Cumberland’s Lover’s Leap is a compact notched
valley, or water gap, that Will’s Creek has carved into
Will’s and Haystack mountains. A water gap is an opening or
notch which flowing water has carved through a mountain range.
Water gaps often offer a practical route for roads and railroads to
cross a mountain ridge.
A water gap is usually an indication of a river that is older
than the current topography. The river likely established its
course when the landform was at a low elevation, with a very low
stream gradient and a thick layer of unconsolidated sediment. The
river therefore established its channel without regard for the
deeper layers of rock.
A later period of uplift caused increased erosion along the
river-bed, exposing the underlying rock layers. As the uplift
continued, the river continued to erode the rising land, cutting
through ridges as they form.
The Lovers' Leap legend in Cumberland involved a daughter of an
Indian chief and a white mother, and Jack Chadwick, a white hunter.
The chief, for financial reasons, really wanted his daughter to
marry, instead of the hunter, a white officer from the nearby fort
instead of the hunter. After Jack became lucky and discovered
silver on his property, he thought that his problems were behind
him because he had now become wealthy. Jack confidently went to the
chief, and again asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. The
chief not only refused, but attacked Jack with a club, and, in the
struggle, the chief was killed by a stone thrown by the young
suitor. The girl, being distraught over the death of her father
whom she loved very dearly, now knew that she could never be happy
in marriage to a man who had killed her father. The legend
concluded that Jack and the princess leaped, hand in hand, to their
deaths.
The Cumberland Narrows has played an important part in Western
Maryland history, as it provided a natural break in the Appalachian
Mountains that stretched north/south through the region. Formed
thousands of years ago, the Narrows is a one mile water gap
dominated at the lowest elevation by Wills creek and transportation
arteries, while its highest elevations feature the spectacular
beauty of Tuscarora and Juniata sandstone formations. A stream
began eroding the water gap across Wills Mountain and surrounding
weaker rocks were eroded into the valley, thereby causing a 1000
foot gorge. While visitors and local residents today appreciate the
Narrows for its natural beauty, significant events that occurred
there have dimmed with the passing of time. Cumberland's narrows is
unique because it combines natural history with political,
economic, and military events that have determined the course of
our nation since 1755. Read more in
"The Cumberland Narrows: Portal To The National Road" by Dan
Whetzel.
To log this cache:
- Post a picture of you and your GPS standing next to the water
gap with Will’s Mountain in the background.
- Estimate the width of the water gap.
- If Jack and the princess jumped from the cliff directly
overhead, approximately how far did they fall?
- Are the rocks that formed Lover's Leap igneous, metamorphic, or
sedimentary? How do you know?
- Please describe the color and the texture of the rocks at this
location.
Sources:
Harold Scott, Sr. (Compiler), Legends of Allegany County,
Cumberland, Maryland, 1994, p.vi.
“Water gap." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 Oct 2009,
05:12 UTC. 18 Nov 2009 .
http://www.mountaindiscoveries.com/stories/pdf/ss2004/narrows.pdf