturalist K.L. Carvell 205 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 432 Virginia State Forest and Park Commission, forerunner of the Department of Natural Resources, secured a 10-year, rent-free lease on 446 ac (180.5 ha) surrounding Blackwater Falls, on which they developed public trails and overlooks. In 1937, Blackwater Falls State Park was established, and in 1953, more land was donated to the Park by the West Virginia Power and Transmission Company. Blackwater Lodge and the state-owned cabins were built in 1957 and are still popular in all seasons. Canaan Valley State Park is located 6 mi (9.6 km) south of Davis on Route 32, and includes 6014 ac (2406 ha). In the early 1960s, Maude Thompson Kaemmerling willed 3149 ac (1260 ha) of this total acreage to the state for inclusion in the Park; the state purchased the remaining acreage—mainly farms—to provide enough land to accommodate a complete summer and winter sports complex. In 1969, a nine-hole golf course opened and in 1970, it was expanded to 18 holes. The ski complex, located 1 mi (1.6 km ) south of the golf course, offers double-chair lifts. The longer slope extends to Weiss Knob—4375 ft (1336 m) in elevation. The camping area, including sewer, water, and electrical hook-ups, was completed in 1971. During the 1920s, the Allegheny Power Company bought much of the land in the Valley’s center with the intention of establishing a pump-storage electricitygenerating plant. After environmental groups successfully blocked the project, the power company abandoned their plans. Although the federal government initially purchased several small parcels to create the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, those purchases were dwarfed by acquisition of 12,000 ac (4800 ha ) of the Alleghany Power Company lands in 2002. With the goal of adding other tracts in the northern third of the Valley, the Refuge will become a significant addition to the West Virginia’s permanently conserved wildlife lands. Literature Cited Allman, R.C. 1976. Canaan Valley and the Black Bear. McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 126 pp. Fansler, H.F. 1962. History of Tucker County, West Virginia. McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 700 pp. Kennedy, P.P. 1853. The Blackwater Chronicle: A narrative of an expedition into the land of Canaan in Randolph County, Virginia. Edited by T. Sweet and reprinted in 2002 by West Virginia University Press, Morgantown, WV. 211 pp. Maxwell, H. 1884. History of Tucker County, West Virginia: From the Earliest Explorations to the Present Time. Preston Publishing Company, Kingwood, WV.. Reprinted in 1993 by McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 590 pp. Mott, P.G. 1972. History of Davis and Canaan Valley. McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV. 544 pp.