The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-06-02
GREAT FALLS OF THE POTOMAC.
By CATHERINE FRANCES cAvANAeH.

BY CATHERINE FRANCES CAvANAGH.
The casual visitor to the national
capital does not realize that the city
is rich in the natural beauty of its
surroundings, for he is so busily en-
ployed in seeing the advertised lob
jects of interest" that he gives but
little time or thought to the very
features which commended this site
to the great men who planned the
capital. George Washington, when
enumerating the many advantages of
the locality, laid particular stress on
the fact that the western or upper
branch of the Potomac, which spread
out from the main branch where the
city was to be laid, was natural high
way to the country beyond the Allie
ghanies, and the indications were that
in the near future canal along this
branch would be the great CONNER
cial road to the Middle West. As
boy he had traversed this country and,
later, in the employ of the Virginia
Company, he surveyed many miles of
it and thus, shortly before the Revo-
luton, was in position to press the
passage of law by the Virginia legis-
lature whereby company was char
tered to build a canal connecting the
Potomac and Ohio rivers. The Revo-
luton prevented this plan being push
ed, but after its close both Virginia
and Maryland took steps to carry out
Washington's plans for a canal, and
the work was started but never COM
pleted.
Washington had not only an eye
for commerce when he looked upon
this lovely stretch of country, but an
eye for beauty as well. He dwelt
fondly on the many enjoyable days
he spent riding through the beautiful
wilderness that began where the good
roads of Fairfax county left of, along
the palisades on the southern shore
of the upper Potomac, following the
river which grew more shallow and
rocky as he journeyed westward to-
ward the grand spectacle of the Great
Falls of the Potomac, which are about
fifteen miles from west Washington.
He never attempted to dispute that
Niagara was grander spectacle, but
he claimed for his favorite falls more
picturesque setting.
If you care to ride or tramp through
the woods on the western shore of
the upper Potomac today you will
find but little change since the days
of Washington. Here and there are
traces of the old canal in which he
was interested, and from the woods
to the south of the Great Falls you
probably get the same impressions
which Washington did when he came
there to muse on the eternal flow of
waters. In his home at Mount Yer
non he hung painting of the falls,
which still hangs there, not as a great
work of art, but because it was valued
by the distinguished owner of Mount
Vernon.
One beautiful October day small
party of us started out, following in
the footsteps of Washington when he
made his way to the falls, until we
heard the boom of the waters falling
over the great rocks. We enjoyed
the seven-mile tramp through the
Virginia woods almost as much as we
did the magnificent spectacle of the
falls themselves. In autumn the trav-
eler through this wild country is pleas
antly surprised at the quantities of
chestnuts, hickory-ruts and persim-
mons to be found, and these help out
the basket lunch which a party inva-
riably carries along.
The falls are at their greatest height
in May and October, and this is a
favorite time for tourists from Wash
ington.
The railroads cannot travel into
every foot of the beautiful country
around large cities, but they can bring
passengers to within a reasonable
walking distance of many places other
wise out of their reach. Bicycling is
no longer popular; the automobile is
only possible to the wel1-to-do and,
therefore, pedestrianism has again
taken the popular fancy. 1t is an
easy and enchanting walk along the
soft-yielding tow-path, with the sleepy
old canal on one side and the rocky,
murmuring Potomac, with its wood
ed, howery banks on the other. We
saunter along as placidly as the little
mules which tow the canal-boats in
the boating season, which usually ex-
tends from April until October.
Artists know what rich field the
country of the upper Potomac from
Washington to Harper's Ferry is,
but travelling artists generally miss
this lovely, unspoiled land, because it
has not been advertised as have
been many less worthy places. The
botanist also is delighted at the great
variety of specimens he finds to place
in his collection, among them several
varieties which are fast becoming ex-
tinct in the temperate zone. Here,
too, the fisherman finds luck, and as
he swings the rod out over the water
feels satisfied that he will carry home
some Potomac bass, if it be the season.
The naturalist listens and looks for