Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/48

 COLUMBIA AXD MONTOUR COUNTIES at the red rock on which people crossed in going to and from (he Foulk m ill Going to Catawissa in those days w as not an easy matter by any means. The only w ay of getting there was by going around by what is now the Aqucxluct mil] and fording the river at the site of the Rupert railroad bridge^ or

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being pushed in a flat, (here being no rope ferries at that time. O r one could go down the valley to the Deimer farm, then over the hifl and cross the river at Catawissa in the same manner.

C H A PT ER I I I T O P O G R A P H Y A N D G E O L O G Y — IR O N —C O A L Separated from the earlier settled portion o f Pennsylvania by the Kittatinny range o f hills, and defended from the storms of the northwest by the A ll^ h c n ics, the tx>rtion of the State in which lie counties o i Columbia and Montour is particularly blessed in the posses4»iOD of both natural beauty and mineral wealth. Few of the elevations reach the dig­ nity o f mountains, although they rise in grace­ ful cur'cs to the height o f over 1,^00 m t in some instances. From their summits may be obtained a view of the beautiful and fertile valleys, clear streams and gently rolling hills o f as fair a land as that written o f by the Irish poet, who said: B o u n teo u s nature to v c i a ll lan d s, beau ty w an d ers cv*whcrc, F o o tp rin ts le a v e s on m an y sandi> but h e r hom e is s u re ly there.

The community in general is distinctly agri­ c u ltu ra l On ever)* hand are to be seen the re­ sults o f men's cflforts to gain a support from the w illing s o il Upon the basis of the pro­ ductiveness of the land is built the success of the tw o coimtief, and almost every man of affairs can trace back to three generations of agricultural pr<^cnitors. Montour county bears in her center the pro­ ductive Limestone ridge, from which much of the ore and stone of the past ha%*e been taken. On her southern boundary is the famous Mon­ tour ridge, like a wall between it and North­ umberland county. In the eastern end is the first rise o f Catawissa mountain, which passes down through Columbia count)*, forming (he division between Main and Locust town­ ships. A t Catawissa the Susquehanna has forced a pas>age through the range, showing all the strata of the rocks o f this section in all their odd and interesting forms. Dividing Ix>atst and Con>*ngham townships is Little

mountain, with a parallel ridge south of it, separating the fertile regions from the anthra­ cite coal fields, the only evidence o f whose c.xistcncc is the black waters o f Catawissa crcck. Between Mifllin and Beaver townships lies Nescopeck mountain, which extends from the Luzerne county line to Mainville. M cAuley and Buck mountains, with their small deposits o f hard coal now almost worked out, complete the list o f elevations in the southern part. North of the Susquehanna the most impor­ tant elevation is Knob mountain, at the site of Orangev'ille, a clear cut. green-clad elevation of great scenic beauty. Eastward))* this ridge is called Huntington and Lee mountains, after a division at the edge o f (he county. T h e most picturesque portion of the county lies in the extreme northern part, where a spur of the Aneghcnies forms the lofty North mountain, the source o f Fishing creek and its branches. T his is the home of the trout and the paradise of the summer boarder. Elsewhere in the counties the surface is constantly broken by a succession o f hills o f var)'ing height, the fertile slopes of which arc cultivated entirety to the top. .Around these hills meander the numerous streams o f this well watered countr)-. Fishing creek and its tributaries afford the sole drainage o f that section o f Columbia county north of the river, with the exception of a .small portion in the extreme cast drained by B riar creek. On the south of the river the countr)* is drained by Catawissa creek. R oar­ ing creek and Ten-M ile run. Montonr county is drained almost entirely by Chilltsqnaquc crcck and its many branches. T his stream flows through Northumberland county and empties into the West Branch of the Susquehanna. The portion of the county around Danville is drained by Mahoning creek.

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