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Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-8517.jpg
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  • SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 19 Virginia the Unakas approach the Blue Ridge and practically merge with the latter into one irregular mountain range; southward, the two diverge. The Unaka range has 18 peaks rising above 5,000 feet, and 8 of these above 6,000 feet. The Roan, toward its northern end, Mount Guyot and Clingman's Dome, farther south in the Great Smoky Mountains, reach altitudes, respectively, of 6,313, 6,636, and 6,619 feet. Southwest of the North Carolina line these bordering ; mountain chains lose both in elevation and regularity. In northern Georgia they break up into several minor ridges, diminishing in size as they extend southwestward, separated by widening, irregular valleys. Near Cartersville, 0fSotheeAppaia- Ga., between the two principal tributaries of the Coosachians- River, the Southern Appalachians merge into the Piedmont Plateau, with its low, isolated hills and ridges, remnants of former mountains. (See Pis. IX a and XLV.) They rise again, however, in eastern central Alabama into the short, irregular ridge of the Talladega Mountains, which reach an elevation of 2,500 feet. The slopes of these ridges in north Georgia are still largely forest covered, and along them are the countless springs which, with notable constancy, feed the great rivers of that State and Alabama. The scenery of much of this region is exceedingly picturesque, and its attractiveness is increased by the many cascades and waterfalls along the courses of these mountain streams, such as Tallulah Falls (see PI. XXVIII), with a descent of 335 feet, and the Dukes Creek, Minnehaha, and Ruby falls, with each a descent of nearly 300 feet in short distances. Extending out from the two great irregular mountain borders, the Blue Ridge and the Unakas, into the elevated region between them, and connecting them in places, are a series of more or less interrupted cross ridges, which J^m^l^ have altitudes comparable to, and in one case (the Black Mountains) greater than, those of either the Blue Ridge or the Unakas. And these interior ridges are separated by high, but deep and generally narrow, irregular valleys. Standing on any of these elevated mountains, one may see stretching out in either of several directions an endless succession of mountain ridges and mountain peaks. A remarkable succession of these ridges and peaks is seen from the Grandfather Mountain. North Carolina, looking southwest, as shown in the accompanying panoramic view (PI. VI). Hundreds of such vistas, from as many peaks, t
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).