i | | aa : if Fy HE Wee + - ere ” w ° eg: 6 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer There it stands today, bleak, and threatening, and pitiless, as it stood three hundred years ago, when Greenville and White came nigh unto death upon its sands. And there it will stand, bleak, and threatening, and pitiless, until the earth and the sea shall give up their dead. And, as its nature, so its name, is now, always has been, and always will be, the Cape of Fear. THE CAPE FEAR RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. The Cape Fear River, said to have been known to the Indian aborigines as “Sapona,” later to the explorers and to the pro- moters in England as the Charles River, and the Clarendon River, is formed by the junction of the Haw and the Deep Rivers, in Chatham County, North Carolina. From their con- fluence, which is about 173 miles by river above Wilmington, it flows in a southeasterly direction through Harnett, Cumber- land, and Bladen Counties, and between Brunswick and New Hanover to the sea. The Haw River rises in Rockingham and Guilford Counties and flows in a southeasterly direction through Alamance, Orange, and Chatham Counties to its junction with the Deep River, a distance of about 80 miles, measured along its general course. The Deep River is of about the same length as the Haw. It rises in Guilford County and flows through Randolph and Moore Counties, and joins the Haw in Chatham. The Deep River drains about 1,400 square miles. Its tribu- taries are only small creeks, the most important being Rocky River. The Haw River drains about 1,800 square miles, and its tributaries are also small, but are larger than those of the Deep River. The principal ones, descending from the head- waters, are Reedy Fork, Alamance Creek, Cane Creek, and New Hope River. Between the junction of the Deep and the Haw Rivers and Fayetteville, a distance of about 58 miles, the most important tributaries which join the Cape Fear are Upper Little River, from the west, 32 miles long; and Lower Little River, from the west, 45 miles long. There are other small creeks, the most important being Carver’s Creek and Blount’s Creek. Between Wilmington and Fayetteville the most important tributary is Black River, which enters from the east about 15 miles above Wilmington and has a drainage basin of about 1,430 square miles. There are several creeks which enter Exploration and Settlement 4 below Fayetteville, the principal one being Rockfish Creek, which enters 10 miles below Fayetteville. The entire drainage basin above Fayetteville covers an area of 4,493 square miles, and the total drainage area of the Cape Fear and all its tributaries is about 8,400 square miles. At Wilmington the Cape Fear River proper is joined by the Northeast Cape Fear River. Their combined average dis- charge at Wilmington for the year is about 14,000 feet a second. Floods in their tributaries have but little effect on the water level at Wilmington. The lower river is tidal, and the effects of tidal variations are felt about 40 miles above the city on both branches. The city of Wilmington is on the east side of the river, oppo- site the junction of the two branches, and nearly all wharves, mills, and terminals are situated on the same side. The width of the river at Wilmington is 500 to 1,000 feet. Four miles below, it becomes 114 miles wide, and is of the nature of a tidal estuary, varying in width as it flows to the sea from 1 to 3 miles. The distance from Wilmington to the ocean is 30 miles. IMPROVEMENTS BeLow WILMINGTON. The improvement of the river was begun by the State of North Carolina between Wilmington and Big Island by em- bankments, jetties, and dredging in 1822, and continued until 1829, when the Federal Government undertook the work of im- provement and continued it to 1839. Work was resumed in 1847 and continued up to the War between the States. It was again resumed in 1870 and has been carried on continuously since that date. A report of the Committee on Bar and River Improvements to the Chamber of Commerce, January 15, 1872, contains the following interesting information: ~ “The earliest reliable information we have of the Cape Fear River, its entrance and harbor, is to be found in a map by Edward Moseley, in 1733, and another by James Wimble, in 1738. Both of these maps, although apparently imperfect, nevertheless represent the harbor as capacious, of good anchor- age, well landlocked, easy of access, and with four fathoms water upon the bar (supposed at mean low tide). About this draught of water was carried by a bold and direct channel on the west side of Big Island} to the town of Wilmington. ns hog river channel was at that time on the west side of Big Island. ince then it has been artificially diverted to the east side of Big Island.