The river became the lifeblood of their economy. That same river still supports the region.'' Like some great aorta, the Catawba powers the Piedmont, supplies its water, washes away its wastes and sets an increasingly crowded stage for lakefront homes. Between Lake Wylie and S.C. 9 near Lancaster, the Catawba is cloaked by forest and is largely inaccessible from shore. The river reveals itself only from the water. Apart from a stilted cabin here, the remains of a grist mill there, the view is of forest and pasture, shoals and pools.
Osprey usually outnumber humans.
An otter, wet fur shiny as pomade, squirts along a bank. Canoe paddlers splash through the rock weirs where the Catawbas once trapped fish. Some of the world's rarest lilies mass on shoals at Landsford Canal State Park, bursting into spectacular white bloom each May. Cormorants, drying wings after their underwater flights, roost by the hundreds on Indian Island. To all appearances, it is total wilderness,'' said Mark Grier, a Lancaster lawyer who has canoed the Catawba dozens of times. The river survived largely untouched for good reasons.