WONDERFUL DNR WEST VIRGINIA Copyright WV · Wonderful West Virginia (USPS–415-660; ISSN 0030-7157) is published monthly by the State of West Virginia Division of Natural Resources,

1937 FLOOD ICE AGE FAUNA WINTER FERNS JAMIT! BASKETS

WONDERFULWEST VIRGINIA

January 2012 $3.00

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Wonderful West Virginia (USPS–415-660; ISSN 0030-7157) is published monthly by the State of West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, 324 Fourth Ave., South Charleston, WV 25303-1228. Periodical postage paid at Charleston, WV. Postmaster: Send changes to Wonderful West Virginia, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305-0669.

Subscription Rates: Domestic: 1-year $18.00, 2-year $36.00; Newsstand Single Copy: $3.00, Call 304.558.9152, or 1.800.CALL.WVA. Address all editorial correspondence to the editor. Viewpoints of our authors do not necessarily reflect those of the Division. Copyright 2012 by State of West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Although reasonable care is taken, the editor and the Division of Natural Resources assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. It is the policy of the Division of Natural Resources to provide its facilities, accommodations, services, and programs to all persons without regard to sex, race, color, age, religion, national origin, or handicap. Proper licenses/registration and compliance with official rules and regulations are the only source of restrictions for facility use or program participation. The Division of Natural Resources is an equal opportunity employer. Discrimination complaints should be directed to: Director, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, 324 Fourth Ave., South Charleston, WV 25303-1228. Wonderful West Virginia is a copyrighted publication and may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the editor.

To subscribe call 1.800.CALL.WVA or visit www.wonderfulwv.com

Earl Ray TomblinGovernor, State of West Virginia

Keith BurdetteSecretary, Dept. of Commerce

Frank JezioroDirector, Division of Natural Resources

Emily J. FlemingAssistant to the Director / Legislative Liaison

Wonderful West Virginia Editorial StaffSheila McEntee, EditorJeff Pierson, Art DirectorClayton Spangler, Photography EditorNora Shalaway Carpenter, Associate EditorErin Murphy, Graphic DesignerTeresa Hyde, Production Manager

Wonderful West Virginia Administrative StaffMichael Bryant, Business ManagerDonna Flowers, Circulation

CommissionersJeffrey S. Bowers, Sugar GroveByron K. Chambers, RomneyPeter L. Cuffaro, WheelingDavid M. Milne, Bruceton MillsDavid F. Truban, MorgantownKenneth R. Wilson, ChapmanvilleThomas O. Dotson, White Sulphur Springs

Section ChiefsCurtis I. Taylor, Wildlife ResourcesDavid E. Murphy, Law EnforcementKenneth Caplinger, Parks and RecreationJoe T. Scarberry, Supervisor, Office of Land and Streams

Layout & DesignCannon Graphics, Inc.Charleston, West Virginia

Printed byChapman Printing CompanyCharleston and Parkersburg, West Virginia

www.wvdnr.gov

About our cover: Snow blankets a slope and pine trees along the Highland Scenic Highway in Pocahontas County. © Thomas Fletcher

Inside front cover: Snow-laden fence and trees in Blackwater Falls State Park © Ernie Page

About our contents page photo: Men in a rowboat float beneath the marquee of Huntington’s Orpheum Theater during the terrible Ohio River flood of 1937. For more, see page 4. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of EngineersCo

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Features

4 The Great 1937 Flood This month marks the 75th anniversary of the Ohio Valley’s worst natural disaster, when raging floodwaters inundated factories and farms and drove a million people from their homes. Those who lived through it will never forget the Flood of 1937. By James E. Casto

10 Ice Age Fauna Evidence abounds that a variety of fascinating fauna—from mastodons to saber-toothed cats to armadillos—once roamed the ancient land we now call West Virginia. Here’s a peek at some intriguing discoveries. By E. Ray Garton

20 Jamit! Baskets Since 1995, when one of their earliest works wowed viewers on the QVC home shopping network, Judy and Mike McDade have been weaving beauti-ful and highly functional baskets in their Monroe County studio. You likely won’t forget their name—or their artful creations. By Marita Cummins

24 Finding Winter Ferns What’s that lovely foliage peeking up from a blanket of fallen leaves or fresh snow? It’s likely one of West Virginia’s 70-some fern spe-cies, some of which stay green all year long. Now is the perfect time to get to know these intriguing plants. By Doug Jolley

2 Welcome

2 HiddenGem

3 LetterstotheEditor

3 ReaderPhoto

14 Gallery

28 BookoftheMonth

31 EventsStatewide

32 Bookshelf

DEPARTMENTS

January 2012Volume76.Number1

Page24BraxtonCounty

Page20MonroeCounty

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Onacoldmid-morninginwinter,Ipulloneverypossiblelayerandtrudgeoutdoorsbeneathasombersky.PerhapsI’vebeendrivenoutintotheelementsforlackofawordoranidea,orbecauseIknowit’sgoodforme,andIneedtogetmycreakybonesoutofthisofficechair. Whateverthecircumstances,Ifindmyselfareluctantrecipientofwinter’sfirmembrace:airthatchapsmycheeksandlips,andachillthatsneaksthroughthefibersofmygloves,reachingdowntotheverybonesofmyfingers. AsIwalkmyfamiliarroutewithpurpose,myheartbeatquick-ensandmythoughtsstraybacktothelengthyto-dolistonmydesk.IambusilyprioritizingthosetaskswhenIsuddenlyglanceuptoseeseveralpairsofcardinals,plumpedandroundandperchedonbare,icylimbs,likerubiesinaglisteningcrown.Aslight,chillbreezerufflesthetipsoftheirfeathersasIsearchthebranches,countingthemandmarvelingattheirbeautyandhardi-ness.AndinthatmomentIamremindedoftheabundantgiftsofwinter,losttomewhenIamsnuginside,distractedbydeadlinesandmust-do’s. Beitsunlightgleamingonsycamorebarkortheearflickofanelegantdoe,natureawaitsus,nomattertheseason.YoumayevenlookuponaclearJanuarydaytofindthemagnificentsilhou-etteofabaldeaglesoaringagainstbluesky. Ifwintergreeneryintriguesyou,you’llenjoythetipsnativeplantloverDougJolleyoffersinthisissueforidentifyingsomeofourstate’sfascinatingfernspecies.You’llalsomeetartisansJudyandMikeMcDade,whoharvestwillowandothernaturalmaterialsinwintertocreatetheirbeautifulbaskets. Justremember,asfossilexpertRayGartoninformsus,nomat-terhowcolditgets,it’sstillwarmerthanitwaswhenmuskoxandcaribouroamedtheseancienthillseonsago! MayyourNewYearbebright,andmayyourwinterforaysbringyoujoyanddiscovery.

Editor Sheila McEntee

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Welcome

[email protected]

HiddenGem

Grandpa’s Pantry

AvisittoGrandpa’sPantryisawonderfulwaytoslowdownandreminisceaboutthesimplerthingsinlife.OffthebeatenpathinBuckeyeinPocahontasCounty,thislittlegrocery,ownedbyHowardandLoisMamak,featuresAmishcheeses,delimeats,jelliesandjams,maplesyrup,spices,pasta,homemadebreads,andevenafewantiquesandotherrelics.LocatedonRoute2,theshopisopenTuesdayandWednesdayfromnoonto7:00p.m.,Fridayfromnoonto5:00p.m.,andSaturdayfrom10:00a.m.to5:00p.m.Formoreinformationortoplanavisit,call304.653.4762.

CarolynPostelwaitValleyHead,WV

Note: Is there a gem off the beaten path in your community? Please send no more than 120 words. Include contact information for your gem and your name and town. Write to WonderfulWestVirginiaMagazine Reader Picks, WVDNR, 324 Fourth Ave., South Charleston, WV 25303 or e-mail [email protected].

© Carolyn Postalwait

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A Missionary’s Daughter WritesIamthedaughterofMaryBehnerChristopher(1906-1988),whofoundedTheShackinPursglove.IwasdelightedtoseeaBenShahnphotoofitIhadneverseenbefore[“ScottsRun:ThenandNow,”September2011].MomhadonlymentionedtheFSAphotographerLewisHine,whotookaphotoofherandhernewlibraryintheStumptownschoolin1928.[Thiswas]whereshefirststartedherPresbyterianhomemission-aryworkbeforeobtainingTheShack,aformerhorsestableandcompanystore.HinecommentedthattheonlysmileshesawwereatTheShack. IdiscoveredWalkerEvansandBenShahnphotosofScottsRunwhileattheWhitneyMuseuminNewYorkCitysev-eralyearsago.Inoticedseveralphotosofblacksandwhitestogether.MomwasalwaysproudofherintegratednurseryschoolandherblackGirlScouttroop,thelatternecessarybecauseofsegregation.

In2008,IwatchedtheplacementofaroadsidemarkerattheoriginalsiteofTheShackoffRoute7.AfterMom’sdeath,IdonatednineyearsofherPursgloveyears’diariestothestatemu-seum.Theywereintheformofletterstoherfather,aClarksburgministerwhohadtoldheraboutthejob.Thediariesareannotatedwithprogramsandclippings.Iamhumbledthatherphotoisinthewon-derful,newlydesignedstatemuseum.Shetaughtmesomuchandherlegacylivesonthere,too.

BettijaneChristopherBurgerCharleston,WV

Arnout Hyde Jr. RememberedItreallywarmsmyhearttoseetheplace-mentofthememorialtoArnoutHydeJr.atBlackwaterFallsStatePark.IamaWestVirginiagirl,thoughIliveinOhio.IalwayslookforwardtoanewWonderful West Virginiamagazineeachmonth.Thephotographsarebeautiful.

Inevermethim,butMr.Hydedem-onstratedthatphotographyisn’tjustpictures—it’sart.Hisphotographsalwaysmademewanttogothere—whereverthatwas.Photographyisnowmyhobby.ItrytoseekoutareastophotographthatIhopewillmakeanyonewholooksatthemwant“togothere.” Icarrythoughtsinthebackofmymindofhisstyleandstrivetomakemyworkbetter.Hehashadaninfluenceonmanyphotographers,professionalandnovice.IwishIcouldhavemethim.Heneverknewit,buthewasresponsibleformyloveoflandscapephotography. IamsurethereareotherswhofeelasIdo.Ican’twaitforvacationtimenextsummertoheadbacktoBlackwaterFallstovisitthememorial.Keepthemagazinegoingstrong—goodjob!!

AlisonCogar-ZeiglerWillard,OH

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Snow-covered pines sur-round Blackwater FallsinTuckerCounty.

SharonDaltonDavis,WV

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As a boy growing up in Huntington, I listened to the adults around me talk about the Ohio River flood of 1937. They recalled the flood in much the same way other Americans would later remember where they were when President Kennedy was killed or when the terrorists struck on September 11, 2001. Their stories planted in me the seed of what’s been a lifelong interest in the flood. Neighbors told us that our little two-story house on Huntington’s 4th Avenue, just a few blocks from the river, had been flooded nearly up to the second floor. On warm evenings we would sit on our front porch, and when the talk turned to the flood, I would look around and try to imagine what it must have been like with the floodwaters lapping at our porch roof.

The Great 1937 FloodBy James E. Casto

“HELL AND HIGH WATER”


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History

The Wood County Bank andParkersburgCityHallareshownwhenthecity’s1937floodingwasatitscrest.Auselesstrafficlighthangsovertheintersection.PhotographcourtesyofArtcraftStudio,Parkersburg

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Seventy-five years ago, in January 1937, the Ohio Valley was visited by the worst natural disaster in its history—a flood of truly biblical proportions.

“Hell and High Water” was the way Time magazine of February 1, 1937, described the flood, and the description was grimly accurate. The raging floodwaters inundated

thousands of houses, businesses, factories, and farms in a half-dozen states; drove a million people from their homes; claimed nearly 400 lives; and recorded $500 million in damages. Taking inflation into account, that figure would translate into more than $7 billion today. Adding to the misery was the fact that the disaster came during the depths of the Great Depression, when so many American families already were struggling simply to put food on their tables. There had been Ohio River floods before, of course. When the first settlers made their way into the Ohio Valley in the early and mid-1700s, they found that the river was subject to dramatic changes. When the weather was dry for weeks at a time, it could be so shallow that one early settler described it as “a mile across and a foot deep.” At some points, you could walk across it and hardly get your feet wet. Yet in periods of heavy rainfall, or when a sudden thaw quickly melted the accumu-lated winter snow from the nearby hillsides, the Ohio could become a raging torrent. Major Ohio River floods were recorded in 1862, 1883, and 1884. In 1884, the river washed away an estimated 2,000 homes along its length. Although it hardly seems a laughing matter, people familiar with the Ohio and its history joked about the firehouse in Marietta, Ohio, that was swept away, fire engine and all, by the flood. Six days and many miles later, it “turned up as part of the Louisville Fire Department.” The Ohio flooded again in 1901, 1907, and 1913. The high water of 1913 brought with it widespread public protest. Former President Theodore Roosevelt complained that mil-lions of dollars were going to aid the flood victims but not one penny had been spent on flood prevention. President Woodrow Wilson convened a special commission to study what could be done to tame the river. The commission exam-ined several options, including the erection of levees and the construction of flood-reducing reservoirs. But the outbreak of World War I shelved such plans. And their revival after the war was sidetracked again by the “Black October” stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Depression. 1936 … and then 1937In 1933, the Ohio flooded yet again in the upper end of the Ohio Valley. This was just a curtain raiser to the history-making flood of 1936. On St. Patrick’s Day of that year, Pittsburgh—where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to


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form the Ohio—saw its worst flood ever. Fed by extraordinary snowmelt and rain, the three ice-filled rivers quickly left their banks, and soon the city’s downtown was under as much as 15 feet of water. It should come as no surprise that when people in Pittsburgh and other places along the upper Ohio talk about flooding, they generally offer remembrances of what happened in 1936, not 1937. January 1937 was unusually warm in the Ohio Valley. The melting snow cover and 19 straight days of warm rain com-bined to create just the right conditions for flooding along the river’s entire 981-mile length, from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio joins the Mississippi. Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania towns were flooded again in 1937 but escaped a repeat of the record-setting crests of the year before. As was the case in Pittsburgh, Wheeling residents found the flood of January 1937 no match for the record-setter of March 1936. That’s not to say the high water wasn’t damaging. Rising two inches an hour toward a crest of nearly 47 feet, the floodwaters soon covered much of the city. As happened in 1936, Wheeling Island again was submerged and authorities ordered its 10,000 inhabitants evacuated. At Parkersburg, the 1937 flood crested at 55.4 feet—19.4 feet above flood stage but 3.5 feet short of the city’s record crest of 58.9 feet set in 1913. Residents mostly took the flood in stride. Water and telephone services were maintained, though limited. Refugees were evacuated and housed in various buildings on high ground. Although Parkersburg City Hall was entirely surrounded by the floodwater, the police department maintained its headquarters there, operating from makeshift offices on the second floor. The only access to the building was by boat. Widespread DevastationThe 1937 flood was the worst ever for Point Pleasant. The heart of the town’s commercial district was underwater for days. But once the water receded, undiscouraged merchants quickly shoveled away the mud and reopened for business. The official flood damage estimate for Point Pleasant was $100,000, but the actual figure was likely many times that. Some businesses were able to get federal loans for repairs, but homeowners were left to fend for themselves. The 1937 flood was also Huntington’s worst ever. At 11 a.m. on January 27, the river reached 69.45 feet—more than 19 feet above flood stage and three feet higher than the previous 1913 record. It inundated most of the city’s downtown and

At 4th Avenue and 15thStreet,justontheedgeofHuntington’sdowntownandoneblockfromMarshallUniversity(thenMarshallCollege),thesesmallframecottageswerefloodeduptotheirporchroofs.Thefloodedhouseswerejustaroundthecornerfromthehousewheretheauthorandhisfamilylaterlived.Photographcour-tesyoftheU.S.ArmyCorpsofEngineers

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forced thousands of residents from their homes. The water was five feet deep in the store buildings along downtown’s 4th Avenue. Outside, rowboats made their way up and down the watery avenue. Relief centers, set up in undamaged churches and schools, struggled to feed as many as 9,000 people a day. When the river receded, five people were dead and the city was a soggy ruin. Yet as damaging as the 1937 flood was to West Virginia communities, the havoc it brought downriver was even worse; indeed, the flood steadily grew as it made its way downriver. Portsmouth, Ohio, was protected by a floodwall, but fears that the river would come crashing over the wall prompted officials to open the sewers and let the floodwaters slowly creep in. Cincinnati was confronted by the twin menaces of flood and fire when gasoline from ruptured storage tanks caught fire. In Kentucky, Louisville was perhaps hit harder than any other city along the river. The flood turned Paducah into a ghost town, with more than 27,000 of its 33,000 residents car-ried to safety by a makeshift flotilla of rescue boats. River towns in Indiana were also devastated. And at Cairo, Illinois, authori-ties had to use force to disband armed farmers determined to prevent the Corps of Engineers from blasting out a channel to route the floodwaters away from the town—and into the farm-ers’ fields. The widespread death and devastation inflicted by the 1937 flood proved that flood control was no longer something that could be ignored, and the federal government finally began to take meaningful action. However, as had happened earlier in the century, the outbreak of war halted most flood-control efforts. But this time the defeat of Germany and Japan and the arrival of peace saw not only the erection of more earth levees and concrete floodwalls along the Ohio but also the construc-tion of a major network of flood-control dams and reservoirs. These reservoirs, many constructed on tributaries at great distances from the Ohio itself, are designed to hold water back when flooding threatens and then release it as the rivers begin to fall to a safe level. Time and time again, the region’s floodwalls and flood-control reservoirs have proven they are more than worth every tax dollar that’s been invested in them, preventing untold devas-tation to communities along the Ohio and its tributaries.

James E. Casto is a retired Huntington newspaperman and the author of a number of books on state and local history, including The Great Ohio River Flood of 1937 (Arcadia Publications, $21.99), a photo history.

p Huntington’s Sixth Street BridgeacrosstheOhioRiverstoodhighanddryduringthe1937flood,butthebridgesawnotraffic,astherampsonboththeOhioandWestVirginiasideswerecoveredbyfloodwaters.Foratime,thetelephoneinthebridge’stollboothwastheonlyworkingphoneintown.PhotographcourtesyoftheU.S.ArmyCorpsofEngineers

u Snow is falling onthisrescueboatcrew,photographedheadingsouthon10thStreetbetween4thand5thAvenuesinHuntington.That’stheformerFirstHuntingtonNationalBankbuildingbehindtheboat.PhotographcourtesyofJamesE.Casto

u The 1937 flood devastatedrailroadsthroughouttheOhioValley.Whenariver-weakenedstretchoftrackatMoundsville,WestVirginia,collapsed,itsentthistriooffreightcarscrashingintothemud.PhotographcourtesyofJamesE.Casto


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Read more at e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia.9Co

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It’s a well-known fact that panthers and wolves once roamed the ancient hills and river valleys of West Virginia. But armadillos? Vampire bats? Tapirs? Could these lovers of tropical temperatures also have called the Mountain State home? Indeed they did, and so did the wooly mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, and the giant ground sloth. How do we know? Because laymen and scientists have been finding the

remains of long-extinct Pleistocene, or ice age, animals in West Virginia for more than 200 years. What is popularly thought of as the ice age in West Virginia began about 2 million years ago and ended about 8,000 years ago. This era is perhaps best known for its great ice sheets and glaciers. But it also included several periods of long, interglacial climates that were much warmer than our climate today.

Fauna of theBy E. Ray GartonPhotographs courtesy of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Museum Ice Age


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Science

There is no evidence that any of the great ice sheets of the Pleistocene era ever reached into West Virginia. Nonetheless, these glaciers had a significant and lasting impact not only on the state’s flora and fauna but also on its topography. For example, during the last great ice sheet, known as the Wisconsinan glacier, what is now the Monongahela River flowed north across Pennsylvania and into the St. Lawrence River system. When the ice dammed the river near Beaver, Pennsylvania, a great lake, up to 100 miles wide, formed and extended south 200 miles to at least Weston, West Virginia. The lake, called Glacial Lake Monongahela, filled the valleys to an elevation of 1,100 feet above sea level. Hundreds of feet deep in some places, the lake eventually overflowed to the west and south along the margins of the ice sheet, forming what is now the upper portion of the Ohio River. Though the prehistoric lake is gone today, thick layers of varved (banded) clay and fine sand, which settled to its bottom, are still found along the margins of its shoreline. Another ice dam near Chillicothe, Ohio, caused the formation of another great lake, backing up the waters of the present-day Scioto, Ohio, and Kanawha Rivers. This lake ex-tended from Chillicothe past Ashland, Kentucky; Huntington, West Virginia; and Charleston, West Virginia, and all the way

to Ansted, West Virginia. Called Glacial Lake Teays, it prob-ably existed for about 25,000 years during the Illinoian glacier period. The level of Glacial Lake Teays rose until it overflowed at a low point near Portsmouth, Ohio. These overflowing waters formed the lower Ohio River and followed a westerly route toward Cincinnati. They then continued along the southern boundary of the ice sheet across Indiana and Illinois to the Mississippi River. As with Glacial Lake Monongahela, thick layers of varved clay and fine sand are still found along the prehistoric margins of the Glacial Lake Teays shoreline. Cave DiscoveriesFurther evidence of the dramatic effects of glaciers on our land can be found in the highland areas of Spruce Knob, Canaan Valley, and Dolly Sods. In these places, the bitter cold and intensive frost action of the ice age formed permafrost and patterned ground—that is, more or less symmetrical polygons and circles of surface rocks and debris. Relic patterned ground is still visible on some of the state’s highest peaks. The first ice age fossils found in what is now West Virginia were discovered in the 1790s by saltpeter miners working in a Monroe County cave. The bones were given to Thomas

t These pieces of jaguarskullwerediscoveredinPendletonCounty.

These mastodon teeth are evidencethatthisspeciesof“mega-fauna”thrivedduringtheIceAgeintheareanowknownasWestVirginia.

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Jefferson, who was then the president of the American Philosophical Society. Jefferson thought the large bones and claws belonged to a giant cat, but they turned out to be those of an extinct giant ground sloth. The fossils were named Megalonyx jeffersonii after Jefferson, who later became America’s third president. Megalonyx jeffersonii was designated West Virginia’s official state fossil in 2008 (see “A Founding Father’s Fossil,” October 2010). Most of West Virginia’s ice age fossil animals have been and continue to be found in the state’s 4,000-plus limestone caves. Why in caves? Largely because caves provide a place for stream and talus sediments to accumulate. Caves also provide stable temperatures and humidity, which are important to preservation. In order for a bone to be preserved, it needs to be buried quickly, because on the surface, bones decay rapidly and are often eaten by rodents. In the limestone regions of the state there are many sink-holes, fissures, sinking streams, and caves. When an animal dies, there is a better chance that its carcass will fall or wash into one of these natural bone-preserving traps. Still, as impor-tant as caves are to bone preservation, they are not the only places where fossils are found. A few important specimens have been discovered in surface streams and surface alluvial depos-its. None of the state’s 12 mammoth specimens were found in caves, and the state’s first musk ox (Bootherium bombifrons) speci-men was found on a farm in Brooke County. Anyone Can Find a FossilYou don’t have to be a scientist to make important fossil discov-eries. In fact, cave explorers, hikers, farmers, and students have all made valuable discoveries. While you may not find a new species, every bone is important. A fossil may be the first of a known species found in the state, or it may extend the range of a species in the state. For example, until recently, the only specimen of armadillo (Dasypus bellus) known from West Virginia came from Organ Cave in Greenbrier County. That specimen is a single scute, or shell plate. Then, in 1995, some people digging the founda-tion for a house in Berkeley County discovered what turned out to be dozens of pieces of an armadillo. This find extended the range of this animal in West Virginia by 125 miles to the north. It was also documented as the most northern record of armadillo in the eastern United States. Other fossil discoveries that evidence an earlier warm climate include the bone of a vampire bat (Desmodus) and the bones of tapirs, peccaries, and ground sloths. These animals suggest that West Virginia once had a climate similar to that of northern Florida! Other fossil finds indicate that the climate was, at another time, similar to that of northern Canada and Alaska. These animals include the musk ox (Bootherium bombifrons), arctic shrew (Sorex arcticus), northern bog lemming (Synaptomys borealis), and caribou (Rangifer tarandus).

Some other dramatic finds in West Virginia include the saber-toothed cat (Smilodon) from Greenbrier and Pendleton Counties, a cheetah (Micracinonryx inexpectacus) and a jag-uar (Panthera onca augusta) from Pendleton County, several dire wolves (Canis dirus), the giant bear (Arctodus pristinus), and several woolly mammoths (Mammuthus) and mastodons (Mammut americanum). But just as important as the megafauna finds are the smaller animals, such as the extinct Trout Cave vole (Atopomys salvelinus), found in Trout Cave in Pendleton County and elsewhere; the Cumberland Cave pocket gopher (Plesiothomomys); the Cumberland Cave vole (Pitymys cumberland-ensis); and the Cumberland Cave mouse (Peromyscus cumberland-ensis). The last three animals were first found in Cumberland Cave in Alleghany County, Maryland, a renowned site for ice age fossils. All of the small-animal fossils may be more than 800,000 years old. Indeed, big or small, each species played an important role in shaping the future make-up of West Virginia’s animal kingdom. Their presence indicates the fascinating changes in climate that also helped shape our state’s unique topography.

E. Ray Garton is curator of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Museum in Morgantown. If you think you have found an interesting fossil in West Virginia, contact Ray at [email protected] and he will help you identify it.


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t The discovery of thispeccary(Platygonus vetus)skullinWestVirginiaindicatesthatthestate’sclimatewasoncemuchwarmerthanitistoday.

q The large teeth ofSmilodon,thegenusnameforcertainextinctspe-ciesofsaber-toothedcats,havebeenfoundinGreenbrierandPendletonCounties.

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g a l l e r yKent Mason, www.wvphotographs.com


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Snow dusts the flora ofDollySods,fromcrimsonblueberrybushestodistantpines.

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Wintery view of Dolly Sodsbeforesunrise,lookingsoutheastCo

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Fresh snow clings to sprucetreesonCanaanMountain.Co

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The sun warms freshly fallensnowonDollySods.MountPorteCrayonisinthebackground.

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Tucked between Lewisburg and Union, on two quiet acres, is a two-story, circa 1864 farmhouse bordered by bamboo and willow groves. Shaded by a tall walnut tree and graced with wisteria vines, this is the home of Judy and Mike McDade, owners of Jamit! Baskets. Since 1994, the McDades have been

crafting beautiful and highly functional baskets from their his-toric home/studio in Pickaway in Monroe County. The couple grows and harvests many of the natural materials used in their craft. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, former bookkeeper Judy McDade was a stay-at-home mom seeking to start a home business when the idea of basket making came to her. She had made an alphabetical list of the things she wanted to try. “I had nothing in the A’s, so basket making was the next choice,” she says. She started with kits, then read a book on the subject and got hooked. Less than a year later, Judy and Mike attended a trade show, where a design Judy called the “Molly

Basket” was picked up by the QVC home shopping network. Judy was given a commission for 500 baskets and a 10-week deadline to produce them. Fifty baskets a week for 10 weeks was a daunting assign-ment. So that is when Mike also became a basket maker. A na-tive of Tennessee who grew up in Baltimore, Mike was an auto parts manager at a Chevy dealership at the time. Judy and Mike had come to West Virginia in 1978 to housesit for a relative on property in Williamsburg. They had jumped at the chance, as Judy says, “to raise our kids in the country, away from the trappings of Baltimore.” They ultimate-ly fell in love with rural West Virginia life and decided to stay. In 1990, they bought their Civil War-era farmhouse. When the enormous QVC order came in, Mike rolled up his sleeves and pitched in. The couple divvied up the work, with Mike making bases and Judy weaving them into baskets. “Luckily Mike picked up basket making easily,” Judy says. “We did it. Our hands never wore out, though they stayed brown for weeks from the dye in the reed. In the five minutes of air time we were given, QVC sold 200 baskets.”

Cultivated Craft

By Marita Cummins


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West Virginians

It has been many years since their initial QVC success, and since that time, the McDades have built a thriving business cre-ating baskets that are functional, frivolous, large, small, plain, fancy, whimsical, utilitarian, colorful, monochromatic, or any combination of the above. Many of the baskets are made with the four varieties of willow and the bamboo they grow on their property. Many feature other natural materials they harvest, like honeysuckle and wisteria, and found items, like antlers and driftwood. Judy prefers creating traditional baskets in various forms using flat or oval reeds. Some have flat wooden bottoms, which she hand decorates and paints. She and Mike also weave unique seasonal décor, like bunches of harvest-time corn. Their Turkey Rib Basket, shaped and decorated to look like a plump turkey, is both festive and functional. In winter, when many crafters are snug inside with their pastimes, Judy and Mike are busy dyeing reeds, a process done outdoors regardless of the weather, and harvesting willow. They use black walnut hulls, which they collect in their yard, to make a fade-free dye that is perfect for food baskets. The couple cuts willow rods down to the base, then sorts the lengths by variety. They then bundle and tie the rods and store them in a dry shed. There the willow stays for a year, until it is ready to be used for baskets. Unused branches are clipped into two-foot-long pieces and used as fire starters. In the

McDades’ basket-making operation, little is wasted. When she is not working on basketry, Judy spends the snowy months creating new designs and researching possibili-ties. While she often begins with a pattern, her imagination sends her off in creative, new directions. Some of her best sellers are Americana Mail Pouch baskets, featuring 13 hand-painted stars, and cube-shaped and rectangu-lar tissue baskets, which fit over standard tissue boxes. While I was visiting, Judy was working on a tissue cube in WVU colors. The piece began as a purchased wooden square, which Judy hand decorated. She glued flat, half-inch-wide reed slats onto the wood and secured them with woven, round reeds. Once the staves were aligned, she wove blue or gold reeds to conform to the tissue box size. She then rimmed the basket with smoke reed and sea grass, and laced it with flat reed. To finish off the piece, she added a wooden top with a round or oval hole for tissue dispensing. While Judy often goes for the utilitarian angle, Mike enjoys making distinctive, one-of-a-kind baskets, some with antlers for handles. For these he begins by tying the antler pieces together and drilling holes to accommodate the large, round reeds that create the general shape of the piece. Then he weaves smaller, usually dyed reeds in to create the basket. In addition to making baskets and whimsical décor, the McDades also make planters and bird feeders from willow

t Jamit! egg baskets comeinseveralsizes.©JenniferFox

ArtisansJudyandMike McDadecreatebasketsthatarebothbeautifulandhighlyfunctional.©ClaytonSpangler

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twigs. These items are both practical and charming. They re-cently added bamboo garden trellises to their line of products. So where did the name “Jamit!” come from? According to Judy, it is a combination of her initials, JAM, and the second part of a frequently used expletive. Basketry is satisfying and “a great way of expressing your inner self,” she says, but it can also be frustrating when things don’t go as planned. That said, in close to 20 years of basket making, Judy adds, “I have only thrown two in the fire!” While Judy considers herself a craftsperson with a mission to make useful baskets, she says, “Mike is the true artist of the business. It all works out to a nice way to spend our time together.” The McDades credit the staff of the Tamarack Foundation (www.tamarackwv.com/foundation) for helping them to build their business and market their products. “We cannot say enough good things about them,” Judy says. Shoppers will find colorful “Tamarack Shopper” baskets created by Jamit! at various places around Tamarack to use for gathering purchases. Visitors can also purchase a Tamarack Shopper basket, as well as other Jamit! designs, at Tamarack. Jamit! baskets are also available at the gift shop at Pipestem State Park and at the WV Living shops: one in Morgantown and one at Snowshoe Resort. (For a complete list of retail plac-es, see the Jamit! Web site below.) In addition, the McDades travel to craft fairs around the state to sell their products. Visitors who call or e-mail for an appointment can stop by the Jamit! studio and shop in Pickaway. For more information, visit www.jamitbaskets.com, call 304-647-5043, or e-mail [email protected]. Marita Cummins is a former English and French teacher who is hap-pily retired and spending her time doing freelance writing and graphics work. She lives in Caldwell.

(Thispage)The Jamit! collection includesplantersandbirdfeed-ers,distinctivebasketswithhand-paintedbases,andone-of-a-kindbasketswithdeerantlerhandles.

(Nextpage,top)Judy and Mike McDadegrowandharvestanum-berofnaturalmaterialsfortheirbasketmaking,includingbamboo,willow,andvines.

(Nextpage,bottomleft) Hand-painted picnic basket fromtheJamit!collection

(Nextpage,bottomright)Colorful Jamit! basket withwisteriaribhandle

©JenniferFox

©JenniferFox

©ClaytonSpangler


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©JenniferFox ©JenniferFox

©ClaytonSpangler

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FindingWinter Ferns

In a world of towering oaks, lush rhododendrons, and delicate orchids, the unassuming fern gets less attention. But West Virginia is home to more than 70 species of this intriguing and resilient plant. Like many other herbaceous woodland plants, most ferns disappear shortly after the first killing frosts. But a few are evergreen and readily identifiable even in winter. In fact, winter is a perfect time to take a walk

in search of ferns. Ferns are common throughout the state, so if you stroll through a municipal park, hike in a state park or forest, or take a drive in the countryside, you’re almost guaranteed to find winter ferns. But my favorite wintertime walking area is a nameless ridgetop service road/trail in Burnsville Lake Wildlife Management Area, adjacent to the Napier United Methodist Church in Braxton County. This seldom-travelled trail provides a showcase of evergreen ferns. The first one you’ll likely find is the ubiquitous Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides). It is readily identified by its glossy frond composed of boot-shaped leaflets, or pinnae. You may find the Christmas fern growing anywhere, from field edges to deep woods. It is one fern that begrudgingly tolerates full sun. Indeed, it is often maligned for its mundane nature. However, a few fronds collected in June and pressed until dry provide enduring emerald accents and are highly desirable addi-tions to dried flower arrangements. Properly dried, the Christmas fern will last as well as any everlasting or strawflower. As the common name suggests, this fern compliments our American holly, deciduous holly, and any array of evergreens used in holiday décor. (Note: Collection is not allowed on public lands. On private property, be sure to ask the landowner before collecting.) Initially, the Burnsville Lake trail begins as a gated service road and traverses mowed pastureland. On this segment you’ll also encounter a fern that is at home in open areas and at the edges of woods. The cutleaf grape fern (Botrychium dissectum) does not appear until late summer at the earliest. In early win-ter it hails to the passerby by means of a golden banner. The banner is actually a separate frond that is laden with ripened,

Text and photographs by Doug Jolley

spore-bearing capsules. (Ferns do not produce seeds; they pro-duce spores, and spores constitute one means by which ferns reproduce.) This structure is unmistakable among the grays and browns of winter and fairly glistens in the sunshine on a frosty morning. Sterile and Spore-Bearing FrondsBy early winter, the cutleaf grape fern’s single, sterile, triangular frond (ferns do not have leaves) turns a lustrous bronze. Even though the showy, spore-bearing frond will wither with age, the persistent sterile frond will remain resilient throughout winter, until it finally withers with the arrival of spring. Close examination of the fertile frond reveals how mem-bers of the “grape fern group” came to be named. The spore-bearing structures, or sporangia, are actually round capsules, and the whole affair resembles clusters of golden grapes. Bumping the fern may result in a miniature cloud of dust, signaling the release of countless spores. Found in every county in the state, the cutleaf grape fern often occurs individually. It is always a treat to come across one, or better yet a few together, on a wintery walk. As the trail drops over a hill and enters a wooded area, the Bulltown Campground, across the lake below, comes into view. More Christmas ferns await. Then, just ahead, you may observe a clump of ferns with fronds reaching nearly two feet in height. Most woodland ferns die back with the frosts of November, but you’ll find this fern, the marginal shield fern (Dryopteris marginalis), to be as robust as ever. The marginal shield is a member of the “wood fern group,” which includes a number of species that are composed of multiple fronds growing from a single clump. You can easily distinguish this fern from the few other evergreen wood ferns by looking at the reverse side of the frond. The miniscule, round, spore-holding structures, or sori, form a distinct outline of dots at the very edge of the frond. One other evergreen wood fern found across the state is the intermediate shield fern (Dryopteris intermedia). This plant is lacier and much more finely cut than the marginal shield fern. When you examine the underside of the frond, you’ll see that the spore-containing sori are positioned away from the margin.


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For these reasons, even when they are growing alongside one another, marginal shield and intermediate shield ferns are easy to differentiate.

Mountaineer FernsThe ultimate destination for a walk on this trail is an east-facing rock outcrop that features an array of boulders scattered at its base. Now your search for ferns leaves the ground and moves to the nooks and crannies of these rocks, composed of residual sandstone. Scanning the rock surfaces, you should immediately see two evergreen spleenworts. The larger of the two, the ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron), grows from loamy crevices. Its fronds measure six to eight inches in length. This fern is common throughout West Virginia and is famous for its par-tiality to man-made rock walls. The Flora of West Virginia by P. D. Strausbaugh and Earl L. Core notes that ebony spleenwort is often found growing under black walnut trees. Although not as abundant as the Christmas fern, it would be unusual not to encounter it on most any forest walk. Clinging to the actual faces of some of the rocks are small, green rosettes of arching fronds. A joy to encounter, these ferns are truly mountaineers. It is a marvel how they stay in place.

Consultation with any fern guide will confirm these plants as maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes). Keep searching and you may find what looks like a leaf with a long, tapering end. Some of the ends will have small plants rising from them. This “leaf” is actually the frond of the walk-ing fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum). The little plants rising from the tip of the frond are vegetative offspring from the mature frond. (Earlier I noted that spores are one way ferns reproduce; this is another way.) Colonies form in this manner, and like the common name implies, this fern literally walks across rock surfaces. Wherever the maidenhair spleenwort resides, you’ll likely find the walking fern. If you are observant, you will also note that some of the boulders sport ill-fitting toupees of rock polypody (Polypodium virginianum). This fern is notorious for forming dense colonies atop rocks. Polypody resembles the Christmas fern, but two features separate the two plants: The Christmas fern’s frond is larger and its individual pinnae not only form a characteristic boot silhouette but also sport toothed edges, not unlike a saw blade. The pinnae of the polypody do not form a “toe,” and the margins of the polypody’s pinnae are smooth like a butter knife.

Nature

The cutleaf grape fern (left)canberecognizedbyits“goldenban-ner,”orsingle,fertilefrondladenwithsporangia,orspore-bearingcapsules(right).

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In any discussion of ferns in West Virginia, it is important to mention the limestone substrate and outcroppings prevalent in our eastern counties. These counties are renowned for their diverse fern populations. Prominent botanists have searched this area since colonial times and continue to do so. Native plant societies from West Virginia and adjoining states rou-tinely make the eastern counties a destination. Through the years, fern species and fern hybrids new to science have been documented in eastern West Virginia. In The Appalachians, author and naturalist Maurice Brooks provides an example of what can happen when a new species of fern or fern hybrid is found. When Stotler’s spleenwort (Asplenium stotleri) was discovered, many botanists and other plant enthusiasts came from far and wide to see and collect samples. As a result, populations of this newfound fern were severely depleted. Today, many sites with fern rarities remain closely guarded secrets. One might have an easier time extracting the where-abouts of a favorite fishing hole from a fisherman than gaining directions to a special fern site from a fern enthusiast. One easily identified evergreen fern found predominantly in this part of the state is the purple cliff brake (Pellaea atro-purpurea). As its name suggests, it is a cliff dweller, but it also occurs on rock-strewn slopes. This fern is leathery in texture. The frond is a unique shade of bluish-green and the stem, or stipe, is a dark purple. Even though this fern is well under a foot tall, it is a striking plant when seen clinging to its limestone host. And this is no tenderfoot; indeed, the purple cliff brake capably withstands heat, drought, and freezing winters. Walks in and around the South Branch of the Potomac River Valley will often reveal purple cliff brake. There are other evergreen ferns that await your discovery, but the ones described here will serve as a primer for what you can see in winter. For those parts of the state where snow is measured in feet, ferns can be sought just after fall frosts and before spring arrives. But in much of the state, fern hunting can occur throughout much of the winter. Don’t be surprised if a nomadic band of chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice follow along. For the novice, winter is the ideal time to begin to learn about these interesting plants. And experienced plant lovers rarely tire of revisiting old friends.

Note: The Burnsville Lake Wildlife Management Area service road/trail noted in this article is easily accessed and begins immediately ad-jacent to the Napier United Methodist Church on US Route 19, one mile south of the Bulltown boat access, beach, and picnic ground.

Doug Jolley has studied and photographed the flora of the Burnsville Lake Wildlife Management Area since its inception. He enjoys grow-ing native plants, particularly native rhododendrons and azaleas.

u A “toupee” of rockpolypodyadornsthisrockonLaurelRunRoadinUpshurCounty.

(Bottomleft) An intermediate shield ferngrowsneartheUpperWaterfallsonFallRun,atributaryoftheLeftForkofHollyRiver,inHollyRiverStatePark.

(Bottomright) With its ro-settes ofarchingfronds,themaidenhairspleenwortfernisoftenfoundclingingtothefaceofrocks.


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Read more at e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia.27Co

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NBA legend Jerry West ofCheylan,WestVirginia,earnedAll-AmericanhonorsasaplayerfortheWestVirginiaUniversityMountaineers.

Mountaineers #44 Jerry West makesajumpshotinagameagainstTennessee.


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hadgonetherefor—playbasketball.PlayingintheOlympicswasthesinglegreatestthrillofmyathleticcareer.Iwillneverforgettheindeliblemomentwhen,astheAmericanflagwasraisedand“TheStarSpangledBanner”reverberatedthroughoutthePalazzettodelloSport,co-captainOscarRobertsonandI,mykneesshaking,steppeduptothetoprungofthepodiumandacceptedtheGoldMedal.Tothisday,itismymostcherishedpossession… David’sdeath,Iseenow,trulyresultedinthebasketballcourt’sbecomingmysanctuaryandmyrefuge,theplacewhereIfeltmostalive,whereIwasmostincontrol.Thesweetbeautyofmybeingbymyselfoutthere—aboyfromdeepinsideWestVirginiawithaballandbarelyconcealedangerandaburningdesire,afiercelonging,formorethanwhatIhad—isthatIwasinchargeofeverythingandIwaseverything:coach,score-keeper,referee,timekeeper,theopposingplayertryingtostopmeandpushingmetodomybest,thefans,and,ofcourse,theguywiththeballwiththegameontheline,hungrytotakethelastshotanddecidetheoutcome.Oh,howIlovedhearingtheclocktickdown,five, four, three, two, one,andthenlettingitgo,followingthearcastheballdroppedcleanlythroughthebasket.Ilivedforthat,forthatinimitableswish,oneofthesweetestsoundsIknow. Iwouldrunthesescenariosoverandoverandoveragain,thenshootsomemore.SometimesI’dletmyimaginaryteamlosesoIwouldhavegreaterincentivethenexttime.SometimesIwouldmakethebuzzergooffearlyandfoilmyself.OthertimesIwouldaddanextrasecond(justasIsometimesmanagedtocomeupwiththefinaldarkpieceofthejigsawpuzzlethatIhad“discovered”hidinginthecarpetorundermychair).Itwaspeacefuloutthere—dawnandduskinWestVirginia,letmetellyou,aresomethingtobehold—andIwascontent,strivingtomyownformofperfection.Intheyearssince,IhaveoftenwonderedifIwastryingtobelikeDavidortoseparatemyselffromhim;ifplayingaswellasIcouldwasmeanttohonorhimortofilltheconsiderablevoidthathisdeathhadleft.AsIstoodbe-forehisgravethatday,IwasremindedonceagainofthethingIwillneverbeabletochange:Henevergotachancetoseemeplay,toseemereallyplay.

From cover to cover, the recently released memoir of legend-ary NBA player and coach Jerry West is engaging, revealing, and honest. West shares memories of his painful childhood in Chelyan, West Virginia, which included abuse by his father and the death of his beloved brother, David, in the Korean War. These hardships, West says, contributed to the competitiveness that ultimately led him to become an NBA superstar. Included here are a few brief excerpts from the book. For more informa-tion, see our Bookshelf on page 32.

WhenIwouldwakeearlyinthemorningsanddidn’thavetotrudgeofftoschool,whereIwasanindifferentstudent,Icouldn’twaittoclimbthesteepAlleghenies(partoftheAppalachianrange)andhikearoundthewoodslikeanexplorer,somesortofmodern-dayDanielBoone(whospentalotoftimeinWestVirginia)orDavyCrockett.WithmyDaisyRedRyderBBguninhand,thenlateraRemington.410single-shotshotgun,IlovedthefactthatIhadnoideawhattheheckIwasgoingtosee(thoughsecretlyIwasbothexcitedandterrifiedbytheideaofrunningintoabear).Iwantedtogoplaceswherenooneelsewouldbe,oreventhinktoventure.Tome,thewoodsheldthepossibilityoffindingamagicelixir,aperfect-worldMagicKingdomwhereeveryanimalIeverwantedtosee—orhaveanopportunitytoshoot—wouldbe;they’dbetherebuthiding,watchingme,asIwouldbeonthelookoutforthem:squirrels,rabbits,and,ifIwaslucky,ruffedgrouse.Itbecameacompe-tition,oneofthefirstofmanyinmylife,andinretrospect,Ivieweditasonewaytoclimbupfromtheabyss... OneofthethingsImostloveddoingathomewaslisteningtotheradioinmyroom,listeningtoboxingmatchesandtoWVUbasketballgames.IinheritedDavid’sradiowhenhelefttogotowar,andIcametoloveRayRobinsonandJoeLouis,whoincidentallybecametwoofmythreefavoritesportsheroes(theotherbeingJimBrown,thefootballplayer)andwhomIlaterhadthechancetomeet.IwillneverforgetseeingSugarRayonthecoverofLife,leaningagainsthispink1950CadillacinfrontoftwobusinessesheownedinHarlemwithanadoringcrowdmillingabout.Myloveforboxinghasbeenlifelongandhasneverwaned.Wheneverthereisabigmatch,ifIcanpossiblygetthere,Ido,orIwillwatchitontelevision.WhenIwenttoRomeforthe1960Olympics,inthemidstoftheColdWar,IwasasexcitedtowatchayoungCassiusClayasIwastodowhatI

BookoftheMonthWestbyWest:MyCharmed,TormentedLifeByJerryWest

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Snow blankets a rocky overlookintheBearRocksPreserveonDollySods.©KentMason


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January 1First Day International FestivalLewisburg304.772.3580

January 1 - 7Holiday of Lights FestivalBluefieldCityParkBluefield304.327.2448

January 1 - 8Winter Festival of LightsOglebayStateParkWheeling304.243.4000

January 6 - 8Burton Women’s Snowboard CampSnowshoeSkiResortSnowshoe877.441.4386

January 7Frozen Sasquatch 25K & 50K RunKanawhaStateForest304.415.4104

January 7Search and Rescue 5K RunKanawhaStateForest304.545.7044

January 7Hank Williams Tribute at the Clay CenterClayCenterCharleston304.561.3570

January 7 - 8Little Princess BallNorthBendStateParkCairo304.643.2931

January 8Wedding ExpoCharlestonCivicCenterCharleston304.345.1500

January 12Rascal Flatts with Sara Evans and Hunter HayesCharlestonCivicCenterCharleston304.345.1500

January 20 - 22Festival of Food and WineMorgantown304.594.1111

January 20 - 22WV Hunting and Fishing ShowCharlestonCivicCenterCharleston304.345.1500

January 21Shirley Schweizer Winter WalkKanawhaStateForest304.925.2771

January 21Dinner TheaterHawksNestStatePark304.658.5196

January 27 - 29WV International Auto ShowCharlestonCivicCenterCharleston304.345.1500

January 28Dinner TheaterHawksNestStatePark304.658.5196

Events Statewide: January1.800.CALL.WVA . www.wvtourism.com

Moving? Take us along!To have your Wonderful West Virginia subscription forwarded to your new address, go to www.wonderfulwv.com and follow the instructions for address changes OR call toll free 1.800.CALL.WVA and ask an operator to change your address to your new location.

Subscribe toWonderful West Virginia!

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Times and events are subject to change. Please call ahead before attending an event.

WinterFunTree Bark RubbingsHere’sasimpleandfunactivitytogetkidsoutdoorsonawinteryday.Treebarkrubbingsteachkidsofallagesaboutnature,andtheymakegreatart.Allyouneedaresheetsofwhitepaper(tracingpaperworksthebest)andcrayonsofallcolors. Findatreewithinteresting-lookingbark.Lookcloselyatthebark,noticingtheridges,knots,andholes.Holdapieceofpapertightonthebark.(Ifkidshavedifficultyholdingthepaper,theycangetsomeonetoholditwhiletheydotherubbing,ortiethepapertothetreewithapieceofstring.)Takeacrayonwiththelabelremovedandrubitsidewaysonthepaperuntilapatternappears.Trydiffer-entcoloredcrayonsanddifferenttrees—bothdeciduousandconifers—toobtainuniquepictures.Whatkindoftreebarkgivesthebestresult?Biggertreeswillworkthebest,butremembernottoremovethebarkfromthetrees. Rememberwhichtreesyouusedandinthespring,youcancollectleafrubbingsfromthesametrees.Onceyouhavematchedthebarkrubbingswiththeleafrubbings,youcanmakeyourowntreeidentificationbooklet.Formoreoutdooractivitiesforteachersandkids,gotowww.wvdnr.gov/wildlife/teachers.shtm.

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Quantity Title Price Amount

______WestbyWest $27.99 ______

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Or Call:1.888.982.7472or304.342.1848e-mail:[email protected]

WestVirginiaBookshelfWest by West: My Charmed, Tormented

Life (Book of the Month)

ByJerryWest

$27.99,6x9,352pages,Hardcover

gHeisoneofbasketball’stoweringfigures:“Mr.Clutch,”whomesmerizedhisopponents

andfans.Now,forthefirsttime,thelegendaryJerryWesttellshisstory,fromhistoughchildhoodinWestVirginia,tohisunbelievablecollegesuccessatWestVirginiaUniversity,his40-yearcareerwiththeLosAngelesLakers,andhisrelation-shipswithNBAlegends.

John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry

ByJasonGlaserIllustratedbyAlMilgrom,BillAnderson,andCharlesBarnettIII

$7.95,7x9,32pages,Paperback

gThestoryofabolitionistJohnBrowncomesaliveforyoungreadersinthiswonderfullyillustratedgraphicnovel.SeeBrownasayoungmanoutragedbytheinjusticesleveledatslaves,andhisfirststandagainstslaveryinKansas.ThestorythenmovesontoHarpersFerry,whereBrowntriedtoseizegunsfromtheU.S.ArmoryandArsenaltoleadanuprisinghehopedwouldendslavery.

The Outhouse Papers: Country Humor and Trivia

ByWayneErbsen


g Youdon’tneedanouthousetoenjoythisbook.Anyonewholikesalittlereadingmate-

rialinthebathroomorbedroomwillloveit.Opentoanypageandletyoureyesfallwheretheymay;you’llbesuretolaugh,chuckle,grin,orgrimace.

The Mothman Files

EditedbyMichaelKnostForewordbyJeffWamsleyAfterwordbyThomasF.Monteleone


gInthemid-1960s,strangeoccurrences,includingtheshockingappearanceofabizarre,wingedappari-tionthatbecameknownastheMothman,troubledthetranquilcommunityofPointPleasant,WestVirginia.Thestoriesinthisvolumefurtherthelegendandarepennedbysomeofthebeststorytellersinthenation.


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Winter trees in Webster County© Thomas FletcherCo

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WONDERFUL DNR WEST VIRGINIA Copyright WV · Wonderful West Virginia (USPS–415-660; ISSN 0030-7157) is published monthly by the State of West Virginia Division of Natural Resources,