Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1904-02-24
"PIsGAH FoREsT" RESERVE.
4 Vast Primal wild Now nm Adjunct
to DiItmOrc Estate.
Charlotte Observer

Raleigh, Feb. 6.-NO greater interest
has ever been felt i'm any hunting pre-
serve in the south than in the magnifi-
cent one Of George w. Vanderbilt,
which is know as "PiSgah Forest" and
which embraces a large section of the
county of Pennsylvania, in one of the
most exquisite sections of all the noble
mountain country of which Western
North Carolina affords. 1t is certain
that this park or preserve has had
much to do with the now great move
ment for the national part to be known
as the Appalachian Forest Reserve.
This originated i'm Vanderbilt's two
great developing ideas, shown first i'm
his Biltmore estate and next in his
Pissah Forest. The latter is a true
forest, Mr.. Vanderbilt having been so
fortunate as to discover a place where
nature had been almost unmolested ex-
cept by occasional fires, and then to
secure this and gently aid her in work.
ing her own sweet will. Everybody
knows about Biltmorc and It's chateau,
the finest private residence in all Amer
lea, but few know anything about Pis-
gah Forest, and so this will be a story
about the latter, the writer having
spent fortnight there I'm the most de-
lightful manner in the world.
Plsgah Forest is about As miles long
and embraces something over 100, 900
acres. 1t takes it's name from it's domi-
mating peak Mount Pisgah, the most
b'Iit'l iHpullJdll anna the hundred
OF mountains III Western North Caro-
ina, being true cone. IL landmark
amid all the peaks IL the vast, irregu-
TAR and lofty plateau betweecu the
| Sluc Rridgc and the great Smoky
Mountains. There are various way of
getting into PiSgah Forest: one by
Ashevillc and Bltmore and by q very
tine road constructed by Mr.. Wander
bilt to Pisgah Lodge; the other by way
OF Hendersonville and Davidson's riv-
er up rather steep and rough road
but one full OF charms and surprises
along the French Broad. Davidson's S
! river and AVcry's creek. To the ma
| tiVcS Pisgah Forest is know as Mr.
Nanderbilts place, and it's boundary is
marked by Il three-Strand barbed-wire
| fence. The best way to see Pisgah
torcst Is on foot or horseback, prefer
ably the former, as in this way the full
beauty OF the place can best be seem
Go where one will there is ever the
sound of falling water, the rush or tho
thli oil the mountain streams, which
most or = time is invisible, high over
mead or an gorge, perhaps Il thousand
| rect below. Going by the Davidson
river way, when the crest of the "gap"
IN the great mountain wall is reached
there is glorious view to the south
ward, far into South Carolina, and TO
the northward over the Vanderbilt do
nam. The heart OF this great forest
has been known as the pink Beds
ever since white settlers went into that
mountain region. The origin of the
name is in some dispute, but very
pfoDaDiy comes from the color of the
rhododcndron, which is so profuse as
( 80 make the whole region look like a
! conservatory during the months of
May and June. The mountainecrs call
the place the "Pnk Beds" and under
this name 1t appears in the geological
! maps. 1t is a sort of table land, be-
tween high and nearly parallel ridges,
threaded by streams as bright as
looking glass, all running in beds of
| solid stone, literally like flights of
steps, and which seem like quicksilver
as they fash or fall f. Al under their
| lofty sources.
Pisgah Forest cost Mr.. Vanderbilt
| something like IL quarter of million
dollars, or about $3.50 per acre. Most
of IL he secured at once. and the other
portions were bought in large or small
tracts, so that now his rangers are the
only dcniZens of the wide area. There
are five of these, all picked mountains
! GERS, good riders and dead shots, to
whom the mountains are like an open
book. These men have many duties
They must sec That the boundary fence,
800 miles long, is all right; must keep
out poachers, look after the game,
whether In fur or feather, and also
after the trout, and further keep an
eye on timber stcalcrs, Ppachers
would come from near and far TO get