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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 76 THE HISTORY OF 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 of this region 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- --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 head-waters 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, 1825, 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 the bonds of the Union."* ----- * Hist. Six-Counties, p. 580. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 130.50 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 elevation of 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 eight was 3,116.92 feet in length, and had a depres- sion 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 HISTORY OF The inclination of some of the levels 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 the 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 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 now not used for any purpose whatever. A few miles --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 Penn- sylvania 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 a 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 THE HISTORY OF 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, where 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- --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 com- modious 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 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 morn- ----- * Ebensburg Sky, May 15, 1834. ** Pennsylvania Reporter, May 30, 1834. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 88 THE HISTORY OF ing 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 worthy 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 placed upon it, and at noon of the same day it was ----- * Blairsville Record, June 11, 1834 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 communion. 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 HISTORY OF 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 this 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 against 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONAMAUGH. 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 en- compass 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 going 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 he 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 feet 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 inspi- ration 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 HISTORY OF 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 stationary engines, a vast num- ber 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 difficul- ties 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 was 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 THE HISTORY OF 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 Railroad, to Ebensburg, the county seat 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 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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 was 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 mis-management 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 THE HISTORY OF 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, and 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 kept 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CONEMAUGH. 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.