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46-522: The river rises at the base of the Cumberland Plateau , just southwest of Monterey in eastern Putnam County , with the convergence of several smaller streams that drop off the Plateau. Several of these headwater streams are impounded at the Plateau's edge, including one which forms Monterey Lake. The river then winds its way southward, slicing a broad valley in an otherwise hilly section of

92-640: A detachment of the U.S. First Tennessee Cavalry at Yankeetown. On February 22, 1864, a band of Confederates under John Hughes attacked a detachment of the Fifth Tennessee Cavalry along the river, in what became known as the "Battle of Dug Hill." Hughes reportedly captured and executed over a dozen federals. Confederate guerrilla leader Champ Ferguson , who lived in the Calfkiller Valley, is buried in France Cemetery, along

138-684: A range that run from Nova Scotia in Canada to Alabama in the United States. The Appalachian Plateau is the northwestern part of the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division of the United States, stretching from New York state to Alabama . The plateau is a second level United States physiographic region , covering parts of the states of New York, Pennsylvania , Ohio , Maryland , West Virginia , Virginia , Kentucky , Tennessee , Alabama , and Georgia . The formation of

184-494: A vast array of natural resources throughout its rugged landscape. Within these resources, there are many sedimentary substances. In the valleys of the Appalachian Plateau there is an abundance of limestone . This limestone is still mined for cement and aggregate. Due to excessive mining over time, limestone fields are depleted in many areas but some are still relatively plentiful. Ironstone and coal are also among

230-572: Is a physiographic section of the larger Appalachian Plateau province, which in turn is part of the larger Appalachian Highlands physiographic division. The Plateau rises about 1,000 feet (300 m) above the surrounding areas in the region (Tennessee Vacation, 2018). The rough topography that makes up the Cumberland Plateau has caused a development of isolated settlements and the local economies based on subsistence agriculture (Britannica, 2016). The sedimentary rocks that compose

276-532: Is a deeply dissected plateau , with topographic relief commonly of about 400 feet (120 metres), and frequent sandstone outcroppings and bluffs. At Kentucky's Pottsville Escarpment , which is the transition from the Cumberland Plateau to the Bluegrass in the north and the Pennyrile in the south, there are many spectacular cliffs, gorges , rockhouses , natural bridges , and waterfalls . In Tennessee,

322-546: Is hard to say exactly when the occupants first inhabited the land. Human artifacts were collected near the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in southern Pennsylvania that were at least 16,000 years old. Because the early Native Americans were hunter-gatherers living off the land, they left little material traces of their lives behind them. This is why it is so hard for researchers to determine when they settled in this area. Much like many historic Native American tribes,

368-778: Is known as the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield . It includes 35 counties and covers around 30% of Kentucky's land. Major sections include the Allegheny Plateau , the Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains , with the highest peaks located in the Cumberland Mountains. A physiographic region is a large portion of land that is grouped by several factors. Each region has similar geology, topography , and groups of plants and animals. There are eight physiographic regions in

414-424: The Cumberland Mountains . Each section is classified under the Appalachian Plateau province because of its similarities in geologic makeup, topography, and wildlife. Likewise, the Appalachian Plateau falls under the classification of Appalachian Highlands because of those similar characteristics. The rock underlying the Appalachian Plateau consists of a base of Precambrian rock, overlain by sedimentary rock from

460-560: The Paleozoic Era . On top of the basement is a thick layer, approximately 20,000 feet, of a mixture of Cambrian , Ordovician , and Middle Silurian rock. This rock consists of shale , siltstone , and sandstone . Above this layer is the Upper Silurian evaporate basin , or basin of chemically formed sedimentary rocks. The Plateau fold belt consists of structurally complex Paleozoic strata which were thrust faulted over

506-701: The Shining Rock and Linville Gorge . The 1975 Eastern Wilderness Act created expanded protected areas in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. Today, close to 21% of the region is protected. Conservation groups that are dedicated to preserving the Appalachian Plateau region include the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and the Northern Forest Alliance. Ultimately, experts and researchers say

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552-554: The United States . Each region is divided into provinces, there are 25 provinces in the United States. Each region is then divided into sections, creating 85 different physiographic sections in the United States. The Appalachian Plateau is a province of the physiographic region of the Appalachian Highlands . The Appalachian Plateau province is divided into seven physiographic sections: Mohawk, Catskill , Southern New York , Allegheny Mountains , Kanawha , Cumberland Plateau , and

598-480: The coal industry boomed. Many counties in the Appalachian Plateau region, such as McDowell County, West Virginia , became dominated by coal mining. Coal mining towns were created, and many immigrants were attracted to the region for work. Although mining was good for the economy, deaths were high in the harsh work of the mines. Among the terrible coal incidents was the Monongah mining disaster of 1907. Protecting

644-797: The "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the dissected plateau lands lying west of the main Appalachian Mountains . The terms stem from historical usage rather than geological difference, so there is no strict dividing line between the two. Two major rivers share the names of the plateaus, with the Allegheny River rising in the Allegheny Plateau and the Cumberland River rising in the Cumberland Plateau in Harlan County, Kentucky . The Cumberland Plateau

690-514: The Appalachian Plateau region there is an abundance of fox, raccoon, wild boar, black bears, white-tailed deer, and beaver. Researchers also found there to be over 200 species of game and songbirds including wild turkey, heron, geese, hawks, ducks and many more. Fungi are also prominent in the Appalachia region. Abundant mushroom and lichen can be found including chanterelle , oyster mushroom and rock tripe . The Appalachian Plateau has

736-470: The Appalachian Plateau suffered from the American Civil War , but in comparison to many other parts of the country, little damage was done. During the war, Union forces gained control over a majority of the plateau, and afterwards that possession was not challenged. Only three noteworthy battles occurred in the plateau region during the war, so not much of the land was destroyed. After the war,

782-664: The Appalachian Region from damage of human influence has been important in the modern era. Conservationists have been fighting to preserve the wildlife in the Appalachia region . The region has proved that with good care, the flora and fauna can be very resilient. However, back in 1890, the destruction of the Appalachian region's forest was at full-scale with the invention of the railroad, saw-mills, and clear-cutting of trees. This caused major flooding and wildfires to

828-610: The Calfkiller River is likely named after a Cherokee chief who lived in the valley when the first European-American settlers arrived in the area around 1800, following the American Revolutionary War. Throughout the early 19th century, they harnessed the river to power numerous small gristmills. In the years before the Civil War, an iron works and a cotton mill operated along the banks of the river in

874-641: The Camp Heights area before turning southward again. The river spills over an old dam once used by the Sparta Hydroelectric Plant and passes under State Highway 111, which follows the river's eastern bank for several miles. The river then continues through rural White County, passing about a mile east of Doyle before emptying into the Caney Fork at river mile 104. This section of the Caney Fork, part of Great Falls Lake , provides

920-481: The Cumberland Plateau and larger Appalachian Plateau are of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian geological age, composed of near-shore sediments washed westward from the Appalachian Mountains . Some rock layers were laid down in shallow coastal waters, some, including bituminous coal seams were laid onshore in swampy environments. These are interlaced with delta formations of cross-bedded sandstones and occasionally conglomerate. There are numerous discontinuities in

966-587: The Cumberland Plateau include The Nature Conservancy , the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation , and the Natural Resources Defense Council . 36°N 85°W  /  36°N 85°W  / 36; -85 Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains . The Appalachian Mountains are

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1012-660: The Cumberland Plateau's western border is the Highland Rim east of the Nashville Basin , and its eastern edge is marked by Walden Ridge , which continues south into Alabama as Sand Mountain . Walden Ridge and Sand Mountain are separated from the main portion of the Cumberland Plateau by the Sequatchie Valley . The Sequatchie River empties into the Tennessee River just below Nickajack Dam and

1058-617: The Eastern Highland Rim . State Highway 84 (known as Calfkiller Highway in Putnam County and Monterey Highway in White County ) runs roughly along the western bank of the river's upper section. After crossing into White County, the river's valley broadens as it veers southwestward and continues through a series of rural communities. Just south of Sparta , the river passes under Highway 84, which continues along

1104-637: The Putnam-White county line, Doe Creek, which joins the river near the Big Spring community, and Wildcat Creek, which empties into the river near Sparta, and is noted for its 30-foot (9 m) waterfall visible from Highway 70 east of the town. Tributaries that enter river's western bank include Plum Creek and Cherry Creek, near the Yankeetown community, and Mill Creek, near the river's headwaters. According to Goodspeed's History of White County ,

1150-662: The area from major hydroelectric projects. The dam is still visible from the TN-111 bridge, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee , and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms " Allegheny Plateau " and

1196-534: The area of Appalachia region. Different types of flowers in the northern and southern sections of the Appalachia. Flowers such as rhododendron , azalea and mountain laurel can be found in southern regions while up north trees will bear serviceberry , redbud , sourwood , and many others. Fauna such as bison and wolves used to be native to the Appalachian region but have vanished. Elk have been reintroduced in some regions, having died out due to overhunting and habitat destruction previously. Throughout all of

1242-592: The banks of the river near the Putnam-White county line. In 1902, the Sparta Light and Power Company built a small waterwheel-powered electric plant just downstream from Sparta. After this plant burned in 1907, it was replaced by a more modern plant that used a concrete dam to divert water through a flume to a powerhouse located downstream. The plant operated until the 1930s, when the Tennessee Valley Authority began providing electricity to

1288-425: The beds, where they were raised high enough to be eroded, then lowered to have more sediments added on top near Cumberland Falls, 400 feet (120 m) below the top of the formation, going by the age of the bedrock which has moved less than 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) for the last 300 million years, caused mainly by lateral erosion of the plateau. The plateau contains some of the largest stretches of contiguous forest in

1334-469: The best way to continue protecting the Appalachian region is to incorporate conservation into public education so that people understand and support the benefits of conserving the lands. The Appalachian region is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life due to its vast array of climate and conditions giving the Appalachian Plateau region great biodiversity. To the north are many conifers, such as red spruce and balsam fir which can be seen growing at

1380-639: The climate began to warm up again, the large mammals started to disappear, and the vegetation seen more often today began to flourish. These climatic changes made life more sustainable for the Native Americans. They continued to invent new weapons and made advancements in agriculture until the Europeans arrived in North America. Europeans settled in North America beginning in the seventeenth century. In 1749, Jacob Martin and Steven Sewell were

1426-471: The county line between White and Van Buren County . Hodges Bridge Road crosses the Caney Fork immediately downstream from the Calfkiller's mouth. The watershed of the Calfkiller River covers 175 square miles. Several of the river's tributaries originate atop the Cumberland Plateau, including Whetstone Creek, which is part of the river's headwaters, Bridge Creek, which empties into the river just south of

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1472-422: The early Appalachian inhabitants survived as nomads, following their food on a seasonal basis. Around this period, North America was still recuperating from its last glacial period , and the climate was very different from the present. The climate and habitat more closely resembled a tundra , with lower temperatures, numerous conifer trees, and large mammals, such as mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Eventually,

1518-498: The eastern United States. Regionally, forests are intermediate between oak ( Quercus ) and hickory ( Carya ) forest types with pines ( Pinus ) occurring on dry, upland sites and mesophytic species occurring in protected coves. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is involved with the conservation of the mixed mesophytic forests within the Northern Cumberland Plateau. Conservation organizations active on

1564-543: The elevation drops down to 500 feet in northwestern Alabama . The plateau has a slight slant towards the northwest, making it higher on the eastern side. A large portion of the plateau is a coalfield, which was formed approximately 320 million years ago during the Pennsylvanian Age . The plateau was subjected to glaciation during the Pleistocene ice age . As a result, the topography of this section of

1610-558: The elevation ranges from 1,750 to 3,000 feet and continues to rise toward West Virginia , where the elevation is around 4,800 feet. From West Virginia to Tennessee , the elevation lowers to 3,000 feet and continues slanting downward to 1,000 feet in Alabama . On the western side of the plateau, the elevation is 900 feet in Ohio , increasing to about 2,000 feet in Kentucky . From Kentucky

1656-503: The first Europeans known to settle the Appalachian Plateau, specifically in what is now Pocahontas County, West Virginia . European colonization and competition with the Native Americans resulted in high mortality due to new diseases, as well as more deaths and social disruption due to warfare. After pushing out the Native Americans, the European American settlers developed much of this land for agriculture. From 1861 to 1865,

1702-410: The northernmost latitudes of the Appalachian region. In the northern sections of the plateau at lower elevations you can find northern hardwoods , such as sugar maple and white oak . In southern Appalachia, growth of sycamore , walnut , and hickory trees are common. It is estimated that there is around 2,000 species of flora within the Appalachia region. Flowers vary due to elevation and climate of

1748-470: The plateau began during the Paleozoic Era. Regional uplift during this time caused the area to rise altogether without changing the topography of the land. The eastern side of the plateau appears as a mountain range. This false appearance is due to a very steep slope on the eastern side known as the Allegheny Front . The eastern edge is the highest part of the Appalachian Plateau. In Pennsylvania ,

1794-517: The plateau is relatively flat in comparison to the rest of the physiographic province. This portion of the plateau is marked with evidence of a glaciated past including bogs , lakes, and small hills of sand and gravel. The topography of the rest of the plateau was created mainly from stream erosion . The result is a rugged landscape, unlike many other plateaus, that includes many narrow stream valleys surrounded by steep ridges. The region in Kentucky

1840-445: The plentiful natural resources found. In different regions of the Appalachian Plateau, enough plant debris accumulated to form peat, which upon burial, compaction and heating was made into the coal of the Appalachian coalfields. Due to the abundant coal in the Appalachian Plateau, coal mining has been a staple of the area and has proved to be a very successful mining hub. Iron ore was once an extremely abundant natural resource but due to

1886-675: The region and destroyed keystone species across the region. Realizing that the destruction of the forest was becoming a major issue, the government passed the Weeks Act of 1911, which allowed the federal government to purchase private land in order to protect rivers and watersheds in the eastern United States. The first purchase under this act was the Pisgah National Forest . In 1964, the Wilderness Act expanded protections for millions of acres of federal land, such as

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1932-472: The river's east bank. In Sparta, the river continues southward, flanked by steep embankments, especially along the east bank. The City of Sparta maintains a park along the west bank of the river on both sides of the US 70 (Bockman Way) bridge. The Old Sparta Cemetery, which rests atop a hill in downtown Sparta, offers a sweeping view of this section of the river. Just south of Sparta, the river bends sharply around

1978-1040: The thin layer of iron, over time it was mostly depleted. A very well-known natural resource of the Appalachian Plateau is its land and soil. The soil is rich and it is ideal for farmland. Within the limestone found throughout the Appalachian Plateau there are many fossilized substances such as old plant and stems, which may help to explain why the plateau also has a rich amount of natural gases and petroleum. The Appalachian Plateau has many landmarks and public spaces to camp out, go hiking, and sight see. Allegany State Park in New York, Ohiopyle State Park in Pennsylvania, Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio, Cooper's Rock State Forest in West Virginia, and Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia are notable state parks on or along

2024-489: The valley extends into Jackson County, Alabama , as part of the Tennessee Valley . In Kentucky , the height of the plateau's hills increases from northwest to southeast, with the westernmost areas of the plateau having a relief of around 200 feet (61 m) and an appearance similar to the knobs region , whereas areas near Black Mountain have a relief exceeding 2,500 feet (760 m). The Cumberland Plateau

2070-482: The vicinity of the current TN-111 bridge. A number of Civil War skirmishes were fought along the Calfkiller River. On August 9, 1863, Union forces under Charles Minty attacked a Confederate scouting detachment under George Dibrell near Wildcat Creek, eventually scattering the Rebels after intense fighting. Another skirmish occurred on November 30 of that year, when a band of Confederate guerrillas unsuccessfully ambushed

2116-403: The younger evaporates. When the Appalachian mountains were formed, the plateau was lifted. Ridges and valleys all die down underneath the plateau. There are multiple valleys throughout the region which consist of exposed areas of limestone and shale. Archaeologists have evidence that Native Americans in the United States lived in the Appalachian region more than 12,000 years ago; however, it

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