’ROUND
AND
ROUND IT
GOES . . .
AND
WHERE
DOES IT
FLOW?
. . . INTO
THE MISS
ISSIPPI . . .
By Mary Sue Thorne
The French Broad River courses through the
heart of a sylvan valley. The valley is filled with
flowering trees and shrubbery and murmuring
streams. Hundreds of varieties of wild flowers
grow in profusion along the banks of the river.
The valley in Transylvania county is like a cup
formed by a complete circle of mountains. In
every direction one sees lofty peaks such as
Caesar’s Head, Connestee, Rich Mountain, See
Off, Lookout, Hogback and the majestic Pisgahs.
This valley is only a part of the great French
Broad Basin which extends all the way across the
state from Tennessee to South Carolina. Around
and around in the bottom of the cup the beauti
ful French Broad leisurely winds, as if reluctant
to leave the flowery bed in its tranquil native
valley and make the lonely run across the rocky
divide and eventually lose itself in the dark eternal
waters of the mighty Mississippi.
The French Broad rises on the western slope
of the Blue Ridge Mountain in Transylvania
County. It flows northerly and north westerly. It
is the only river that rises east of the Eastern
divide and empties into the Mississippi instead of
the Atlantic Ocean. This river is one of the
county’s most prized possessions. Since it rises in
our county we proudly claim a great part of it.
And there are miles and miles of it in this coun
ty. In one section it winds about for 12 miles from
one point to another which is only about 3 miles
straight.
The river never appears very deep or very
wide, it looks quite harmless inside its own mod
est banks, but when it overflows it spreads in
every direction and looks not unlike the Gulf of
Mexico. The highest flood waters recorded were
14