Protogrove of the Shenandoah

The waters of the Shenandoah River have flowed through some of the oldest and most important events in the history of the United States. The first evidence of inhabited structures in North America has been unearthed along the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah near Front Royal, Virginia. This national historic landmark dates to 9300 B.C. and was the home of Paleo-Indians who used the site until about 6800 B.C. Around 900 A.D., the Shenandoah saw the beginnings of farming by Native Americans.

European settlers, beginning with John Lederer, a German doctor, first explored the valley west of the Blue Ridge in 1669. Lederer crested the Blue Ridge near what is now Swift Run Gap in Madison County, Virginia on March 14, 1669. Lederer left thorough notes of his journeys including descriptions of terrain, wildlife and a wide variety of Indian tribes and customs. Some of those tribes included: Iroquois, Shawnee, Algonquins, Monocans, Catawbas and Piscataway. Ultimately, much of this land fell under British ownership. Prior to the Revolutionary War, a young George Washington surveyed parts of the Shenandoah valley for Lord Thomas Fairfax, an Englishman who had inherited much of northern and western Virginia.

General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a fellow Virginia son and a Shenandoah valley native, won fame and admiration during the Civil War defending the Valley for the Confederates. "Stonewall" Jackson is credited as being largely responsible for the protection of this important breadbasket of the Confederate army in the early part of the war.

Flowing northward, west of the Blue Ridge, the Shenandoah river proper begins at Front Royal, Virginia at the confluence of the North Fork Shenandoah and the South Fork Shenandoah. About 60 miles downstream, the Shenandoah empties into the Potomac river at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The North Fork Shenandoah begins in New Market, Virginia while the South Fork originates at Port Republic, Virginia at the confluence of the North, Middle and South rivers.

With a 3,000 square mile drainage area--almost two million acres--the Shenandoah watershed drains a large portion of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge. The Shenandoah watershed's recreational resources, large agriculture industry, dense animal population, and industrial sites create a setting that requires careful management and a watchful eye to protect the health of the Shenandoah and the Chesapeake Bay.

This massive watershed is also blessed with an abundance of natural springs and streams and, as a result, 223 river miles of the Shenandoah and its tributaries are designated trout-fishing waters. Hundreds of fishermen are drawn each year for the reward of native and hatchery-raised trout. Another water activity for which the Shenandoah is popular is whitewater rafting. A 1992 study found that between June 13 and September 7 of that year, 11,072 people swam or floated down the River on rafts, innertubes, canoes or kayaks.

Taken From Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce
http://luraypage.com/artman/publish/shenriver.shtml