Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1902-02-19
SOUTHERN AppAlAcnlAN MouNrAINs.


Il Z
Some Interesting Facts Gathered by the Gov
ernmeRt Regarding this Sectlon,
/ --------
I'm the series of water supply and irri
cation papers, the United States Geologi
lcal Survey, Mr.. r. H. Newell, hydro
grapLsr In charge. hassnow in press Nos.
90 and 63, being parts and of the
"Hydrography OF the Southern Appala-
chian Mountain Region by Mr.. n. A.
Pressey. e This great mountain system
stretches from Main southwesterly for
nearly 1900 miles, terminating in north
ern Alabama. From the Potomac south
the ranges are higher and broader than
in Pennsylvania. They spread out into
tho Blue Ridge, the Shenandoah, the
Allegheny and the Greenbriar mountains,
extending, with broad and fertile valleys
between, in nearly parallel lines through
Virginia and West Virginia into North
Carolina and Tennessee. aud eliminating
in the Iron and the Great Smoky ranges,
the great mountain region of the South
eastern States. In this mountain mass
63 peaks equal or exceed a height of 5000
feet; 25 peaks are higher than Mount
Washington, and 28s peaks are over 5000
feet. From North Carolina and Tennes-
see the ranges, leaving spurs in South
Carolina, turn more westward through
Georgia and Alabama, and sink into the
hills of the Gulf Watershed. This great
mountain system forms the backbone
and watershed of the eastern part of the
United States. The greatest masses and
the highest peaks are in Western North
Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, which
region may beoonsidered high plateau,
bounded west by the Smoky Mountains
and east by the Blue Ridge. These ranges,
almost touching on the north, part COM
pany, and then almost come together
again in the south, thus enclosing this
upland plateau, which has maximum
width of IS miles and an area of about
5000 square miles.
The region is well watered. The main
divide of the river systems is the Blue
Ridge. The States of Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Ala
bama, Tennessee and West Virginia are
partially watered by rivers rising in
mountains near the North Carolina and
Tennessee State line. One of the prin-
cipal tributaries of the Ohio and one of
the largest feeders of the Mississippi
head in the same mountains, and the
region may justly be termed one of the
chief watersheds of the United States.
Grandfather Mountain, at the junction of
Watauga, Mitchell and Caldwell counties,
in North Carolina, probably the most
massive of the Southern Appalachians,
may be taken as the center of this water
shed. Thence the waters pour north,
cast, south and west From the many
springs on the southern slope of Grand
father Mountain flow some of the head
waters of the Catawba, which, rising in
the Black Mountains and descending in
leaps of from to 100 feet to the Pied
mont plain, crosses into South Carolina.
and, as the Wateree, passes on to the
Atlantic. Flowing from this region, be-
sides the Catawba, into the Atlantic, are
the Yadkin, Broad, Saluda, Chattooga,
Tugaloo and Oconee; into the Gulf are
the Chat, lhooohee and the Coosa; into
the Mississippi are New river and the
Tennessee. From the western slopes of
the Blue Ridge flow the headwaters of
the Great Tennessee river system, as do
it's larger tributaries, the Holston, the
Nolachucky and the French Broad.
The scenery of the southern Appala-
chian region is the grandest in the East
ern States. The mean annual tempera-
ture varies from nearly 60 degrees Fahren-
heit, at Salisbury Geo feet), east of the
mountains, to 40 degrees Fahrenheit at
Linnville $500 feet), the latter being the
mean annual temperature of Boston or
Chicago. The annual rainfall is copious,
especially on the eastern slopes CT tho
mountains. At Highlands, in Macon
county, the annual normal precipitation
is about 72 inches; at Asheville it is
about 42 inches.
Notwithstanding the inroads that have
been made on tho forest that once Gov
cred nearly the whole of these mountains,
nowhere in the United States is there an
equal area of land covered with so great
q variety of valuable timbor. The wal
nuts, tulips (poplars), and oaks grow to
almost. incredible sizes. White pine
occurs in large tracts. laundering on a
large scale has been carried on for only a
few years, but is very destructive. Some
of the companies saw anything that will
make plank. In the case of the bark
gatherers, the wastefulness is even more
deplorable and ruinous. This section is
comparatively free from forest fires. A
number of railroads run into this region;
but the transportation facilities and the
highways are very poor. Splash dams
are much used in sending timber down.
stream. The soil is generally deep and
fairly fertile, even to the mountain tops;
but 1t washes easily when exposed. The
entire region is well adapted to stock
raising; some iron ore occurs in. large
quantities in number of counties, cop
per, mica, cornndum, gold and other
minerals have been mined to some extent.
Many varieties of shrubs and Towering
plants abound, and the region should
prove Mecca to botanjsts.
The drainage basins, discharge mea.
surements, and water powers OF tii,s
various rivers and their tributaries, are
described at length by Mr.. Pressey; and
much information of great value to
millere, sawmill men, lumbermen, min
ers. cattlemen, farmers, and travellers is