The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-12-10
TIIELAND OF CANAAN
AWAY OUT IN TUCKER COUNTY.
The ll~i OF MI OLD Lake Drained Dry.
surne GeoioElcnl Searches Of iutcrcstto
tho Oldest Ialiabltaat-The New
ltahrond's Ciylilxing influence.


strne Geological Searches Of IutcrcStto
tho Oldest Iniiabitaat-The New
lsanrond's civIiIxing influence.
. Correspondence ofthe Iattl,ioence. -.
Sr. GEoRdE, W. Va, Dec. G.-In Tuckc
county, West Virginia, there is scope o
territory 80 peculiar in It's formation IN,
surroundings rs to make II n subject OF in
terest 10 any ono who will, In It's invcsti
CATION, unite geography and geology. l
inclndes-and in fact is-thc coal tlel,
which the W. Va, @. & p. railway is now
penetrating. 1T is distinct region, sepa
rate from all tho other country round
about. For many years, and us long Us
the land ias been known, it las been
called "Canaan' bnt there is no. real o,
faRGifHl resemblance to the Canaan oftiie
Bible on account Of which 1t could have
derived its name, and it Is unknown who
named it, or why or wherefore. ~
HE'D OF AN oLDLAEE. 5.'
It is the bed of IN old lake, drained dry
myriads OF ages ago. 1t Is twenty miles
long and. six wide, and is entirely sur.
rounded by a rim Of mountains, except in
one place where the Black Fork lias cut
through and torn out the rocky battle
ments of the hills, thereby preparing n
passage way by which the water OF the
lake has been drained OIL. On the east
and southeast the summit OF the main Al
leghenies runs round the edge OF the ba-
sin, forming, rs il were, rim for it. On
the other side, the north md west, the
Backbone Mountain forms the rim. Some
tremendous convulsion OF nature, in vol
canic times, upheaved the mountains and
left the basin enclosed among them. The
two mountains, the Allegheny and the
Backbone, separate ut Fairfax Stone (the
cornerstone Of Maryland and West Virgil
nla,) and unite again at tho southern end
OF Canaan, which is thus walledin BY them
on every side, and is perfect basin OF an
oblong shape, nestled among the very
SUBMITS OF the Appalachian Mountains.
II is nearly as high as the Alleghenics. a
few hundred feet will measure the differ.
ence.
TliENE wAs TINE.
There was time in geological ages when
this basin was filed with water, collected
from the rains OF summer and the SHOWS
OF winter. 1t was then lake extending
north and south twenty miles, and eastand
west five or six miles. About it there was
nothing SO famous as TO make II interest
ing when classed with Superior, flanagan.
yika and the worlds great lakes, but, small
though it was, it must have been quiet
and beautiful picture, il there had been
in. thnt fnr time human eyes to have seen
it and human feelings to have appreciated
it. But, this WIS long before Adams
fallen races, rs Moses teaches, wasTlriven
from Eden to subdue the world.
TWAS STILL THERE.
The little lake was all alone in its high
mountain bed. Human footsteps never
marked its shoes. The rain fell, the wind
blew, the summers passed and the winters
came and it was still there, mirroring mt
times the blue armament of heaven in all
decpttcss and purity, and ut other times
the storms-for there were storms there
ragged over it. The breezes and the storms,
the winters and the sunshine OF centuries
and millennials passed. If wild beasts
came down TO drink OF or swim in the
water, they were not such as live there
now. The huge bulk OF the rhnosceros,
the ignandon and the pterodactyl may
then have wallowed among the mirc.bogs
OF the shores or flew roaring through the
air.
ACES WERE REQUIRED.
Ages were no doubt required TO conf
plete the work OF draining the lake after it
had overnowed its mountain embank
ments The point OF overflow was in the
northwestern corner, where now is the
doep, rugged canon OF Black Fork. Year
by year, and century after century, the
wearing OF the wafer cut deeper channel
in tho rocks, until it was cut SO deep that
the lake was drained dry, and the valley
OF Canaan was left as it now is. Gcner-
ally It ls flat surface; but in places, prin-
clpally in the northern part, it is fcarfully
cut up by flowing water. Tile beds of the
creeks have worn deep gullies, or canons,
and through them the water ,llshcs and
roars among the 'cataracis and bowllcrs
that have crashed into the abysscs from
oyerhanging oli1s.
North and west OF the old Dobbin hotel
the bed Of the creek is almost impassable,
The water pitches from one terrace to an.
other and from one fall TO another, and
there are = thousand.hidden pitfalls and
slippery rocks where one not careful may
meet his death. At one place that l re-
member in particular, from q circumstance
which il is not necessary 10 mention, the
bank Of the creek is . perpendicular wall
OF rocks hundreds OF feet high,
nEFoEE TIE RAILROAD
Before the coming Of the railroad, this
whole region, containing one hundred
square miles, was uninhabitcd. One could
wander for days without seeing trace OF
civilization. II was vast unpeoplcd
domain OF forests and bogs; and, except in
one or two places, md along the immc.
diate line OF the railroad, it still is, The
forests still stand primeval, rs they stood
when Columbus landed on our shore.
The tearing down and the building up of
man has wrought nothing there. So dense
do the trees and brush stand that the sun
beams never reach the earth. The trees
are living, but, so dry and husky do their
trunks appear, that one might Judge that
they had stood there unchanged since tho
creation OF the world. A coarse, short
moss cover trunk and limb. The small
trees look rs old rs the large ones. All
the difference there is, is the size.
NATURE OF TIE GROUND.
The ground is cold and damp. Being a
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