USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 59
USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 59
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time by fifteen hundred feet of coal measures, repre- sented by the same series of strata which are now contained in the Panther Creek coal basin at Tama- gna. What the heights of these summits were above the ocean immediately after the Appalachian uplift, and before the highest and most recently deposited rocks had been perceptibly eroded, we cannot conjec- ture, for it is impossible to determine the vertical ex- tent of the elevation and depression of the earth's crust which took place during the time that this sur- face was being rapidly cut down by the principal eroding agents, which may be classed under the heads of aqueous, aerial, and vegetable. Flowing water, with sand and sediment held in suspension, is one of the most powerful sources of erosion ; this, no doubt, has been the principal agent in cutting down the val- leys. Analogous to this is the action of moving ice, though much more limited in its operation. The force of the wind, especially when charged with sand and water, is a potent agent, while the growth of roots in minute crevices of the rocks will oftentimes wedge off from the main mass a block of considerable size, and thus aid in erosion. In this way the mountains have been eroded, the valleys have been cut out and afterwards in many cases buried. Mud, sand, and pebbles, which have resulted from this erosion, have been carried by the rivers to the ocean, there to form new land along the sea-coast by the deposition of the sediment. The study of the present rock onterops gives the geologist sufficient data to suppose that the mountain summits were a number of thousands of feet above the ocean-level at no very remote' period
1 That is, several millions of years. From a careful measurement of the Mississippi by Gens. Humphrey and Abbott, U.S.A, they have
.
1525)
656
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
in the earth's history, nor is it difficult for an intelli- Mountain. The allusion to Mauch Chunk in the story of the flight of the Indians with their captives gent observer, untutored in the science of geology, to understand that great changes must have taken place, ' is as follows : . . . "Not much farther was a large when he stands at Manch Chunk and realizes the fact that the Pocono (No. X.) and Catskill (No. IX.) 1 strata, which now stand in a vertical position, were onee horizontal.
Quaternary Period .- During the last of the past geological periods, known as the Quaternary, which enlminated in the existence of man, the northern part of the North American continent was covered by an immense glacier. This ice-sheet, in its southern movement toward the region of higher temperatures, carried with it rock material planed off from the sur- face over which it passed. This material was ulti- mately dumped along the southern edge of the glacier, forming what is known as a terminal moraine. Pro- fessor H. C. Lewis has traced this moraine across Pennsylvania. It enters the northeastern part of Carbon County, crosses through the centre of Kidder township, and enters the valley of the Lehigh about ten miles above Mauch Chunk, crossing the river near Hickory Run, from whence it follows a general northwestward course to the State line, near the northeastern corner of Mckean County. It enters the State again in northeastern Warren County, and continues southeast, crossing the Ohio State line near the northwestern corner of Beaver County.
CHAPTER XI.
BOROUGH OF MAUCH CHUNK. (INCLUDING BOROUGH OF EAST MARCH CHUNK.)
Description of the Locality .- The town of Mauch Chunk takes its name (the pronunciation of which is settled by common usage as Mank Chunk) from the enriously-shaped hill on the opposite side of the Le- high, called by the Indians " Machk Tschunk," which means Bear Mountain, or the Mountain of Bears. From the earliest known mention of the locality (which oceurs in an account of the captivity of the Gilbert family, taken prisoners by the Indians on Mahoning Creek in 1780 and published a few years after1) it appears that the peculiar Indian name was applied then, as now, to the massive height on the west side of the river, called also at present South
concluded that at the present rate of erosion one foot of surface has been carried from this river basin in four thousand six hundred and forty years. Professor Leconte estimates that six thousand feet in the aggre- gate have been eroded from this basin, and infers that it has been on- dergoing process of erosion for thirty million years. The English bei- entista place the duration of geological time from sixty million years ( Dr. Croll) to two hundred million years ( Dr. Hunghton). Professor Tait, reasoning on physical and astronomical grounds, concludes that the limit of line which can be permitted the geologist is ten million years.
1 It was republished in Hazard's Register of May 16, 1829, and ap- pears in Chapter I. of the History of Carbon County in this volume.
hill called Mochunk, which they fixed upon for a place of rendezvons. . . . Near the foot of the hill flows a stream of water called Moehunk Creek, which was crossed, and the second mountain (now Mount Pisgah ) passed, the steep and difficult ascent of which appeared very great to the much-enfeebled and af- frighted captives. They were permitted to rest them- 1 selves for some minutes, and then pressed onward to the broad mountain, at the foot of which runs Nesca- connah erecek." Now the name in its translated form i is applied to the hill opposite the town, and in the original Indian language to the peenliarly bold and precipitous South Mountain. To the eye of the trav- cler who approaches this unique town from the south, this mountain is the first striking object in the rugged and wild landscape which forms its environment. Following the great sweep of the rushing Lehigh River, it rises as a mighty verdure-clad wall from its very brink, and makes more dark the deep and tor- tnons gorge through which the river seeks the south, and finally flowing through the Lehigh Gap, emerges from its mountain-pent channel into the broader and sunnier valley, bordered by smaller and more gently sloping hills. The sweeping curve of the steep South - Mountain forms the segment of a vast amphitheatre, : from which the Titans might have watched gladia- torial giants in their fierce combats upon the lesser hill half encireled by the river. The wall rises to a sheer height of more than nine hundred feet, and is rendered more wild and picturesque by the outerop- pings among its pines and hemlocks of rugged ledges and strange seams of rock, shattered and torn by the conflict of the elements or great convulsions of nature in ages past, and their mighty fragments strewn upon the steep declivity. The great white Mansion House, loftily overtowered by the dark mass of this mountain, appears at first glance like a toy dwelling, or the abode of Liliputians, and the road which rises from this point by a gentle grade seems a yellowish-brown line drawn across the mingled green and gray of the mountain-side.
Our stand-point has been at the spot where the Le- high Railroad Company has blasted away the rocks on the face of Bear Mountain, or, as it is sometimes called, Sugar Loaf, to secure sufficient level ground for a passenger depot, and our gaze has been directed to the left. Immediately in front flows the Lehigh, its channel forming a crescent-shaped enrve, which might have been described with the apex of the apparently conical Bear Mountain as a centre. It is only by the strictest economy of space and the utmost skill of the engineer that a canal and two great railroads can follow the river in its winding course through this narrow passage in the mountains. Beyond the river and following the curving course of its bank is a street, upon which a long line of buildings front, .
BOROUGH OF MAUCH CHUNK.
657
closely crowded by the mountain in their rear. Away at the right looms the peak of Mount Pisgah, nine hundred feet above the Lehigh, the smoke from the stacks of the stationary engines used to hoist cars upon the plane remotely suggesting the presence of a volcano.
Upon a level piece of table-land, more than two hundred feet above the water, which is scen to be a mighty buttress of Mount Pisgah, gleam the white houses of what the traveler learns is Upper Maneh Chunk.
So far the town has appeared to consist of a single street along the river, but we see a deep and narrow valley, or rather ravine, opening to the Lehigh, be- tween South Mountain and Mount Pisgah. Down through this gorge rushes a small mountain stream, and upward through it, in a zigzag and erratic way, rising constantly but by easy degrees, leads the main street of Mauch Chunk. The honses are built without'door- yards upon the street, and impinge upon the base of the mountains on either side. The dash- ing of the little stream can be heard at intervals as one passes up this strange, angling street, but its waters can nowhere be seen, for it has been covered with arches that the small space it oc- cupies may be utilized, and so it leaps along its hidden way, now under the houses, then under the street, until, conecaled to the very last, it plunges into the Lehigh. Almost every foot of available building ground is occupied. Except for a few rods near the mouth of the ravine, where a narrow street with a single row of houses runs parallel with the main street, on a higher level, there is no room for a second thor- oughfare or searcely for an alley. It must be remembered that, although nature challenged man's admiration here, she did not invite him to become a resident. But nature is seldom so forbidding as she appears, and usually bestows more than she promises. She promised here only the beauties and the majesty of the monn- tains, and the wealth in her treasure- vaults as the means of making countless comfortable houses elsewhere, but through the force of fate man made here a pleasant home too, and the moun- tains stand stately and sentinel-like about it, as if to guard the frailer human handiwork.
From Mount Pisgah or the Flagstaff on South Mountain grand views can be obtained of a vast scope of mountain and valley and river, forest and farm and peaceful villages nestled among the hills. The eye reaches the Lehigh and the Delaware Water Gaps, Wind Gap between, the Blue Mountains, and all the nameless, billowy ranges between, with the Schooley Mountains, sixty miles away in New Jersey, while Mauch Chunk and its sister village across the Lehigh appear below as if laid out upon a map. From the Flagstaff is doubtless revealed the most perfect bird's-eye view afforded in the eastern States,
one of beauty and bewildering strangeness from which it is diflieult to turn away.
But it is not in these steeply-rising mountains shadowing the compaet town, or in the far-reaching views which they command, that all of the beauty of the immediate region lies. Their wooded sides, varied with steep bowlder-strewn slopes or out-jutting rocks, afford an endless series of picturesque views, ever changing with the season or the ramble of the ob- server, but ever lovely, whether in the vernal green of summer, when the laurels add the lustre of their many-tinted blossoms; in the autumn, when the moun- tains glow and blaze with color, or even in the depth of winter, clad in snow, to which the only contrast is afforded by the gray and leafless trees and the sombre hue of the hemlocks. Another attraction, which scems only recently to have reached popular appreciation, is the now famous Glen Onoko, formerly known as Moore's Ravine, two miles above Mauch Chunk.
CHAMELEON FALLS.
Broad Mountain is here torn asunder in a deep cleft extending from crest to base. Down through the wild and rocky chasm, lighting its gloom, leaps and plunges in countless eascades and cataracts a crystal stream, now pellucid in some mirror-like pool and now shattered in white spray over a huge preci- pice. To the many waterfalls and other especial ob- jects of interest fanciful names have been given, as "Entrance Cascade and Pool," "Hidden Sweet Cas- cade," "Crystal Cascade," "Moss Cascade," "Lover's Bath," "Pulpit Rocks," "Spectre Cascade," "Dual Vista," " Heart of the Glen," "Chameleon Falls,"
42
658
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
" Elfin Cascade," "Falls of Onoko," "Sunrise Point," " Terrace Cascade," "Cave Falls," and "Home of the Mist."
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The height of "Cave Falls" is about forty-five feet, that of "Chameleon Falls" a little greater, and at "Onoko Falls" the water plunges downward in a most picturesque sheet seventy-five feet. The length of the glen is about a mile and a quarter, every step of which has its own peculiar beauty and grandeur. The heart of the glen is a chaos of rock, which reveals rugged and weird forms most impressive to behold. The glen is prolific in giant hemlocks and other trees, and in summer the flora is most varied and luxuriant, far exceeding that of other localities, and offering a grateful and refreshing contrast to the comparatively sterile sides of Broad Mountain. The laurel here attains a larger growth than anywhere else in the vicinity, and in June fills the cool air with the fra- grance and lights the glen with the radiance of its blossoms. The management of the Lehigh Valley Railroad has added to the beauty of Onoko and made the wild retreat accessible to the lover of nature by throwing tasteful rustic bridges aeross the chasm at various points and cutting pathways upward through the ravine. A little distance from the upper end of the glen, on the verge of the mountain, is Packer's Point (so named in honor of Asa Packer), from which a view of the surrounding country can be had which rivals those commanded by Mount Pisgah and the Flagstaff on Mauch Chunk Mountain.
Discovery of Coal-Early Operations of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company .- The human history of Mauch Chunk properly begins with the operations of the Lehigh Coal and Naviga- tion Company in 1818, but to convey an adequate un- derstanding of that commencement of a vast industry it is necessary to give some account of a number of preceding events, particularly the discovery of an- thracite coal in this immediate vieinity. On a map published by William Seull in 1770, and dedicated to the Honorable Thomas and Richard Penn, the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, the word "coal" ap- pears at a point near the site of Pottsville, and also on the Mahanoy Creek. But the actual knowledge of anthracite coal which led to its being mined and put in the market had as its forerunner the discovery of the mineral on Sharp Mountain, near the site of Summit Hill, nine miles northwest of Mauch Chunk, in the year 1791, by Philip Ginter, a hunter, who had built himself a cabin in that region. An interesting narrative of this discovery, and of a visit to the place in 1804, occurs in a memoir by Dr. T. C. James, pub- lished by the Pennsylvania Historical Society,' from which we shall make extracts. After describing his starting from Philadelphia, the difficulties of the jour- ney, and his meeting with Ginter, who was then run- ning a mill, Dr. James narrates the incidents of the
following day, when his companion and himself, led by Ginter, made their way to the scene of the dis- covery. " In the course of our pilgrimage we reached the summit of Mauch Chunk Mountain (Sharp Moun- tain), the present site of the mine, or rather quarry, of anthracite coal., At that time there were only to be seen three or four small pits, which had much the appearance of the commencement of rude wells, into one of which our guide descended with great case, and threw up some pieces of coal for our examina- tion. After which, while we lingered on the spot, contemplating the wildness of the scene, honest Philip amused us with the following narrative of the original discovery of this most valuable of min- erals. . .
"He said when he first took up his residenee in that district of country he built for himself a rough cabin in the forest, and supported his family by the proceeds of his rifle, being literally a hunter of the backwoods. The game he shot, ineluding bear and deer, he carried to the nearest store, and exchanged for the other necessaries of life. But at the particu- lar time to which he then alluded he was without a supply of food for his family, and, after being out all day with his gun in quest of it, he was returning to- wards evening over the Mauch Chunk (Pisgah ) Moun- tain, entirely unsuccessful and dispirited, having shot nothing. A drizzling rain beginning to fall, and the dusky night approaching, he bent his eourse home- ward, considering himself one of the most forsaken of mortals. As he trod slowly over the ground his foot stumbled against something, which, by the stroke, was driven before him. Observing it to be black, to distinguish which there was just light enough remaining, he took it up, and, as he had often listened to the traditions of the country as to the existence of eoal in the vicinity, it occurred to him that this might perhaps be a portion of that stone coal of which he had heard. He accordingly carefully took it with him to his cabin, and the next day carried it to Col. Jacob Weiss, residing at what was then known by the name of Fort Allen." The colonel, who was alive to the subject, brought the specimen with him to Philadelphia, and submitted it to the inspection of John Nicholson and Michael Hillegas, Esqs., and Charles Cist, an intelligent printer, who ascertained its nature and qualities, and authorized the eolonel to satisfy Ginter for his dis- covery upon his pointing out the precise spot where he found the coal. This was done by acceding to Ginter's proposal of getting through the forms of the Patent Office the title for a small tract of land, which he supposed had never been taken up, comprising a mill-site, on which he afterwards built a mill, and which he was unhappily deprived of by the claim of a prior survey.
" Hillegas, Cist, Weiss, and some ofhers immedi-
1 Republished in Hazard's Register, Muy 9 (et sequiter), 1829.
" Now Weissport, three miles below Manch Chunk.
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.
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE JUDGE ASA PACKER, MAUGH CHUNK, PA.
659
BOROUGHI OF MAUCH CHUNK.
ately after (about the beginning of 1792) formed them- selves into what was called the Lehigh Coal-Mine Company, but without a charter of incorporation, and took up eight to ten thousand acres of land till then unlocated, and including the Manch Chunk Mountain (Pisgah), but probably never worked the mine.
" It remained in this neglected state, being only used by blacksmiths and people in the immediate vicinity, until somewhere about 1806, when William Turnbull, Esq., had an ark constructed at Lausanne, which bronght down (to Philadelphia) two or three hundred bushels. This was sold to the manager of the water-works for the use of the Centre Square steam-engine. It was there tried as an experiment, but ultimately rejected as unmanageable, and its character for the time being blasted, the further attempts at introducing it to public notice in this way seemed suspended."
Erskine Hazard, in a communication to the Penn- sylvania Historical Society, agrees practically with the statements of Dr. James, and adds that the com- pany made a very rough road from the river to the mine, upon which, we are told by another authority, they expended the sum of ten pounds Pennsylvania currency. Hazard says further of the use of the coal under the water-works engine. that "it only served to put the fire out, and the remainder of the quantity on hand was spread on the walks in place of gravel."
The company, anxious to have their property brought into notice, gave leases of their mines to different individuals in succession for periods of twenty-four, fourteen, and ten years, adding to the last the privilege of taking timber from their lands for the purpose of floating the coal to the market. During the war of 1812 Virginia (bituminons) coal became very scarce and dear, and Messrs. J. Cist (son of the printer heretofore mentioned), Charles Miner, On the 8th of October, 1814, Mr. Chapman went to : "Chenango Point" (Binghamton), probably for the purpose of enlisting friends living there in the enter- and John Robinson, being the hollers of the land leased, attempted to put coal upon the market, but they succeeded in only a limited degree, as on the ' prise. He met there a Mr. Shipman, a Mr. Whitney, return of peace the price of the article was reduced so low that they could not compete with it.
The following history of the operations of this com- pany in the vicinity of Mauch Chunk is compiled from a journal which was kept by Isaac A. Chapman (copied for that purpose from the original by his son, Charles I. A. Chapman, now of Pittston, Pa.).
1
Isaac A. Chapman was a surveyor and civil engi- neer, and came from Connecticut early in life to Penn- sylvania, then the " Far West." He was a man of excellent education, much mechanical genius, a close observer, and of great energy, devoting every hour of the day and many of the night to physical and mental labor. Of the latter was the compilation of the first history of Wyoming that was written, and which, al- though incomplete, was published after his decease, under the title " A Sketch of the History of Wyo-
ming.": To his researches in this direction later au- thors owe mnuch that in their day could not have been obtained from any other source.
From Mr. Chapman's journal we find that on the 10th day of July, 1814, he left Wilkesbarre for " Lau- sanne Landing, on the Lehigh," and rode to " Mr. Conyngham's, in Sugarloaf," where he remained until the next morning. On the 11th he reached Lausanne, where he found Mr. Cist and Mr. C. Miner ; took dinner with them, and then went with them to the "Coal Bed," returning at night to Mr. Klotz's. Mr. Klotz kept the hotel at the Landing.
On the 12th he rode with Mr. Cist down the river : as far as " Head's Creek, below Weiss's" (now Parry- ville), returned, and " made an agreement concerning coal."
The journal is silent as to the terms of the agree- ment, and also as to operations during the summer of 1814 ; but from other sources we learn that Miner, Cist, and Robinson had leased from Hillegas, Cist and Weiss, who were the owners of the land, and as the name " Robinson" does not appear in connection with the coal operations, the probability is that Mr. Chap- man took his place. As to the operations during that summer, we learn also from other sources that on the 9th day of August, 1814, an ark-load of coal was started down the river for Philadelphia, which, after various mishaps, reached the city six days after.
Mr. Erskine Hazard, in a communication to the Historical Society, says that during the Miner, Cist and Robinson lease only three arks reached the city, and that they " abandoned the business at the close of the war, 1815." From Mr. Chapman's journal we learn that on the 27th of May, 1816, he succeeded in get- ting two " flats" loaded with coal as far as New Hope, and that as late as March 28, 1817, Mr. Chapman was at Lausanne, and had boats loaded, but was " unable to get a Pilot."
a Mr. Waterman, a Mr. Evans, a Mr. Collier, a Mr. Shaw, and others, and spent a day or two, and on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1814, having "made his concluding arrangements with Mr. Waterman and Mr. Whitney relative to the coal," left for Springville, Susquehanna Co., where, and at Hop Bottom and Montrose, he had relatives and friends. At the latter place the militia were inspected, and on the 17th he met the officers of the regiment at "Capt. Spencer's, and commenced the business of discipline." ( Mr. Chapman was an officer of the regiment of "Drafted Militia" then being trained for duty in the war of 1812.)
His journal continues as follows :
" Thursday, Oct. 20, 1814 .- Mr. Waterman and Mr. Shaw, from Chenango Point, called to go with me to Lausanne,-went as far as Mr. Scovell's, at Lacka- wanna."
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660
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
"Saturday, 22d .- Rode with Mr. Cist (who had joined them at Wilkesbarre) to Drumheller's,-spent the night there.
"Sunday, 28d .- Rode to Lausanne to breakfast. Rode to the coal-mine and returned."
The journal continues :
" Monday, 24/h .- Went with the gentlemen to Weiss's, and there built a skiff, and descended the Lehigh with Mr. Shaw. Spent the night at Lehigh Gap.
" Tuesday, 25th .- Descended the river to Allentown.
" Wednesday, 26th .- Returned to Lausanne (proba- bly walked), the distance being thirty-two miles.
" Thursday, 27th .- Set out for Wilkesbarre; came as far as Conyngham.
" Thursday, Nov. 3 .- Arrived at home.
" Friday, Nov. 4 .- . . . at 4 P.M. received notice from Capt. Tuttle to march toward Baltimore and Washington day after to-morrow."
The regiment started for the front, but it seems they did not get far before they were ordered back, as the journal continues :
" November 22d .- Got our discharges and set ont for Berwiek, on our return home.
" November 24th .- Came to Lausanne.
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