History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
Connecting all the counties which form the principal body of this great western tract, the historic and celebrated Potomac is at once the grandest and most remarkable surface feature of Maryland. It is in most respects both a river and a bay. Two great divisions, marked by peculiar individualities, distinguish it into the Upper and Lower Potomac. The former lies outside of the territory included within the foregoing description; but it may be briefly noticed as the estuary or bay-portion of the river, or that subject to the rise and flow of the tides of the ocean. It extends from the city of Georgetown to Chesapeake Bay, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles.
Below Alexandria it expands to a width of nearly two miles, and all along its winding course receives the waters of wide creeks, which increase its breadth, and spread out into broad, picturesque estuaries upon the lower levels. Some of these bodies of water are from three to five miles wide in conjunction with the river, while the outlet of the Potomac at its mouth forms a bay nearly eight miles wide, which stretches from Point Lookout to the opposite shore in Virginia. In the first part of its course below Washington the banks are composed of clay and sand bluffs, which rise to a height of fifty or sixty feet; but as it proceeds the high border lands gradually slope and wave lower, and finally fade out in points and bars. Before entering this bay-like division the river has left the region of primitive rocks, and from that point to its mouth passes only through alluvial and earthy beds of the upper secondary and tertiary periods.
But that part of it which belongs to the region included in the western counties is the river proper, usually called the " Upper Potomac." It remains at present all beyond the reach of the tides, and probably it has never been affected by them.
Swift and powerful, it rushes in imperturbable grandeur through a channel of its own construction, cut out of the largest mountains in the State. In forming almost the entire western boundary of Maryland, it constitutes also the water border of the western counties. Away up among the high mountain summits where West Virginia touches the great Backbone range, marked by the Fairfax stone, this youngest of our great rivers bursts forth from the sandstones and shales of the carboniferous strata. The region is one of marked interest from the variety of striking objects which it presents. Hilltops of mountain height, and loftier than the Blue Ridge, shaped by the tremendous floods of past periods, stand between the crests of the summit ridges. Broad belts of hemlock, spruce, and the northern pines bound the highest horizon, and form a dark background for the oak, chestnut, maples, birches, and poplars of the less elevated positions. A most picturesque scene stretches out before the eve as it takes in the winding valley with its silvery thread of water, here and there arrested by a ledge of dark rocks, then flashing the sunlight from the torrent or rapid, or leaping in foam-stirring cascade to the basin scooped in the rocks below. In the deep solitude of the wilderness, where broken masses of rock lie spread around in endless confusion, where the forests are choked with the trunks and branches of the fallen trees, and the moistened slopes are covered with the matted foliage of the vines and creepers; there, too, where the flowering shrubs and sweet-scented ferns weave chaplets and plumes of the tenderest green over the crowns of the weather-worn bowlders, this bright streak of water pursues its onward course, ever forward and downward, with a ceaseless impulse towards the sea. It is the great outlet for the waters which reach the surface in a territory nearly two hundred miles in length, while its tributaries on the north side cross nearly or quite the entire width of the State, its great South Branch in Virginia, with the Shenandoah and a dozen smaller rivers and creeks, draining an area fully twice as great. Indeed, the South Branch is the principal member of the upper river, and to it is largely due the wide expanse of water which it discloses before passing beyond the high mountains. Soon after leaving the head-waters it has worn a deep trough into the firm rocks, torn away huge pieces from the hard ledges, and resistlessly rasped and dug its way downward along the flank of the huge Backbone Mountain until the foot of the great coal-basin has been reached. Its course has hitherto been northeast, it has spread out into a broad creek with shallow but limpid water, running over a strong and pebbly bed, now it makes a broad curve around to the west, then resuming the former course and bending north it receives the waters of a fine branch, the Savage River; another bond is made and the George's Creek adds its narrow stream to the quickened flood which rushes on with new energy. It is now a vigorous and strong creek, able to contend with the obstructions that press in its way. Two miles above the former it had taken a new direction, going in a general southeast course; this is pursued for a distance of about eight miles, during which tearing its way across the end of Dan's Mountain, and then flows on to New Creek. The slope of the country now favors another change of direction, and accordingly the river rushes away northeast through its shallower trough, interrupted by frequent rapids between the ridges of Dan's and Knobby Mountains, a distance of twenty miles, when it bends abruptly around the spur of the latter mountain and touches the city of Cumberland. Will's Creek now adds its quota of water, and the river passes down on the east side of Knobby Mountain. Here it is charged with islands near the Virginia shore, and soon bends into the form of the letter S, to pass through the gorge in Evitt's Mountain. It is now in the very heart of high, abrupt ridges, where barriers must be crossed at right angles. Running in a straighter line towards the southeast, it rushes through the gorges of Martin's, Warrior, and Town Hill Mountains, surrounded by most romantic scenery, decorated in all directions by a boundless stretch of verdure-clad hill and dale. In the interval it has been joined by the great South Branch, and the two have united their waters to dash on with renewed energy in rending the hills and distributing nourishment into the valleys farther away. Having passed Town Hill, it flows in long uneven loops towards the northeast, cutting its way through the dense body of Sideling Hill, and gliding in perfect silence over the wreck of mighty ledges of rock, now lying as scattered bowlders over its bed, it bends once more and runs down the valley of the Tonoloway to where the little town of Hancock stands out upon the hills.
The beautiful dam which feeds the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal has been passed, the arched rocks and the cement-beds of the Round Top have been left behind, and the beautiful, clear river, as smooth and placid as a lake, glistens in the sunshine, and reflects the images of the grand old sycamore-trees that line its banks. Still broad and shallow, pursuing its course over the planed edges of the sandstones, slates, and limestones that lie across its path, it makes a long sweep towards the east, by a little south, until the spurs of the North Mountain are reached. At this point it has broken through a deep gorge, in the midst of a wild, rugged, and most romantic country, to become involved in difficulties which it could only surmount by passing suddenly around the unyielding rocks and forming a long narrow loop. After bending twice more, it strikes the heavy slates at Williamsport, admits the copious current of the Conococheague River, is unable to penetrate farther in the same direction, and is obliged to turn west and retrace nearly three miles of the distance previously gained. A great struggle for mastery now goes on between the river and the limestone-beds, with their layers of chert and strata of dense slate. Thus the river is compelled to run diagonally in a general southeast direction, and to bend back upon itself six times before its conflict with these hard rocks is over. Through an expanse of country more than twenty-five miles in length it has gained and lost, and at best has been obliged to follow the course of the Great Valley, and to submit to its conditions. But now, after Harper's Ferry is reached, the great rapid stream is favored by the tremendous down-slide which split the South Mountain from summit to base, and an avenue is open into the region on the east. Objects of fresh interest now appear on every hand. On the north side the majestic pile of castellated rocks, chimney peaks, the profile of the giant face, and the great arching strata of Maryland Heights rise in overpowering grandeur overhead. On the opposite shore the town of Harper's Ferry is seen straggling up, as if to reach the summit of the mountain bluffs, on the side of which the celebrated Jefferson's Rock is perched. Across the Shenandoah, more than a quarter of a mile distant, the spur called Short Ridge slants precipitously to the brink of the rapids, covered to the very top with close-set trees, between which huge piles of the mountain sandstone lie in indescribable disorder. As far as the eye can reach in this direction spurs, ridges, and peaks stand thrust together in close proximity, hiding all but the two lovely valleys through which the waters of the two great rivers find their outlet. An enormous but unimproved waterpower now appears in view, the Potomac becomes fully one-third of a mile wide, and a heavy flood passes over a sloping but nearly flat channel.
The prospect down the river is now indescribably beautiful. The South Mountain,