USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 11
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had gone into the locality and made valuable improvements that interfered with the surveys of the donation lots, thus, of course, involving patentees of donation land and actual settlers in disputes and expensive law-suits. To pre- vent such undesirable and unfortunate results the act of 1805 was passed. The tickets were taken out of the wheels as directed by the law, and the un- drawn lots of the " Struck District" thereafter remained a part of the unappro- priated lands north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers and Cone- wango Creek open to sale and settlement.
In order to enable the land officers and the Board of Property to execute the duties enjoined upon them by the act of 1802, the Secretary of the Com- monwealth was directed to transfer all records relating to the donation lands to the surveyor-general's office, and by the same act the Board of Property was authorized to direct patents to be issued to the widow, heir, or heirs of any deceased officer or soldier on satisfactory proof of their right being made.
The act of March 24, 1785, seemed to require the beneficiaries under its provisions to participate in the drawing in person. To do so was no doubt a serious inconvenience to many, while others, who could not afford the expense of a journey to Philadelphia, would be entirely deprived of the benefits of the act. Be this as it may, it was soon discovered that many persons had not received their land, and in consequence of this condition of the distribution, the Legislature, by an act passed April 6, 1792, directed the land officers, on the 2d day of July following, to draw lots for every person entitled to donation land who had not received the same, agreeably to the list submitted by the comptroller to the Supreme Executive Council, the same as if the person thus entitled to land was present; and the patents were to be granted to such persons or their legal representatives as in other cases. It was also ascertained that there were other persons who had served in the Pennsylvania Line enti- tled to the donation, but whose names, from some unexplained cause, did not appear in the list prepared by the comptroller-general in 1786. To remedy this defect and enable these persons to receive their quota of land, the Legis- lature passed an important act relating to them on the 17th of April, 1795. This act directed the comptroller-general to prepare a complete list of such persons entitled to lands whose names were not included in the first list, together with their rank and the quantity of land each should receive. This list was to be transmitted to the surveyor-general, the receiver-general, and the secretary of the land-office, and it was made their duty then to employ a suitable person to prepare tickets and place them in wheels in the same manner as had been done for the first drawing. No greater number of tickets were to be placed in the wheel than would give to each his quantity of land. After these preparations were complete the claimants could attend the drawing in person to draw their lots, or authorize an agent to draw for them, and for such persons as did not attend in person, or by agent, the surveyor-general, receiver-general, and secretary of the land-office were authorized to draw.
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When the drawing was finished a report was to be made to the governor, who was directed to prepare and deliver the patents at the expense of the State. The legal representatives of deceased persons entitled to the benefits of the act were permitted to draw lots, or have lots drawn for them, the same as such deceased persons might have done if living. The time allowed for making application under the act was one year from its passage, with a proviso that persons " beyond sea, or out of the United States," shall have two years, and persons serving in the army of the United States at the time of its passage should have three years, of which the surveyor-general was to give notice for six weeks in one of the newspapers of Philadelphia, and in one in each county of the State in which newspapers were published. This was followed by an act passed April II, 1799, providing among other things for the authentica- tion of claims by the comptroller-general, register-general, and State treasurer, who were to inquire into their lawfulness, ascertain whether they remained unsatisfied, and in each case to transmit to the secretary of the land-office a certificate stating whether the claim should be allowed or rejected, the cer- tificate to be conclusive. After 1805, aside from a number of acts granting donations of land to certain individuals for special reasons, there was no further legislation in reference to these lands of any importance. A question of succession had arisen in the case of an officer who had been killed in the service. He was unmarried, and the land that fell to his share was claimed by a brother as heir-at-law. The Supreme Court decided the claim to be good. The Legislature then, on the IIth of March, 1809, passed an act that no patent was thereafter to issue for donation lands except to the widow or children of any deceased officer or soldier who died or was killed in service.
There had been extensions of the time for filing applications, year by year, until the final limitation as fixed in the previous year, expired on the Ist day of April, 1810. No further applications were received after that date, though patents for lots that had previously been drawn continued to be freely granted for some years longer. After the drawing had been closed, there still remained in the wheels a number of undrawn tickets, and by the act of March 26, 1813, the Legislature made provision for the sale and settlement of such of them as should remain undrawn on the Ist day of October following. It was provided that a person who had made an improvement and settlement, resided with his family on the lot three years previous to the passing of the act, and cleared, fenced, and cultivated at least ten acres of ground; or a person who should after the Ist day of October make an improvement and actual settlement by erecting a dwelling-house, reside with a family on the lot three years from the date of that settlement, and clear, fence, and cultivate at least ten acres of ground, could receive a patent for such donation lot, by paying into the State treasury at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents an acre with interest from three years after the settlement was made, and the usual office fees. The settlement first made and continued, or thereafter made and
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continued, gave an inception of title to the person making it. These terms are somewhat similar in character to those provided in act of April 3, 1792, for the sale of the unappropriated parts of the lands lying within the donation districts, except that the price fixed for such lands was only twenty cents an acre. This difference in price must be accounted for in the supposition that the lands surveyed for the soldiers were far superior in quality to the other unappropriated parts of the territory originally set apart for donation pur- poses. The price for the undrawn lots continued to be one dollar and fifty cents an acre until February 25, 1819, when it was reduced to fifty cents an acre. The rate of fifty cents was continued until March 31, 1845, at which time the terms were made in all respects the same as for other vacant lands in the same districts.
This concludes the sketch of the Donation Lands of Pennsylvania and the mode in which they were allotted and conveyed to the persons who came within the provisions of the grant ; and we trust it may prove of some interest to the readers of this report. The benefaction was a most worthy and patriotic one to a line of gallant soldiers who served their country well, and endured much in aiding to achieve liberty for the American colonies, from which has since grown our mighty and beneficent American republic. The Pennsyl- vania Line was an important factor in producing grand results, and rewards to such soldiers were well bestowed.
" Legally, there never was any such thing as the Holland Land Com- pany, or the Holland Company, as they were usually called.
" The company consisted of Wilhelm Willink and eleven associates, mer- chants and capitalists of the city of Amsterdam, who placed funds in the hands of friends who were citizens of America to purchase a million acres of land in Pennsylvania, which, being aliens, the Hollanders could not hold in their names at that time; and in pursuance of the trust created, there were purchased, both in New York and Pennsylvania, immense tracts of land, all managed by the same general agent at Philadelphia.
" The names of the several persons interested in these purchases, and who composed the Holland Land Company, so called, were as follows: Wil- helm Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, Pieter Van Eeghen, Hendrick Vollen- hoven, and Ruter Jan Schimmelpenninck. Two years later the five proprietors transferred a tract of about one million acres, so that the title vested in the original five, and also in Wilhelm Willink, Jr., Jan Willink, Jr., Jan Gabriel Van Staphorst, Roelif Van Staphorst, Jr., Cornelius Vollenhoven, and Hen- drick Seye."
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CHAPTER VI
PIONEER ANIMALS-BEAVERS, BUFFALOES, ELKS, PANTHERS, WOLVES, WILD- CATS, BEARS, AND OTHER ANIMALS-HABITS, ETC .- PENS AND TRAPS- BIRDS-WILD BEES
" Nature is a story-book
That God hath written for you."
THE mountainous character of this northwest and the dense forests that covered almost its whole area made the region a favorite haunt of wild beasts. Many of them have disappeared, and it is difficult to believe that animals now extinct on the continent at large were once numerous within the boun- daries of this territory.
The beaver, the buffalo, the elk, and the deer were probably the most numerous of the animals. "Beaver will not live near man, and at an early period after the settlement of this State these animals withdrew into the secluded regions and ultimately entirely disappeared." The last of them known in this State made their homes in the great " Flag Swamp," or Beaver Meadow, of Clearfield County, now about and above Du Bois City.
LITTLE CHANGE AMONG BEAVERS
Those who have made them a study assert that, with the exception of man, no other animal now upon the earth has undergone so little change in size and structure as the beaver. Fossil deposits show that in its present form it is at least contemporaneous with and probably antedates the mammoth and the other monsters that once roamed the great forests of the earth. The skeletons of beavers found in this country are the same as those of the same species found in the fossil beds of Europe. Man is the only other mammal of which this is true. How the beaver came to traverse the ocean has never been explained.
" Coarse-fibred, cautious in its habits, warmly protected by nature against climatic influences, simple and hearty in its diet, wise beyond all other forms of lower animal life, prolific and heedful of its young, the beaver has seen changes in the whole function of the world and the total disappearance of countless species of animal and vegetable life.
" The beaver mates but once, and then for a lifetime. There are no divorces, and, so far as has been observed, no matings of beavers who have
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lost their mates by death. Young beavers are given a place in the family lodge until they are two years old, and are then turned out to find mates and homes for themselves. The age of the beaver is from twelve to sixteen years.
" No other animal has excited so much interest by his home-making and home-guarding as this. 'Wisest of Wild Folk' is the English equivalent for his name in the tongue of the Ojibways.
" Originally a mere burrower in the earth, like his cousins the hedge-hog and the porcupine, he has so improved upon natural conditions that only man is able to reach him in his abiding-places. Indeed, he approaches man in the artificial surroundings that he has adopted for self-preservation.
" The principal engineering and structural works of the beaver are the dam, the canal, the meadow, the lodge, the burrow, and the slide. These are not always found together and some of them are rare."
THEY FORM AN INTERESTING STORY
" Beaver-dams have been found which have been kept in repair by beavers for centuries. It is not unusual to find them more than fifty feet long and so
Beaver
solid that they will support horses and wagons. Fallen trees that have been cut down by the sharp teeth of the beavers are sometimes the foundation. More often branches and a great heap of small stones make the beginning.
" The side toward the water is of mud and pebbles smoothly set by the use of the broad, paddle-like tail of the animal. Interlaced branches and poles make a substantial backing for the earth. A growth of underbrush caps the whole.
" The dam is built for two reasons-to afford a retreat where the home- loving beaver may rest safe from his enemies of the forest, particularly the wolverines, and to give a depth of water that will not freeze to the bottom. A total freeze would effectually lock him in his home and be the cause of death by starvation.
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" The dam, in a temperate climate, is usually about four feet deep. It curves up-stream when of great length. Upon the highest part of the sub- merged area the beaver builds his lodge. This is practically an island capped by a wigwam made of sticks and earth. The outer roof of hardened mud is repaired at the beginning of every winter, and the ceiling of scaling wood and dry earth is removed and taken out of the lodge every spring. Indeed, the beaver is the neatest of housekeepers, only the household nests of dry leaves and sap-bearing wood enough for each meal being allowed within his home.
" Two passages lead from the floor of the lodge into the water. One of these is wide and straight. Through it the members of the family bring the twigs and roots for their meals. The second passage is narrow and winding, and through it the beavers disappear at the first sign of danger.
" The burrows are made in the banks of the artificial lake created by the dam. The entrances to them are beneath the surface of the water. They slope upward with the bank, and, like the lodge, end in snug, dry homes above the water level. The celibate beavers live entirely in burrows; the families in both lodges and burrows.
" To guard against the flooding of their homes the beavers provide out- lets for the surplus water. Sometimes the upper part of the dam is purposely left thin and the water trickles through in a steady stream. Where the bank is thick and impervious an overflow gully is cut in its summit, and through this the surplus passes.
" Beaver meadows are made by the rotting and cutting away of timbers within the area of partial flooding. With the passing of the larger vegetation comes a smaller growth of water grasses, upon which the beavers thrive.
" The wonderful beaver canals are streams several feet in width leading from the artificial lake made by the dam into the forest. Upon these the wise little animals float heavy saplings and branches that they would otherwise be unable to transport to the face of the dam.
" The slides are skidways made by beavers down the sides of high, steep banks. Trees and stones are rolled down these for use in home-making.
" In carrying earth, stones, and sticks on land the beaver uses his fore- feet as we do our hands, holding what he carries tightly against his throat. In swimming the use of the front feet is unnecessary. He is enabled to hold a heavy branch in front of his breast and to swim swiftly with his tail and his powerful hind feet.
" Most affectionate and intelligent as a pet is the beaver when taken young. When annoyed it gives a querulous cry, like that of an infant. Its beautiful thick coat of reddish brown fur makes it the prey of the trapper.
" Beavers, when caught in traps by the forelegs, almost invariably wrench themselves free, leaving the member in the trap. Many of the pelts brought into the market have one leg and occasionally two legs missing.
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" Although their sense of sight is deficient, those of scent and hearing are abnormally developed. The work of construction and repair upon the dams is always done at night, the workers occasionally stopping to listen for sus- picious sounds. The one who hears anything to excite his alarm dives in- stantly, and as he disappears gives warning to his comrades by striking his broad, flat tail upon the surface of the water. The sound rivals a pistol-shot in its alarming loudness."-Philadelphia North American.
" The beaver is really a sort of portable pulp-mill, grinding up most any kind of wood that comes in his way. I once measured a white birch-tree, twenty-two inches through, cut down by a beaver. A single beaver generally, if not always, fells the tree, and when it comes down the whole family fall to and have a regular frolic with the bark and branches. A big beaver will bring down a fair-sized sapling, say three inches through, in about two minutes, and a large tree in about an hour.
" One of the queerest facts about the beaver is the rapidity with which his long, chisel-like teeth will recover from an injury."
William Dixon killed a beaver in 1840, near what is now called Sabula, or Summit Tunnel, Clearfield County. This was perhaps the last one killed in the State.
A beaver was reported killed in 1884 on Pine Creek, in Clinton County. It was said to have been chased there from Potter County.
Beavers have four young at a litter, and they are born with eyes open.
THE AMERICAN BISON, OR BUFFALO
Centuries ago herds of wild buffaloes fed in our valleys and on our hills. Yes, more, the " buffalo, or American bison, roamed in great droves over the meadows and uplands from the Susquehanna to Lake Erie," but none north of Lake Erie.
The peculiar distinction of our buffalo was a hump over his shoulders. His eye was black, his horns black and thick near the head, tapering rapidly to a point. His face looked ferocious, yet he was not so dangerous as an elk or deer. The sexual season of the bison was from July to September; after this month the cows ranged in herds by themselves, calved in April, and the calves followed the mother from one to three years. The males fought terrible battles among themselves. The Atlantic seaboards were exceptionally free from them. The flesh of the cow was delicious food, and the hump especially was considered a great delicacy. At what time they were driven from north- ern Pennsylvania is not known, but two or three hundred years ago the north- west was alive with them.
" Twenty-five or thirty years ago these animals, whose flesh was an im- portant and much prized article of food, the tail especially, and whose pelts were in great demand for robes, buffalo overshoes, and garments to protect both the civilized and uncivilized races from the piercing winter's blasts, were
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found on our western prairies in countless thousands. To-day, owing to the cruel, wasteful, and greedy skin and meat hunters, there are not, it is asserted, any buffaloes in a wild state in the United States. According to a recent published report, between the years 1860 and 1882 more than fifteen million buffaloes were killed within the limits of the United States." Buffaloes and elks used the same trails and feeding-grounds.
The American elk was widely distributed in this section in 1794. The habitat of this noble game was the forest extending across the northern part of the State. These animals were quite numerous in the thirties.
" When I started, in 1826, to amuse and profit myself by following the chase in Northern Pennsylvania," said Colonel Parker, of Gardeau, Mckean County, Pennsylvania, " elks were running in those woods in herds. I have
Buffalo
killed elks a plenty in the Rocky Mountain country and other regions since, but I never ran across any that were as big as those old-time Pennsylvania elks. I have killed elks on the Sinnemahoning and Pine Creek waters, and down on the Clarion River and West Branch, that were as big as horses. A one-thousand-pound elk was nothing uncommon in that country, and I killed one once that weighed twelve hundred pounds. These were bucks. The does would weigh anywhere from six hundred to eight hundred pounds.
" These elks had very short and thick necks, with a short and upright mane. Their ears were of enormous size, so large, in fact, that once Sterling Devins, a good hunter, too, saw a doe elk in the woods on Pine Hill, near Ole
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Bull's castle, in the times when elks had begun to grow scarce, and passed without shooting at it, thinking it was a mule. When the elk bounded away, though, and disappeared among the thick timber, Sterling knew what it was, and felt like kicking himself harder than the elk could have kicked him, even if it had been a mule.
" The Pennsylvania elk's eyes were small, but sparkled like jewels. I have often seen a score or more pairs of these bright eyes shining in the dark recesses of the pine-forest, when the shadows might have otherwise obscured the presence there of the owners of those telltale orbs. An infuriated buck elk's eye was about as fearful a thing to look at as anything well imaginable, but so quickly changeable was the nature of these huge beasts that two hours after having captured with ropes one that had, from the vantage ground of his rock, gored and trampled the life out of a half-dozen of dogs, and well-nigh overcome the attacking hunters, it submitted to being harnessed to an improvised sled and unresistingly hauled a load of venison upon it six miles through the woods to my cabin, and took its place among the cattle with as docile an air as if it had been born and brought up among them.
" This same elk that Sterling Devins had mistaken for a mule, he and Ezra Prichard followed all the next day, but lost its trail. Some Pine Creek hunters got on its trail, drove it to its rock, and roped it. When Devins and Prichard got back at night they found the Pine Creek hunters there and the elk in the barn eating hay and entirely at home. That elk had quite an inter- esting subsequent history. Ezra Prichard had, previous to the capture of this one, secured a pair of elks, broke them, and for a long time drove them in farm work like a yoke of oxen. Sterling Devins was eager for a yoke of elk, and he offered the Pine Creek hunters one hundred dollars for the one they had captured. They refused the offer, but afterwards got into a dispute about its ownership, and it was sold to Bill Stowell and John Sloanmaker, of Jersey Shore. These men took the elk about the country, exhibiting it, and made quite a sum of money. Next fall, although the elk was a doe, it became very ugly and attacked its keeper, nearly killing him before he could get away. No one could go near her, and her owners ordered her shot. The carcass was bought by a man who had a fine pair of elk horns. He was a skilful taxider- mist, and he managed to fasten the horns to the head of the doe elk in such a manner that no one was ever able to tell that they hadn't grown there. This made of the head an apparently magnificent head of a buck elk, and it was purchased for one hundred dollars, under that belief, by a future governor of Pennsylvania."
LAST ELK IN THE PINE CREEK REGION
" That doe elk was one of the last family of elks in the Pine Creek country. She and the buck and a fawn had been discovered some time before Sterling Devins ran across the doe, by Leroy Lyman, on Tomer's run, near the Ole Bull settlement. Lyman got a shot at the buck, but the whole three escaped.
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The same party of hunters that captured the doe killed the buck afterwards in the woods on Kettle Creek. The fawn the dogs ran into Stowell's mill- pond, and there it was killed.
" Another peculiarity of the elks that used to frequent the Pennsylvania woods was the great size of their nostrils, and the keenness of their scent was something beyond belief. A set of elk antlers of five feet spread, and weighing from forty to fifty pounds, was not an infrequent trophy. George Rae, who was one of the great hunters of Northern Pennsylvania in his day,-and he is one of the greatest in the Rocky Mountains even to this day, in spite of his eighty-five years,-lived along the Allegheny at Portville. He had in his house, and in his barn, the walls almost covered with the antlers of elks he had killed, on the peak of his roof, at one end, being one that measured nearly six feet between the extremities. When George moved West forty years ago he left the horns on the buildings, and only a few years ago many of them were still there, as reminders of what game once roamed our woods.
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