CONCLUSION.
Pushing the light canoe on the lagoons in search of fish and lassoing
the wild horse on the pampas of the South, chasing the buffalo on the
boundless prairies and hunting the antlered stag in the dense forests
of the West, is now the Indian's occupation; and there he may be found,
ever shunning the haunts of civilization.
The Delaware Indians have been exterminated, and their very name
(_Lenni Lenape_) blotted from existence, save where it appears
upon the pages of history.
Of the Shawnees, once the powerful warlike tribe that was known and
feared from the seaboard to the lakes, but a few degenerate families
reside in the Far West.
Of the Great Confederation of the Iroquois but a remnant exists to
remind us of its former greatness, its councils, its wars, and its
"talks." They reside in Western New York, in a semi-civilized but
degraded state, and are but sorry representatives of the once proud and
stately warriors the crack of whose sharp and unerring rifles made the
woods ring, and whose canoes danced upon the waves of the blue Juniata
more than a hundred years ago.
But they are all gone, and the bones of their ancestors are the only
relics which they have left behind them. The hand of the same
inscrutable Providence that suffered them to march as mighty conquerors
from the West to the East, crushing out the existence of a weaker
people in their triumphant march, stayed them, blighted them in the
noonday of their glory, and, like the receding waves of the sea, drove
them back in the direction whence they came, where they scattered, and
the ties which bound them together as tribes dissolved even as would
ice beneath the rays of a tropical sun.
The reader of the foregoing pages may sometimes think it strange that
the savages committed so many depredations with impunity, killed,
scalped, or carried so many into captivity, while but comparatively few
of the marauders were destroyed. The cause of this can be easily
explained. The savages always made covert attacks. As will be
remembered, very few massacres occurred in the valley by open
attack,--nearly all their depredations being committed while in
ambuscade or when they had a foe completely in their power. Their
incursions were always conducted with great caution, and no sooner did
they strike a decisive blow than they disappeared. To guard against
their ferocity was impossible; to follow them was equally futile. The
settlers were too few in number to leave one force at home to guard
against them and to send another in pursuit of them; for, during the
Revolution, the belief was prevalent that a large force was ever ready
to descend into the valley, and that the incursions of a few were only
stratagems to lure the settlers to destruction by following them to
where a large number were concealed. It was frequently proposed to send
a strong force to waylay the gaps of the mountain; but the settlers
refused to trust the protection of their families to the raw militia
sent by government to defend the frontier.
In extremely aggravating cases, men, driven to desperation, followed
the savages to the verge of the Indian settlements; but they never got
beyond the summit of the Alleghany Mountains without feeling as if they
were walking directly into the jaws of death, for no one could
otherwise than momentarily expect a shower of rifle-balls from the
enemy in ambuscade. The want of men, ammunition, and other things, were
known to and taken advantage of by the Indians; but when an abundance
of these things was brought to the frontier they prudently kept out of
the way, for their sagacity instinctively taught them what they might
expect if they fell into the hands of the settlers. But it may here be
remarked that the savage mode of warfare, which by them was deemed fair
and honorable,--such as scalping or maiming women and children,--was
held in the utmost horror and detestation by people who professed to be
Christians; and they equally detested shooting from ambuscade as an act
fit for savages alone to be guilty of. It was only the more reckless
and desperate of the community that would consent to fight the savages
after their own mode of warfare.
It is, therefore, but a simple act of justice to the memory of the
pioneers to say that the savages did not go unpunished through any fear
or lack of zeal on their part. Their concentrated energies were used to
check the frequent invasions, and many of them spent their last dollar
to protect the defenceless frontier; yet it is to be deeply regretted
that in those primitive days they lacked the knowledge of properly
applying the power within their reach.
But they, too, are all gone! "Each forever in his narrow cell is laid."
Beneath their kindred dust the rude forefathers of the valley sleep. We
have endeavored to give a succinct account of the trials and sufferings
of many of them; but, doubtless, much remains untold, which the
recording angel alone has possession of. While we reflect upon the fact
that it was through the privations and hardships _they_ endured
that _we_ enjoy the rich blessings of the beautiful and teeming
valley, let us hope that they are enjoying a peace they knew not on
earth, in that valley "where the wicked cease from troubling and the
weary are at rest."
APPENDIX.
THE VALLEY AS IT IS.
The preceding pages fulfil the original intention of presenting to the
public, as far as possible, a "History of the _Early_ Settlement of
the Juniata Valley." Its modern history, fraught with rare incidents,
is left to the pen of some future enterprising historian, who may
collect the incidents necessary to construct it when but a moiety of
the generation (still numerous) who know the valley and its
multifarious changes for half a century past shall be dwellers in our
midst. Still, such prospect shall not deter us from giving a synopsis
of the history of the valley as it is, not promising, however, to make
the record complete, or even notice in detail the growth and progress
of the valley during the last thirty years.
When the early settlers were apprised of the fact that some of the more
enterprising contemplated cutting a pack-horse road over the Alleghany
Mountains, through Blair's Gap, they shook their heads ominously, and
declared that the task was one which could not be accomplished. But it
_was_ accomplished; and, after its completion, it was not many years
until the pack-horse track was transformed into a wagon-road. People
were well satisfied with this arrangement; for no sooner was there a
good road along the river than some daring men commenced taking produce
to the East, by the use of arks, from the Frankstown Branch, the
Raystown Branch, and the Little Juniata. With these advantages, a
majority of the inhabitants labored under the impression that they were
keeping pace with the age; but others, endowed with a fair share of
that progressive spirit which characterizes the American people,
commenced agitating the project of making a turnpike between Huntingdon
and Blairsville. The old fogies of the day gave this innovation the
cold shoulder, spoke of the immense cost, and did not fail to count
the expense of travelling upon such a road. But little were their
murmurings heeded by the enterprising men of the valley. The fast
friend of the turnpike was Mr. Blair, of Blair's Gap, west of
Hollidaysburg. His influence was used in the halls of the Legislature
until he injured his political standing; nevertheless, he persevered
until the company was chartered, and he soon had the satisfaction of
seeing the turnpike road completed. Once built, it was found to be
rather a desirable institution, and its value soon removed all
opposition to it.
Anon came the startling proposition of building a canal along the
Juniata, and a railroad over the Alleghany Mountains, to connect the
waters of the Juniata and the Conemaugh. To men of limited information
the project seemed vague and ill-defined; while knowing old fogies
shook their heads, and declared that a canal and a turnpike both could
not be sustained, and that, if the former could accomplish the wonders
claimed for it, the teams that carried goods between Philadelphia and
Pittsburg in the short space of from fifteen to twenty days would be
compelled to suspend operations! But the opposition to the canal was
too insignificant to claim notice; and when the building of it was once
commenced an improvement mania raged. The stately and learned engineer,
Moncure Robinson, was brought all the way from England to survey the
route for the Portage Road. Like a very colossus of _roads_, he
strode about the mountain, and his nod and beck, like that of imperial
Cæsar upon his throne, was the law, from which there was no appeal. By
dint of long labor, and at a vast expense to the commonwealth, he
demonstrated clearly that a road could be built across the mountain,
and rendered practicable by the use of ten inclined planes. Alas! for
the perishable nature of glory! Moncure Robinson had hardly time to
reach his home, and boast of the honor and fame he achieved in the New
World, before a Yankee engineer discovered that a railroad could be
built across the Alleghany Mountain without the use of a single plane!
Of course, then he was thought a visionary, and that not a quarter of a
century ago; yet now we have two railroads crossing the mountain
without the use of a plane, and the circumstance appears to attract no
other remark than that of ineffable disgust at the old fogies who could
not make a road to cross the Apalachian chain without the tedious
operation of being hoisted up and lowered down by stationary engines.
The era of "flush times" in the valley must have been when the canal
was building. Splendid fortunes were made, and vast sums of money sunk,
by the wild speculations which followed the advent of the contractors
and the sudden rise of property lying along the river. As an instance
of the briskness of the times in the valley when the canal was
building, an old settler informs us that Frankstown at that time
contained fourteen stores, five taverns, and four roulette tables. At
present, we believe, it contains but two or three stores, one tavern,
and no gambling apparatus to relieve the reckless of their surplus
change.
The completion of the canal was the great event of the day, and the
enthusiasm of the people could scarcely be kept within bounds when the
ponderous boats commenced ploughing the ditch. This will be readily
believed by any one who will read the papers published at the time.
From a paper printed in Lewistown on the 5th of November, 1829, we
learn that a packet-boat arrived at that place from Mifflin on the
Thursday previous, and departed again next day, having on board a
number of members of the Legislature, as well as citizens and
strangers. The editor, in speaking of the departure, enthusiastically
says:--"The boat was drawn by two white horses, when she set off in
fine style, with the 'star-spangled banner' flying at her head, and
amid the roar of cannon, the shouts of the populace, and the cheering
music of the band which was on board." Reader, this was a little over
twenty-six years ago; and the jubilee was over a packet capable of
accomplishing the mighty task of carrying some forty or fifty
passengers at the rate of about four miles an hour.
The climax of joy, however, appears to have been reached by the editor
of the _Huntingdon Gazette_, on the 15th of July, 1831, when he
became jubilant over the launch of a canal-boat, and gave vent to the
following outburst:--"What! a canal-boat launched in the vicinity of
Huntingdon! Had any one predicted an event of this kind some years
back, he, in all probability, would have been yclept a wizard, or set
down as _beside himself_!"
These gushings of intensified joy, although they serve to amuse now, do
not fail to convey a useful lesson. Let us not glory too much over the
demon scream of the locomotive as it comes rattling through the valley,
belching forth fire and smoke, or the miraculous telegraph which
conveys messages from one end of the Union to the other with the
rapidity with which a lover's sigh would be wafted from the Indies to
the Pole; for who knows but that the succeeding generation, following
in the footsteps made by the universal law of progress, will astonish
the world with inventions not dreamed of in our philosophy, which will
throw our electric-telegraphs and railroads forever in the shade?
For eighteen years, with the exception of the winter months, the canal
packet held sway in the Juniata Valley, carrying its average of about
thirty passengers a day from the East to the West, and _vice versâ_.
When hoar old winter placed an embargo upon the canal craft, travel
used to dwindle down to such a mere circumstance that a rickety old
two-horse coach could easily carry all the passengers that offered.
Who among us that has arrived at the age of manhood does not recollect
the packet-boat, with its motley group of passengers, its snail pace,
its consequential captain, and its non-communicative steersman, who
used to wake the echoes with the "to-to-to-to-toit" of his everlasting
horn and his hoarse cry of "lock ready?" The canal-packet was
unquestionably a great institution in its day and generation, and we
remember it with emotions almost akin to veneration. Right well do we
remember, too, how contentedly people sat beneath the scorching rays
of a broiling sun upon the packet, as it dragged its slow length along
the sinuous windings of the canal at an average speed of three and a
half or four miles an hour; and yet the echo of the last packet-horn
has scarcely died away when we see the self-same people standing upon
a station-house platform, on the verge of despair because the cars
happen to be ten minutes behind time, or hear them calling down
maledictions dire upon the head of some offending conductor who
refuses to jeopardize the lives of his passengers by running faster
than thirty miles an hour!
At length, after the canal had enjoyed a sixteen years' triumph, people
began to consider it a "slow coach;" and, without much debate, the
business-men of Philadelphia resolved upon a railroad between
Harrisburg and Pittsburg. The project had hardly been fairly determined
upon before the picks and shovels of the "Corkonians" and "Fardowns"
were brought into requisition; but, strange to say, this giant
undertaking struck no one as being any thing extraordinary. It was
looked upon as a matter of course, and the most frequent remarks it
gave rise to were complaints that the making of the road did not
progress rapidly enough to keep pace with the progress of the age. And,
at length, when it was completed, the citizens of Lewistown did not
greet the arrival of the first train with drums, trumpets, and the roar
of cannon; neither did any Huntingdon editor exclaim, in a burst of
enthusiasm, on the arrival of the train there, "What! nine railroad
cars, with six hundred passengers, drawn through Huntingdon by a
locomotive! If any person had predicted such a result some years ago,
he would have been yclept a wizard, or set down as one _beside
himself_."
The Pennsylvania Railroad once finished, although it failed to create
the surprise and enthusiasm excited by the canal, did not fail to open
up the valley and its vast resources. Independent of the great
advantage of the road itself, let us see what followed in the wake of
this laudable enterprise. The railroad created the towns of Altoona,
Fostoria, Tipton, and Tyrone; its presence caused the building of three
plank roads, and the opening of extensive coal and lumber operations in
the valley, and kindred enterprises that might never have been thought
of. Nor is this all. A rage for travel by railroad has been produced by
the Pennsylvania Company; and there is good reason to believe that it
will increase until at least three more roads tap the main artery in
the Juniata Valley,--the railroad from Tyrone to Clearfield, from the
same place to Lock Haven, and from Spruce Creek to Lewisburg. These
roads will unquestionably be built, and at no remote period. The
Pennsylvania Road has now facilities for doing business equal to those
of any road of the same length in the world; and, when a second track
is completed, it is destined, for some years at least, to enjoy a
monopoly of the carrying trade between Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Much
as we regret it, for the sake of the Commonwealth which expended her
millions without any thing like an adequate return, the canal is
rapidly falling into disuse, and we see, with deep regret, that it has
become entirely too slow for the age in which we live. With all the
vitality forced into it that can be, we confess we can see no
opposition in it to the road but such as is of the most feeble kind;
yet all will agree that this opposition, trifling as it is, should
continue to exist until such a time as other routes shall be opened
between these points, and healthy competition established. But let us
not dwell too much upon our modes of transit through the valley, lest
the historian of a hundred years hence will find our remarks a fitting
theme for ridicule, and laugh at us because we speak in glowing terms
of a single railroad, and that road with but a single track for more
than half its distance!
In order to give the reader a little insight into the progress which
has been made in the valley, let us turn statistician for a time, with
the understanding, however, that we shall not be held responsible for
the accuracy of dates.
Less than twenty-six years ago, George Law sat upon the left bank of
the Juniata, two miles west of Williamsburg, cutting stones for
building two locks at that place. Now the aforesaid Law is supposed to
be worth the snug little sum of six millions of dollars, and not long
since was an aspirant for the presidential chair!
Thirty years ago, when Frankstown was a place of some note,
Hollidaysburg contained but a few scattered cabins. In fact, twenty
years ago it was "to fortune and to fame unknown;" yet it now contains
a population (including that of Gaysport) that will not fall much short
of four thousand.
Less than twenty-five years ago, Dr. P. Shoenberger, while returning
from Baltimore with $15,000 in cash, fell in with the celebrated robber
Lewis on the Broad Top Mountain. The intention of Lewis, as he
afterward acknowledged, was to rob him; but the doctor, although he was
unacquainted with his fellow-traveller, had his suspicions awakened,
and, by shrewd manoeuvering, succeeded in giving him the slip. Had
the $15,000 in question fallen into the hands of the robber, Dr.
Shoenberger would have been bankrupt, and the probability is that he
would have lived and died an obscure individual. Instead of that,
however, the money freed him from his embarrassments, and he died, but
a few years ago, worth between four and five millions of dollars--more
than one-half of which he accumulated by manufacturing iron in the
Valley of the Juniata.
Less than sixteen years ago, a gentleman named Zimmerman was a
bar-keeper at the hotel of Walter Graham, Esq., at Yellow Springs, in
Blair county, afterward a "mud-boss" on the Pennsylvania Canal, and
subsequently a teamster at Alleghany Furnace. At the present day the
said Samuel Zimmerman owns hotels, palaces, a bank of issue, farms,
stocks, and other property, at Niagara Falls, in Canada, which swell
his income to $150,000 per annum. He is but thirty-eight years of age.
Should he live the length of time allotted to man, and his wealth
steadily increase, at the end of threescore-and-ten years he can look
upon ordinary capitalists, who have only a few millions at command, as
men of limited means.
Let it not he presumed, however, that we notice these capitalists from
any adoration of their wealth or homage to the men, but merely because
their history is partially identified with the valley, and to show in
what a singular manner the blind goddess will sometimes lavish her
favors; for hundreds of men without money, but with brighter intellects
and nobler impulses than ever were possessed by Zimmerman, Law, or
Shoenberger, have gone down to the grave "unwept, unhonored, and
unsung," in the Juniata Valley. Neither will the soughing of the west
wind, as it sweeps through the valley, disturb their repose any more
than it will that of the _millionaires_ when resting from "life's
fitful fever" in their splendid mausoleums.
Less than ten years ago a railroad from Huntingdon to Broad Top was
deemed impracticable. Since then, or, we may say, within the last four
years, a substantial railroad has been built, reaching from the borough
of Huntingdon to Hopewell, in Bedford county, a distance of thirty-one
miles; and the cars are now engaged in bringing coal from a region
which, but a few years ago, was unexplored. In addition to the main
track, there is a branch, six miles in length, extending to Shoup's
Run. The coal-field contains eighty square miles of territory; and from
the openings made at Shoup's Run and Six Mile Run semi-bituminous coal
has been taken the quality of which cannot be surpassed by any
coal-fields in the world. Along the line of the road quite a number of
villages have sprung up. The first is Worthington, some thirteen miles
from Huntingdon. The next is Saxton, twenty-six miles from Huntingdon.
Coalmont is the name of a flourishing village growing up on Shoup's
Run, about a mile below the lowest coal-veins yet opened. Barret is
located about two miles farther up; and Broad Top City is located upon
the summit of the mountain, at the terminus of the Shoup's Run Branch,
at which place a large three-story stone hotel has been built, and a
number of lots disposed of, on which purchasers are bound to build
during the summer of 1856.
Less than eight years ago the author of these pages, while on a gunning
expedition, travelled over the ground where Altoona now stands. It was
then almost a barren waste. A few fields, a solitary log farm-house and
its out-buildings, and a school-house, alone relieved the monotony of
the scene; yet now upon this ground stands a town with between three
and four thousand inhabitants, where the scream of the engine is heard
at all hours of the day and night,--where the roar of fires, the clang
of machinery, and the busy hum of industry, never cease from the rising
to the setting of the sun, and where real estate commands a price that
would almost seem fabulous to those not acquainted with the facts. But
of this enough.
Let us now proceed to examine the products of the valley. The lower end
of it is a grain-growing region, the upper an iron-producing country;
and it is owing to the mineral resources alone that the valley
maintains the position it does and boasts of the wealth and population
it now possesses. The Juniata iron has almost a worldwide reputation;
yet we venture to say that many of our own neighbors know little about
the immense amount of capital and labor employed in its manufacture.
The following is a list of the iron establishments in the valley:--
BEDFORD COUNTY.
Name. Location. Owner.
Bloomfield Furnace Middle Woodbury John W. Duncan.
Lemnos Furnace Hopewell John King & Co.
Lemnos Forge Hopewell John King & Co.
Bedford Forge Hopewell John King & Co.
Bedford Foundry
and Machine-shop. Bedford Michael Bannon.
Keagy's Foundry Woodbury Snowden & Blake.
West Providence Foundry Bloody Run George Baughman.
BLAIR COUNTY.
Name. Location. Owner.
Alleghany Furnace Logan township Elias Baker.
Blair Furnace Logan township H.N. Burroughs.
Elizabeth Furnace Antes township Martin Bell.
Bald Eagle Furnace Snyder township Lyon, Shorb & Co.
Etna Furnace and Forge Catharine township Isett, Keller & Co.
Springfield Furnace Woodberry township D. Good & Co.
Rebecca Furnace Houston township E.H. Lytle.
Sarah Furnace Greenfield township D. McCormick.
Gap Furnace Juniata township E.F. Shoenberger.
Frankstown Furnace Frankstown A. & D. Moore.
Harriet Furnace Alleghany township Blair Co. Coal & Iron Co.
Hollidaysburg Furnace Gaysport Watson, White & Co.
Chimney Rock Furnace Hollidaysburg Gardener, Osterloh & Co.
Gaysport Furnace Gaysport Smith & Caldwell.
Portage Works
(rolling-mill, &c.) Duncansville J. Higgins & Co.
Maria Forges (two) Juniata township J.W. Duncan.
Lower Maria Forge Juniata township D. McCormick.
Gap Forge Juniata township Musselman & Co.
Elizabeth Forge Antes township John Bell.
Tyrone Forges (two) Snyder township Lyon, Shorb & Co.
Cove Forge Woodberry township J. Royer.
Franklin Forge Woodberry township D.H. Royer.
Cold Spring Forge Antes township Isett & Co.
Alleghany Forge Alleghany township E.H. Lytle.
Hollidaysburg Foundry
and Machine-shop Hollidaysburg J.R. McFarlane & Co.
Gaysport Foundry and Gaysport McLanahan, Watson & Co.
Machine-shop
Tyrone Foundry Tyrone City J.W. Mattern & Co.
Williamsburg Foundry Williamsburg Loncer & Hileman.
Martinsburg Foundry Martinsburg Crawford & Morrow.
Penn'a Railroad Foundry Altoona Penna. Railroad Co.
Duncansville Foundry Duncansville Mr. Gibboney.
Axe and Pick Factory Alleghany township J. Colclesser.
HUNTINGDON COUNTY.
Name. Location. Owner.
Huntingdon Furnace Franklin township G.K. & J.H. Shoenberger.
Monroe Furnace Jackson township George W. Johnston & Co.
Greenwood Furnace Jackson township A. & J. Wright.
Rough and
Ready Furnace Hopewell township Wood, Watson & Co.
Paradise Furnace Tod township Trexler & Co.
Mill Creek Furnace Brady township Irvin, Green & Co.
Edward Furnace Shirley township Beltzhoover & Co.
Rockhill Furnace Cromwell township Isett, Wigton & Co.
Matilda Furnace
and Forge Springfield township Shiffler & Son.
Coleraine Forges (two) Franklin township Lyon, Shorb & Co.
Stockdale Forge Franklin township John S. Isett.
---- Forge Franklin township G.K. & J.H. Shoenberger
Elizabeth Forge Franklin township Martin Gates's heirs.
Rolling Mill and
Puddling Forge Porter township S. Hatfield & Son.
Juniata Rolling Mill
and Forge West township B. Lorenz, (Lessee.)
Barre Forge Porter township Joseph Green & Co.
Alexandria Foundry J. Grafius.
Water Street Foundry Job Plympton.
Spruce Creek Foundry H.L. Trawly.
Petersburg Foundry H. Orlady.
Huntingdon Foundry J.M. Cunningham & Co.
Shirleysburg Foundry John Lutz.
Eagle Foundry Tod township J. & D. Hamilton.
MIFFLIN COUNTY.
Name. Location. Owner.
Lewistown Furnace Lewistown Etting, Graff & Co.
Hope Furnace Granville township W.W. Happer & Co.
Matilda Furnace Wayne township W. Righter.
Brookland Furnace McVeytown Huntingdon, Robison & Co.
Brookland Rolling Mill McVeytown Huntingdon, Robison & Co.
Freedom Forge Derry township J.A. Wright & Co.
Juniata Foundry
and Machine-shop Lewistown Zeigler & Willis.
Logan Foundry Lewistown A. Marks & Co.
McVeytown Foundry McVeytown Faxon & Co.
Axe Factory Near Reedsville A. Mann.
Plough Foundry Near Reedsville J. & M. Taylor.
In addition to these, there may be some few foundries in Juniata and
Perry counties, but no furnaces or forges in that portion of them which
lies in the valley proper.
It may be as well here to mention that the furnace of Watson, White &
Co. is just completed; the Chimney Rock Furnace will be completed
during the summer of 1856, as well as the furnace of Messrs. Smith &
Caldwell, in Gaysport. These three furnaces follow the discovery of
immense fossil ore-veins immediately back of Hollidaysburg, which are
supposed to extend, in irregular strata, from the river east as far as
the basin extends. In addition to this, in the Loop,--a basin lying
between points of the Cove Mountain, south of Frankstown,--mines
capable of the most prolific yield have also been opened. The ore,
smelted with coke, is said to produce the best iron in market, and
commands a ready sale at excellent prices. From the discoveries
of ore-deposits already made, and those that will follow future
explorations, it is but reasonable to infer that, during the next four
or five years, the number of furnaces will be considerably augmented;
and at this time there is a project on foot for building an extensive
rolling-mill and nail-factory at Hollidaysburg.
The foregoing list of iron establishments numbers seventy-three, (and
we are by no means certain that we have enumerated all,) and employ
some six or seven thousand men, directly or indirectly, and the capital
invested cannot possibly fall far short of five millions of dollars.
And all this vast source of wealth and happiness is drawn from the
bosom of mother earth in a valley a little over a hundred miles in
length. We say it boldly, and challenge contradiction, that the
iron-mines of the Juniata Valley have yielded more clear profit, and
entailed more blessings upon the human family, than ever the same
extent of territory did in the richest diggings of California.
But, great as the valley is, unquestionably half its resources have not
yet been developed. Along the base of the mountain are vast seams of
coal that have never been opened, and forests of the finest timber,
which only await capital and enterprise to show the real extent of our
coal and lumber region. Of the extent of the ore-fields of the valley
no man can form any conception. Time alone can tell. Yet we are not
without hope that ore will be found in such quantities, before the
present generation shall have passed away, as shall make the valley a
second Wales in its iron operations.
From De Bow's Census Compendium of 1850 we copy the following, set down
as an accurate statement of the amount of capital, hands employed, and
amount produced, in all the counties of the valley, by manufactures, in
that year:--
Counties. Capital. Hands employed. Amount produced.
Bedford $ 212,500 427 $ 561,339
Blair 1,065,730 1383 1,385,526
Huntingdon 1,335,525 1218 1,029,860
Mifflin 129,235 300 310,452
Juniata 309,300 182 467,550
Perry 336,992 609 845,360
---------- ---- ----------
Total $3,389,282 4119 $4,600,087
This is manifestly an error; for we are satisfied that more capital and
hands were employed in the iron business alone in 1850, leaving out
Perry county, only a portion of which belongs to the valley proper. The
gatherers of the statistics evidently did not enumerate the
wood-choppers, charcoal-burners, teamsters, ore-diggers, and others,
who labor for furnaces. Yet, granting that the statistics of the
manufactures of the valley, as given in the census report, are correct,
and we deduct a tenth for manufactures other than iron, we are still
correct; for since then new furnaces, forges, and foundries have been
built, the capacity of old ones greatly enlarged, and many that were
standing idle in 1850 are now in successful operation. In Altoona
alone, since then, 600 hands find steady employment in working up the
Juniata iron at the extensive machine-shops and foundries of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
The following shows the population in 1840, and in 1850, together with
the number of dwellings:--
Counties. Pop. in 1840. Pop. in 1850. Dwellings.
Bedford 29,335 23,052 3,896
Blair, (formed out of Huntingdon and Bedford,
1846) -- 21,777 3,718
Huntingdon 35,484 24,786 4,298
Mifflin 13,092 14,980 2,591
Juniata 11,080 13,029 2,168
Perry 17,096 20,088 3,412
------- ------- ------
Total 106,085 117,712 20,083
If we add to Bedford the 7567 inhabitants taken from it to form Fulton
county, we shall find that the population increased 19,192 in the
valley, between 1840 and 1850. This may be rated as an ordinary
increase. To the same increase, between 1850 and 1860, we may add the
extraordinary increase caused by the building of the Pennsylvania and
the Broad Top Railroads, which, we think, will increase the population
to double what it was in 1840 by the time the next census is taken.
The number of dwellings in the valley, it will be observed, amounted,
in 1850, to 20,083. Since then, five hundred buildings have been
erected in Altoona, one hundred and fifty in Tyrone, five hundred in
the towns and villages along the line of the Broad Top Road, a hundred
along the line of the Pennsylvania Road, while the towns of
Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon, McVeytown, Lewistown, Mifflin, and Newport,
and, in fact, all the villages in the valley, have had more or less
buildings erected during the past five years. A corresponding number
erected during the next five years will, we venture to predict, bring
the census return of buildings up to 40,000.
Let it also be remembered that the increase of population between 1840
and 1850 was made when the mania for moving to the West was at its
height; when more people from the Juniata located in Iowa, Wisconsin,
Illinois, and Indiana, than will leave us during the next twenty years,
unless some unforeseen cause should transpire that would start a fresh
tide of western emigration. The fact that many who have taken up their
residences in the Far West would most willingly return, if they could,
has opened the eyes of the people, in a measure; and many have become
convinced that a man who cannot live and enjoy all the comforts of life
on a fine Pennsylvania farm can do little better upon the prairies of
Iowa or the ague-shaking swamps of Indiana. As an evidence that money
may be made at home here by almost any pursuit, attended with
perseverance, we may incidentally mention that a gentleman near
Frankstown, who owns a small farm,--probably one hundred and sixty
acres,--not only kept his family comfortable during the last year, but
netted $1400 clear profit, being half the amount of the original
purchase. Is there a farm of the same size in Iowa that produced to its
owner so large a sum over and above all expenses? But, more than this,
we can safely say, without fear of contradiction, that every acre of
cultivated land in the Juniata Valley has, during the last two years,
netted as much as the same amount of land in the most fertile and
productive Western State in the Union. A large proportion of the people
who have located in the West, actuated by that ruling passion of the
human family--the accumulation of money, (mostly for dissipated heirs
to squander,)--are engaged in speculating in lands. Now, we venture to
say that the increase in the price of some of the lands in the Juniata
Valley will vie with the rapid rise in the value of Western lands; and
we are prepared to maintain our assertions with the proof. Some years
ago a gentleman in Huntingdon county took a tract of timber-land, lying
at the base of the mountain in Blair county, for a debt of some four or
five hundred dollars. The debt was deemed hopelessly bad, and the land
little better than the debt itself. Right willingly would the new owner
have disposed of it for a trifle, but no purchaser could be found. Anon
the railroad was built, and a number of steam saw-mills were erected on
lands adjoining the tract in question, when the owner found a ready
purchaser at $2500 cash. A gentleman in Gaysport, in the summer of
1854, purchased twelve acres of ground back of Hollidaysburg for seven
hundred dollars. This sum he netted by the sale of the timber taken off
it preparatory to breaking it up for cultivation. After owning it just
one year, he disposed of it for $3000! A gentleman in Hollidaysburg, in
the fall of 1854, bought three hundred and eighty acres of ground,
adjoining the Frankstown Ore Bank, for three hundred and eighty
dollars. The undivided half of this land was sold on the 22d of
February, 1856, for $2900, showing an increase in value of about 1400
per cent. in fifteen months; and yet the other half could not be
purchased for $5000. By this the land speculator will see that it is
not necessary for him to go to the Far West to pursue his calling while
real estate rises so rapidly in value at home.
Within a few years past, the Juniata country has been made a summer
resort by a portion of the denizens of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
Pittsburg. From either city it is reached after but a few hours'
travel. The romantic scenery, the invigorating air, and the pure water
of the mountains, are attractions that must eventually outweigh those
of fashionable watering-places, with their customary conventional
restraints. The hotels erected along the line of the Pennsylvania
Railroad are admirably adapted, and have been built with a view to
accommodate city-folks who wish to ruralize during the summer months.
Prominent among them we may mention the Patterson House, kept by
General Bell; the House, kept by Mrs. C. C. Hemphill, at the Lewistown
station; the Keystone Hotel, at Spruce Creek, kept by Colonel R. F.
Haslett; the City Hotel, Tyrone City; the large hotel at Tipton; the
Logan House, in Altoona; the two large hotels lately erected at
Cresson, by Dr. Jackson, (capable of accommodating five hundred
guests;) and Riffle's Mansion House at the Summit. In addition to
these, all the larger towns contain excellent hotels. In short, we may
say that the hotels of the valley, collectively, cannot be surpassed by
country hotels anywhere.
The valley is not without its natural curiosities to attract the
attention of the man of leisure. The Arch Spring and the Cave in
Sinking Valley are probably among the greatest curiosities to be found
in any country. The spring gushes from an opening arched by nature in
such force as to drive a mill, and then sinks into the earth again. The
subterranean passage of the water can be traced for some distance by
pits or openings, when it again emerges, runs along the surface among
rocky hills, until it enters a large cave, having the appearance of an
immense tunnel. This cave has been explored as far as it will
admit--some four hundred feet,--where there is a large room, and where
the water falls into a chasm or vortex, and finds a subterranean
passage through Canoe Mountain, and emerges again at its southern base,
along which it winds down to Water Street and empties into the river.
Another of these subterranean wonders is a run back of Tyrone City,
where it sinks into the base of a limestone ridge, passes beneath a
hill, and makes its appearance again at the edge of the town.
The most remarkable spring, however, is one located on the right bank
of the river, some seven miles below Hollidaysburg. The peculiar
feature about this spring is the fact that it ebbs and flows with the
same regularity the tides do. The admirer of natural curiosities may
arrive at it when it is brimming full or running over with the purest
of limestone water; yet in a short time the water will commence
receding, and within an hour or two the hole in the ground alone
remains. Then a rumbling noise is heard up the hill-side, and soon the
water pours down until the spring is again overflowed.
In the town of Williamsburg, on the property of John K. Neff, Esq.,
there is a remarkable spring. It throws out a volume of water capable
of operating a first-class mill, together with other machinery,
although the distance from the spring to the river does not exceed the
eighth of a mile.
At Spang's Mill, in Blair county, is by far the largest spring in the
upper end of the valley. It has more the appearance of a small
subterranean river breaking out at the hill-side than that of a spring.
It is about three hundred yards long, varying in width from one hundred
to one hundred and fifty feet. The water has a bluish-green tinge, and
is so exceedingly pure that a drop of it placed under a microscope
would show fewer animalculæ than a drop of river-water would after
being filtered. Formerly it contained thousands upon thousands of the
finest brook trout; but of late years the number has been considerably
diminished by the sportsmen who could obtain permission from Mr. Spang
to entice them from their element with the tempting fly. A hundred feet
from what is considered the end of the spring, there is a large
grist-mill driven by its waters, which empty into the eastern reservoir
of the Pennsylvania Canal, after traversing a distance of about three
miles. Within two miles from the head of the spring, its waters furnish
motive-power to two grist-mills, a saw-mill, and four forges.
As a singular circumstance in connection with this subject, we may
mention that, within the memory of some of the older inhabitants, a
considerable stream of water ran through the upper end of Middle
Woodbury township, Bedford county; but the spring at the head of it
gave out, as well as several other springs which fed it, and now
scarcely any traces of it remain.
In facilities for teaching the rising generation the counties composing
the valley are not behind any of their sister counties in the State, as
the Common School Report for 1855 proves.
Ever mindful of the Giver of all good and his manifold mercies to
mankind, the people of the Juniata region have reared fully as many
temples to the worship of Almighty God as the same number of
inhabitants have done in any land where the light of the gospel shines.
The following table, compiled from the census statistics, shows the
number of churches in 1850:--
--------------+-------+-----+----------+-------+-------+-----+-----
SECTS. |Bedford|Blair|Huntingdon|Mifflin|Juniata|Perry|Total
--------------+-------+-----+----------+-------+-------+-----+-----
Baptist | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | | 4 | 21
Christian | | | | | | 1 | 1
Congregational| | | | 1 | | | 1
Episcopal | | | 1 | 2 | | | 3
Free | | | 3 | | | | 3
Friends | 2 | | | | | | 2
German | | | | | | |
Reformed | 7 | 5 | 5 | | | 10 | 27
Lutheran | 14 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 51
Mennonite | | 3 | | | | | 3
Methodist | 10 | 6 | 22 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 67
Moravian | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 7
Presbyterian | 6 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 54
Roman | | | | | | |
Catholic | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | | | 6
Tunker | | 1 | 1 | | | | 2
Union | 5 | | 2 | | 1 | 1 | 9
Minor Sects | | 1 | | 2 | | | 3
--------------+-------+-----+----------+-------+-------+-----+-----
Total | 52 | 42 | 60 | 32 | 27 | 47 | 260
--------------+-------+-----+----------+-------+-------+-----+-----
During the six years that have elapsed since the above statistics were
taken, quite a number of new churches have been erected--probably not
less than twenty. Of this number four have been erected in Altoona and
three in Tyrone City alone.
And now, worthy reader, our voluntarily-assumed task is ended. As we
glance over the pages of our work, we are made painfully aware of the
fact that many of the narratives given are too brief to be very
interesting. This is owing altogether to the fact that we chose to give
unvarnished accounts as we received them, broken and unconnected,
rather than a connected history garnished with drafts from the
imagination. In thus steering clear of the shoals of fiction,--on which
so many historians have wrecked,--we conceive that we have only done
our duty to those who suggested to us this undertaking.
We are strongly impressed with the idea that a history of the early
settlement of the valley should have been written a quarter of a
century ago. Then it might have made a volume replete with all the
stirring incidents of the times, for at that period many of the actors
in the trials and struggles endured were still among us, and could have
given details; while we were compelled to glean our information from
persons on the brink of the grave, whose thoughts dwelt more upon the
future than on the past.
The modern history of the valley will be a subject for the pen of the
historian a quarter of a century hence. We have given him a hint of
some occurrences during the last half century; and for further
particulars, during the next twenty-five years, we would refer him to
the twenty newspapers published in the seven counties, from whose
columns alone he will be able to compile an interesting history,
sparing himself the trouble of searching among books, papers, and old
inhabitants, for incidents that, unfortunately, never were recorded.
The future of the valley no man knoweth. We even tax the Yankee
characteristic in vain when we attempt to guess its future. Many yet
unborn may live to see the fires of forges and furnaces without number
illuminating the rugged mountains, and hear the screams of a thousand
steam-engines. They may live, too, to see the day when population shall
have so increased that the noble stag dare no longer venture down from
the mountain to slake his thirst at the babbling brook, and when the
golden-hued trout, now sporting in every mountain-stream, shall be
extinct. But, before that time, there is reason to believe that the
present generation, including your historian, will have strutted upon
the stage the brief hour allotted to them, performed life's pilgrimage,
and, finally, arrived at
STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO.
PHILADELPHIA.