HISTORY: “Valley of the Conemaugh” by Thomas J. Chapman, 1865 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Diann Olsen , September, 2008 Copyright 2008 All rights reserved. http://http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ _______________________________________________ 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. ================= Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by THOMAS J. CHAPMAN, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court, for the Western District of Pennsylvania. To my younger Brother, REV. ALVA RILEY CHAPMAN, This little Volume Is Respectfully Inscribed, As a Mark of Esteem and Affection. ERRATUM.—Page 147, eleventh line from top read “three or four hwndred,” instead of “three or four thousand.” 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 book, 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 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 thought worthy 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 8 CHAPTER IX. Other Enterprises. 162. CHAPTER X. Biographical. 175. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 waters 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 has 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 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 from plunging, like an avalanche, into the valleys below. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 in the fall of the year, when the surrounding hill-sides are clothed in 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 more 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 across it, as the Irishman could jump across on 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 importance, 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 fed --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 THE HISTORY OF 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." --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 a generous sprinkling of the sable sons and daughters of Ham. Some of the townships of Cambria and Somerset 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 his arduous journey to Fort Le Boeuf, 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 he Conemaugh at Johnstown, in Cambria county. It is about forty miles in length, and receives in its course the waters of the Quemahoning, Shade, Roaring, and Paint Creeks. -- This stream 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 17 these staples are every week brought to Johnstown in wagons from this county, to be shippedby 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 HISTORY OF 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 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 the 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 bad 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 a 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.