USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania > Part 2
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Public Schools 524
Education of the Poor.
524
Commissioners Petition the Legislature. 52.4
The Law of 1824. 524
Its Repeal in 1826. 524
527
The Lancasterian System Recommended.
· 527-530
Commissioners Fail to Act.
527
The Attempts of 1829 and 1831.
527
Pittsburg Made an Independent District. 527
527
Provision for a Permanent School Fund. 528
The Common School Law of 1834. 528
An Election of School Officers Called for 528
528
Injustice of the Law Pointed Out.
529
The First School Directors.
529
Provisions of the Law Formally Adopted.
530
Taxation for Educational Purposes
530
A High School Advocated ...
5.30
Funds Received from the State. 5.3I
First Schools Opened in Pittsburg. 53I
531
Non-accepting Districts Provided for.
5,32
Great Success of the System ...
532
Teachers' Conventions and Associations.
532
Lectures Before the School Conventions.
533
Musical Instruction Introduced.
533
Laws of 1854 and 1855.
533-534
Pittsburg Made an Independent District.
534
The Central Board of Education.
534
County Superintendent Chosen
534
Tax Levy Statistics and Expenses
537
Religious Sects Want a Division of Fund ..
537
County Teachers' Associations
538
School Officers and Statistics
539
The Teaching of Mutes.
5.40
High School First Proposed.
540
Proceedings Relative Thereto, 1849.
540
Its Establishment in 1855. . 541
First Session of the High School. 54I
Attendance, Officers and Statistics.
542
CHAPTER XXII.
The Great Rebellion. 543
Opinions of the Citizens
543
Militia Companies Reorganized.
The Cannon Ordered South. 544
544
The Excitement which Resulted.
.547-548
Order of Removal Countermanded.
549
Provisional Tender of Volunteers.
549
Reception of Mr. Lincoln ..
550
The Allegheny Brigade of Militia.
5.50
The Attack on Fort Sumter.
55I
The Call to Arms. The First Volunteers.
55I
551-552
The First Great War Meeting. 552
The Committee of One Hundred. 553
The Act of February, 1828.
County Convention of Teachers, 1830.
First Meeting of the School Delegates
School Books Adopted by Convention
The Chicago Zouaves. 543
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
ix
Rapid Formation of Companies.
Goods Declared Contraband of War
. 557-558
Departure of Volunteers.
558-559
Measures Taken for Home Defense.
5.58
The Unaccepted Companies 561
Camp Wright Occupied ..
562
Two Regiments Organized. 562
First Battle of Bull Run.
563
Lawyers Who Enlisted.
563
Call for Additional Volunteers. 563
Confiscation of a Steamboat.
563
Departure of Many Men. . 564-567
Rejoicing Over Fort Donelson.
568 569
The Militia Called Out ...
570
Enrollment of the Able-Bodied.
570
Total Men in the Service, September, 1862
57 .
The Basis for a Draft ... 572-573
Terrible Explosion in the Arsenal 574
Rams and Gunboats Built Here. 574
Copperheads, Butternutts, et al. 577
Disloyal Employes Dismissed. 577
578
Pittsburg and Allegheny Fortified. 578-579
579
Crisis of the War Passed.
579
Largest Gun in the World. 580-583
The Quotas and the Draft. 581
582
Efforts to Fill the Quotas.
582-583
The Ironclads Ready for Service
584
Enrollment and Quota, 1865.
587
Fall of Richmond Celebrated.
588
Great Joy Over Lee's Surrender
589-590
Assassination of President Lincoln.
591
The Soldiers' Monument. .592-594
Relief Measures During the War. 594
The Sanitary Fair.
601
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Medical Profession. 603
The First Recorded Physician. 603
The Second and Others .. 604
Hardships Incident to the Early Practice.
604
Doctors, Students and Apprentices.
604
Names of Early Physicians 607-608
Personal Characteristics 607-613
The Mercy Hospital.
613
Western Pennsylvania Hospital
613
Dixmont Hospital
614
St. Francis' Hospital.
614
Passavant's Hospital
614
Allegheny General Hospital.
617
Other Similar Institutions.
617-618
Medical Societies and Schools.
618-619
Prevalence of Disease in 1802.
620
Smallpox Here in 1828.
621
Appearance of Asiatic Cholera, 1832-33.
621
Conflict Between Physicians and Health Officers. 622
Early Dentistry
623
Hospitals of 1833 and 1846.
622-623
Introduction of Chloroform.
623
County Medical Society. 624
Cholera of 1849, 1851 and 1854. 624
Page.
. 554-557
Camp Wilkins Established.
560
The Question of Bounty Considered.
The Rebels Invade Pennsylvania.
Construction of the Ironclads.
Death of General Hay.
The Homeopathic Hospital. 61.4
x
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG. CHAPTER XXIV.
Pittsburg Page.
628
First Permanent Settlement Considered.
628
Residents Not Connected with the Army.
629
Johnson's View of Braddock's Defeat ..
629
Grant's Defeat
630-633
Indians' Treatment of the Victims
633
Evacuation by the French.
633
Fort Pitt Built ..
634
Treaties, Boat-building, etc.
634
List of Inhabitants, July, 1760.
637
The Census of April, 1761 ...
639
Extract from Kenney's Diary
642
Flood of March, 1763 ..
643
Pittsburg During Pontiac's War.
643
Battle of Bushy Run. 650
First Lots Laid Out. 650
George Washington's Visit in 1770.
651
Fort Pitt Dismantled, 1772.
651
Names of Residents of 1774.
651
Action at Outbreak of the Revolution.
652
Hardships During that Struggle.
653
Price List Adopted by the Army
654
Atrocities of the Indians.
658-659
Growth Succeeding the Revolution
659
Allegheny County Formed.
660
The Reserved Tract. .
661
Mckeesport Commenced
662
Importance of the Land Business
663
Guyasutha Enjoyed Billiards. 664
Courthouse and Market-house. 667
The Whisky Insurrection.
667
CHAPTER XXV.
Pittsburg Continued 679
The Borough Incorporated. 679
The Act Repealed in 1804. 680
Lottery for Public Purposes
Early Taxes and Statistics 680
680-681
Borough Officers and Improvements. 681-682
Water Supply Considered. .683-687-690
Statements of Mr. Cuming. 681
687
Chartered as a City, 1816.
688
The First Councils .. .689-690
First Mayor and Other Officers
.690-694-704
Northern Liberties Laid Out. 690
Birmingham Founded 687-690
Lawrenceville Commenced 690
City Bills Issued ..
.690-691-692
East and West Wards.
. 691
The City in 1825-26.
.693-694
First Waterworks Commenced. .693-694
First Gas Company, 1827 .697-698
Four Wards Petitioned for, 1829. . 699
Methods of Elections Considered. 699-702
· New Wards and Boroughs Erected. 700
First Officers of Allegheny Borough .699-700
Waterworks First Operated. 699-703
The Allegheny Common Contention. . 701
Market-houses . .679-694-701
Annual Expenses of City, 1832. 701
Salt Water Discovered Here, 1833. 702
More About the Gas Company. 703
The Borough During the War of 1812.
689
The Monongahela Wharf
..
-
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG. x1
Board of Trade Organized ..
704
Growth and Development, 1835.
704
"City District" Ordered Surveyed.
704
Duquesne Way Laid Out.
.707-708
Shinplasters Issued 708-709
New Waterworks 710-712
Gas Company Reorganized. 710-711-714
Allegheny Made a City
713
The New Courthouse.
713
The City in 1840. ZI3
Wards Admitted, 1845-46 .714-717
Consolidation Considered 714-724-725
Great Growth After the Fire. 717
Expenses and Statistics. .718-719 Depreciation of City Scrip. .720-721
Bonds and Current Indebtedness. .723-724
New City Buildings, 1855. 725
Railway Bonds .726-727
First Street Railway. 727
Statistics and Growth.
726-727
CHAPTER XXVI.
Politics
728
The Boundary Dispute.
728
Dunmore and Connelly. 729
Virginia Uses Force .. 730
Connolly's Character and Acts. 731
His Plot During the Revolution.
732
Memorial Sent to the Penns.
732
Augusta County's Course in 1775.
735
Standing Committee of Safety ..
735
Prominent Tories Thwarted.
7.36
County Seat Located. 736
The Proposition of Spain. 736
.736-737-738
National and State Constitutions Adopted. ·737-740
The Thirteen Council Fires. 738
Congressional and Other Elections. 739
Method of Selecting Officers. .739-748
740
Fourth of July Celebrated.
.741-745-747
Secret Service at Pittsburg.
741
The Meeting at Smur's Tavern.
743
Libelous Publications 744
Growth of the Jeffersonians. 745
Obsequies of General Washington. .745-746
The Second Newspaper Established.
746
Methods of the Partisans ..
747
Joy Over the Louisiana Purchase.
748
The Third Newspaper Founded.
749
War and Peace Parties, 1812.
750
Resolutions and Committees, 1812
The Delcgate System. 750
Party Tickets .753-756-757
President Monroe Visits Pittsburg.
754
Prominence of Mr. Baldwin. .754-755-756
Protection to Manufacturers Favored.
756
Pittsburg Attracts Congressional Attention. 757
Mr. Wilkins Nominated .. 758
Public Reception of Mr. Baldwin.
758-759
Legislature Favors Protection. 759
Great Speech of Mr. Baldwin. .760-761
Tickets of 1824 and 1825. .759-761
742
Partisan Intrigues and Ambitions
Bitterness Against France ·742-743
Brackenridge and Findley.
Hamilton's Fiscal Policy
. 753-755
Page.
xii
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG. CHAPTER XXVII.
Page.
Politics Continued
762
Mr. Clay Burned in Effigy
762
How He Was Entertained.
763
Strength of General Jackson, 1824 ..
763
His Supporters
763-774
Jacksonian Meetings
764
The Coffin Handbills.
765
The Great Campaign of 1828 ..
765
Young Men Support Mr. Adams.
766
Anti-Masonry Becomes Important.
767
Mr. Carey Visits Pittsburg.
768
Attitude of Politicians Determined.
768
Mr. Baldwin Sustains Masonry ..
769
The Anti-Masonic Party Organized.
770
Offices Held by Masons. . 770-771
Secession from Jackson's Ranks. .772-773
Jackson's Nullification Proclamation Indorsed.
774
Mr. Webster Visits Pittsburg.
775
Removal of Deposits Favored.
776
Formation of the Whig Party.
776-777
Whig Jubilee Celebration
777-778
Mayoralty Campaigns
771-775-779
The Muhlenberg Defection.
780
The Chaotic Convention.
780
"Heroes of Black Rock" Derided.
781
General Harrison Visits Pittsburg.
782
William Wilkins .
. 769-782-785-788-796
Protection to American Industry
783
The First Gold Party.
784
Mayoralty Contests
785-787-794
The "Bashaw with Three Tails"
788
The Harrison Campaign, 1840.
789
Protection Again Considered.
790
Log Cabins and Hard Cider.
791
President-elect Harrison Received.
792
Efforts to Dissolve the Anti-Masons
793
Tariff of 1842 Favored ...
793
Repeal of that Tariff Denounced.
795
Slave Shops of Allegheny County
796
War with Mexico Discussed.
797-798
"Kalifornia, Kuba and Kanada"
797
Other Mayoralty Contests.
.797-798-801-804-805
799
Zachary Taylor Visits Pittsburg.
799
Joseph Barker
799-800-801
Mr. Howe Supported for Congress
800
Spain Denounced
802
National Free Soil Convention ..
803
Changes Made in Parties.
803
Attitude of the Whigs, 1854.
804
State Free Soil Convention. 804
805
The Anti-Tax Convention. 806
807
Recent Mayoralty Elections ... 807
808
CHAPTER . XXVIII.
Politics Continued 810
Slaveholders at Pittsburg. 810
Slaves Bought and Sold Here.
8II
The Subject Discussed in 1820. 8II
First Colonization Society Formed.
811-812
The Legislature Investigates Masonry.
778
Scott's Candidacy Indorsed. 798
Mr. Johnston Elected Governor
The Repudiation Ticket.
Vote for President, 1864 to 1896.
Congressmen for Over 100 Years.
.
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
X11I
Page.
Acts of the Assembly.
.810-812
The Colonization Society Reorganized.
812-813-814-815
The' Abolitionists Opposed. .
.813-816
The Formation of Abolition Societies.
. 814-815-816
The Murder of Mr. Lovejoy Lamented.
815
Abolition Lectures .
816
Union Anti-Slavery Society Organized.
817
Their Meetings and Proceedings.
817-818
Efforts of Mr. Wilmot Indorsed.
818
The Vanmetre-Mitchell Case ..
.818-819
Slaves Rescued by Pittsburgers
818-821-823-824
Decision of Judge Lowrie.
819
Attitude of the South.
819
Various Views on Slavery.
820
The Fugitive Slave Law 820-821
820
First Case Under the Law.
821
The Kansas-Nebraska Bill Opposed.
822
Indignation Over Its Passage. 823
Strong Opposition to Slavery. 823
Attitude of the American Party. 825
The Pro-Slavery War in Kansas
825
The Republican Party First Proposed.
825
Republicans of Ohio and Indiana.
826
Call for a Republican Convention Here.
826
Free Democratic Convention ..
827
Republican County Convention Held.
828
Republican State Convention Held.
828
Call to Organize the National Republicans
829
The Party Organized February, 1856.
.830-832
Proceedings of the Convention. ..
830-832
Other Questions than Slavery Abandoned.
832
Interest in the Dred Scott Case.
833-834
American Party Not Absorbed
833
Mass Meetings, 1856.
833, 834
The Campaign of 1860.
835
The Crittenden Compromise Indorsed.
835
CHAPTER XXIX.
Newspapers and Literature. 836
The Gazette Established.
836
Death of Joseph Hall.
836
Mr. Scull's Hazardous Undertaking.
837-839
Little Local News Published, Why.
837
Tree of Liberty Established. 838
Newspaper Antagonism 838-839
The Commonwealth Founded.
839
First Issue of the Mercury.
839
Retirement of John Scull.
840
Morgan Neville's Literary Style.
840
Newspapers During the Twenties.
.840-841
Character of Mr. Craig.
.841-849
The Manufacturer
8.42
Reforms Advocated
842-843
Newspaper Abuse 843-844
Press of the Thirties.
844
The "Vile and Speckled Reptile"
846
The Stewart-McDonald Imbroglio. 846
848
The Constitutionalist 848
Newspapers of the Forties .849-854
851
Abolition Newspapers
852
First Sunday Paper Opposed. 853
Mrs. Swisshelm's Views ..
853
The Printers' Banquet
853
The Press of 1839.
An Editor in Jail.
Exodus of the Colored People.
xiv
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
Page. 854-855
The Press of the Fifties
Later Newspaper Ventures.
855
Writings of H. H. Brackenridge.
855
The Almanac Publications
856-857
Mr. Neville's Poetry.
856
Writers of the Twenties and Thirties 857-858
Other and Recent Authors, etc.
858-861
CHAPTER XXX.
Art, etc
Messrs. Dearborn, Bowman and Lambdin.
862-863
Lambdin's Museum and Gallery.
863
Other Early Artists.
863
Slow Growth of Art.
863-864
Painters of the Forties and Fifties.
864
Recent Art and Artists.
864-865
Pittsburg Art Society
865
Private Collections
865-866
First Teachers of , Music.
866-867
Pianos Manufactured
867
Musical Societies Organized.
.867-868-87I
Early Concert Programs.
868
Development of Colored Minstrelsy.
869-872
Bands and Concerts ..
870
Recent Musical Growth
.872-873
Early Architecture
873
Styles that were Represented.
874
Recent Structural Features. 875
Real Estate and Statistics. 876
Racing and Other Sports. 877
Earliest Dramatic Entertainments 878
879
Fifth Street Museum.
879
First Theater Building.
.879-880
Character of Entertainments.
880
"Jim Crow Rice"
88I
Ethiopian Companies
881-882
"Old Drury" Theater.
882-883
Changes in Its Management.
880-884-885
The Second Legitimate Theater
883
Comedy Supplants Tragedy.
884
The New National Theater. 885
886
CHAPTER XXXI.
Societies, Associations, etc. 887
First Mason Initiated. 887
Earliest Masonic Lodges. 888-890
Humane and Franklin Societies. 889
The Penitentiary 889
Snag Marines, Caledonians, etc. 890
Recent Lodge Statistics. 891
892
Philosophical Institutes, 893
Lecturers and Reformers .. 894
California Gold Excitement. 895
Historical Societies 895
Societies of Science and Art. 895
Cemetery Associations 896
Help for the Poor. 896-898
The Ship Lawrence. 898
Daguerreotypes, The First 898
Allegheny Observatory 898
Parking of Pittsburg 899
Libraries
899-903
The Thespian Society
3-869
Kneass and Foster.
862
Recent Theater Halls.
Meteoric Shower of 1833.
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG. XV
Monuments, Statues,
903
Temperance Societies
. 903-910
Insurance, Fires, etc.
.910-919
Great Fire of 1845.
913
CHAPTER XXXII.
Morals 920
First Religious Services
920
First Societies Formed. 921
Mr. Brackenridge's Bill.
922
Lottery, Infidelity, etc. . 924
Sunday-schools, Societies, etc. . 925-926
Dueling Denounced .926-927
Number of Religious Organizations .925-927-934
Sunday-school Union 928
Catholicism vs. Protestantism. . 928-929
Religious Growth in the Thirties 929
Atheism and Infidelity. 930
Prayers to Avert the Cholera. .930-93I
The Theater Attacked. 93I
Sinful Amusements Opposed.
932
Union Sunday-school Association
933
The Great Revival of 1840.
933
Street Preaching . 934-936
Protests of the Catholics .934-937
The Churches Criticised.
935
Kansas-Nebraska Bill Opposed.
936
Young Men's Christian Association.
. 936-939
The "City of Churches"
937
Religious Statistics, etc .. 938
Recent Religious Societies
939
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Recent Manufactures 940
The Tobacco Business
940
Production of Coal Oil. 940
Steamboats Constructed 94I
Shipments on the Monongahela. 941 .
Natural Gas Utilized. 942
Tables of Statistics 943
943-947
Copper 947
Coal and Coke Shipments. 947-948
White Lead and Glass.
9.18
The Chamber of Commerce. 918
Statistics from the Census.
949
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Recent Important Events .. 950
The Railroads and Their Bonds. 950
The Principal Bridges .. 951
Recent Railway Facilities.
952
The New Courthouse.
The Postoffice 95.2
953
Paving of the Streets.
953
The Inclined Railways
954
Street Car Lines.
954
Telegraph and Telephone Lines.
955
Police Telegraph System
955
Disadvantages
956
Exposition Societies
956
Population of the Two Cities. 956
The Great Floods. 957
Admission of Wards. 957
Mayors of the Cities. 957
Taxation and Statistics 958
Iron and Steel.
Page.
xvi
HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
Page.
City Expenses and Debt.
959-960
Waterworks and Improvements.
960
Force of Greater Pittsburg 961
Strikes of 1877 and 1802. . 962-965
Danger in Consolidation
966
CHAPTER XXXV.
General View of the City
967
Kings of Industry.
.967-969
Energy of Nature.
968
"Local Prejudices" 968
968
Life or Death for Pittsburg.
969
Pig Iron the Barometer of Trade.
969
Statistics are Bewildering
970
The Pittsburg Coal Vein.
970
Wonderful Growth and Improvement. 971
A Time for Leisure .. 972
Advancement in Art, etc. 972
Industrial Facilities
973
CHAPTER
XXXVI.
Page.
William L. Abbott.
.1051
David Hostetter
. 1005
William Anderson
989
Thomas M. Howe.
I004
William F. Aull.
. 1062
Curtis G. Hussey.
. IOOI
Benjamin Bakewell 1052
George W. Jackson . 1028
Edward M. Bigelow . 1065
Edward H. Jennings 1061
James Brown 1052
Benjamin F. Jones.
984
Adam M. Brown 1053
Alexander King 1017
Felix R. Brunot.
1013
Cyrus B. King. 1045
Clarence Burleigh 1058
John C. Kirkpatrick. 1026
James Callery 1015
Andrew A. Lambing.
988
Andrew Carnegie 975
A. Kirk Lewis
1018
Carnegie Steel Co., Ltd. 975
James A. Lippincott
1046
Thomas M. Carnegie.
I04I
Charles Lockhart
1016
Robert Christy
1067
Joseph Loughrey
1003
Thomas S. Clarke.
1009
William Croghan
995
William Croghan, Jr.
998
John Dalzell
1073
Ebenezer Denny
1073
Harmar Denny
1073
James J. Donnell.
1065
Charles Donnelly
1027
Robert P. Nevin. 1024
James C. Dunn. . 1047
James O'Hara 996
H. D. W. English I068
Charles Pfeifer .1060
John S. Ferguson. 1056
Robert Pitcairn 1054
Andrew Fleming . 1042
James Rees 1036
Aaron French 1022
Joshua Rhodes I02I
William Frew 1074
Philip Reymer . 104I
Henry C. Frick. .1039
William H. Graham
1058
Charles M. Schwab. 1051
George W. Guthrie. . 1057
William R. Thompson. 1064
John Harper 1019
Francis Torrance .1069
Herman W. Hechelman. . 1047
1030
H. J. Heinz Company . 1033
John Herron 990
William A. Herron. 992
George B. Hill. 1062
George Westinghouse
980
Nathaniel Holmes . 1074
William Witherow 1066
Joseph Horne .1000
Finley Torrens . 1070
John J. Torley. .1049
Jacob J. Vandergrift. 1023
James Verner . 1060
Christopher Zug 999
1048
William McConway
.1048
William McCully
1072
Christopher L. Magee.
1050
Thomas Mellon . 1072
Thomas D. Messler.
IOIO
James K. Moorhead. 1008
Mary E. Schenley. 998
Francis J. Torrance . 1070
Henry J. Heinz.
.
Resources of Western Pennsylvania.
Page.
McConway & Torley Co.
STANDARD HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
CHAPTER I.
THE PREHISTORIC BORDER LINE-INDIAN TRIBES AND POPULATION-DERIVATION AND SIGNIFICATION OF NAMES OF RIVERS, ETC., AT THE HEAD OF THE OHIO- CONRAD WEISER-LOUIS CELORON-BEGINNING OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH STRUGGLE FOR THE MASTERY - ENCROACHMENT OF SETTLERS- CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC - BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN -INDIANS RAISE SIEGE OF FORT PITT - A PERIOD OF REPOSE FOR
THE SETTLERS - RENEWAL OF INDIAN RAIDS - PUR-
CHASE OF 1768 -DUNMORE'S WAR - - LAST AT-
TEMPT OF THE INDIANS TO GAIN POSSESSION- FINAL DEPARTURE OF THE SAVAGES.
The history of every nation or people must begin on the boundary line between the prehistoric and the historic, between the mythical and the real. The bards, who were usually the first historians, were forced from necessity to inter- weavc mythical persons and events with those that actually played a part on the stage of the nation's history. We see this exemplified in the annals of all the nations of antiquity, and we naturally expect to find it in those of our own coun- try; and in this we are not doomed to disappointment, as will presently be seen. There is a peculiar charm in the effort to penetrate the veil that hides the pre- historic from our view. But while it is largely mythical, there is a substratum of fact upon which fancy bases its speculations. The early history of the spot upon which Pittsburg now stands, and of the tribes which inhabited it, forms no. excep- tion to this general rule. But the later historian is at a disadvantage for two reasons. The early history of India, Egypt, Greece and Rome is so remote, and the people of those nations were so imaginative, that their bards could readily compose a mythological history and present it to later ages without fear of con- tradiction. The early history of the aborigines of North America, on the con- trary, is so recent and the people so unimaginative, that only a few crude and disjointed traditions can be collected. These we are forced from sheer necessity to accept, conscious that they must have some foundation in fact, however slender that foundation may be; and with these we must rest content.
The first inhabitants of the valley of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers of whom tradition affords reliable information were the Allegewi or Talligewi. Our knowledge of this people is vague in the extreme, but that they inhabited the basin of these rivers is beyond doubt; but when or whence they came, how long they maintained the ascendancy, and when they retired in the conflict of hostile tribes, it were futile to inquire. They succeeded, however, in leaving a name as imperishable as a range of mountains or a flowing river. It is disputed whether there ever was such a. people as the mound builders; but be this as it may, there was an aboriginal people who built mounds, and the fact that works of this kind are found in the vicinity of Pittsburg is sufficient evidence that at one time they inhabited the territory around the headwaters of the Ohio. It is impossible to fix the date of their occupation of this part of the country. In
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HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.
time the Lenni Lenappi, one of the most powerful tribes or family of tribes on the continent, succeeded in gaining the mastery, only to yield it in time to the Iroquois, the terror of all the savages between the Mississippi and the Atlantic at the time of the first appearance of the white man.
Great diversity of opinion existed with regard to the population of Eastern North America at the time of the discovery. The territory extending from the "Debatable Ground"-now the State of Kentucky-north to Hudson Bay, and from the Mississippi east to the Atlantic Ocean was occupied by the Algonquins in their numerous subdivisions; but in the midst of these was found the Iroquois, or Five Nations. The number of these two families has been greatly, and it may be said generally, exaggerated, especially by English writers, one at the beginning of the present century gravely asserting that they numbered twenty millions. The most reliable authorities, however, assert that the Algonquins never exceeded 90,000, and perhaps not 50,000; and the Iroquois not more than 17,000.
At the time the first traders appeared at the head of the Ohio the territory was claimed by the Iroquois, although they permitted the Delawares, whom they had conquered, and "made women of," the remnant of the Lenni Lenappi, and the Shawncse, a wandering tribe from the south, with members of other tribes, to occupy it. The Five Nations -- later known as the Six Nations, after they had conquered the Tuscaroras and incorporated them into the confederacy in 1712- were more commonly know as the Iroquois; and the important part they played in the affairs of this section of country entitles them to a brief notice. They were known to the Dutch as the Magua, to the English as the Mingoes, to the French as the Iroquois, and to the other savages as the Mcngwe. The name Iroquois was given them by the French because they were accustomed to close their speeches with the word "hiro," equivalent to the phrase "I have said, or finished," which was followed by a plaintive cry best expresscd by the word "koue." They called themselves Hodenaumee, signifying "they form a cabin." They inhabited the country south of Lake Ontario; and possessed a form of government, and had better constructed cabins and villages than were their neighbors. But it was in war that they excelled, and they have with some degree of justice been named "the Romans of America." It may be remarked that great diversity is found in the spelling of Indian names; and this is due both to the fact that they had to be spelled from sound, and that we have the names written by the Dutch of New York, the English of the rest of the Atlantic coast and the French of Canada, each of which gave its own peculiar sound to certain letters.
It will be of advantage to the reader to give here an cxplanation of the mean- ing of certain names that will occur in the course of this history. And first of the names of the streams that are within the limits of Pittsburg. There is no authority for the statement made by certain writers that the French called the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers "Three Rivers." The term "Allegheny" is derived, as we have seen, from the name of a prehistoric race that inhabited the valley of that stream; but it was known to the Indians and the French, and at first to the English, also, as the Ohio, being regarded as the upper portion of the present river of that name. The name Ohio is derived from the Seneca word Ho-he-yu, which was literally translated by the French La Belle Rivière-the beautiful river. Who would not wish to have seen it as it appeared in June of October wending its course through unbroken forests in the long ago, as the Indian paddled his frail canoe down its limpid waters, when even the rude son of the forest recognized its beauty and called by excellence The Beautiful River? The word Monongahela signifies in the Delaware language "falling-in-banks; or, high banks or bluffs, breaking off and falling down in places." The point at the confluence of the two rivers was called by the Indians "Da-un-daga,"
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