HISTORY : Part 1 - Chapman's "The Valley of the Conemaugh," 1865 [southwestern PA] Transcribed and contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Sally and by Judy Banja jbanja@email.msn.com ____________________________________________________________ USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information are included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ____________________________________________________________ THE VALLEY OF THE CONEMAUGH BY THOMAS J. CHAPMAN ALTOONA, PA: McCRUM & DERN, PRINTERS, 1865 "Lives there a man with soul so dead, that never to himself hath said, 'This is my own, my native land?'" Sir Walter Scott ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To my younger Brother, REV. ALVA RILEY CHAPMAN, This little Volume Is Respectfully Inscribed, As a Mark of Esteem and Affection. <[5]> PREFACE The scope of this little work is to give an historical and descriptive account of the Valley of the Conemaugh, which embraces the county of Cambria, and a portion of the counties of Somerset, Indiana and Westmoreland. To collect and arrange the facts and incidents which go to make, up the hook, have required considerable labor and trouble, and to the critical reader, the Author begs leave to say, to borrow the language of Dr. Johnson, in the preface to his English Dictionary, "when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed." In the prosecution of this little volume the author has been actuated by no, idea that he was specially fitted for the task. While so many older men still live, natives of this valley, and better acquainted with its early history, it might seem presumptuous in a young man, not yet out of his twenties, to step <[6]> into the field. But there has been no promise of anything of the kind from the hands of these older men, and, meanwhile, the time is passing away, and the scanty materials out of which to form a local history of the Conemaugh valley are yearly growing less and less. The author has gathered up such of the incidents in the early history of this section of the country as have been though worth of preservation, and he takes pleasure in thus submitting the results of his labors to the judgment of his readers. He would also take this occasion to acknowledge his obligations to the many kind friends who have assisted him in the course of the work. These friends have been many. It would be invidious to mention a few where all have been so kind, and he hopes that each one will accept this acknowledgment as personal to himself. T.J. CHAPMAN. JOHNSTOWN, PA., July, 1865. <[7]> [Archivist's Note: Part 1 contains Chapters I - IV. Part 2 Chapters V - X.] CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Outlines Page 9 CHAPTER II. Expeditions against the Indians 22 CHAPTER III. Settlement of the Valley 39 CHAPTER IV. Public Thoroughfares. 76 CHAPTER V. Johnstown and its Suburbs. 100 CHAPTER VI. Blairsville 118 CHAPTER VII. Other Towns and Villages 130 CHAPTER VIII. Cambria Iron Works 152 <[8]> CHAPTER IX. Other Enterprises 162 CHAPTER X. Biographical 175 <[9]> THE VALLEY OF THE CONEMAUGH CHAPTER I OUTLINES. The Conemaugh river rises on the western slope of the Alleghenies, near their summit, in the county of Cambria, Pennsylvania, and at about the middle of its eastern boundary. A narrow ridge, not over sixty yards in width, separates the head-waters of this river from those of a branch of the Susquehanna; the one flowing towards the rising and the other towards the setting sun. The Conemaugh has its origin in little springs upon the mountain's side. As it pursues its meandering course down the declivity, it grows larger and larger by the tributes of other petty streamlets. Near the village of Wilmore it is joined by the North Branch which rises in the neighborhood of Ebensburg; and here it first takes the name of Conemaugh. A few miles lower down it receives the water of the South Fork, a creek that has its source in a swamp at the base of the mountain. The general course, of the Conemaugh is <[10]> towards the northwest. It is about sixty miles in length, from the confluence of the North Branch, near Wilmore, to Saltsburg, in Indiana county, where it joins the Loyalhanna, and thenceforth changes its name for that of Kiskiminetas. The Conemaugh has two principal tributaries: the Stony Creek, which flows into it at Johnstown, and the Blacklick, which bas its debouche about two miles below Blairsville. This river traverses Cambria county almost throughout its entire breadth, and then leaving the confines of Cambria, it forms the separating line between the counties of Westmoreland and Indiana. The valley of the Conemaugh is in general exceedingly wild and uncultivated. Here and there along the shore are to be seen farms of more or less excellence and productiveness; but until we get west of the Chestnut Ridge, we find but little land that is well adapted to Cultivation. High hills, crowned with trees, and shielded by corrugated precipices, frown down into the clear waters of the stream. Huge boulders, of thousands of tons weight, are strewn along the sides of the mountains, which nothing but the hand, of God stays front plunging, like an avalanche, into the valleys below. <[11]> In the valley between the Laurel Hill and the Chestnut Ridge, however, there is a considerable tract of level, fertile land, which is highly cultivated, and is studded with prosperous villages and smiling farm houses, where peace and plenty sit enthroned. The Conemaugh cuts its way through two important ridges, outliers of the Alleghenies: the Laurel Hill and the Chestnut Ridge. Its channel through these mountains are narrow, deep defiles, abounding in sublime and, beautiful scenery. It is a remark of travelers who have made the grand tour of Europe; that neither the Highlands of Scotland, nor the Alps of Switzerland, excel in beauty, sublimity, and picturesqueness, the mountain passes of the Conemaugh. Especially is this remark appropriate late in the fall of the year, when the surrounding hill-sides are clothed inn a thousand varied hues and gradations of shade; "When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, Though all the trees are still;" and when every prospect is mellowed and subdued by the quiet mid-day twilight of Indian Summer. Not so lovely, perhaps, but far mere grand is it when the day is dark and tempestuous, to see the heavy clouds dragging their tattered skirts through the tree-tops on the wooded heights, while now and then a tall, <[12]> spectral column of mist shoots up from the forest and sails majestically away, until it is lost to view in the dense mass of vapors overhead. Such a scene could have been fittingly described by the graphic pen of Burns. Below the town of Blairsville, and, in truth, a mile or two above it, the country lying upon this stream changes its aspect somewhat, though steep hill-sides and forbidding precipices are still to be seen at intervals. Until it reaches Johnstown, the Conemaugh is a very insignificant stream; in many places between that town and Wilmore one could jump cross it, as the Irishman could jump across one of the locks on the Regent's canal - in two jumps. But by the addition of the waters of the Stony Creek, at Johnstown, the stream assumes more important, and at once presents quite a river-like appearance. It is true the flinty gripe of the opposing mountains below this town sometimes compresses it, for a short distance, into quite diminutive proportions; but whenever that gripe is removed it expands into a broad, beautiful river. The old Main Line of Public Works of Pennsylvania lies along this river throughout its whole length. The Pennsylvania canal is mainly fed by its waters - or rather was <[13]> for of this canal; in great Part, it may be said as of the city of old King Priam: Troja fuit. Commencing at Johnstown, the Portage Railroad, a link in the main line, led across the Allegheny Mountains to Hollidaysburg, conforming more or less, according to circumstances with the direction of this stream. The Pennsylvania Railroad now supplies the place of the Portage, and runs for the greater part of the way almost parallel with it. It also follows the Conemaugh as far down as the Blairsville Intersection. The railroad, where it passes through the Chestnut Ridge, runs along a narrow path, cut out of the side of the hill, at an immense height. The passenger who looks down into the valley, when the current of air carries the smoke and 'steam from the locomotive back on the lower side of the train, sees below him only a dense cloud, as though the "iron horse" had turned into a Pegasus, and were cleaving his way towards the sun. There is a large number of thriving towns and villages situated upon this stream. The largest is Johnstown, at the confluence of Stony Creek and the Conemaugh. Here are erected the largest and most complete iron works in the Union, if not in the world. <[14]> But of this again. Above Johnstown, on this stream, are Conemaugh, Summerhill, and Wilmore. Below Johnstown are Nineveh, New Florence, Centreville, Lockport, Bolivar, Blairsville, Bairdstown, Fillmore, Livermore, and Saltsburg. We shall speak of these, and of some other towns not exactly on the Conemaugh, yet connected with our story, in detail in another chapter. The people of the Conemaugh valley are engaged in a variety of pursuits. Agriculture is not carried on extensively in a large part of the valley, on account of the character of the soil and surface. In the lower part, from the neighborhood of Blairsville down to the mouth of the river, there is much fine farming land, which is well improved and cultivated. In the vicinity of Johnstown mining, and the manufacture of iron, fire-brick, etc., demand a great deal of attention. The mountains abound with an untold wealth of ore, coal, fire-clay, limestone and other valuable mineral products. Companies are also forming to bore for oil on the Conemaugh, as it is said there are strong indications of the presence of that article. - Though a poor farming country, the valley of this river is rich in mineral treasure beyond the "wealth of Ormus or of Ind." <[15]> Nearly all the nations of Christendom are represented in this district. Americans, English, Irish, Welsh, Scotch, and German, are the principal. It is also favored with generous sprinkling of the sable sons and daughters of Ham. Some of the townships of Cambria and Somerset court counties are peopled almost exclusively by Germans and their descendants; and a kind of patois - a mixture of English and German, called by the outsiders, "country Dutch" - is the current tongue. The Welsh element is confined almost entirely to Cambria county. There are large numbers of these people in and about Johnstown brought there by the vast mining interests. They are a quiet, industrious, useful body of citizens. In Johnstown, of a Saturday, one may hear almost as much Welsh and German spoken as English. There is not much early history connected with the valley of the Conemaugh. No great efforts to form settlements within its boundaries were made until a comparatively recent date. Christian Frederick Post, the messenger of the Government of Pennsylvania to the Indians on the Ohio, passed through it in 1758. On the eleventh day of November of that year he passed over the present, site of Johnstown. - Ten years prior to this time, however, in <[16]> August, 1748, Conrad Weiser, the Indian agent, and his companion, George Croghan, passed through this region. Christopher Gist, also, the friend of Washington, and his companion in this arduous journey to Fort LeBoeuf, in the fall of 1753, crossed the Allegheny mountains in 1750, and followed the Conemaugh, which he calls the Kiskiminetas, down to its confluence with the Allegheny. Some years elapsed after this ere any settlements were made in the valley of this river. We will speak of them in their proper order. The principal tributaries of the Conemaugh, as we have said, are the Stony Creek and the Blacklick. The Stony Creek rises in Brothers Valley township, Somerset county. It flows in a northwesterly direction, and unites with the Conemaugh at Johnstown, in Cambria county. It is about forty miles in length, and received in its course the waters of the Quemahoning, Shade, Roaring, and Paint Creeks. - This sream irrigates a tract of country better adapted to agricultural purposes than the upper Conemaugh. The soil of Somerset county is in the main highly fertile, and plentiful crops of grain and hay are every year produced. It is also one of the best butter and cheese making districts in the State. Immense quantities of <[17]> these staples are every week brought to Johnstown in wagons from this county, to be shipped by railroad to the distant markets. Among the hills that lie upon this creek and its tributaries ore and coal are found. Some furnaces are erected, which have been a source of much wealth to the county. Large numbers of shook are made in this as well as the neighboring counties. By shook are meant bundles of staves fitted and bent in the, proper manner, but not set up in the form of a cask. From twenty to thirty staves, thus prepared, make a shook. These are sent to the West Indies, and other tropical countries, where they are formed into casks, and used to receive, the produce of the cane. In Somerset county, large quantities of maple sugar and molasses are also made. This has become a not unimportant source of revenue to the manufacturers, as well as a great advantage to consumers, in the present state of high prices brought on by the war. Somerset is a large, populous, and wealthy county. It was partly settled at an early period. About the year 1830, the, ruins of a house near Stoystown were still pointed out, which was said to have been built in 1758, at the time of General Forbes' expedition against <[18]> the Indians. This county is affectionately denominated "Mother Somerset," by the people of the surrounding country. In 1758, Post, the government messenger, passed through what is now Somerset county. November sixth, of that year, he writes: "One good of our horses went back; we hunted a good while for him. Then we set off and found one of the worst roads that ever was traveled until Stony Creek. Upon that road we overtook a great number of pack-horses, whereupon Pisquetomen said: 'Brother, now you see if you had not come to us before, this road would not be so safe as it is; now you see we could have destroyed all this people on the road, and great mischief would have been done, if you had not stopt and drawn our people back.' "We were informed that the general (Forbes) had not yet gone to Fort Du Quesne, whereupon Pisquetomen said he was glad, and expressed himself thus: 'If I can come to our towns before the general makes his attack, I know your people will draw back, and leave the French.' "We lodged this night at Stony Creek." This creek, where it empties into the Conemaugh, presents a nobler appearance than the river into which it merges, and for which it changes its name. It reminds us of a large <[19]> woman losing her name and her identity by marriage with an attenuated specimen of the genus homo. It doesn't look reasonable: though we accept the decree, in the first instance, at least, with gratitude, inasmuch as Conemaugh is more euphonious than Stony Creek, and is one of those "sweet Indian names" that a certain set of sentimentalists dote upon. The Blacklick, the other principal tributary of the Conemaugh, has its rise in the northwestern part of Cambria county; and taking a southwestern direction, flows through, the county of Indiana, and empties its waters into the river about two miles below the town of Blairsville. At a short distance above Blacklick Station, on the Indiana Branch Railroad, it is joined by the Twolick Creek,, which considerably increases its flood. There are various improvements along the Blacklick; many fine farms, numerous mills, and one furnace. The Twolick is augmented by the waters of the Yellow Creek, which are emptied into it at Homer. At what is now known as Lichenthaler's Ford, on the Blacklick, were discovered, a few years ago, the evidences of a former Indian village. The ground, when first plowed up, was found to be a rich, black mold, such as is <[20]> to be found only where men have long been dwelling together, while pieces of broken pottery, and arrow and spear-heads of flint were lying about in great abundance. We have walked over the ground, and picked up these relics of a by-gone age and race. Certain aged persons in the neighborhood could remember a tradition concerning an aboriginal village somewhere in that region, though they never knew the exact locality. Mounds, too, were to be seen in the adjacent woods, such as are said to be the humble mausolea of the red men; but as no one ever had curiosity or public spirit enough to open them, it is not known whether they contain the remains of the rude children of the forest, or whether they have been formed by merely natural causes. Much of the scenery along the Blacklick is highly picturesque. A great part of the country upon its banks is yet in a state of nature. - Railroads, and modern innovations generally, have not yet penetrated there. Particularly is the scenery near the mouth of the creek grand and beautiful. At the distance of about half a mile from the Conemaugh a well constructed bridge is thrown across the stream. On the right hand side are fine fields, fruitful orchards, and comfortable farm houses. The opposite <[21]> side, however, is high and precipitous. A road winds up the side of the acclivity, while above it rise many feet of rocks, "Crown'd with rough thickets, and nodding wood." Before the advent of the white people, Indian villages were scattered along the shores' of the Conemaugh and its' tributaries. Here the dusky warriors danced around the camp-fire, and shouted their songs of victory, and defiance. Here the Indian mother hushed her children to sleep by chanting the glorious deeds of the red man. The eagle built his aerie upon the rocks, and the bear, the wolf, and the elk inhabited the unbroken wilderness. But all this is changed. Pleasant fields and thriving towns now lie upon the margin of this stream. Forests, it is true, still wave in all their pristine wildness upon the overhanging mountains, but the ringing of the woodman's axe, the shrill whistle of the locomotive, and the ponderous thumping of the forge-hammer have frightened away the Indian and the eagle forever. <[22]> CHAPTER II. EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE INDIANS. Pennsylvania, during the,, middle ears of the last century, was a scene of havoc and bloodshed. The Indians, stirred up by the French, who were at war with the. English, committed the most horrid excesses upon the defenceless people of the frontier. The tomahawk and the scalping-knife, were constantly dripping with the blood of their victims. The glare of burning cabins and barns often lighted up the gloom of midnight. "Why flames the far summit? Why shoot to the blast Those embers, like stars from the firmament east ? 'Tis the fire-shower of ruin, all dreadfully driven From his aerie that beacons the darkness of heaven." Roving bands of marauders scoured the country far and near, and often fell upon the lonely habitation or the isolated hamlet like a thunderbolt. Under such circumstances it was impossible for the remote settlements of Pennsylvania to prosper. The pioneer was compelled to lay down the axe for the rifle, and the pruning-hook for the sword. These gangs of murderous savages usually made their incursions up the valley of the Conemaugh, and across the mountains to the head-waters of the Susquehanna, and thence down that steam to <[23]> the settlements upon its banks. At an early day in the troubles the smoke from no white settler's chimney curled above the forest trees to the west of the Alleghenies. For the protection of the colonists, and as a war measure against France, the government of England projected several important expeditions against the combined French and Indians in North America. With some of these enterprises we have to do, inasmuch as they very nearly concerned the condition of things in that part of Pennsylvania of which we are treating. The first of these enterprises, and that around which clusters the greatest interest for us, was the ill-starred expedition under Major General Edward Braddock, in 1755. Braddock had the reputation of a brave and skillful officer. In the early part of the year 1755, he arrived in this country with two regiments of royal troops, the 44th and 48th, under Sir Peter Halkett and Colonel Dunbar. At Fort Cumberland, on Will's Creek, he was joined by about one thousand provincial troops. The army, however, was delayed some weeks for want of means of transportation for their baggage and stores. At length, on the 8th of June, they took up their line of march. Their destination <[24]> was Fort Duquesne, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, on the present site of Pittsburg. This fort was in the possession of the French, who, the year before, had taken it yet unfinished from Ensign Ward. The progress of Braddock's army was very slow, on account of the nature of the road, and the cumbrous character of their baggage. At the suggestion of George Washington, then a young man who acted as aid-de-camp to Braddock, it was determined to leave the greater part of the baggage under a sufficient escort to follow after by slow and easy marches, and push on a picked force with all speed. The baggage was accordingly left to the care of Colonel Dunbar, while General Braddock, with some twelve or thirteen hundred men, went forward. In the forenoon of the 9th day of July they crossed over to the left hand side of the Monongahela, a little below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, in order to avoid some hills that obstructed their march. Between twelve and one o'clock, noon, they re-crossed to the right hand side. At the spot where they landed, the ground slopes gently back towards the country, while of each side of the hillock are ravines from eight to ten feet deep. The <[25]> whole country was then overgrown with a dense forest, and the ravines were entirely hidden from sight. As this large army drew near to the place of their destination, the French commandant at the fort was greatly distressed. His force was small, and the fort totally unable to resist the attack of such an army. In this conjuncture, Captain Beaujeu, who, it seems, was a man of great spirit and enterprise, after much persuasion and entreaty, induced a number of French and Indians* to go out to meet the enemy, and offer such resistance as was in their power. Early on the morning of the 9th day they left the fort. The point where Braddock's army re-crossed the river is within ten miles of the site of Fort Duquesne. It is likely that the party of Beaujeu first came in sight of it at this spot. Nature had already prepared the ground to their advantage, and they at once took their stations in the parallel ravines, without having been seen or heard by the British. - ---- * Various estimates are given of the force of the French and Indians. The largest estimate is, two hundred and fifty French and Canadians, and six hundred and forty Indians. The lowest estimate reduces the number of white men to two hundred and thirty-five, and Indians to six hundred. - Neville B. Craig, Esq. Washington, writing to his mother from Fort Cumberland, 18th July, 1755, nine days after the battle, says: "When we came there we were attacked by a party of French and Indians, whose number I am persuaded did not exceed three hundred men." <[26]> Washington, who was acquainted with the Indian mode of warfare, proposed to the general commanding to send out scouts to guard against an ambuscade; but the imperious officer spurned his proposition with contempt. The troops were crossed in parties of two hundred and three hundred. It was one o'clock. The general, with the last of the men, and the supplies, had gained the opposite shore, and the first detachment had proceeded a short distance up the slope, when they were met by sharp and rapid discharges from hundreds of rifles. They were at once thrown into such confusion and fright, that many of them did not seem to have the use of their senses. Particularly was this the case with the British regulars. Reinforcements were hurried forward to sustain the first detachment, but the panic soon communicated to them also, and they were able to offer but little resistance. Many of them huddled together like frightened sheep, and were mowed down by the fire of the enemy. The provincial troops, who were accustomed to the Indian mode of fighting, sprang behind trees, to fight them on their own terms, but were ordered out by the infatuated Braddock, who even struck some of them with his sword for their cowardice, as he thought it. <[27]> Meanwhile the firing was kept up. Men were falling thick and fast on every side. The ground was soon covered with the dead and the dying. And yet the enemy was invisible. - The firing of the troops was by random - often at their own men - while the devouring flame of the enemy's rifles encompassed them on every side. For three hours this horrible carnage rioted. Nearly seven hundred men had fallen, when a ball, fired by one of his own soldiers,* cut short the career of Braddock, and he fell from his horse mortally wounded. With the fall of Braddock ended everything like an attempt at resistance. The few troops who had remained upon the ground now turned and fled, taking the wounded general with them. A few days afterward he died. The enemy pursued the flying host, remorselessly destroying almost all that fell into their hands. A number they reserved for a more cruel fate. They were burnt at the stake the same evening on the return of the saves to Fort Duquesne. The Point, between the Monongahela and the Allegheny rivers, was the scene of their immolation. The flying soldiery did not stop their retreat until they reached the camp of Colonel Dunbar, *Thomas Faussett, of Fayette county, Pa. <[28]> six miles in the rear. They here paused. After destroying nearly all their stores of every kind, the retreat was re-commenced. They returned to Fort Cumberland, their starting-point, on the 22nd of the same month. So ended Braddock's expedition.* The unfortunate termination of this affair undoubtedly was owing entirely to the obstinacy and self-sufficiency of those who had charge of the undertaking. - General Morris wrote on the occasion: "The defeat of our troops appears to me to be owing to the want of care and caution in the leaders, who have been too secure, and held in great contempt the Indian manner of fighting." The defeat of Braddock subjected the entire frontier to ravage and apprehension. The Indians were more cruel and destructive than ever. In his message to the Assembly, July 24th, 1755, Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania, has the following language in relation to this disaster: This unfortunate and unexpected change in our affairs deeply affects every one of his majesty's colonies, but none of them in so sensible a manner as this province, which having no militia, is thereby left exposed to the cruel incursion of the French and barbarous * This account I have chiefly from Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania. <[29]> Indians, who delight in shedding human blood, and who make no distinction as to age or sex - as to those who are armed against them, or such as they can surprise in their peaceful habitations - all are alike the objects of their cruelty - slaughtering the tender infant and frightened mother with equal joy and fierceness. To such enemies, spurred by the native cruelty of their tempers, encouraged by their late success, and having now no army to fear, are the inhabitants of the province exposed; and by such must we now expect to be over-run; if we do not immediately prepare for our own defence; nor ought we to content ourselves with this, but resolve to drive to and confine the French to their own just limits."* During the year following the defeat of Braddock, the enemies of the English were permitted to carry on their high-handed outrages almost without rebuke. On the 30th of August, 1756, Colonel John Armstrong, with an army of only three hundred and seven men, marched from Fort Shirley, in what is now Huntingdon county, against Kittanning. This Colonel Armstrong seems to have been one of the most prominent and energetic men on the frontier in that stormy time. Kittanning was *Votes of Assembly, IV, 416. <[30]> a famous Indian town upon the Allegheny river, and occupied the site of the present borough of the same name in Armstrong county. It was the headquarters of Captain Jacobs, a notorious Indian chief, and the general depot to which most of the whites whom they captured were transferred. They reached the town during the night of the sixth of September. As they drew near, they could hear the beating of the drums and the whooping of the warriors, who were having a grand break-down. Their front came to the river, about one hundred perches below the main body of the town, a short time before daylight. They had met with an interruption in their march, in the early part of the night, that had considerably retarded them. About six miles from the town, at what is now called Blanket Hill, they had discovered a party of Indians encamped in the path. It was believed that not more than three or four savages made up the party. They immediately retreated with the greatest possible secrecy to some distance, when, after due deliberation, it was thought best to take a circuitous route, and not meddle with the savages at that time, for, if one should escape, he would alarm the town, and thus perhaps frustrate the object of the expedition. <[31]> Lieutenant Hogg, however; with thirteen men, was left, with orders not to attack the Indians until the next morning at break of day; and then, if possible, to cut them off. Finally, along in the "wee sma' hours ayon the twal," the dusky braves left off their dancing, and fires having been kindled by the squaws in a corn-field near by, for the purpose of dispersing the gnats, the night being very warm, the warriors lay down here to sleep. By the time Armstrong had made a proper disposition of his men, and everything was got in readiness, the gray light of morning had stolen upon them. A detachment was sent along the top of the hill until they came to a point opposite the body of the town, when they were to make an assault upon it. Supposing that the greater dart of the warriors had lodged in the corn-field, a larger force was kept here, but the attack upon it was delayed some twenty minutes, until those who had been sent to the other point should arrive. At the appointed time the battle commenced. A warm engagement took place in the corn-fields. At the same time the attack upon the houses was begun. Captain Jacobs and those with him, when they beheld the approach of the white men, pretended to be greatly de- <[32]> lighted, and cried out, "The white men were at last come, they would then have scalps enough." Their squaws and children, however, they immediately ordered to take refuge in the woods. The house in which Jacobs and his companions were, was pierced with port-holes, through which they could fire upon the soldiers without themselves being exposed. In this way they killed and wounded a good many. But it was soon determined by Armstrong to set fire to the houses. Before proceeding to do this the Indians were called on to surrender. To this one of them answered, "He was a man and would not be a prisoner." He was then told that he would be burnt to death, but he replied that he did not care, for he would kill four or five before he died. The houses were accordingly set on fire. As the flames progressed, some of the Indians jumped from the windows and tried to make their escape; but they were all shot down. "During the burning of the houses," says Armstrong, in his official report to Governor Denny, "which were nearly thirty in number, we were agreeably entertained with a quick succession of charged guns gradually firing off as they were reached by the fire; but more so <[33]> with the vast explosion of sundry bags and large kegs of gunpowder, wherewith almost every house abounded. The prisoners afterwards informing, that the Indians had frequently said they had a sufficient stock of ammunition for ten years to war with the English. With the roof of Captain Jacobs' house, where the powder blew up, was thrown the leg and thigh of an Indian, with a child of three or four years old, such a hight that they appeared as nothing, and fell into the adjacent corn-field." Having demolished the town, and killed or chased away the inhabitants, Armstrong and his small army set out to return. Upon their arrival at the Indian encampment of the night before, they found evidences of a sanguinary conflict. The truth was that the scout who had discovered and reported the Indian party had been grossly deceived as to their numbers. When Lieutenant Hogg came to attack them in the morning, he discovered that they greatly outnumbered his own force. A severe fight took place, in which the lieutenant himself received two serious wounds, and had three of his men killed, after which the balance ran off. He then crawled into a thicket of underbrush, where he might have remained in safety, had <[34]> not a cowardly sergeant of Captain Mercer's company, with three or four privates, who had run away from the battle at Kittanning, found him and persuaded him to go along with them. They had not gone far together, when they were met by four Indians. Upon sight of them the sergeant and his companions began to flee, notwithstanding the lieutenant urged them to stand their ground like men. Here he was again wounded, and he died shortly afterward. Colonel Armstrong returned to Fort Littleton, in Bedford county, about the 13th of September. He had lost in all forty-nine men - killed, seventeen; wounded, thirteen; missing, nineteen. The fall of Kittanning was a heavy stroke upon the savages and their French allies. In the fall of 1758, another expedition against Fort Duquesne was undertaken by General Forbes. Colonel Bouquet commanded under him, and the expedition is often spoken of as Bouquet's expedition. Colonel Washington had command of the troops from Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland. The whole force under Forbes consisted of about seven thousand men. The early part of the autumn had been devoted to cutting a new road over the mountains. <[35]> On the 23d or 24th of October, General Forbes, with the rear division of the army, left Bedford, then called Raystown, and advanced towards Loyalhanna. Colonel Bouquet had reached the same point some weeks before. In the interval he had sent out Major Grant, of the Highlanders, with a force of about eight hundred and fifty men, to reconnoitre the fort and the adjacent country. He was instructed not to approach too near the fort, and to avoid a collision with the enemy, if possible. But the impetuosity of Grant, and the glory of seizing the fort himself, led him to transcend his orders. At eleven o'clock at night of the third day after their departure, he, with the principal part of his little force, stood upon the brow of a hill that overlooked the fort, and not above a quarter of mile from it. For various reasons Major Grant supposed that the number of the enemy was very small - not exceeding two hundred. Shortly after daybreak, Captain McDonald's company was sent, with drums beating, directly towards the fort, for the purpose of drawing them out. - But the major had reckoned without his host. As soon as they garrison were aroused from their slumbers by the music of the enemy, they sallied out in great numbers to the attack. A <[36]> desperate struggle then ensued, in which the invaders, after dreadful slaughter, were driven from the field, and Grant himself was taken prisoner. The hill upon which this affray was commenced is still known as Grant's Hill. - This battle was fought on the 14th of September, and the losses to Grant's force amounted to over three hundred men. This victory so emboldened the enemy that they determined to attack the army under Bouquet, at Loyalhanna, before he should be strengthened by the division under Forbes. Accordingly, a force of fourteen hundred French and Indians, under the command of De Vetri, assailed him on the 12th of October. They fought with great desperation and fury, but after a conflict of four hours they were compelled to retire with considerable loss. They renewed the attack after night-fall; but a few well-directed shells thrown into their midst had the effect of dispersing them. The army pursued its way by very slow degrees. The weather was very unfavorable, and the roads, as fast as made, were rendered almost impassable by the heavy rains. At length, on the 25th of November, they reached the fort, but found it little more than a black and smoldering ruin. The enemy, upon the <[37]> near approach of the British, had destroyed it and then fled. There were two magazines, one of which had been blown up and ruined; in the other were found a large quantity of ammunition, gun barrels, iron, and a wagonload of scalping-knives. But little else remained. The capture of Fort Duquesne sent a thrill of joy through every heart upon the frontier. It had long been one of the most important strongholds of the French in the west. Much blood and treasure had been spent in efforts to take it, but its importance to the people overbalanced every other consideration. It secured to the Anglo-Saxon race the key to the Mississippi valley forever. Governor Denny, in his Message to the Assembly on this occasion, says: "Gentlemen - I have the Pleasure to Lay before you a Letter I lately received from Brigadier General Forbes, with the interesting and important Account of his Success in the Expedition against his Majesty's Enemies to the Westward, An Event which, it is true, has been purchased at a Considerable present Expence, but when the Consequences are cooly weighed and Considered, of suffering the French to lay the Foundation of our Future Slavery, by possessing <[38]> themselves and fortifying the back parts of his Majesty's Colonies on this Continent, and to keep open a Communication between their Settlements from Canada to the Mississippi, I am persuaded every real Friend of Liberty will think this Conquest could not have been too dearly bought. * * * * * * The great Advantages that will attend this success of his Majesty's Arms, will be sensibly felt by all the British Colonies, but none so much as this Province, whose Inhabitants have been the most exposed to the Incursions and Cruelties of the French and their Allies from that Quarter."* * See Colonial Records, Vol. VIII, p. 257. <[39]> CHAPTER III. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY. With the taking of Kittanning, and the fall of Fort Duquesne, as related in the preceding chapter, did not come peace and safety to the Pennsylvania backwoodsmen. By no means. Though these successes on the part of the British greatly discomfited and crippled their inexorable foes, the savage red man and his scarce less savage accomplices continued to murder and devastate whenever and wherever they could. But the star of empire has ever been westward. The old fort of Duquesne was repaired and improved and named after the immortal Pitt. A little village soon clustered about it. Settlements gradually crept out into the wilderness, and as the red man's power waned the white man's power continued to increase. In the course of time settlers made their way into the valley of the Conemaugh. Who was the first it is difficult to say. Among the first, however, were the Maguires, Nagles, Ragers, Storms, Campbells, Hildebrands, Altmans, and <[40]> Davises. Favorable reports must have been transmitted by these primitive settlers to their friends and quondam neighbors in the older settlements; for the country was speedily dotted by the "clearings" of the hardy backwoodsmen. In the course of a few years the population had become so great that new counties were formed. Of these Westmoreland, which we consider as partly belonging to the Conemaugh valley, inasmuch as that stream forms its northeastern boundary, was the first. It was erected out of Bedford county by act of February 26th, 1773. It then embraced the entire southwestern corner of the State. "Previous to the year 1758, Westmoreland was a wilderness, trodden only by the wild beast, the savage, and an occasional white trader, or frontier-man. The access to the Forks of the Ohio, in those days, was either up the Juniata and then by water down the Kiskiminietas, <[Conemaugh,]> or by Braddock's road from Virginia, and thence down the Monongahela. The first opening through the wilderness of Westmoreland county was cut by General Forbes' army, in 1758. * * This road opened the way for numerous pioneers into this region; but it was only safe for them to live under the protection of the forts."* Loyalhanna, now *Day's Hist. Col., pp. 680, 681 <[41]> Ligonier, seems to have been a base of military operations as far back as the time of Forbes' expedition. By a singular error this place has been located by some writers as only five miles west of Bedford.* After the defeat of Major Grant, at Fort Duquesne, the French and Indians, under De Vetri, assailed Colonel Bouquet at this place, as we have already seen. A few years later, perhaps about 1760, a fort was built here, called Fort Ligonier. During Pontiac's war, in 1763, this fort was attacked by a strong force of Indians. They had also invested Fort Pitt at the same time. Lieutenant Blane, then in command at Ligonier, though his force was very small, bravely defended the fort, and the savages were repulsed. Colonel Bouquet, advancing from Carlisle with two regiments of troops, was met by the united forces of the Indians near Bushy Run, and after an obstinate engagement of one entire afternoon and a part of the next day, succeeded in totally defeating and routing the savages, and compelling them to abandon their designs against the forts. Hannastown, some three or four miles from the present site of Greensburg, was one of the earliest settlements in Westmoreland county. It was built on the road made by General *See Hist. Six Counties, p. 568. <[42]> Forbes, in 1758. When the county was erected in 1773, the courts were directed to be held in this place. It contained about thirty habitations of different descriptions, a wooden court house and jail, and a fort stockaded with logs. Arthur St. Clair, Esq.,* afterward a conspicuous general in the Revolutionary and Indian wars, was the first prothonotary and clerk of the courts, and Robert Hanna, Esq., was the first presiding justice. During the war of the revolution, Hannastown was the headquarters of Colonel Archibald Lochry, Lieutenant of Westmoreland county. It was thus a conspicuous town in the early history of Western Pennsylvania. On the 13th of July, 1782, the Indians made a descent on Hannastown. The frontier northwest of the town was almost deserted; the inhabitants had fled for safety and repose to the older settlements. There was, therefore, but little impediment to the Indians, either by way of resistance, or even of giving warning of their approach. The savages first made their appearance at a harvest-field, about a mile and a half north of the village, where a party of the townsfolk were engaged in reaping. Upon discovering the Indians the whole reaping party ran for the town, each one intent upon *See sketch of his life, chapter X. <[43]> his own safety. The scene which then presented itself may more readily be conceived than described. Fathers seeking for their wives and children, and children calling upon their parents and friends, and all hurrying in a state of consternation to the fort. The Indians were not long in reaching the town; but fortunately not until the inhabitants were about all safely in the fort. As the savages emerged into the open space around the town, sounding the dreaded war-whoop and brandishing their tomahawks, a young man named David Shaw, who had not yet entered the fort, resolved to make one of them give his death halloo, and raising his rifle to his eye, his bullet whizzed true, for the stout savage at whom he aimed bounded into the air and fell upon his face. Then, with the speed of an arrow, Shaw fled for the fort and entered in safety. The Indians were exasperated when they found the town deserted, and after pillaging the houses they set them on fire. Although a considerable part of the town was within rifle range of the fort, the whites did but little execution, being more intent on their own safety than solicitous about destroying the enemy. One savage, who had put on the military coat of one of the inhabitants, paraded himself so ostentatiously <[44]> that he was shot down. Except this one, and the one laid low by Shaw, there was no evidence of any other execution, but some human bones found among the ashes of one of the houses where they, it was supposed, burnt those that were killed. There were not more than fourteen or fifteen rifles in the fort; and a company having marched from the town some time before, in Lochry's ill-fated campaign, many of the most efficient men were absent; not more than twenty or twenty-five remained. A maiden, Jennet Shaw, was killed in the fort; a child having run opposite the gate, in which there were some apertures through which a bullet from the Indians occasionally whistled, she followed it, and as she stopped to pick it up a bullet entered her bosom - she thus fell a victim to her kindness of heart. The savages, with their wild yells and hideous gesticulations, exulted as the flames spread, and looked like demoniacs rejoicing over the lost hopes of mortals. >From Hannastown the Indians went to Miller's Station, tow miles south of the town. Here were a number of families who had fled for safety from their homes on the extreme border. There had been a wedding here the day before. Love is a delicate plant, but will <[45]> take root in the midst of perils in gentle bosoms. A young couple, fugitives from the frontier, fell in love and were married. The bridal party were enjoying themselves in the principal mansion, without the least shadow of approaching danger. Some men were mowing in the meadow - people in the cabins were variously occupied - when suddenly the war-whoop, like a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky, broke upon their astonished ears. The people in the cabins and those in the meadow mostly made their escape. At the principal mansion the party were so agitated by the cries of women and children, mingling with the yells of the savages that all were for a moment irresolute, and that moment sealed their fate. John Brownlee and his family were there. This individual was well known in frontier forage and scouting parties. His courage, activity, generosity, and manly form won for him among his associates, as they win everywhere, confidence and attachment. Many of the Indians were acquainted with his character - some of them probably had seen his person. After that first moment of terror had passed, Brownlee made his way to the door, having seized a rifle; he saw, however, that it was a desperate game, but made a rush at <[46]> some Indians who were entering the gate. The shrill, clear voice of his wife, exclaiming, "Jack, will you leave me?" instantly recalled him, and he sat down beside her the door, yielding himself a willing victim. The party were made prisoners, including the bridegroom and bride, and several of the family of Miller. Longfellow, in his beautiful poem of "Evangeline," nearly describes this scene: "As, when the air in serene in the sultry solstice of summer, Suddenly gather a storm, and the deadly sling of the hailstones Beats down the farmer's corn in the field and shatters his windows, Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch from the house-roofs, Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their inclosures; So on the hearts of the people descended the words of the speaker. Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and then rose Louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger." Heavy were the hearts of the women and maidens as they were led into captivity. Who can tell the bitterness of their sorrow? They looked, as they thought, for the last time upon the dear fields of their country, and of civilized life. They had proceeded about half a mile, and four or five Indians near the group of prisoners in which was Brownlee, were observed to exchange rapid sentences among each other, and look earnestly at him. Some of the prisoners had named him; and, whether it was from that circumstance or because some of the Indians had recognized his person, it was evident <[47]> that he was a doomed man. He stooped slightly to adjust his child on his back, which he carried in addition to the baggage that they had put upon him; and, as he did so, one of the Indians who had looked so earnestly at him, stepped to him hastily and buried a tomahawk in his head. When he fell, the child was quickly dispatched by the same individual. One of the women captives screamed at this butchery, and the same bloody instrument and ferocious hand immediately ended her agony of spirit. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, and he enabled Mrs. Brownlee to bear that scene in speechless agony of woe. Their bodies were found the next day by the settlers, and interred where they fell. As the shades of evening began to fall, the marauders met again on the plains of Hannastown. They retired into the low grounds about the Crabtree creek, and there regaled themselves on what they had stolen. It was their intention to attack the fort the next morning before the dawn of day. At nightfall, some thirty settlers assembled at George's Farm, not far from Miller's, determined that night to give what assistance they could to the people in the fort at Hannastown. They set off, each with his trusty rifle, some on horseback and some on foot. With the great- <[48]> est precaution they marched to the gate, and were most joyfully welcomed by those within. It was the general opinion that the Indians intended to make an attack the next morning; and, as there were but about forty-five rifles in the fort, and about fifty-five or sixty men, the contest was considered extremely doubtful, considering the great superiority of numbers on the part of the savages. It became, therefore, a matter or the first importance to impress the enemy with a belief that large reinforcements were arriving. For that purpose, the horses were mounted by active men and brought full trot over the bridge of plank that was across the ditch which surrounded the stockading. This was frequently repeated. Two old drums were found in the fort, which were new braced, and music on the fife and drum was kept occasionally going during the night. While marching and countermarching, the bridge was frequently crossed on foot by the whole garrison. These measures had the desired effect. The military music from the fort, the trampling of the horses, and the marching over the bridge, were borne on the silence of night over the low lands of the Crabtree, and the sounds carried terror into the bosoms of the cowardly savages. They feared the retri- <[49]> bution which they deserved, and fled shortly after midnight. Three hundred Indians, and about sixty white savages in the shape of refugees, that day crossed the Crabtree, with the intention of destroying Hannastown and Miller's Station. The next day, a number of the whites pursued the trail as far as the Kiskiminietas without being able to overtake them. The little community, which had now no homes but what the fort supplied, looked out on the ruins of the town with the deepest sorrow. It had been to them the scene of heartfelt joys - embracing the intensity and tenderness of all which renders the domestic hearth and family altar sacred. By degrees they all sought themselves places where they might, like Noah's dove, find rest for the soles of their feet. The lots of the town, either by sale or abandonment, became merged in the adjoining farm; and the labors of the husbandman soon effaced what time might have spared. The prisoners were surrendered by the Indians to the British in Canada. After the peace of 1783, they were delivered up, and returned to their country.* Greensburg was laid out shortly after the *This account of the burning of Hannastown, I have condensed from a well-written article first published in the "Greensburg Argus," in 1836, and thence copied into Day's Hist. Col. <[50]> destruction of Hannastown. It was incorporated as early as February, 1799. Its growth for half a century was very gradual. In 1850, the population was scarcely one thousand. It is surrounded by a highly fertile and well-cultivated country. Old Westmoreland is the garden of Western Pennsylvania. The Pittsburg and Bedford turnpike passes through the town, and this gave it some advantages. In it are a fine court house and other county buildings. The Pennsylvania Railroad now passes along the edge of the town. Since the construction of this thoroughfare, the town has improved considerably. Judge Lobengeir, Dr. Postlethwaite, Mr. Campbell, and Mr. McLellan were among the earliest settlers in Greensburg. General Arthur St. Clair, of Revolutionary fame, lies buried in the Presbyterian churchyard. In 1832, the Masonic fraternity placed a monument over his grave, with the following inscriptions: On the South Side. - "The earthly remains of Major General Arthur St. Clair, are deposited beneath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one, due from his country. He died Aug. 31, 1818, in the 84th year of his age." On the North Side. - "This stone is erected <[51]> over the remains of their departed brother, by members of the Masonic Society." The citizens of Greensburg have ever been a highly moral and intelligent people. Very early in this century, about 1805 or 1806, Messrs. Snowden & McCorkle established a newspaper in this town, called "The Farmers' Register." It was neutral in politics, and ably edited for that period. Greensburg is the home of Hon. Edgar Cowan, U.S. Senator, Hon. Henry D. Foster, Democratic candidate for governor in 1860, and other prominent public men. The town is beautifully situated in a fine agricultural district, and within less than an hour's ride of Pittsburg. Somerset county was the next county erected in the Conemaugh valley. It was organized by act of April 17th, 1795. It had formerly constituted a part of Bedford county. The region of country now embraced in Somerset county was visited by white adventurers and traders at a comparatively remote period. We have already referred to Frederick Post's journey through it in 1758. John Evans, Alexander Magenty, and others, had penetrated these wilds as long ago as 1740. About 1752, Evans, with others, fell into the hands of the savages. They were carried to Quebec, <[52]> and from thence sent to Rochelle, in France, where they were released by the English ambassador, and by him sent to London, and from thence they got a passage to Philadelphia. Magenty, while on his return from a trading expedition to the Cuttawa Indians, who were in alliance with the crown of Great Britain, was taken prisoner on the 26th of January, 1753, by a party of French Indians of the Cagnawaga nation, near the Kentucky river. The Indians beat and abused him in the most barbarous manner, and then sent him to Montreal. His release was effected by the mayor of Albany, by paying a considerable sum of money to the Indians who had captured him, and in the fall of 1753, he returned to Philadelphia in destitute circumstances.* In 1758, a road was cut through the northeastern part of the county by Colonel Bouquet, under the command of General Forbes, and in October of that year an army of six thousand men marched over this road on their way to Fort Duquesne. Shortly after the fall of that Indian stronghold, settlements were commenced within the limits of Somerset county. We have already mentioned the ruins of a house visible to within a very recent period. *Votes of Assembly, Vol. IV. <[53]> which was said to have been built about this time. A fort was built at Stoystown, and a breastwork at the forks of the load on the Allegahny mountains. During the Indian troubles of 1763, the little garrison at Stoystown was called in to strengthen the fort at Bedford.* Berlin, in Brothers' Valley township, was one of the first settlements in this county. It was settled by the Germans, many of whom were Dunkards. The inhabitants of the more exposed parts of the country frequently fled hither to escape the "murderous tomahawk" of the Indians. Somerset, the, county neat, was laid out by Mr. Bruner, in 1795. It was for some time called Brunerstown. It was incorporated by act of 1804, and a supplementary act of 1807. It is a pleasant town, surrounded by a fine agricultural district, and enjoys the advantages of pure mountain air and water. The turnpike from Bedford to Washington passes through the town. The first settlers about Somerset were Mr. Bruner, the founder of the town, Mr. Philson, and Mr. Husband. During the whisky rebellion, in 1794, the citizens of this county took no very active part, though they were generally * Hist. Col., p. 617. <[54]> secretly opposed to the excise. Mr. Philson and Mr. Husband were more bold in the expression of their sentiments, and were, in consequence, arrested, sent to Philadelphia, and imprisoned. Mr. Husband died in Philadelphia, after enduring an imprisonment of about eight months. Mr. Philson was released.* On the 16th of October, 1833, a destructive fire swept over the town of Somerset, and laid a large part of it in ashes. An extra of the "Somerset Patriot" of that day, after describing the origin, and so forth, of the fire, goes on to say: "We have no means of ascertaining the loss - it must be immense. Upwards of thirty families are turned homeless in the streets. The part of the town which is now in ashes, was the most business doing and populous, as well as the most valuable - stores, Offices, Shops, Taverns - all have been consumed. Some Private families have lost their all. Some have saved much of their furniture. We would suppose the whole loss, not less than one hundred thousand dollars." Public meetings were held throughout the country, and resolutions of condolence were passed, and still stronger testimonials of sympathy in the shape of contributions for the sufferers were liberally and cheerfully made. ** * Hist. Col., p. 618. ** Ebensburg Sky, Nov. 7, 1833 <[55]> Indiana county was erected out of parts of Westmoreland and Lycoming counties by act of March 30th, 1803. This region of country was explored as long ago as 1766-67. The first attempt at making a settlement in the limits of this county is believed to have been made in the year 1769, in the forks of the Conemaugh and Blacklick. The early adventurers into this section were particularly well pleased with the tract of country in the immediate neighborhood of the present town of Indiana. In 1771 or 1772, three or four years before the breaking out of the American Revolution, Fergus Moorhead and James Kelly had erected their log cabins here. The late lamented R. B. McCabe, Esq.,* of Blairsville, has recorded the following incident in the history of these two hardy pioneers: "So soon as the cabins were finished, each of these adventurers betook himself at night to his castle. One morning Mr. Moorhead paid a visit to his neighbor Kelly, and was surprised to find near his cabin traces of blood and tufts of human hair. Kelly was not to be found. Moorhead, believing him to have been killed by the wolves, was cautiously looking about for his remains, when he discovered him *See sketch of his life, Chap. X. <[56]> sitting by a spring, washing the blood from his hair. "He had lain down in his cabin at night and fallen asleep; a wolf reached through a crack between the logs, and seized him by the head. This was repeated twice or thrice before he was sufficiently awakened to shift his position. The smallness of the crack and the size of his head prevented the wolf from grasping it so far as to have a secure hold, and that saved his life." Moses Chambers, an old British man-of-war's-man, was one of the first settlers in this wild region. Moses forsook his calling upon the high seas, and sought adventures of another kind in the wilds of our Pennsylvania forests. We, of these times, have but a faint idea of the dangers, privations, and vicissitudes which environed the hardy settlers of these early days. The following incident in the life of Chambers well illustrates the nature of the difficulties with which the settlers of our country had to contend: "Moses continued to work on his improvement till he was told one morning that the last johnnycake was at the fire! What was to be done? There was no possibility of a supply short of Conococheague. He caught his <[57]> horse and made ready. He broke the johnnycake in two pieces; and giving one-half to hid wife, the partner of his perils and his fortunes, he put up the other half in the lappet of his coat with thorns, and turned his horse's head to the east. There were no inns on the road in those days, nor a habitation west of the mountains, save, perhaps, a hut or two at Fort Ligonier. The Kittanning path was used to Ligonier, and from thence the road made by general Forbes' army. Where good pasture could be had for his horse, Moses tarried and baited. To him day was as night, and night as the day. He slept only while his horse was feeding, nor did he give rest to his body nor ease to his mind, until be returned with his sack stored with corn. "How forcibly would the affecting story of the patriarch Jacob apply itself to, the condition of families thus circumstanced! 'Jacob said to his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? and he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; get you down thither, and buy for us from thence, that we may live and not die.'"* Some eight or ten years after the settlement of Moses Chambers in this remote country, * R. B. McCabe, Esq. <[58]> William Bracken built a mill on the Blacklick, which was an incalculable advantage to the settlers. No more wearisome journeys to Conococheague! Bracken's mill speedily became a cynosure to all within a radius of many miles, and the narrow paths which led to it might have been seen winding through the green forests in every direction. The settlement of Indiana county was very gradual. The savages made frequent inroads into the quiet retreats of the settlers, murdering or driving them off. We continue to quote, with some variation of language and order, from Mr. McCabe's valuable sketch. About the year 1774, Samuel Moorhead commenced building a mill on Stony Run, but before it was completed, the settlers were driven off by the Indians. They fled to what was then called the Sewickly settlement. This was called Dunmore's war; by some of the old settlers it was called the civil war. This war was brought about in this manner: In 1774, Lord Dunmore, of Virginia, set up the unfounded pretension that the western boundary of Pennsylvania did not include Pittsburg and the Monongahela river, and many settlers were encouraged to take up lands on Virginia warrants. He even took possession of Fort Pitt, by his agent, <[59]> Conolly, on the withdrawal of the royal troops by order of General Gage. Even General Washington, who knew that country so well, and had taken up much land in it, entertained the idea probably at that date, that what are now the counties of Fayette, Greene, and Washington, were in Virginia. Some of these new settlers were of the worst class of frontiermen, and two of them, Cresap and Greathouse, were concerned in the barbarous murder of the family of Logan, "the friend of the white man." A bloody war upon the frontier was the consequence of these murders.* The settlers in Indiana county who were thus compelled to flee, lost their cattle and their crops. However, they returned to their improvements in the fall, and Moorhead completed his mill. This was perhaps the second mill erected within the bounds of what is now Indiana county. At this time the Indians were living on the Allegheny river. They had a town called Hickorytown, another called Mahoning, and another called Punxsutawney. At their leisure, and they continued to have a good deal, they stole the white men's horses, and showed no symptoms of doubtful character as to their feelings towards their! new neighbors. *Day's Hist. Col., p. 33. <[60]> In 1776, when the blast of war, wide-spread and destructive, swept over the land, it penetrated even the seclusion of this remote wilderness. The Indians again became openly hostile. No further improvements, it is believed, were attempted. The settler laid down the e, and took up the rifle of the soldier. One courageous pioneer, John Thompson, erected a block-house some six miles northeast of the present town of Indiana, and here he continued to reside throughout all the troubles on the frontier. Not until after Wayne's treaty, in 1795, were any improvements of importance attempted. As late as 1800, not a single town existed in the county, if we except a few cabins that stood where Saltsburg now stands. - Greensburg, in Westmoreland county, was the nearest trading town.* Among the first villages in Indiana county was one called Newport, which stood on the right bank of the river, about a mile below the mouth of the Blacklick. When or by whom built is a mystery. It was a matter of tradition in our childhood. Old settlers affirm that it was in a state of decay more than fifty years since. We remember years ago to have seen a solitary house, tenantless and dilapidated, *Day's Hist. Col., p. 377. <[61]> still remaining. Of course it had the reputation of being haunted. One who passed by it on a remarkably dark night afterward declared that he had seen a strange, murky light flaring through the sashless windows and the chinks in the walls. Doubtless the hobgoblins held their midnight revels there. Had that timid wayfarer drawn nigher he might have been blest with such a sight as than which greeted the eyes of Tam O'Shanter in the auld kirk of Alloway. After the old house had departed a lone chimney continued to stand for years, not so tall and graceful as Pompey's Pillar, perhaps, yet serving very well to mark the site of the abandoned hamlet. But even this last vestige has disappeared, and the stones of which it was constructed have been built into a fence by the owner of the land. In another generation Newport will be as hard to locate as Tadmor in the Wilderness. The town of Indiana was laid out in 1805. A tract of 250 acres was granted for the purposes of a town by George Clymer. The turnpike from Kittanning Line to Ebensburg passes through the town. In 1856, the Blairsville Branch Railroad was extended to this place. This has had the effect to cause great <[62]> improvements to be made in it. The town has suddenly grown from being a small, out-of-the-way place, to be an important business point. It contains a fine court house, several elegant churches and hotels, a large number of first-class stores, and many elegant private residences. There is here also an extensive establishment for the manufacture of straw boards. The town is finely located in the midst of a superior agricultural district, and the people have ever been noted for their intelligence, morality, and enterprise. The manufacture of salt has long been a prosperous business in this county. These salt-wells are principally to be found along the bank of the Conemaugh, The existence of salt water in this section was indicated by the oozing of water, slightly brackish, through the fissures of the rocks. About the year 1813, when salt, in consequence of the war, was extravagantly high, Mr. William Johnston, an enterprising gentleman, determined to perforate the rock, and ascertain whether there was not some valuable fountain from whence all these oozings issued. He commenced operations on the bank of the Conemaugh, nearthe mouth of the Loyalhanna, and persevered until he had reached the depth of 450 feet, when he struck <[63]> an abundant fountain, strongly impregnated with salt. He immediately proceeded to tubing the perforation to exclude the fresh water, erecting furnaces, pans, and other fixtures, and was soon in the full tide of successful experiment, making about thirty bushels per day, all of which was eagerly purchased at a high price. Mr. Johnston's success induced others to embark in the business, most of whom were successful. Very soon the hitherto silent and solitary banks of the river were all bustle, life, and enterprise.* The canal which was afterwards made to pass through this region, brought the most available means of transportation to these works, and salt formed one of the chief staple of commerce of that section, and was carried to every part of the country. About the year 1825, a salt well was sunk on the left bank of the river, a short distance above the mouth of the Blacklick, but, to the grief of all the parties interested, instead of finding a gushing fountain of salt water, the well poured out nothing but a stream of dirty-looking oil, very offensive in its smell, and of no conceivable use whatever. The well was then covered up, and abandoned. This is now believed to have *Hazard's Register, 1831. <[64]> been petroleum oil, and great pains have been taken lately to find the enact spot where this well was sunk, but so far in vain. Cambria county was taken from Somerset and Huntingdon by act of March 26th, 1804. Some have thought that the first settlements in the limits of this county were made about the year 1789 ; but from the following incident it would seem that settlements were attempted here some years before a this. About December, 1777, a number of families came into the fort (at Bedford) from the neighborhood of Johnstown. Amongst them were Samuel Adams, one Thornton and Bridges. After the alarm had somewhat subsided, they agreed to return to their property. A party started with pack horses, reached the place, and not seeing any Indians, collected their property and commenced their return. After proceeding some distance, a dog belonging to one of the party, showed signs of uneasiness, and ran back. Bridges and Thornton desired the others to wait whilst they would go back for him. They went bath, and had proceeded but two or three hundred yards, when a body of Indians, who had been lying on each side of the way, but who had been afraid to fire on account of the number of the whites, <[65]> suddenly rose up and took them prisoners. The others, no knowing what detained their companions, went back after them; when they arrived near the spot the Indians fired on them, but without doing any injury. The whites instantly turned and fled; excepting Samuel Adams, who took a tree, and began to fight in the Indian style. In a few minutes, however, he was killed, but not without doing the same fearful service for his adversary. He and one of the Indians shot and killed each other at the same moment. When the news reached the fort, a party volunteered to visit the ground. When they reached it, although the snow had fallen ankle deep, they readily found the bodies of Adams and the Indian; the face of the latter having been covered by his companions with Adams' hunting shirt.* This bloody encounter is said to have taken place on Sandy Run, about eight miles east of Johnstown. Authorities differ, however, both, as to the date of the occurrence, and the manner in which the actors in the tragedy made away with each other; some affirming that it took place about the year 1785, and that Adams and the Indian killed each other with their knives while fighting round a white-oak tree.** *Day's Hist. Col., pp. 122, 123 **A. J. Hite's "Hand-Book of Johnstown, for 1856," p. 19. <[66]> In the year 1789, the Rev. D. A. Gallitzin* directed his course to the Alleghany mountain, and found that portion of it which now constitutes Cambria county a perfect wilderness, almost without inhabitants or habitations. He chose to settle where the village of Loretto now stands, and by his labors and munificence he attracted about him a little colony of pioneers that has now, grown to be a numerous and wealthy population. Among these early settle were Captain Michael Maguire, Cornelius Maguire, Richard Nagle, William Dotson, Michael Rager, James Alcorn, John Storm, and others. Of these, Captain Maguire is believed to have been the first. He came here in 1790. The others followed soon after. These were the right kind of men to people a country, for one o them at least, Mr. Rager, is said to have had no less than twenty-seven children! Under the auspices of these settlers, the country improved very rapidly. The first grist mill in the country was built by Mr. John Storm. Robert L. Johnson, Esq., of Ebensburg, who is, perhaps, better acquainted with the early history of this county than any other man in it, and from Whom we have borrowed the * See sketch of his life, Chap. X. ** See Mountaineer, May 14th, 1840. <[67]> principal part of the above items, in the year 1840 published in the Ebensburg "Mountaineer," of which he was editor, a series of articles, from which we extract the following: "Previous to the year 1789, the tract of country; which is now included within the limits of Cambria county was a wilderness. 'Frankstown settlement,' as it was then called, was the frontier of the inhabited parts of Pennsylvania east of the Alleghany mountains. None of the pioneers had yet ventured to explore the eastern slope of the mountain. A remnant of savage tribes still prowled through the forests, and seized every opportunity of destroying the dwellings of the settlers, and butchering such of the inhabitants as were so unfortunate as to fall into their hands. The howling of the wolf, and the shrill screaming of the catamount or American panther, mingled in nightly concert with the war-whoop of the savages. "The hardships endured by the first settlers are almost incredible. Exposed to the inclemency of an Alleghany, winter, against the rigor of which their hastily erected and scantily furnished huts afforded a poor protection, their sufferings were sometimes almost beyond endurance. Yet with the most unyielding <[68]> firmness did these men persevere, until they secured for themselves and their posterity the inheritance which the latter at present enjoy. "there was nothing that could be dignified with the name of road by which the early settlers might have an intercourse with the settlements of Huntingdon county. A miserable Indian path led from the vicinity of where Loretto now stands, and intersected the road leading to Frankstown, two or three miles this side of the Summit. "Many anecdotes are related by the citizens of Allegheny township of the adventures of their heroic progenitors among the savage beasts, and the more savage Indians, which then infested the neighborhood. The latter were not slow to seize every opportunity of aggression which presented itself to their blood-thirsty minds, and consequently the inhabitants held not only property, but life itself, by a very uncertain tenure. The truth of the following story is vouched for by many of the most respectable citizens in Alleghany and Cambria townships, by one of whom it has kindly been furnished us for publication: A Mr. James Alcorn had settled in the vicinity of the spot where Loretto now stands, and had built a hut, and cleared a potato patch, at some distance from it. The wife of Mr. Alcorn went an errand to see the potatoes, and did not return. Search was immediately made, but no trace could be found to lead to her discovery. What became of her is to this day wrapped in mystery, and in all human probability, we shall remain in ignorance of her fate. It was generally supposed that she had been taken by the savages; and it was even reported that she had returned several years after; but this story is not credited by any in the neighborhood." After Loretto, Johnstown is believed to have been the first spot settled in Cambria county. A few years afterward, about 1795, a number of Welsh emigrants located themselves upon the banks of the Blacklick, in this county. The spot which they chose was eminently adapted to the purposes of a village. The climate was salubrious; the scenery around attractive; the land in the neighborhood highly productive, while its interior was full of the most valuable minerals; the water in the springs and streams was as pure and sparkling as the fount of Castaly, and the grand old woods on every side nodded their green heads in welcome to those early pioneers. The village was properly laid out in streets and alleys, and bore the name of Beulah. It was rapidly built up, and improvements of all kinds were inaugurated. Religious and literary societies were formed, and an enterprising disciple of Faust and Franklin established a newspaper in the little colony. This primitive sheet rejoiced in the name of the "Western Sky." It has since been rolled together as a scroll, and disappeared. The people of Beulah were an honest, energetic, independent race, and deserved to be, as they were, prosperous. Upon the organization of Cambria county, in 1804, Beulah contended with Ebensburg for the honor of being named the capital of the new county. That dignity was conferred upon the latter, and forthwith Beulah declined through chagrin and disappointment. She was never able to hold up her head afterward. Colonel Swank says: "That unfortunate tilt with Ebensburg "fixed" beyond a peradvanture the destiny of Beulah. Its Welsh burghers soon commenced to turn a longing look upon the county-seat; the implements of husbandry and the tools of the cunning workman were laid away to rust, and the price of real estate rapidly declined. Ere long Beulah was deserted, and it remains deserted to this day. Where once stood the bustling little village, now only can be seen a single old-fashioned and very shaky wooden dwelling - a fitting relic and a sorry monument of the departed greatness of Beulah. All else is gone. Even the streets, the 'busy streets' of Beulah - where are they?"* The history of Beulah presents us with a new edition of Goldsmith's "Deserted Village:" "Sweet smiling village, lovelies of the lawn, Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn! Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, And Desolation saddens all thy green." Ebensburg, two miles east of Beulah, was laid out by the Rev. Morgan J. Rees, at nearly the same time with the latter. The ground upon which it is built was bought of the celebrated Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia. The original settlers of Ebensburg, as of Beulah, were exclusively Welsh. It had a powerful rival in the latter town, until by the act of 1805, it was directed to be the seat of justice for the county, which gave it an impulse that enabled it to far distance its haughty competitor. The great northern turnpike, running from Pittsburg to Huntingdon, passes through the central part of the town. There is also a turnpike leading from it to the town of Indiana. *Editorial Brevities, p. 9 <[72]> The town is pleasantly situated, almost on the summit of the Alleghany mountains. The eye can sweep in every direction over a vast expanse of woodland, field, and hill-top, to the far-off horizon, that, like a circle, hems in the scene. The air is pure and healthful, though, in the winter, it is said, it is rather bracing. Surrounding the town is some good farming land. Ebensburg contains a fine court house, and the usual county buildings, several good hotels, stores, shops, and some very fine private dwellings. The inhabitants are an intelligent, hospitable, free-hearted people, as the dwellers in mountain regions have ever been. A newspaper, called the "Cambria Gazette," was established here about the year 1816. There are now two papers published in the town, the "Democrat and Sentinel," and the "Alleghenian." The Ebensburg and Cresson Railroad, built in 1862, gave a stimulus to the business of the town, and caused considerable improvements to be made. The population is about 1000. On Sunday evening, July 31st, 1842, one of the most atrocious murders ever committed was perpetrated in the neighborhood of this town. That evening two men broke into the <[73]> house of Mrs. Elizabeth Holder, a lone widow, who resided near Ebensburg, and who was thought by some persons to have some money in her house. At their first attack, shy screamed a few times very violently, and her next neighbor, a Mr. Rainey, who had retired to bed, heard her, and ran to her assistance. But ere he got there the struggle was all over, and she was no more; and they were plundering the house. Mr. Rainey was afraid to venture into the house alone, and ran off for more assistance. Four or five men soon canoe along with him, and they arrived there just as the murderers were about leaving. The citizens endeavored to take them, and fired a rifle at one of them, but missed him. They made their escape, in the darkness of the night, into the neighboring woods.* They were after wards arrested - one at Bellefonte and the other near Meadville, and were imprisoned at Ebensburg. They proved to be two brothers, named Bernard and Patrick Flanagan, Irishmen, from Centre county, this State. On Wednesday, the 6th of October of the same year, they were arraigned before Hon. Thomas White, President Judge, and Richard Lewis and John Murray, Associate Judges, of the *Mountaineer, August, 1842. <[74]> Court of Oyer and Terminer of this county. The trial continued daily, except Sunday, until the night of Saturday, the 15th. More than seventy witnesses were examined. The prosecution was conducted by Thomas C. M'Dowell, Esq., the Attorney for the Commonwealth, and Messrs. John G. Miles, George Taylor, and John Fenlon, Esqs. The defense was sustained by Messrs. Michael Dan Magehan, Joshua F. Cox, John S. Rhey, and Michael Hasson, Esqs. The evidence was closed on the evening of Thursday, the 13th, when the addresses to the jury were opened by Mr. Taylor. The greater part of Friday was occupied by Mr. Rhey and Mr. Magehan on the part of the prisoners, and Mr. McDowell on the part of the Commonwealth. On the evening of Friday Mr. Cox commenced his speech for the accused, which he finished at noon on Saturday. In the afternoon Mr. Miles summed up for the Commonwealth, and Judge White delivered the charge to the jury. The jury retired about eight o'clock the same evening, and after a short absence returned a verdict that the prisoners were guilty of murder in the first degree. Thus ended the most important and most exciting trial that has ever taken place in our county. <[75]> The Flanagans were never hung. Efforts were made to secure a new trial, and the Legislature and the Supreme Court were importuned on the subject, but a new trial was not granted. After a long delay, Governor Porter finally signed the death warrant, but on the evening before it was received in Ebensburg the Flanagans escaped from jail! They have never since been heard of by the public.* *Johnstown Tribune, July 28th, 1865. <[76]> CHAPTER IV. PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES. During the earliest periods in the history of the Conemaugh valley the only thoroughfare through it was the river itself and a narrow Indian path that led from the head-waters of the Juniata Creek to the Conemaugh near the present site of Johnstown. For some years after the first settlements were formed in the region of the Conemaugh, this path was still the only road leading from the valley across the mountains. The ancestors of many of the present inhabitants came in by this Indian path. Very early in the present century, Smith's State Road and the Frankstown Road were constructed. These followed the course of the old path. This was an important enterprise for that early day. It opened up a wider intercourse with the more populous east. By this road large quantities of pig metal were brought from "down east," some of which was manufactured into iron at a forge that had been erected in the embryo village of Johns- <[77]> town, and some was carried in flat-boats by the river to Pittsburg. During the spring and fall freshets, the business of flat-boating was very brisk. A trip to the distant town of Pittsburg, in those days, was a matter of nearly if not quite as much moment as to New Orleans in these days of progress. The banks of the river were lined with almost unbroken forests, and the shrill cry of the wolf and the wild-cat alone awoke the echoes. No smiling villages were to be seen from the forks to the mouth of the Conemaugh. About the years 1819 and 1820, a turnpike was constructed through several of the counties lying in this valley. This turnpike led from Pittsburg to Huntingdon, and thence on to Philadelphia. The idea of building such a road over the mountains was deemed by the majority of the people of that day as simply preposterous! They did not believe it could be done. We may think lightly of the simplicity of such people, and yet, gentle reader, fifty years from to-day our descendants will doubtless smile complacently at the vaunted "improvements" and "progress" of their grandfathers. The world is yet only in its infancy. The enterprise, however, was pushed forward <[78]> by the energetic men who had undertaken it, until it was completed. It was a well-made road, and was famous for many years. Towns and villages sprang up along its sides. It was the great highway between the east and the west, and with such admiration was it regarded for some time after its completion, that no man's imagination dared soar so high as to picture a better means of communication. But the spirit of progress was abroad. It had long been a subject of consideration with the people of Pennsylvania how to connect the waters of the eastern with the waters of the western part of the State, so as to form a continuous line of navigation between the two sections of the country. It had occupied the thoughts of William Penn himself. As early as 1762, Dr. David Rittenhouse and the Rev. William Smith had been employed to survey a route by which the same grand object might be reached. To carry out successfully the gigantic project of uniting the great eastern with the great western waters, was supposed to require an amount of capital, and of credit, beyond the control of any joint stock company; and the pre-eminent power and credit of the State herself were enlisted in the enterprise. Unfortunately, to do this required legislative votes, and <[79]> these votes were not to be had without extending the ramifications of the system throughout all the, counties whose patronage was necessary to carry the measure. In March, 1824, commissioners were appointed to explore a route for a canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburg by way of the Juniata and Conemaugh, and by way of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, Sinnemahoning, and the Allegheny - and also between the headwaters of the Schuylkill, by Mahanoy Creek, to the Susquehanna - with other projects. In 1825, canal commissioners were appointed to explore a number of routes in various directions through the State. In August, 1826, a convention of the friends of internal improvements, consisting of delegates from forty-six counties, met at Harrisburg, and passed resolutions in favor of "opening an entire and complete communication from the Susquehanna to the Allegheny and Ohio, and from the Allegheny to Lake Erie, by the nearest and best practicable route." The starting impulse being thus given, the great enterprise moved on, increasing in strength and magnitude as each successive legislature convened; and the citizens of every section were highly excited, not to say intoxicated; with local schemes of internal improvement.* * Day's Hist. Col., page 47. <[80]> Between the years 1828 and 1833, the work upon the Pennsylvania Canal and Alleghany Portage Railroad was carried forward. The design was originally entertained of connecting the main Pittsburg route by continuing the canals with locks and dams as far as possible on both sides, and then tunnel through the mountain summit, a distance of four miles. This idea was soon abandoned. The survey for the railroad was made by Mr. Sylvester Welch, and everything duly considered, it was a creditable enterprise. An old writer, in the warmth of his admiration, says: "Mr. Welch has immortalized his name by a work equal in importance and grandeur to any in the world. He has raised a monument to the intelligence, enterprise, and public spirit of Pennsylvania, more honorable than the temples and pyramids of Egypt, or the triumphant arches and columns of Rome. They were erected to commemorate the names of tyrants, or the battles of victorious chieftains, while these magnificent works are intended to subserve the interests of agriculture, manufacture, and commerce - to encourage the arts of peace - to advance the prosperity and happiness of the whole people of the United States - to strengthen en the bonds of the Union."* * Hist. Six Counties, p. 580,. <[81]> The railroad lay for the greater part in Cambria county. Its western terminus was at Johnstown. Its length was thirty-six miles, terminating to the eastward at Hollidaysburg. It consisted of a series of planes and levels: There were ten planes, numbered in their order from the west towards the east. The first plane was 1,607.74 feet in length, and had an elevation of 150 feet. Plane number two was 1,760.43 feet long, and had an elevation of 132.40 feet. Plane number three was 1,480.25 feet long, and had an elevation of 130.60 feet. Plane number four, was 2,194.93 feet in length, and had an elevation of 187.86 feet. Plane number five was 2,628.50 feet long, and had an elevationof 201.64 feet. This brings us to the summit of the Alleghany mountains, after which we descend upon the other side. Plane number six was 2,713.85 feet in length, and had a depression of 266.50 feet. Plane number seven was 2,655.01, feet long, and had a depression of 260.50 feet. Plane number eightwas 3,116.92 feet in length and had a depression of 307.60 feet. Plane number nine was 2,720.80 feet long, and had a depression of 189.50 feet. Plane number ten was 2,295.61 feet in length, and had a depression of 180.52 feet. <[82]> The inclination of some of the level was as great as that of some of the planes: for instance, that of level number two was one hundred and eighty-nine feet. This, however, was, gained in a distance of over thirteen miles, so that it was merely a light grade. At he top of each of the planes were stationary engines, by means of which the ascending and descending trains of trucks and cars were raised or lowered by ropes of twisted wires to which they were attached. This kind of railroading in our days would be considered entirely too slow; yet at that day the construction of the old Portage railroad, as we have seen, was considered a grand triumph of science and skill. Sometimes, it is true, the ropes or the couplings of the cars would break, when all would run pell-mell to the bottom of the plane to the destruction of life and property; and so, too, in modern days, trains sometimes s run off the track or into each other to the same effect. At the top of plane number one a tunnel perforated, the hill, a distance of eight hundred and seventy feet. It is also twenty feet in hight. The tunnel is still remaining, as it will likely remain for ages to come. It is not used for any purpose whatever. A few miles <[83]> beyond the tunnel a beautiful viaduct, a single arch of eighty feet span, crossed the river at the Horseshoe Bend. The track of the Pennsylvania Railroad now lies upon it. The river here makes a singular curve. It runs a distance of three miles around a point of land, which, at this place, is scarcely more than three hundred feet across! The cost of the railroad, including the stationary engines, and so forth, exceeded $1,500,000. The Western Division of the Pennsylvania canal, extending from Johnstown to Pittsburg, was rapidly pushed to its completion. This division was nearly one hundred and five miles in length and had a descent by lockage of four hundred and seventy feet. On it are nine dams, seventy locks, and fifteen aqueducts.* Nine miles below Blairsville, the canal passes through a tunnel eight hundred and seventeen feet long.** At the western end of the tunnel, the canal crosses the Conemaugh upon at magnificent stone aqueduct. The view of this aqueduct and the tunnel perforating the rugged hill-side, is quite pleasing to the traveler passing up the canal. Another tunnel of * See Canal Com. Report for 1851, p. 15. ** Hist. Six Counties, p. 602. In Day's Hist. Col., page 375, this tunnel is said to be over 1,000 feet long. This, we conceive to be an error. <[84]> about the same length, pierces this hill but a few rods above the old one. This has been made for the North-Western railroad. The cost of making this canal was $2,964,882. The scenery along this portion of the public works, winding as it does along the Conemaugh, is varied and beautiful. It passes through deep gorges, where dense primeval forests look down and see themselves in the waters below; through broad cultivated fields, where the flash of the sickle and the merry songs of the gleaners are seen and heard; by cosy farm-houses, around which at the closing in of day the lowing of herds, the tinkling of sheep-bells, and the gabbling and quacking of geese and ducks make domestic music; along by thriving towns and quiet, shady villages, peace, prosperity, and contentment have their cherished abode. The Pennsylvania Railroad, the Western Pensylvania Railroad, formerly called the North-Western Railroad, and the Allegheny Valley Railroad, have now supplanted this portion of the old main line, and opened up vast resources unthought of before. The work of making the canal from Pittsburg to Johnstown was completed, or nearly so at least, as early as 1831 or 1832. The rail- <[85]> road was not finished for some time afterward. That portion of the canal between Blairsville and Johnstown was but little used until after the completion of the railroad; but the section leading to Pittsburg from Blairsville was kept in constant and successful operation. The principal part of the merchandise brought from the west was landed at Blairsville from the canal boats and conveyed in wagons to Hollidaysburg, where it was again placed in boats and taken on to Philadelphia. That from the east was brought over from Hollidaysburg to Blairsville in the same manner, and thence passed down the canal in boats. Packet boats started daily from Blairsville and Pittsburg, the passage consuming about thirty hours.* The Portage railroad was completed, or at least so far completed, as to permit trains to pass over its entire length, in the fall of 1833. An old newspaper records the first trip of this kind as follows: "On Tuesday last, two Cars, one of them a new one built at Pittsburg, and intended for a lumber Car, left the basin at Conemaugh,** and arrived at the summit. They had on board Messrs. White, Waln, Hoopes, and Atwood, *See a Letter in the Philadelphia Gazette, June, 1833. **That is, Johnstown <[86]> four of the Philadelphia Delegates to the late Warren convention, the Superintendent , Engineers and a number of the Contractors and Citizens. They arrived at the Summit in the afternoon and were greeted by the cheers of a number of the citizens of Hollidaysburg who had arrived in Cars from that place, and a number of the citizens of this county, who had convened to view the interesting spectacle. After partaking of a sumptuous dinner, prepared by Mr. Denlinger, in his large and commodious house at the intersection of the Turnpike and Railroad the Passengers proceeded in the Cars to Hollidaysburg, where we are happy to hear, they arrived safely."* The completion of the road was a great event at that time, and on the tenth day of December, 1833, a meeting was held at the house of Mr. Denlinger, "for the purpose of making preparatory arrangements for suits suitably celebrating the completion of the Alleghany Portage Rail Road. Of this meeting C. Garber, Esq., was chairman, and J. C. Graham, secretary. Of the celebration itself, we have no report. Upon the opening of navigation in the spring of 1834, the railroad was in complete working * Ebensburg Sky, Nov. 28, 1833. **Ibid, December 19th, 1833. <[87]> order, and business upon it and the canal opened briskly. In May of that year, C. F. Dixon, of Johnstown, gives notice that he has placed a "commodious passenger car" on the railroad, to start every other day from Johnstown and Hollidaysburg, and assures the public that the trip can be made in eight hours, and that "every attention will be paid to the comfort and convenience of passengers." He further says, "There will be another car placed on the road early next week. The cars will then start every day from both towns at 7 o'clock A. M."* That business upon the line was flourishing for a new enterprise may be seen in the fact that the amount of tolls received at Hollidaysburg and Johnstown for the week ending May. 24th, 1834, was respectively $1503.53, and $1851.65.** The next achievement of that progressive age was one of so striking a character that it is strange it did not excite more curiosity and inquiry., In an old newspaper we find the following account: "The Western Division of the Pennsylvania canal has been navigated by steam! Last week a steam canal boat (the Adeline) came up from Pittsburg, and went on to Johnstown. She returned on Sunday morning * Ebensburg Sky, Mar 16, 1834. ** Pennsylvania Reporter, May 30, 1834. <[88]> with a load of near 40,000 lbs. Of blooms, passing this place very handsomely, at the rate of rather more than three miles an hour; and making less wave in the water than a boat drawn by horses. She is propelled by means of a fixture of peculiar construction, which works in a recess of the stern entirely under water. The enterprise of the proprietors is worth of commendation, as well as the hope that it may prove profitable to them."* Except this, there seems never to have been a thought indulged of navigating the canal by steam. The first trip made by a boat over the mountains is said to have been made in October, 1834. Jesse Chrisman, from the Lackawanna, loaded his boat, named the "Hit or Miss," with his family, furniture, live-stock, and all, and started for Illinois. At Hollidaysburg, where he intended to sell his boat, it was suggested by John Daugherty, of the Reliance Transportation line, that the whole concern could be safely hoisted over the mountain, and set afloat again in the canal. A car calculated to bear the novel burden was prepared, the boat was taken out of the water and place upon it, and at noon of the same day it was *Blairsville Record, June 11, 1834. <[89]> started on its way over the rugged Alleghanies. All this was done without disturbing the occupants of the boat. They rested at night on the top of the mountain, like Noah's ark on Ararat, and the next morning they descended into the valley of the Mississippi and sailed for St. Louis.* The construction of the old main line was certainly a magnificent achievement. It opened up a highway between the east and the west, and brought the cis- and trans-Alleghanians into closer communication. It was a highway proportioned to the progress and wants of the people. It perhaps did more for the development of the western country than any other agency whatever. The amount of business transacted upon it for those times was immense. For instance, during the year ending November 30th, 1851, which may be considered a medium year - neither so good as the best nor so poor as the worst, the receipts at Johnstown alone, amounted to $140,177.15.** The canal was supplied by the waters of the Conemaugh and Stony Creek. To accomplish this, dams were thrown across these streams; that across the Conemaugh just at the upper end of Johnstown, and that across * History of the Six Counties, p. 580. ** See Canal Commissioners' Report, 1851. <[90]> the Stony Creek one mile and a half above that town. To convey the water from the latter to the canal, a trench was dug along the right bank of the stream, and thence across the upper end of the town to the canal basin. This trench is still known as the "feeder." The water from the dam on the Conemaugh could be turned at once into the basin through gates constructed for that purpose. Yet business on the canal suffered more or less every year from the want of water. To remedy that defect it was resolved at length to build a reservoir on one of the mountain branches of the Conemaugh, that would hold a vast quantity of water in reserve again time of need. A suitable location was found on the South Fork, about ten miles from Johnstown. A reservoir similar to that contemplated had been made on the Juniata division of the main line, and had established the fact that navigation could be maintained by this means in the dryest of seasons. The Legislature, in 1836, made an appropriation of thirty thousand dollars towards this object.* It was not commenced, however, until the year 1838. The original appropriation was found to be insufficient, and other *Act of February 18th, 1836. <[91]> sums were subsequently voted. The reservoir covered an area of six hundred acres, and was calculated to contain four hundred and eighty millions cubic feet of available water. This would be sufficient to fill a canal five hundred and sixty miles long, thirty feet wide, and five feet deep. If filled into hogshead thirty inches in diameter, and standing side by side, they would form a row that would more than encompass the earth; or, if diffused in the form of rain, it would be sufficient to water all of Pennsylvania west of the Alleghanies! The work was completed in 1853, at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. It was found to answer the purpose for which it had been constructed. In the summer of 1862, the dam or embankment of the reservoir gave way, precipitating a flood upon the valley. Fortunately, however, it contained but a comparatively small quantity of water at the time, the escape of which had been gong on for some days previous to the general crevasse, so that but little damage resulted. In the year 1846, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was incorporated. The object of the company was to open a new and improved thoroughfare between the two chief cities of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia and Pittsburg, <[92]> and thus supply an important link in the chain of intercommunication between the east and the west. The Portage had served its purpose nobly, well; but the progressive spirit of the age had voted it a bore, and sought a more rapid and convenient transit of the Alleghenies than by the old-fashioned planes and stationary engines. Much labor, expense, and ingenuity were employed in finding a route by which this object might be accomplished. At length success crowned their efforts. The survey wound up the eastern slope of the mountains in a very circuitous manner, and crossed the summit at a point but a short distance from the Portage Railroad. It here passes through a tunnel three thousand seven hundred feet in length, at an elevation of three thousand feel above the sea. This tunnel, perhaps one of the greatest pieces of work in the United States, was completed in 1853. Descending the western slope of the mountains by the valley of the Conemaugh to Johnstown, the railroad continues to follow that river as far down as the Blairsville Intersection, where they diverge. This improvement was completed in 1853, and is now one of the safest, best finished, best furnished, and best managed railroads in the <[93]> Union. It has annihilated time and space. The passenger may eat his supper in Pittsburg, sleep securely and comfortably through the night, and wake up in time for his breakfast in Philadelphia the next morning. People don't live so long as Methuselah now-a-days; and they don't need to. It took Methuselah all his time, we dare say, to get through the world by the "slow coaches" of that period. The construction of this young rival at his side infused new life into the almost inanimate body of the old Portage. His was the inspiration of the old plow-horse that kicks up his heels with a few extra flourishes as the two-year old colt capers about him. During the legislative session of 1850, an act was passed authorizing a survey to be made for a new road that would avoid the inclined planes. This was no easy matter. "It required great skill, energy, and patience, to find two routes over these mountains without inclined planes. But after an immense amount of labor, and with many windings, both objects were accomplished. These roads cross each other a number of times, some places at the same elevation, and other places at an elevation differing as much as thirty feet."* *S.B. McCormick, Esq. <[94]> The work on the new road was begun in 1851, and pushed forward to its completion in 1855. It crossed the mountain through a tunnel some three thousand feet in length about half a mile south of the tunnel on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The cost of this new work was over one million dollars. By doing away with the stationery engines, a vast number of supernumerary employees, and so forth, it was calculated to reduce the annual expense to the Commonwealth nearly one hundred thousand dollars. It was at the same time put on something like a footing of competition with its upstart rival. It was somewhat longer than the Pennsylvania Railroad, but had the advantage of a lighter grade in ascending the mountain.* By an act of the legislature of 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was authorized to extend the Blairsville Branch railroad to the town of Indiana, in Indiana county. This railroad is about nineteen miles in length, counting from its junction with the main road, or about sixteen, reckoning from Blairsville. *The propriety of constructing a new road over the mountains was speculated upon at a very early period. In the session of 1836, the sum of two thousand dollars was appropriated by a resolution of the legislature to survey a route across the Alleghanies with a view to avoid the inclined planes on the Portage railroad. - See Pamphlet Laws, page 851. <[95]> It was completed in 1855. Its direction is nearly due north. It lies through a fertile and well cultivated region of country, where the advantages arising from its construction have been mutual. Perhaps no portion of railroad of equal length along the entire line has "paid better" than the Indiana Branch. Two trains run daily to and from Indiana, connecting with trains on the main road. In 1853, the North Western Railroad company was incorporated by act of Legislature. This road has one of its termini at Blairsville, the other was designed to be at Newcastle., At present (1865) it has been completed as far as Freeport. It is in running order to that point, and trains are making daily trips to and fro. This road was begun in 1854, and some considerable progress was made. But difficulties of some kind arose, and work upon the improvement was suspended. It so remained for a number of years, when, in 1863, it passed into the hands of the Pennsylvania, Railroad company. With their accustomed energy and promptness the work way recommenced, and since then has been pushed towards its completion. Its direction is westerly, and it crosses the Conemaugh a number of times in its course. It lies through a rich, productive <[96]> region, which it is calculated to develop to a surprising degree. In the year 1859, a company was incorporated to construct a railroad from Cresson, on the Pennsylvania Rd, to Ebensburg, the county sear of Cambria county. In 1861, it was leased, yet unfinished, by the Pennsylvania Railroad company for the short term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years! This ought to bring us round to about the time predicted when Miller's saints shall "blow up the globe." In the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad company the Ebensburg branch was speedily completed. Trains began running upon it in 1862. It passes through one of the most fertile districts of the "Mountain County," which it is greatly benefiting. For many years prior to 1857, the question of selling the Main Line of Public Works of the Pennsylvania had been mooted, both in the legislature and out of it. But as time passed on the question attracted more and more attention. Public sentiment was nearly evenly balanced on the subject, and strong parties ranged themselves on each side. Forthwith a war of words ensued. Those who favored the sale of the line insisted that it was a fountain-head of corruption <[97]> and fraud, and was used as an electioneering machine by whatever political party. Happened to hold the reins of power. It was charged that the management of the public improvements had been proverbially bad, and instead of being a source of revenue to the Commonwealth, they had only been a source of overwhelming expense. The acts of successive legislatures show that there were some grounds of reason for this charge. Leeches and vampires in large numbers were said to have fastened upon its enfeebled corpus, where they clung with all their native tenacity. It absorbed yearly appropriations of hundreds of thousands of dollars as easily and gratuitously as a sponge absorbs water. Indeed, the old main line way everywhere known as the "old State Robber." Hosts of supernumeraries were employed for no other reason apparently than because they had served the "party," and were entitled to a "feed" out of the public manger. Even the ass knoweth his master's crib. The other party, while admitting the mismanagement that had brought the public works into such disrepute, denied that this was owing to any defect in the system. They believed that by a proper administration of the <[98]> affairs of the line it would prove to be a source of profit to the Commonwealth. Vast sums of money had been expended in constructing it in the first place, and in making it keep pace with the march of improvement afterward it was now in a better condition to answer the expectations and wants of the public than ever. They contended against the policy of surrendering into the hands of a powerful corporation the only hope of competition - thus giving to that corporation an exclusive monopoly of a large and important branch of industry. Such was the material out of which the two parties fashioned their "thunder." During the session of 1857, however, a bill was passed by the legislature authorizing the sale of the main line. The same year it was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad company, as everybody foresaw it would be. The sum paid was $7,500,000. Some parts of the line were in running order for short periods of time after their sale; but now all that part lying in the Conemaugh valley has been destroyed and abandoned. Whatever advantage the sale of this line may have been to the state at large, it must be conceded that it was a direful stroke to the prosperity of this region. What were <[99]> flourishing towns and villages before, are now dilapidated and almost depopulated. Grass and thistles are now growing up in their streets, and they soon will have gone the way of Beulah and Newport. The bats now inhabit the palaces of the Caesars. Even those places which were not entirely blighted, were made to suffer. Business fell off, and real estate everywhere along the line depreciated in value. End Part 1