Kirk, Great pic! Glad you still had enough composure to snap a photo!
I've met John before at some lumber heritage meetings over the years, but have spent more time with Bob. They're both a wealth of information. I've never walked into Arroyo on the north bank of the river upstream from the Arroyo Bridge. I've canoed & kayaked the raceway beside the island a number of times. What a blast! I've put visiting the indian rock overhang site on the north hilltop on my list of hikes, but haven't got there yet. Dale On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 4:16 PM, Kirk Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > Dale, > > Thanks for all of this information, very interesting. I have both of the > books you reference too. John Imhof took me on a tour of that area in the > spring of '03, pointing out many of the features of the old mill foundations > along through the river corridor there. You are right, he is a wealth of > information. (His brother Bob knows a lot about the area too.) > > Mostly we were on the north side of the river. While exploring the old town > of Arroyo, walking through all the foundations, John points at one in > particular and suggests I walk up to the top of it and look down in. So I > did, and right there at the foot of the foundation directly below me was a > sleeping black bear. He immediately woke up and ran away, pausing at the far > edge of the foundation to look back (see attached photo). It was pretty > cool. > > If anyone wants to look for large oak trees, there are a lot of them on > that south-facing slope on the north side of the river between Ridgway and > Arroyo. > > This is also an area of the Allegheny National that Forest Friends of > Allegheny Wilderness is asking Congress to designate as a wilderness area > under the Wilderness Act of 1964. See map here: > > http://www.pawild.org/images/maps/clarion_river.jpg > > To all: letters to Congress in support of this wilderness proposal always > help! (More info here: http://www.pawild.org ) > > Thanks again, > > Kirk Johnson > > > > > > ENTS, > > On 4/21,30/09 I surveyed the Portland Mills Pennsylvania Fish & Boat > Commission (PAFBC) property on the Clarion River for big trees & historical > attributes. The area is part of a proposed land swap between the PAFBC and > DCNR. The area is loaded with lumber history and a treasure trove to those > who love to walk a site and look into its past. Most signs of human > disturbance goes unnoticed to the untrained eye, but to those who know what > to look for, it's one of the best spots on the Clarion River to hunt for old > mills and tanneries while taking a walk back in time. > > Portland Mills is about 34 miles up-river from Cook Forest. Here's a link > to various sections of the Clarion River Water Trail map: > > http://www.fishandboat.com/watertrails/clarion/clarion-trail.htm > > and another link to download the whole guide (~3megs) > http://www.fishandboat.com/watertrails/clarion/clariontrailguide.pdf > > I've had the pleasure of reading several books on lumber history in the > area. Two have a great deal of information on the Portland Mills section of > the Clarion River. The first is: > > Taber, T. 1974. 'Tanbark, Alcohol, and Lumber: The Forest Industries of > Ridgway, St. Mary's, Hallton, Wilcox, Portland Mills, Straight, > Johnsonburg'. by Thomas T. Taber III. > > This is book #10 within the series 'Logging Railroad Era of Lumbering in > Pennsylvania'. It is a classic to all PA lumber history nuts. > > The second is: > > Imhof, J. 2003. 'Elk County A Journey Through Time: Volume One The > Central Clarion Corridor'. Clarion River Publishing, First Edition, by John > D. Imhoff. > > Both are excellent, but Imhof's book goes into much greater detail. Here > are a few excerpts: > > "*Early History > * > Portland Mills has existed under several different names and in various > sizes and configurations since the earliest days of recorded local history. > Early accounts indicate that the area that now encompasses Portland Mills > was a great gathering point for elk, making it a likely, though unconfirmed > focus for hunting parties of the native tribes that made their homes to the > north and west of this vast wilderness. > > The earliest recorded pioneers of European descent are said to have been a > gentleman known as General Wade and his companion, a man known only as > Slade. Some tradition holds that Slade was a lieutenant under Wade, but the > facts are difficult to determine with a high degree of certainty. > > Wade had come to the lower Little Toby watershed to remove some of the > remaining native population, particularly a group near what would later > become the town of Blue Rock. During this excursion a brief fight was > conducted on the slopes above Little Toby Creek, but the natives were > quickly defeated and relocated. > > Wade was apparently fascinated by the area and returned with his family and > Slade in 1798 to homestead. The group spent about 5 years in the upper Toby > valley before moving to the mouth of the stream near what is now called > Carman. It was during this period that Slade would encounter a young native > girl in the Blue Rock area. Slade would eventually marry the young woman > who is known to local history as the Indian Maid of the Blue Rock. > > Slade and his bride established a trading post somewhere in the > Carmon-Portland Mills area that would exist for many years. The year was > probably 1803, and settlement was officially underway..." > > There were a number of different mills and industries located here: 3 > lumber mills, 3 railroads, a tannery, a matchstick factory, lath mill, > kindling wood plant, hub plant, quarry. Portland Mills was once a lumber > boom town that boasted a population of around 1,000 people, now several > dozen call the town home. Wish you could see the old photos. What a change > from total desolation in the early 1900's to the recovered landscape of > today. > > Eventhough time has wiped away most evidence of past human disturbance, the > trained eye can still see remants of foundations of a number of houses, > lumber mill sites, boom piers in the river, train trestle support, and dam > remnants in the substrate of the river. > > The surrounding forest is still recovering. Sycamore is the most canopy > dominant tree, and turns out to be the tallest documented so far for the > Clarion River. We even found a new staghorn sumac height record for the > state (paltry few in the database though). Tree stats follows: > > *Species CBH Height Comments > * > Am. beech N/A 80.9 > > Am. hornbeam 1.4 36.3 > > black cherry N/A 91.2 > black cherry N/A 97.8 > black cherry 7.6 101.8 > black cherry N/A 106.2 > black cherry 6.1 108.1+ > black cherry 6.2 108.1+ > black cherry 7.8 111.3 > > butternut 4.5 46.2 > > dotted hawthorne 2.1 31.9 > dotted hawthorne 3.7 33.3 > dotted hawthorne 2.3 41.7 > > E. white pine N/A 116.3 > E. white pine N/A 121.1 N side of river > > Juneberry N/A 67.5 > > N. red oak N/A 104.5 > > quaking aspen 3.4 79.9 > > shagbark hickory N/A 69.3 > > silver maple 9.7 107.3 > > slippery elm 7.7 66.1+ > > staghorn sumac 1.7 36.9 tallest documented PA 41 22.920N x 78 > 49.965W > > sycamore N/A 88.1 > sycamore N/A 99.9 > sycamore N/A 110.6 > sycamore 10 115.4 > sycamore N/A 118.4 > sycamore 5.8 118.6 > sycamore 11.4 119.1 > sycamore N/A 119.7 > sycamore 5.7 123.1 > sycamore N/A 129.1 > sycamore 4.8 130.6 tallest documented Clarion River 41 > 22.919N x 78 50.007W > > tuliptree N/A 117 > > white ash 7.3 84.1+ > > > The RI for Clarion River-Portland Mills = *100.6 > * > *Species CBH Height > * > sycamore 4.8 130.6 > E. white pine N/A 121.1 > tuliptree N/A 117 > black cherry 7.8 111.3 > silver maple 9.7 107.3 > N. red oak N/A 104.5 > white ash 7.3 84.1+ > Am. beech N/A 80.9 > quaking aspen 3.4 79.9 > shagbark hickory N/A 69.3 > > > The addition of the new sycamore record brings up the Clarion River RI to > 130.97 > > *Species CBH Height Location > * > E. white pine 9.5 149.7 Cook Forest SP > tuliptree 7.4 141.4 Cook Forest SP > black cherry 10.2 136.4 Cook Forest SP > sycamore 4.8 130.6 Portland Mills > white ash 7.6 128.3 Cook Forest SP > N. red oak 10.1 126.7 Clear Creek SP > E. hemlock 9.2 126.7 Cook Forest SP > pignut hickory 5 126.7 Cook Forest SP > cucumbertree 7.2 122.6 Cook Forest SP > Am. beech 9.3 120.6 Cook Forets SP > > The tallest trees are mostly found in Cook Forest with all of the Cook > trees being located in the Cook Trail Old Growth Area (1st bench) or on the > Foundation Ridge Flat. Out of 63 recorded sites in PA, the Clarion River > now rises to 3rd place in PA's Top Ten RI's: > > *Site RHI > * > Cook Forest State Park 137.38 > Fairmont Park 132.27 > Clarion River 130.97 > McConnells Mill State Park 130.85 > Cemetery Run-Meadville, PA 129.23 > Ridley Creek State Park 128.3 > Swarthmore College 127.55 > Wintergreen Gorge 127.53 > Ricketts Glen State Park 126.29 > Valley Forge National Park 123.83 > > > Dale > > > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to > [email protected]<entstrees%[email protected]> > >
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