Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

situated in the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

of eastern

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, USA. It is about long (north to south) and more than five miles (8 km) wide at its widest. Its highest point is at its southernmost end at Thorny Flat, which has an elevation of . Several other knobs rise above along its length. The mountain was once home to the largest red spruce forest south of

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

and a large portion of it now lies within the

Monongahela National Forest The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Potomac Highlands Regio ...

Geography

Cheat Mountain traverses the entire length of central

Randolph County, West Virginia Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,932. Its county seat is Elkins. The county was founded in 1787 and is named for Edmund Jennings Randolph. Randolph County c ...

, from a northern point just west of

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

to a southern point about south of the Randolph/

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter o ...

county line, near the community of Stony Bottom, where it impinges upon Back Allegheny Mountain. All but the northernmost and the southernmost are within Randolph County. The western flank of Cheat Mountain is skirted by

U.S. Route 219 U.S. Route 219 (US 219) is a spur of US 19. It runs for from West Seneca, New York, at an interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90) to Rich Creek, Virginia, intersecting at US 460. US 219 is found (from north to south) in New York, Pennsylvania, ...

which connects a string of communities in the

Tygart River Valley The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed Aug ...

(notably, from north to south, Montrose, Kerens, Elkins, Beverly, Huttonsville and Valley Head). The eastern flank, overlooking the valley of Shavers Fork, is more remote. However, all but the northernmost or so of it is skirted by the Western Maryland Railroad, connecting (from north to south) the communities of Bowden, Bemis and Cheat Bridge. Cheat Mountain is crossed (east/west) by two federal highways: U.S. Route 33 in its northern third and U.S. Route 250 in its southern third. The Cheat River, a tributary of the Monongahela, is formed at

, just east of the northern tip of Cheat Mountain, by the confluence of Shavers Fork and Black Fork.

History

Civil War

Cheat Mountain was strategically important during the early Operations in Western Virginia campaign of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. One engagement — the Battle of Cheat Mountain — took place here September 12–15, 1861. Gen.

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

directed his first offensive of the Civil War against Brig. Gen. Joseph Reynolds’s entrenchments on the summit of Cheat Mountain. The Confederate attacks were uncoordinated, however, and the Federal defense was so stubborn that Col.

Albert Rust Albert Rust (April 4, 1870) was an American politician and slaveholder, who served as a delegate from Arkansas to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. represen ...

(who led the attacks) was convinced that he confronted an overwhelming force, when he actually faced only about 300 determined Federals. Lee called off the attack and, after maneuvering in the vicinity, withdrew to Valley Head on September 17, 1861. During the night of October 2–3, Reynolds with two brigades advanced from Cheat Mountain to reconnoiter the Confederate position at Camp Bartow on the

Greenbrier River The Greenbrier River is a tributary of the New River, long,McNeel, William P. "Greenbrier River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. . in southeastern West Virginia ...

. He drove in the Confederate pickets and opened fire with his artillery. After sporadic fighting and an abortive attempt to turn his enemy's right flank, Reynolds withdrew to Cheat Mountain. Also in October, Lee renewed operations against Laurel Mountain with the troops of Floyd and Loring, but the operation was called off because of poor communication and lack of supplies. Lee was recalled to Richmond on October 30 after achieving little in western Virginia. In December, Confederate forces under Col. Edward Johnson occupied the summit of nearby Allegheny Mountain to defend the

Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was built in what is now the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia during the second quarter of the 19th century to provide a roadway from Staunton, Virginia and the upper Shenandoah Valley to the Ohio River a ...

. A Union force under Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy attacked Johnson on December 13. Fighting continued for much of the morning as each side maneuvered to gain the advantage. Finally, Milroy's troops were repulsed, and he retreated to his camps near Cheat Mountain. At the end of 1861, Johnson remained at Camp Allegheny with five regiments, with

Henry Heth Henry Heth ( not ) (December 16, 1825 – September 27, 1899) was a career United States Army officer who became a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He came to the notice of Robert E. Lee while serving briefly as his quartermast ...

at Lewisburg with two regiments. The highest Union camp of the War was located at Cheat Summit, also known as White Top, at the southern end of Cheat Mountain. This commanding stronghold controlled the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike as it passed west into the

. Cheat Summit Fort (Fort Milroy) was occupied from July 16, 1861 until April 1862 when it was abandoned due to extremes of weather as well as strategic developments. An account of the Civil War activity on Cheat Mountain can be found in Ambrose Bierce's article
On A Mountain
.

Logging era

The West Virginia timber industry grew rapidly towards the turn of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, Cheat was extensively timbered by the

West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company MeadWestvaco Corporation was an American packaging company based in Richmond, Virginia. It had approximately 23,000 employees. In February 2006, it moved its corporate headquarters to Richmond. In March 2008, the company announced a change to s ...

and their Cass operation, West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company. By 1905, the summit had been reached by loggers and by 1960 the mountain was virtually barren. The timbering of Cheat has been chronicled in many books.Clarkson, Roy B. (1964), ''Tumult on the Mountains: Lumbering in West Virginia 1770–1920''; Line drawings by William A. Lunk; Parsons, West Virginia; McClain Printing Company. Notable is W. E. Blackhurst's ''Of Men and A Mighty Mountain'' (1965) which details how difficult life was on the mountain for the mostly immigrant workers of the lumber operation.

Tourist era

A state park and tourist service, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, opened in 1960 and takes visitors up the side of Cheat Mountain to

Bald Knob Bald Knob is the highest summit of Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. At an altitude of above sea level, Bald Knob is the third-highest point in West Virginia and the ...

via the same route the logging railroad used in the 1900s. (Contrary to popular belief, Cass Railroad does not take visitors to the summit of Cheat Mountain, but rather the summit of the connected Back Allegheny Mountain.) In 1974, the Snowshoe Mountain ski resort opened on the southern tip of Cheat Mountain near Thorny Flat.

References

External links

Nature Conservancy: Cheat Mountain
* {{Authority control Ridges of West Virginia Ridges of Pocahontas County, West Virginia Landforms of Randolph County, West Virginia Landforms of Tucker County, West Virginia Allegheny Mountains Monongahela National Forest Randolph County, West Virginia in the American Civil War