DRIFTWOOD

 

Historical Report: From Frontier Defense to Industrial Extraction in Pocahontas County, West Virginia

1. Lord Dunmore, Frontier Defense, and the 1774 Campaign

Lord Dunmore and Western Mobilization

John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730–1809), served as the final Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia (1771–1776). While remembered nationally for the 1775 Gunpowder Incident and his loyalist proclamation offering emancipation to enslaved individuals fighting for the Crown, his impact on western Virginia was shaped by Dunmore’s War (1774).

Faced with escalating tensions along the Ohio River following unauthorized settler expansion and frontier violence (including the Yellow Creek Massacre), Dunmore organized an offensive campaign against a confederation of Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, and Wyandot warriors.

The Campaign and the Battle of Point Pleasant

The Virginian campaign relied on a strategic two-pronged advance:

• The Northern Division: Commanded by Lord Dunmore (~1,200 men), moving via Fort Pitt (renamed Fort Dunmore) down the Ohio River.
• The Southern Division: Commanded by Colonel Andrew Lewis (~1,100 men), rendezvoused at Camp Union (Lewisburg) and marched 160 miles through the Allegheny wilderness along the Kanawha River corridor to the confluence at Point Pleasant.

On October 10, 1774, Shawnee leader Chief Cornstalk executed a night crossing of the Ohio River to strike Lewis’s isolated southern wing before the colonial armies could combine. Cornstalk deployed a crescent-shaped line across the peninsula, using the timbered terrain and coordinated fire to contain the Virginians against the river junction.

After hours of intense engagement, a late-afternoon flanking maneuver along Crooked Creek by Virginia companies under Captains Isaac Shelby, George Matthews, and John Stuart led Native forces to execute a disciplined night withdrawal across the river. The resulting Treaty of Camp Charlotte secured colonial access south of the Ohio River and opened the Kentucky frontier to settlement.

                  [Lord Dunmore's Northern Column]
                        (Down the Ohio River)
                                  │
                                  ▼
[Chief Cornstalk's Force] ──► [POINT PLEASANT] ◄── [Andrew Lewis's Column]
 (Night River Crossing)      (Oct 10, 1774 Battle)     (From Camp Union/Lewisburg)

2. Frontier Fortifications of the Upper Greenbrier Valley

During Dunmore’s War and the American Revolution (1775–1783), the upper Greenbrier Valley (modern Pocahontas County) formed an exposed mountain frontier. Defense relied on an interconnected chain of stockades, blockhouses, and scout patrols.

                    ┌─────────────────────────┐
                    │     WARWICK'S FORT      │ (Near modern Green Bank/Dunmore)
                    │  (Capt. George Moffett) │
                    └────────────┬────────────┘
                                 │
                                 │ [Seneca Trail & Ranging Corridor]
                                 ▼
                    ┌─────────────────────────┐
                    │    CLOVER LICK FORT     │ (Upper Greenbrier River)
                    │     (Jacob Warwick)     │
                    └────────────┬────────────┘
                                 │
                                 │ [River & Ridge Trails]
                                 ▼
                    ┌─────────────────────────┐
                    │    DRENNAN'S FORT /     │ (Central Greenbrier Corridor)
                    │  MARLIN'S / DAY'S FORT  │
                    └─────────────────────────┘

Key Frontier Fortifications

• Warwick’s Fort (Fort Warwick): Erected in June 1774 on Deer Creek near present-day Green Bank and Dunmore on the property of William Warwick. Built by militia companies under Captains George Moffett and George Mathews, it measured approximately 140 by 100 feet with heavy oak stockades, internal cabins, and earth-insulated roofs. It served as a primary staging point for the 1774 Point Pleasant expedition and remained garrisoned through 1783.
• Fort Clover Lick: Established by pioneer cattleman and militia officer Jacob Warwick (c. 1747–1826) along the Greenbrier River. It served as a livestock depot, scouting outpost, and communication link along the Seneca Trail.
• Supporting Outposts: Included Thomas Drennan’s Fort (near Edray), Fort Greenbrier / Marlin's Station (Marlinton), and John Day’s / Cackley’s Fort (Mill Point / Little Levels).

3. The Industrial Transformation: Rail and Lumber

At the turn of the 20th century, the subsistence agriculture and cattle-grazing economy of Pocahontas County gave way to industrial-scale natural resource extraction, enabled by railway engineering.

[Western Maryland Railway] ── (Coal, Manufactured Goods, Empties) ──► ┌──────────────────┐
                                                                       │ DURBIN JUNCTION  │
[C&O Greenbrier Division]  ◄── (Lumber, Pulpwood, Bark, Leather)  ─── └──────────────────┘

The C&O Greenbrier Division (1899–1905)

Chartered as the Greenbrier Railway under the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, this 101-mile branch extended north from Whitcomb (near Ronceverte) along the water-level grade of the Greenbrier River:

• Reached Marlinton in October 1900 and Cass in December 1900.
• Completed to Durbin in 1902 and Winterburn in 1905.
• Major engineering feats included the construction of Droop Mountain Tunnel and Sharps Tunnel (with its adjacent river bridge).

The Durbin Rail Interchange

At Durbin, the C&O connected directly with the Western Maryland Railway (Coal & Iron Railway branch from Elkins across Cheat Mountain). This junction functioned via a multi-track yard, turnaround runs ("The Durbin Turn"), and freight classification:

• Northbound/Eastbound Flow: Red spruce, hemlock, hardwood lumber, tanning bark, and finished leather from regional tanneries (Frank, Marlinton) were sent to northern markets and ports like Baltimore.
• Southbound/Westbound Flow: Bituminous coal, heavy industrial machinery, and empty rolling stock were routed into the Greenbrier Valley.

4. Timber Operations at Clover Lick

Clover Lick (historically Cloverlick), named for its natural saline spring and wild clover flats, evolved from Jacob Warwick's 18th-century grazing estate into an industrial logging center between 1900 and 1925.

Logging Company	Active Period	Primary Mill & Track Location	Operational Scope
DeRan Lumber Company	c. 1905–1911	Mill on Clover Creek (~1 mile above mouth)	Laid ~9 miles of logging rail west into Cheat/Clover Lick Mountain valleys.
F.S. Wise & Sons	c. 1910s	Mill near the mouth of Laurel Creek	Harvested tracts eastward toward Thomas and Sitlington creeks; direct C&O siding loading.
Harter Brothers Lumber Co.	c. 1903–1912	Located southwest of Clover Lick at Harter	Operated the Pocahontas Central Railroad using Shay geared steam engines on Clover Lick Mountain.
Raine Lumber Company	c. 1920s	Operations based on Thorny Mountain	Utilized 70-ton Shay locomotive power; cooperated in the 1924 state purchase creating Seneca State Forest.

5. Settlement Geography: Dunmore, Clover Lick, and Driftwood

The central Greenbrier River and its tributaries supported distinct settlements shaped by topography, transportation, and resource extraction:

[DUNMORE] ─────────────► Located on Deer Creek (Rt. 28 corridor). Named for Lord Dunmore 
                         during the 1774 frontier mobilization around Warwick's Fort.
   │
   │ (~10 Miles Southwest via River / Rail Grade)
   ▼
[CLOVER LICK] ─────────► Located at MP 71.3 on the Greenbrier River. Evolved from Jacob 
                         Warwick's 1770s fort and cattle farm into a major sawmill and C&O depot hub.
   │
   │ (~12 Miles Southwest Downstream)
   ▼
[DRIFTWOOD] ───────────► Located near Swago/Stony Creek bottoms below Marlinton. 
                         Named for river driftwood deposits; featured a school, post office, and C&O siding.

Driftwood Overview

• Name Origin: Derived from natural accumulations of river driftwood, flood flotsam, and runaway drive-logs caught along river gravel bars and eddies below Buckeye and Marlinton.
• Post Office: Operated as a fourth-class rural post office in the early 1900s to serve river-bottom farmsteads and timber workers before consolidation into Marlinton/Buckeye routes under Rural Free Delivery.
• Schoolhouse: A standard one-room district schoolhouse providing elementary education (grades 1–8) and community gathering space, later phased out during 20th-century school consolidation.
• C&O Siding: Served as a flag stop and loading spur for agricultural livestock, cross-ties, chemical pulpwood, and farm provisions.

6. Modern Conservation and Heritage Transition

As timber resources were exhausted by the late 1920s, the region transitioned toward reforestation and public land stewardship:

• Seneca State Forest (1924): West Virginia’s oldest state forest was established through the acquisition of over 10,000 acres of cutover timberland on Thorny Mountain from operations including Raine Lumber.
• Greenbrier River Trail State Park: Following the abandonment of the C&O Greenbrier Division in 1978–1979, the 78-mile rail corridor between North Caldwell and Cass was converted into a non-motorized recreational trail, preserving historic depots (such as Clover Lick), bridges, and tunnels.
• Heritage Tourism: The preserved rail infrastructure at Cass and the Durbin Rocket excursion line north of Durbin maintain operating examples of the geared steam locomotives (Shay and Climax) that drove the early-20th-century timber economy.