The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-08-10
IN A CAROLINA FOREST.
Vanderbilt's Vast Wooded Estate
and the Wilds Of Pisgah. -
NATURE UNM0LESTED.
The Grandeur of the Trees Never
Casing Wonder-Eoblest View,
America Affords.


in George Vanderbilt's two great devel-
cpment ideas, as shown first in his Bit
more estate and next in his Iisgah for
est. The latter is Il true forest. He
was so fortunate as to discover IL place
where nature had been well-nigh unmo
Tested and then to secure this and allow
her to work her own sweet Will. And
it is to be |; pilgrimage to Pisgah that
this is to be a story.
There are some 10000 acres in Bilt-
more. Of which all the world knows.
est. Of which few know anything. The
latter is about forty miles in length, and
takes it's name from it's dominating peak,
Mt: Pisgah, which is a true cone, and
which is a landmark even amid all the
plateau between the Blue Ridge and
Great Smoky mountains. East and west
this plateau is walled in by the loftiest
mountains east of the Rockies.
Going from Raleigh to Ashevilie, which
is the gateway to tine glories of the noun
tain, region which the Cherokee indians
overhil!s of Ottolay, the train climbs to
the Swannanoa pass, through the Blue
Ridge, and pierces the crest Of the great
divide through SwannaEoa tunnel 34oO
out OF the eastern portal of the tunnel
runs into the Atlantic ocean: that ont Of
the western portal into the Gulf OF Mex
ico via the Swannanoa, the French
Broad, tho Tennessee and the MISSISSIPPI
pi. In the tunnel is the source of the
which at Ashevi]lc mingles with the
FRENCH Broad, loved Of the Cherokees,
and by them called Tah-l1ec-os-tee, the
''Racing river
TO all the native folk near and far.
Pis~ah forest is Mr. Vanderblt's place.
y y-1rA nrn1X ts,.n .t,.l1, f}S If
barb. outlines it and forms it's boundary.
Only IL quarter OF mile outside this
fence is the last house, Il tiny cottage
nestled in Il little cove. its jewellers an
aged couple. The old man in his rude
derhilt we'll, and added: He is Il mighty
common man; real common By this
homely phrase he meant that the multi
millionaire did not put on airs but was
friendly and sociable.
The Pink Beds.
All the way from the boundary fence
to the gap. which opens the way to the
valley of the forest. there is the sound Of
falling water. This is the one sound
which is ceaselessly heard all over Pts
streams. which most OF the time are
themselves invisible, perhaps high over
head or in Il gorge a thousand feet be-
low. The last two miles of road is very
steep, and the sure-footed mules have
plenty Of work to do, but they fairly
mountaineers in general. is Il man of few
words say, Its mighty good road for
mountn.' The plodders on foot have
the best of it.
From the top of the gap there is a
main to the northward. and to the south
ward view even into. South Carolina
Thus looked at, there is an apparently
boundlcss expanse of virgin forest. But
the movement downward is begun. and
in a quarter of an hour the pilgrims are
in the Pink Beds, the heart of the forest
TO Mr.. Vanderbilt this is merely part
OF his great woodland, but to the noun
taineer it is the Pink Beds. and under
the. latter name it appears in the geolog-
ical maps 1t is a sort Of table land. be-
tween high and nearly parallel ridges,
lookingglass all running in beds of solid
stone. literally like flights Of steps, and
which seem like quicksilver as they
flash or fall from their lofty sources.
The origin of the name Pink Beds is
in dispute, it seems. 1t most probably
is derived from the colors of the rhodo-
dendron. which is so profuse as to make
the country for miles look in May and
June like Il conservatory The bushes on
which these rich-hued flower grow, form
a continuous tangle, save where the
great forest trees crowd them out One
Of the mountaineers, when asked for his
idea of the origin of the name, said in a
most prosaic manner. I don't rightly
know where the name comes from. but
| nave heard EN- say q man one time
had COW here named Pink and she cot
begged up in a ma shy place and died
there"
The Pisgah forest has cost Vanderbilt
something like quarter of million of
dollars, or about $3.50 an acre. He has
bought it in great or small tracts as ran
idly as possible, and now his rangers are
the only denzens. There are five Of
them, all picked men of the mountains.
OF tine physique. good riders and dead
shots. One of them comes to meet the
pilgrims and looks at their permit, which
is very important piece of paper This
forester, whose name is Kearns, is a
type of the rangers, good humored, tall
and strong, well-mounted, with repeating
poncho. To him these mountain wilds
are like an open book, and upon him and
his associates a great and incessant re-
sponsibility devolves.. They must keep
open the roads and the trails, see that
the boundary fence, 800 miles in length,
the game and trout, and always be on
the alert for timber stealers. The poach-
ers would come from near and far to
catch the trout, or rather to kill them by
exploding dynamite cartridges in the
deep cool pools where the big fellows
lurk; or to kill the deer, the grouse (or
pheasants, as they are known popularity,
or the wild turkeys. At an incredible
distance the trained ear Of the ranger
will hear the exploding of dynamite, and
he tracks the offender unerringly, even
into other counties, and once into Ten
neSSee.
There are 265 miles of trail in this for
est, the trails leading alongside each
trout stream. There are seventy miles
of road passable for wagon.
The Forest Primeva1.
The grandeur of the trees is a never
ceasing wonder. Enormous tulip trees or
poplars, Spanish and red oaks, hemlocks
chestnuts; black walnuts, cucumber trees
and pines, rise in size and symmetry, and
make the views grand in the extreme.
Here the destructive lnmberman has
never despoiled 'the forest primeval.' -
The trees cover all nature
For miles on miles their hazy files
Grow nebulOusly dim,
and there is always, thanks to this great
forest. the tender blue which gives the
Blue Ridge it's name. No matter whether
the weather be fair or foul; the color of
these mountains is always blue, deeper