USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 19
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"TO HIS EXCELLENCY THOMAS MCKEAN, ESQUIRE, Governor of the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania:
" Agreeably to your Instructions received through the Secretary of the Commonwealth, I proceeded to review that part of the road leading from
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Milesburg to Le Bœuff, opened by Major Roger Alden, and beg leave to submit the following report :
" Beginning at the west end of Col. Samuel Miles' opening,
" 2 miles, a hill with some digging; the road good.
" 11/2 miles to the crossing of the north branch of Sandy Lick creek. The road good.
"9 m farther. The road good.
"4 m of rough road. There is in this distance four streams of water crossing it, with bad hills on each side of each of them. They are generally all dug that carriages may pass.
"4 m farther to Toby's creek [Clarion River] : some digging done on the descent of the hill going down to the creek-the road tolerably good.
"2 m farther to the hill descending to Little Toby creek [Venango County]. The road good. When I reported before, this descent to the creek was impassable with waggons; since that time the road has been changed, and laid on better ground, and the road dug. The road good. West of the creek the road is somewhat difficult for carriages.
" 4 m. The road passable for carriages.
" I m. A hill descending to Licking creek, bad, as is also the hill on the west side of the creek. There is some digging done here. These hills comprehend a distance exceeding a mile.
"10 m. Road good, lying on chestnut ridges. In this distance there is little difference in the road.
" 4 m to the Allegheny river, lying over pine ridges, some of them steep. The hill to the river near a mile long. Since my last report some bridging and digging has been done. Passable for carriages.
"6 m from the crossing of the Allegheny river to Pithole creek. The road crosses several ridges, one of which is dug.
" 2 m of good road.
"2 m of very swampy ground, principally bridged and causewayed. Passable with carriages.
" 3 m to the crossing of the south-east branch of Oil creek. There are several bridges made in this distance. There is a good one across the creek. The road good.
" 7 m to the crossing of the N. W. branch Oil creek. There are several bridges made in this distance. Since my last report the fording of the creek is changed for the better.
" I m. West of the creek for near a mile the road is altered, making the ascent of the hills that I noticed easier. They are still difficult for car- riages.
" 7 m to where this road intersects the public road from Pittsburg to Le Bœuff by the way of Franklin. In this distance the road in general is good. A number of bridges are made on it.
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"3 m to the crossing of Muddy creek-several bridges made. The road something wet.
" 12 m to the crossing of French creek-a number of bridges made.
" 3 m to Le Bœuff-a number of bridges made, and the road good. From the intersection of the Franklin road to Le Bœuff the soil is generally wet.
" I would generally observe that a considerable quantity of timber is fallen across the road, and the sprouts in such quantities grown up in many places, since the road was opened, as to render travelling difficult. There has not been any cutting done since I reported, unless where the road is changed in the two places before mentioned.
" I am Sir, " Your Excellency's very humble servant, " JOHN FLEMING."
An act making appropriation for certain improvements on this road in Erie, Crawford, Venango, Jefferson, and Armstrong Counties was passed in 1811, and appropriating two thousand four hundred dollars therefor.
In 1749 the governor-general of Canada sent an expedition under Celeron de Bienville down what is now known as the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, to take possession of the country in the name of the king of France. The command embraced two hundred and fifteen French and Canadian soldiers and fifty-five Indians. Father Bonnecamp, a chaplain of this expedition, drew a map of the route, locating the tribes of Indians, and giving the Indian names of the tributaries of these rivers and also the names of the Indian vil- lages. This manuscript map was deposited and is still in the archives of the Department de la Farine in Paris, and is styled " Map of a Voyage made on the Beautiful River in New Flanders, 1749, by Rev. Father Bonnecamp, Jesuit Mathematician." The map is very correct, considering all the circum- stances. It has been reproduced on a smaller scale by George Dallas Albert and published in " The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," in vol. ii., with an explanation of the map, French names, and their corresponding American designations. In this map I find Rivière au Vermillon emptying into the Allegheny River, corresponding to the exact location of what is now called Red Bank Creek, and unfortunately translated by Mr. Albert as Mahoning Creek. On the Allegheny River going downward I find Rivière aux Bœuf. Beef, or Buffalo River, now called French Creek; then Rivière au Fiel,- Gall River or Clarion River; third, Riviere au Vermillon or Red Bank Creek; fourth, a stream not named, which must have been Mahoning; and then Attique, a village, or what is now Kittanning. Mr. Albert should have named the undesignated stream Mahoning and the Vermilion River Red Bank.
In 1798 this stream was designated by legal statute as Sandy Lick or Red Bank Creek, but later by common acceptance the name Sandy Lick was
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applied to that portion above where the North Fork unites, and Red Bank from Brookville to the mouth.
"The first lot of lumber which Barnett and Scott sent down the Red Bank was a small platform of timber, with poles instead of oars as the pro- pelling power. There was a flood in this stream in 1806 which reached eight or ten feet up the trees on the flats.
" One thousand dollars was appropriated by the act of Assembly ' making appropriations for certain internal improvements,' approved March 24, 1817, for the purpose of improving this creek, and Levi Gibson and Samuel C. Orr were appointed commissioners to superintend the application of the money. By the act of April 4. 1826, ' Sandy Lick, or Red Bank Creek,' was declared
Driving logs
a public highway only for the passage of boats, rafts, etc., descending it. That act also made it lawful for all persons owning lands adjoining this stream to erect mill-dams across it, and other water-works along it, to keep them in good repair, and draw off enough water to operate them on their own land. but required them 'to make a slope from the top, descending fifteen feet for every foot the dam is high, and not less than forty feet in breadth,' so as to afford a good navigation, and not to infringe the rights and privileges of any owner of private property.
" The first flat-boat that descended this stream was piloted by Samuel Knapp, in full Indian costume. In 1832 or 1833 two boats loaded with sawed
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lumber owned by Uriah Matson, which found a good market in Cincinnati, with the proceeds of which Matson purchased the goods with which he opened his store at Brookville."-History of Armstrong County.
An act declaring the rivers Ohio and Allegheny, and certain branches thereof, public highways,-
" SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passing of this act, the river Ohio, from the western boundary of the State up to the mouth of the Monongahela, Big Beaver Creek, from the mouth of the first fork in the seventh district of donation land, Allegheny River, from the mouth to the northern boundary of the State, French Creek to the town of Le Bœuf, and Conewango Creek, from the mouth thereof to the State line, Cussawago Creek, from the mouth of the main forks, Little Coniate Creek, from the mouth up to the inlet of the little Coniate Lake, Toby's Creek, from the mouth up to the second fork (now Clarion River, and Johnsonburg was the second fork), Oil Creek, from the mouth up to the main fork, Broken Straw Creek, from the mouth up to the second fork, Sandy Lick, or Red Bank Creek, from the mouth up to the second great fork, be, and the same are hereby declared to be public streams and highways for the passage of boats and rafts ; and it shall and may be lawful for the inhabitants or others de- sirous of using the navigation of the said river and branches thereof to remove all natural obstructions in the said river and branches aforesaid."
Passed March 21, 1798. Recorded in Law Book No. VI., page 245.
The first fork was at Brookville's site, the second great fork was at Port Barnett.
An act, No. 189, declaring Little Toby's Creek, Black Lick Creek, Little Oil Creek, and Clark's Creek public highways,-
" SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of this act Little Toby's Creek, in the counties of Clearfield and Jefferson, from the mouth of John Shaffer's mill run, on the main branch of Toby's Creek, and from the forks of Brandy Camp (or Kersey Creek) to the Clarion River,
be, and the same are hereby declared public highways for the passage of rafts, boats, and other craft, and it shall and may be lawful for, etc. (The same provisions follow here as in No. 129.)
" Approved-the fourteenth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight hun- dred and twenty-eight.
" J. ANDW. SHULTZ, " Governor."
I3
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CHAPTER IX
PROVISION FOR OPENING A ROAD-REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO THE GOVERNOR-STREAMS, ETC.
"AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR OPENING A ROAD FROM NEAR THE BALD EAGLE'S NEST, IN MIFFLIN COUNTY, TO LE BOEUF, IN THE COUNTY OF ALLE- GHENY
" WHEREAS, A road has, under the direction of the Legislature, been in part laid out from Reading and Presque Isle [a peninsula ], AND WHEREAS, It is considered that opening and improving said road would be greatly con- ducive to the interests of the community by opening a communication with the northwest part of the State, and would much facilitate an intercourse with Lake Erie ;
"SECTION I. Therefore be it enacted, etc., That the governor be empow- ered to contract for the opening and improving of the road between the Bald Eagle's Nest and the Allegheny River to Le Bœuf.
" SECTION 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That when it shall appear to the persons who may contract for the opening of said road that deviations from such parts of the road as laid out are essentially necessary, he or they shall be authorized to make such deviations, provided that such deviations do not depart materially from the survey already made.
"SECTION 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in order to carry this into effect the governor is empowered to draw his warrant on the State Treasurer for five thousand dollars, to be paid out of the sale of reserved lands and lots in the towns of Erie, Franklin, Warren, and Waterford."
Passed April 10, 1799. Recorded in Law Book No. VI., p. 443.
The Bald Eagle's Nest referred to above was Milesburg. The nest was not that of a bird, but that of an Indian warrior of that name, who built his wigwam there between two large white oaks. The western terminus of the road, then called Le Bœuf, is now known as Waterford, Erie County, Penn- sylvania. On the completion of the turnpike most of this road was abandoned in this county. It is still in use from Brookville, about seven or eight miles of it, to the Olean road north of Corsica. It passed through where Brook- ville now is, near or on what is now Coal Alley. It was a great thoroughfare for the pioneers going to the West and Northwest.
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS WHO MADE THE SURVEY OF THE ROAD TO THE GOVERNOR
" WHEREAS, In and by an Act of the General Assembly entitled 'An Act for laying out and opening sundry Roads within this Commonwealth and for other purposes,' it is among other things provided and declared, that your Excellency shall be empowered and required to appoint three persons as Commissioners, ' to view the ground and estimate the expense of opening and making a good Waggon Road from the Bald Eagle's Nest, or the end of Nittany Mountain, to the Town of Erie at Presque-isle, and to cause the said
Conestoga wagon
Road to be Surveyed and staked out, by the most practicable Route, and also cause a draft of the survey to be made out in Profile, and to report to the Legislature the several parts of the expense that will be incurred in each County through which the said Road will pass: Provided, That the Com- missioners thus appointed shall not stake out any part of the said Road when it may be carried on Roads heretofore laid out and opened, agreeably to the Provisions of former laws of this State.'
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
" AND WHEREAS, In pursuance of the power and authority given and granted in and by the said recited Act of Assembly, William Irvine, Andrew Ellicott, and George Wilson, Esquires, were by Letters Patent under your Excellency's hand, and the great Seal of the State, bearing date the thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety- six. appointed Commissioners for the purposes aforesaid; but the said Andrew Ellicott, Esq., hath since resigned the said appointment, and his resignation hath been duly accepted.
"AND WHEREAS, In pursuance of the power and authority given and granted in and by the said recited Act of Assembly, Joseph Ellicott was, by Letters Patent, under your Excellency's Hand and the great Seal of the State, bearing date the nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand seven hundred and ninety-six, appointed a Commissioner in the lieu and stead of the said Andrew Ellicott, Esq., who had resigned as aforesaid, and in conjunction with the said William Irvine and George Wilson, Esquires, the two other Commissioners for the purpose of viewing and laying out the said Road in manner as stated in and by the above recited Act of Assembly.
" Now THEREFORE, The said George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott, two of the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid for the purposes aforesaid, beg leave to report :
"I. That the said William Irvine, George Wilson, and Joseph Ellicott, the Commissioners appointed as aforesaid, in conformity to your Excel- lency's Instructions in pursuance of the above recited Act of Assembly, with all convenient dispatch, in the execution of the trust reposed in them, pro- ceeded to examine the situation of the Country at the Bald Eagle's Nest and to the end of Nittany Mountain, and having viewed the respective scites, they unanimously agreed to take their departure from the Bald Eagle's Nest. As soon as this decision took place the said William Irvine left the other Commissioners and returned home.
" II. That the said George Wilson and Joseph Ellicott then proceeded to view, survey, and stake out by a route, in their opinion, deemed the most practicable, a Road from the Bald Eagle's Nest toward the town of Erie at Presque-isle, and that they have ascertained the various courses and dis- tances, the topographical situation, &c., of the said Road for the length of one hundred and sixteen miles, as represented in and by the Draft in profile hereunto annexed.
"III. That in consequence of the failure of Horses, the scarcity of Provisions, the advanced season of the year, and various other obstacles which retarded the prosecution of the business, they were compelled to relin- quish the object of their mission, and have left above thirty-six miles of the Road unfinished.
" IV. That they have used their utmost diligence and attention to direct the course of the said Road over firm and level ground; but that frequently
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
became totally impracticable, and where the ascent and descent of hills and mountains became unavoidable they made use of an altitude level, and have so adjusted its course that in its greatest elevation or depression it never exceeds an angle of six degrees with the horizon: Hence it may easily be inferred that considerable deviations from a straight line have necessarily occurred.
" V. That the land in that part of Mifflin County through which the Road passes is generally of an indifferent quality. For a part of this dis- tance the Road passes over the declivities of the Allegheny Mountain and the Mushanon Hills. The country, however, for several miles between the sum- mit of the Allegheny Mountain and the Mushanon hills, and also that part of Huntingdon County which the Road intersects, is generally level and free from stones, well timbered with Hickory, White and Black Oak, Dogwood, Ash, Chestnut, Poplar, White Pine, &c., and upon the whole well calculated for settlements. The soil of that part of Lycoming County which is inter- sected by the Road is generally of a luxuriant quality, abounding in many places with Stone coal, well timbered with various species of wood, and adapted to the production of all kinds of grain, &c., peculiar to the climate.
" VI. Your Commissioners with pleasure remark that from the Susque- hanna River at Anderson's Creek to the first navigable stream of Sandy Lick Creek (a branch of Allegheny River) the portage along the said road is but twenty-two Miles. The road crosses Sandy Lick Creek about fifty miles from its junction with the Allegheny River, and from the Susquehanna to the North-Western branch of Sandy Lick Creek [Brookville] the portage is thirty-three miles. The North-Western branch discharges its waters into Sandy Lick Creek, about sixty perches below the place where it is intersected by the Road at the junction of the North-Western branch. The Sandy Lick Creek is as large as the Susquehanna River at Anderson's Creek, and the dis- tance of the said Creek from the Allegheny River is about thirty-five miles. The Portage from the Susquehanna at Anderson's to Toby's Creek is forty- nine miles. Toby's Creek is twenty-two perches wide, and its distance from the intersection of the Road to the Allegheny River is about forty miles. It is navigable for boats, rafts, &c., from the intersection of the Road to the Alle- gheny River and about fifty or sixty miles above the place of intersection. The portage from the Susquehanna to the Allegheny River at Sussunadohtaw is seventy-two miles, and for the greater part of the distance of these portages the Road passes through a rich and fertile country.
" VII. That your Commissioners have formed their estimate of expenses upon the supposition that the said Road, as far as it has been surveyed, will be opened thirty feet in width; sixteen feet in the middle to be cut and cleared as nearly level with the surface of the earth as practicable, but where digging and levelling on the sides of Hills and Mountains shall become necessary that a passage will be dug twelve feet wide, and that Bridges and
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
causeways will be erected and formed over all miry places to enable Waggons to pass.
" A general estimate of expenditures requisite in opening, clearing, dig- ging, levelling, erecting Bridges and forming causeways over the said Road.
" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Mifflin, com- mencing at the Bald Eagle's Nest and ending at the Big Mushanon Creek, nineteen miles & sixteen perches.
" For opening, cleaning, digging, levelling, forming cause- ) ways on the said Road and erecting a Bridge over the Little Mushanon in the said County.
Dolls. 3316.74.
" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Huntingdon, commencing at the Big Mushanon Creek and ending at the West branch of the Susquehanna River, twenty-one miles one hundred and fifty-seven perches.
" For opening, clearing, digging, levelling, forming cause-
ways on the said Road and erecting a Bridge over Alder Run in 2643.37. said County.
" The expenses in opening the Road through the County of Ly- coming commencing at the West branch of Susquehanna and ending at the Allegheny River, seventy-two miles & 193 perches.
" For opening, clearing, digging, levelling, and forming Causeways on the said Road.
7215.20.
" VIII. That the said Road in its whole length passes through one entire and uninterrupted Wilderness, and the expenses already incurred in the execution of the business have considerably exceeded the legal appropria- tion intended for its completion.
" GEO. WILSON. JOSEPH ELLICOTT."
CHAPTER X
PIONEER SETTLEMENT OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA-PIONEER PENNSYLVANIA INDIAN TRADERS-THE PIONEER ROAD BY WAY OF THE SOUTH BRANCH OF THE POTOMAC AND THE VALLEY OF THE KISKIMINITAS-THE PIONEER ROAD FROM EAST TO WEST, FROM RAYSTOWN (NOW BEDFORD) TO FORT DUQUESNE (NOW PITTSBURG), A MILITARY NECESSITY-GENERAL JOHN FORBES OPENS IT IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1758-COLONEL GEORGE WASHINGTON OPPOSED TO THE NEW ROAD AND IN FAVOR OF THE POTOMAC ROAD-DEATH OF GENERAL JOHN FORBES-PIONEER MAIL-COACHES, MAIL- ROUTES, AND POST-OFFICES
" WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA was untrodden by the foot of the white man before the year 1700. As early as 1715 and 1720 occasionally a trader would venture west of the Allegheny Mountain, and of these the first was James Le Tort, who resided in 1700 east of the Susquehanna, but took up his resi- dence west of it, at Le Tort Spring, Carlisle, in 1720. Peter Chever, John Evans, Henry DeVoy, Owen Nicholson, Alexander Magenty, Patrick Burns, George Hutchison, all of Cumberland County; Barnaby Currin, John Mc- Guire, a Mr. Frazier, the latter of whom had at an early day a trading-house at Venango, but afterwards at the Monongahela, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, were all traders among the Indians. But no attempt had been made by the whites at settlements in the region now occupied by the several coun- ties west of the Alleghenies before 1748, when the Ohio Company was formed. This company sent out the undaunted Christopher Gist, in 1750, to explore the country and make report. He, it is said, explored the country ' from the South Branch of the Potomac northward to the heads of the Juniata River, crossed the mountains, and reached the Allegheny by the valley of Kiskiminitas. He crossed the Allegheny about four miles above the forks, where Pittsburg now stands, thence went down the Ohio to some point below Beaver River, and thence over to the Muskingum valley.' The first actual settlement made was within the present limits of Fayette County, in 1752, by Mr. Gist himself, on a tract of land, now well known there as Mount Braddock, west of the Youghiogheny River. Mr. Gist induced eleven families to settle around him on lands presumed to be within the Ohio Company's grant.
" The more southern part of Western Pennsylvania (Greene, Washing- ton, Fayette, and part of Somerset), which was supposed to be within the
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HISTORY OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
boundaries of Virginia, was visited by adventurers from Maryland prior to 1754. Among these were Wendel Brown and his two sons and Frederick Waltzer, who lived four miles west of Uniontown. David Tygart had settled in the valley which still bears his name in Northwestern Virginia; several other families came here a few years afterwards. These were the only set- tlements attempted prior to Braddock's defeat, and those made immediately afterwards, or prior to 1760, were repeatedly molested, families murdered, cabins burnt, and, for a time, broken up, alternately abandoned and again occupied.
" The treaty of 1762 brought quiet and repose to some extent to the English colonies, and the first settlers on the frontiers returned to their abandoned farms, but they were soon again obliged to leave their homes and retire for safety to the more densely settled parts. Bouquet prosecuted his campaign with success against the Indians, and in November, 1764, compelled the turbulent and restless Kyashuta to sue for peace and bury the hatchet on the plains of Muskingum, and finally humbled the Delawares and Shawnees. Soon after, the refugee settlers returned to their cabins and clearings, resumed their labors, extended their improvements, and cultivated their lands. From this time forth the prosperity of Pennsylvania increased rapidly, and the tide of immigration with consequent settlements rolled westward, though the pioneer settlers were afterwards greatly exposed.
"Previous to 1758, Westmoreland was a wilderness trodden by the wild beast, the savage, and, like other portions of Western Pennsylvania, by an occasional white trader or frontiersman. No settlements were attempted prior to this date, when Fort Duquesne, afterwards Fort Pitt, was abandoned by the French, became an English military post, and formed a nucleus for an English settlement, and two years afterwards (1760) a small town was built near Fort Pitt, which contained nearly two hundred souls, but on the breaking out of the Indian war, in 1763, the inhabitants retired into the fort, and their dwellings were suffered to fall into decay. In 1765, Pittsburg was laid out."-History of Western Pennsylvania.
This southern exploration was through what is now Somerset, Fayette, Westmoreland, and Allegheny Counties. In 1754 Lieutenant-Colonel George Washington, then twenty-one years old, penetrated this wilderness and im- proved this road. In 1755 General Braddock, accompanied by Washington, marched his army over this road. Hence the road has always been called Braddock's road.
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