The whole water-way from Port Republic to Harper's Ferry, excepting the lower 63 miles, flows between alluvial banks, from 10 to 25 feet above low-water, and has on either side, except for short distances and at wide intervals, areas of bottom-land from a few hundred feet in width to several thousands of feet; the spurs from the adjacent mountains rarely impinge directly on the water-way, and only for short distances. The lower section, however, extending from the head of Little's Falls (6 miles) to the mouth, is entirely unlike the upper portions, as here the mountains shut closely in on either bank, the bottom-land disappears, and the river descends over a succession of slate ledges with more than double the average fall per mile of its whole length. As is usual with mountain streams, the river flows alternately through pools of comparatively slackwater, and over ledges and shoals, forming rapids and falls. As is also usually found in such cases, the pools are shorter, and the ledges more numerous, on the upper reaches than on the lower; on the upper 40 miles of the stream the pools rarely if ever exceed a mile in length, with from 2 to 4 feet depth of water; while on the remainder of the stream (to the head of Little's Falls), they frequently attain a length of 3 or 4 miles with depths of from 4 to 7 feet of water. The depths over the ledges and shoals vary from 4 or 5 inches to 8 or 9, in their lowest places, as they generally, for considerable portions of their length, are above the plane of low-water. The South Branch commences with a width of about 170 feet and with many irregu lar contractions and expansions between 150 and 250 feet, gradually increases to a width of about 350 feet at its junction with the other branch; the main stream thence gradually widens to 500 or 600 feet at its junction with the Potomac. The stream was not gauged, but by comparison with other streams of known volume, it may be estimated to discharge from 500 to 600 cubic feet per second above the forks, and from 700 to 900 cubic feet below. The whole fall, from Port Republic to Harper's Ferry, as given by Mr. Herron is 793 feet, or about 5 feet per mile. This slope, however, is not equally distributed throughout the whole distance. From Port Republic to Ammon's dam (7 miles), the river descends 50 feet or over 7 feet per mile; thence to the forks, at Front Royal (if we except a fall of 17 feet in 5,000 feet at Kemper's), the stream has for 86 miles an average fall of 6 feet per mile. From the forks to the head of Little's Falls, the slope averages for 45 miles, only 2 feet per mile, while from the latter point to the mouth it falls nearly 12 feet per mile. It will thus be seen that the third section counting from above, or that extending from Front Royal to the head of Little's Falls is the only one on which open-river, upstream navigation would be practicable if the slope were made uniform throughout. Both the South Branch and the main stream below are traversed by numerous ledges of slate and limestone; the latter predominating on the upper 40 miles of South Branch and the slate below that point; the stream is also, more especially in the upper 25 miles, obstructed by shoals formed by loose rock or bowlders, brought down by the' freshets. The whole number of ledges noted above Little's Falls was about 700, and the total length of the bowlder and gravel shoals, in the same distance, was estimated at about 17,000 feet. Between the head and Mallon's Iron Works (22 miles), the ledges average 9 per mile, and the bowlder and gravel bars aggregated 10,000 feet, or over 450 feet per mile; between the Iron Works and Front Royal (junction of North Branch), the ledges averaged 5 per mile, and below that to head of Little's Falls they averaged a little over 3 per mile; the bowlder and gravel shoals on both sections averaging about 56 feet linear per mile. Below Little's Falls the river is almost one continuous succession of ledges, over which navigation has never been attempted, except by the aid of the locks, sluices, and canal of the Shedandoah Navigation Company. Aside from this lower reach, none of the ledges form falls of any magnitude, except at Kemper's Falls, where the river runs close under the mountain cliffs, and falls 17 feet in 5,000 feet over a succession of limestone ledges. As might be expected from its narrow, steep and rocky watershed, the river is said to be subject to frequent and rapidly rising freshets. No exact data were attainable as to their usual and ordinary heights, but they do not seem to have generally exceeded 7 to 12 feet above low-water except on such extraordinary occasions as that of the autumn of 1870 and 1877, when it rose from 25 to 30 feet in a few hours. Their effects cannot generally, however, be very severe on the river-bed and banks along the upper portions, for the general configuration of the river and the extent and shape of low points and islands were nearly the same during this reconnaissance as were indicated in the topographical notes of Mr. Herron's survey in 1-32. For a great many years anterior to the civil war, a system of downstream navigation, per flatboats, was maintained throughout the main stream and South Branch, the Works above Little's Falls consisting of low wing-dams and sluices, and below that of a system of locks and canal combined with sluices and open-river navigation. No attempt appears ever to have been made to establish an upstream navigation, unless possibly on the lower reach, where remains of a towing-path still exist; though with a fall in the water-way, outside the locks, of nearly 7 feet per mile, it may we been called an uphill business. The navigation works between the head of Little's Falls and the mouth of th commencing at the head of Little's Falls, consisted of 1st. A lock of 6 feet lift. 2d. A sluice 2,000 feet long, falling 5 feet. 3d. Open river for 4,000 feet, falling 8 feet. 4th. A sluice and mill-race 1,800 feet, falling 1 foot. 5th. A lock of 10 feet lift. 6th. Open river for 34 miles, falling 15 feet to the foot of Bull's Falls. 7th. A canal behind Virginius Island, 9,200 feet long and about 30 feet wi a single lock of 5 feet lift, and a double lock of 15 feet lift, leaving 16 feet of u passed over outside of the locks. All traces of the works above this section have disappeared, and the works, named, are in a dilapidated condition, no attempt having been made to use the the freshet of 1877. The lock at Little's is a comparatively recent one, built to replace an washed out, and is so badly built that it is not worth repairing. The other. the original ones put in by the old navigation company, and are fairly cors! one of them needs one new wall, and they all need new gates, clearing out débris, &c.; they are all 90 by 12 feet in the chamber. The training wall at Little's Falls, originally built of small slabs of s dry, has almost entirely disappeared. The canal and mill- race at Suyder's mill as well as the main canal below clearing out of the débris, and possibly the removal of some projecting | ledges. The trade formerly using this water-way for access to a market consisted flour, lumber, and iron, which was floated down in flatboats to Harper's F through the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal to Washington and Georgetown. war this trade has been small, and since the freshet of 1877 nothing at all, i cept iron shipped 72 miles down the South Branch from Millon's Iron Wor Manassas Railroad, at Front Royal. It is claimed, however, that if the riv proved so that navigation can be maintained during the low-water stages. the former business will revive, but that it will be largely increased. The following approximate estimates of cost are based upon an open-rive stream navigation, with channels through all bars and ledges, 18 inches de feet wide, with only such amelioration of slope, &c., as can be gained by an ee distribution in wing-dams, &c., of the rock removed from the ledges; the the river below Little's Falls to be restored to its original condition. This p derstand, would meet the expectations of all parties concerned. ESTIMATES. Between Port Republic and Iron Works (22 miles). 4,600 cubic yards rock excavation, at $2.50. 4,000 cubic yards loose rock excavation, at $1. 25. Total.... Between Iron Works and Front Royal (72 miles). 7,000 cubic yards rock excavation, at $2. 50.... Total... Front Royal to Little's Falls (451⁄2 miles). 3,500 cubic yards rock excavation, at $2. 50 2,000 cubic yards loose rock, at $1. 25.. Total...... Little's Falls and Harper's Ferry (64 miles). 1,000 cubic yards lock masonry, at $6.... 4 sets lock gates, at $400 3,600 cubic yards training wall, &c., at $2.50 500 cubic yards rock excavation, at $2.50 4,000 cubic yards loose rock, sand, &c., at 50 cents. Total.... RÉSUMÉ. Port Republic to Iron Works (22 miles) Total for 146 miles ...... With this are submitted the following maps, &c., viz: 7 sheets, general map of Shenandoah and South Branch. 1 sheet, general profile of Shenandoah and South Branch. 1 sheet, survey of Little's Falls, Bull's Falls and vicinity, to Harper's Ferry. $16,500 24,500 11,250 19, 850 72, 100 3 sheets, tracings of Mr. Herron's maps of Shenandoah and South Branch (1832). Respectfully submitted. Col. WM. P. CRAIGHILL, Major, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. N. H. HUTTON, Assistant in charge of Reconnaissance. AN ACT to incorporate the Shenandoah River Navigation Company. Passed February 27, 1872. Be it enacted by the legislature of West Virginia: 1. That it shall be lawful to open books under the superintendence of Edward Tenrny, George W. Eichilberger, George H. Turner, John G. Cockrill, M. Rowe, S. V. Yantic, and Edward W. Miller, or any four of them, at Harper's Ferry, in the county of Jefferson, for receiving subscriptions to the capital stock of the company hereby incorporated, for the purpose of improving the navigation of the Shenandoah River. 2. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than three thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and which at any time hereafter, by vote of the stockholders, may be increased to an amount not exceeding ten thousand dollars, and each share thereof shall entitle the holder to one vote in all the meetings of the stockholders, to be given either in person or by proxy. And for the purpose of obtaining subscriptions to the capital stock, or so much thereof as may be deemed necessary for the lawful purposes of the said corporation, books shall be opened under the direction of the persons named in the first section of this act or a majority of them, at such time and place as the persons who act in that behalf shall deem expedient; and in case the company shall organize before a sufficient amount is subscribed to the said capital stock, for the lawful purposes of said corporation, the president and directors thereof shall have authority and power, at any time thereafter, and without opening new books of subscription, to receive further subscriptions to said capital stock until the full amount authorized by this act shall have been subscribed. 3. As soon as ten shares or one thousand dollars shall have been subscribed, the subscribers, their executors, administrators, and assigns, shall be and are hereby incorporated into a company by the name and style of "The Shenandoah River Navigation Company," with all the rights, privileges, and immunities, and subject to responsibilities of a body politic or corporate, and may make such by-laws, rules, and regulations, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this State, and of the United States, as they may deem necessary and advisable. 4. The said company shall have power to improve the navigation of the said river by removing any and all obstructions existing to the navigation of said river, or by locks, dams, sluices, canals, or by the usual modes of improvement now used or heretofore used to render rivers navigable; and may acquire lands and materials for said improvements, under the general laws now in force. 5. The said improvement shall commence at the boundary line on the said river, between Jefferson County, in this State, and Clarke County, in the State of Virginia, and be prosecuted toward the mouth of said river, so far as may be deemed practicable, or the resources will permit, and so soon as the said river is improved to Shenandoah City, the said company shall be authorized to demand and receive a rate of tolls not exceeding the following, to wit: On flour, one and one-half cents per barrel; on all grains, one-half of one cent per bushel; on iron, twenty-five cents per ton; on lumber, twenty-five cents per thousand feet; on all boats loaded with cooper stuff, hoop-poles, or other articles not herein specially enumerated, one dollar on each boat; and on failure to pay such tolls, when demanded, the articles whereon the same are charged, and the contents of cargoes of the said boats shall be liable therefor, and may be proceeded against by attachment, as in other cases of attachment for debts. 6. If the president and directors of said company shall not commence this improve ment within one year from the passage of this act, and complete the same within two years thereafter, as far as Shenandoah City, then the interest of said company, in the navigation and tolls aforesaid, shall be forfeited and cease. 7. The legislature reserves the right to alter or amend this act at any time, in such manner, however, that no injustice may be done to the corporators or their creditors. AN ACT to amend and re-enact section six, of chapter ninety-eight, of the acts of 1872, entitled "An act to incorporate the Shenandoah River Navigation Company," approved December 30, 1873. Be it enacted by the legislature of West Virginia: 1. That section six, of chapter ninetyeight of the acts of 1872, entitled "An act to incorporate the Shenandoah River Navigation Company," passed February 27, 1872, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows: "6. If the president and directors of said company shall not prosecute this improve ment within one year from the passage of this act and complete the same within four years thereafter, as far as Shenandoah City, then the interests of said company in the navigation and tolls aforesaid shall be forfeited and cease." REPORT NO. 1, OF MR. JAMES HERRON, CIVIL ENGINEER, ON THE SURVEY AND EX AMINATION OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER AND VALLEY. January 18, 1833. GENTLEMEN: Pursuant to your resolution of the 4th April, 1832, I resumed the surveys of the Shenandoah River and Valley, commenced by me under the late principal engineer. As the estimates and plans required by law cannot be prepared in time to be laid before the present legislature, I have thought that a summary report of the progress made, with a description of some of the geological features of the country, so far as they relate to the subject, and have been developed by the surveys, would be acceptable to your honorable body, as well as those interested in the proposed improvements. In conformity with these views, I have the honor to report: That in resuming operations this season I commenced at the mouth of the Shenandoab, which enabled me to survey the rivers before the sickly season, after which I carefully surveyed the country from Staunton to Winchester with a view to a railroad. At Harper's Ferry a reference was taken to the level of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, now being constructed. The reference is to the surface of the canal 246 feet above mid-tide at Georgetown. To this height they also then contemplated raising the water in the mouth of the Shenandoah, by means of a dam across the Potomac; this dam has been abandoned, at least for the present, and they were constructing a lift-lock to receive the trade of the Shenandoah. From Harper's Ferry an experimental survey was conducted up the northwestern bank of the Shenandoah to the main forks. From this the survey continued up the North Fork to the month of Stony Creek, where it closed on the operations of the previous year. Returning to the forks, the general western side of the South Forks was surveyed to the head of the Massanutten Valley. Here the river being found to wash the base of the mountain, we crossed to the eastern side, which was kept as high as Port Republic. From this point surveys have been made up the Middle and North Rivers to where these streams are respectively crossed by the main valley road. In making these surveys, the three modes of improvement were, so far as practicable, kept in view, as east of the Massanutten they would all be confined to the immediate valley of the river. I at first endeavored to connect with these surveys an examination of the bed of the river, but owing to a sudden rise of the water and the inadequacy of my as sistance I was obliged to abandon it. Ample data, however, have been obtained to determine the propriety and relative advantages of the different works, and on which to predicate approximate estimates of their cost, with the exception of the lock and dam improvement, which would require particular measurements and an actual location. This mode of improvement, however, is certainly not eligible, in consequence of the great fall in the river, which would render danis too numerous, whereas, this fall is actually required by the laws of nature to enable it to disembogue the floods that are poured simultaneously from the steep sides of the adjacent mountains. What is to become of the marginal property of we interrupt its course by a series of dams that shall back the water to each other sufficiently deep for navigable purposes? It is evident that we raise the general surface of the river, when at its minimum, about three feet, the depth required for navigation. Now, though this river may be crossed by dams which, when placed sufficiently far apart, will not occasion any material rise in the waters beyond what would naturally have occurred; yet, as it is a well ascertained fact that the greatest rise takes place below the dam, even with the natural inclination of the bed to facilitate the egress of the waters, in how much greater degree then will be the rise when this natural inclination is raised to a horizontal level, and this level raised 3 feet? Even now the bottoms are furrowed, and contain long and deep ponds, some of which have been recently formed. These are features which should not be overlooked, as they but too clearly mark the character of this mountain torrent of the first magnitude. THE SHENANDOAH. The surface of the water at the junction of the Shenandoah and Potomac was ascertained from the foregoing reference to be 242.43 feet above tide. The distance from the mouth to the main forks near Front Royal measured by the survey 53 miles 1,201 yards; in a straight line it is only about 384 miles, showing an increase of distance of more than 15 miles. The surface of the river at the forks stood 210.48 feet above the Potomac, and 452.91 feet above tide; the average fall in the river is, therefore, 3.91 feet, and in the country 5.62 feet per mile; the fall of the river, however, is by no means regular, for in the first 8 miles from its mouth it has attained an elevation of 84 feet, which is 10.5 feet per mile. An attempt has been made to overcome this rise by six badly constructed locks, a windlass, and sluices. From Newcomer's Mills, where the last of these locks was observed, to the main forks, the rise is proportionably diminished, and with the exception of the long cliffs at the Shanondale bend,, and some narrow places, no difficulty of magnitude presents itself in the way of a construction. NORTH FORK. From the forks, the survey took up the North Fork, through good bottom lands, with but one short bluff before reaching Cedar Creek. Above this, the river seems to have cut though a spur of the Three-top, Mountain, round the base of which it winds, forming a good bottom in the bend.' The valley side, however, which was occupied by our survey, consists of high and steep slate rocks, forming a deep crescent of a mile and a half in extent, against which the river impinges with great violence in times of freshets; beyond this, very good bottoms continue to some distance above Strasburg. The distance from the forks to Bench O, near Strasburg, is, by the survey, 11 miles 70.50 chains; the surface of the river was found to be 48.96 feet above the forks, or 501.87 above tide. From this to the mouth of Stony Creek, the North Fork is extremely crooked, so much so, indeed, that no adequate idea of it can be conveyed. The tongues of land that form its numerous bends consist alternately of the high slate spurs from the Fort Mountain, interlocked with equally high limestone ridges of the valley. There are 29 of these tongues, each one of which forms one or more small but highly cultivated farms, in a distance of about 20 miles. The distance to the mouth of Stony Creek, by the survey, is 42 miles 43.03 chains, showing an increase of distance amounting to 224 miles; the course of the stream is still longer, for the survey cut off the bottoms in the bends. The level of the river at the mouth of Stony Creek was ascertained to be 515. 53 above the Potomac, 757.96 above tide, and consequently 256 feet above its surface near Strasburg, which is at the rate of 6 feet to the mile; and did it run in a straight line it would be 12.8 feet. The latter is the general fall of the country, and has been found to hold with regard to the ridges and streams crossed by the line I have selected for a railroad, though remote from the river, the latter being left at Stony Creek. It does not appear to me that any improvement can be effected on this portion of the river, the advantages of which would be at all commensurate with the cost. SOUTH FORK. The South Fork of the Shenandoah constitutes the principal branch. It generally preserves as great a width, but is not so deep, as the Shenandoah. From the main forks to Port Republic by the survey is 95 miles 78.54 chains, or from the Potomac it is 149 miles 57.42 chains. A straight line from the forks to Port Republic is only about 52 miles, showing an increase of distance by the sinuosities of the river of 434 miles. For the first 22 miles the survey passes through good bottom-lands very favorable to the construction of a canal. The next two miles, walling in the river would be required along the base of a high and steep spur of the Massanutten Mountain, composed of hard slate. This has brought us to Page County line. From this to the end |