Borough of Etna - Centennial Festivities Yearbook (Etna, PA)

Page 17 text:

RWEl1!ll!tEIl'!,'Wff Ufm!IE 7 'mn' M... .T T. . ,t , K I ff --n - ---1-H nr . ,4, HISTORY NATURAL ENVIRONMENT The Borough of Etna is located where Pine Creek flows into the Allegheny River. On the replica of the area taken from the Warranty Atlas of Allegheny County, 1912, Pine Creek and its tributaries can be traced. The mouth of this creek is seven miles north- east of the confluence of the Allegheny and Mononga- hela Rivers to form the Ohio. Pioneers used bodies of water as a point of reference in designating bounda- ries for Indian treaties, surveys and routes of travel, as well as for transportation and water power. Etna was located on a crossing of Indian paths. Here the trail of the Iroquois conquerors coming from the north along the present Butler Road met the east-west trail of the subject Delawares and Shawnees which was called the Kittanning or Frankstown Path. Along the north-south trails are found many black flint arrowheads. The east-west trails and this south- ern area abounds in the lighter gray flint. Traders followed the Indian paths to their custom- ers. George Croghan is the first trader of record as having established a permanent post at Pine Creek. An Irishman from Dublin, but an Episcopalian, Cro- ghan came to Pennsylvania in 174-I and soon there- after established himself at the parting of the paths at what is today Ebensburg. There the northern trail flfoute 9954221 and the southern or Raystown Path fRoute 5692225 divergedg the former led to the Kittan- ning Indian center and the latter to Shannopin's Town fHeinz Plant, Northsidej and down the Ohio to the Indian capital of Logstown fAmbridge areal and westward 'to Pickawillany fPiqua, Ohiol on the Miami River. Trade goods were carried by pack saddle from Harris, Ferry to his western headquarters at Pine Creek. Here the King of the Traders had a number of log buildings, a boat yard and cleared and fenced fields for raising corn and pasturing his pack horses. He traded at Venango fFranklinj in competition wi'h the gunsmith-trader John Fraser from Virginia whose headquarters was at Turtle Creek. Croghan was used as an agent of the Pennsylvania government to reward the western Indians for blocking the French influence until he saw that more was to be gained from that support than from the Quaker controlled Assembly which was definitely interested in trade but not in voting funds for military protection. In April of 1748 he was sent to Logstown 'to deliver presents to the Delawares, Shawnee, Iroquois and Wyandot. This led to the first Treaty of Logstown whereby the Indians recognized the English influence as paramount, especially that of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's leadership in this western region passed to Virginia with the chartering of the Ohio Company. Its purpose was to develop land from the Kiskiminetas to the Kanawha. They soon learned of the French plan to fortify the region from Presque Isle to The Forks along La Belle Riviere. They named it, Beautiful River, because of their association with the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois, in whose tongue it is O-he-yue or Beautiful River. Marquis Duquesne, Governor of New France fCanadal planned a string of forts to The Forks by I754. Land speculators of the Ohio Company were alarmed. Governor Dinwiddie, Williamsburg, Virginia, sum- moned a half brother of two of the investors to carry a warning to the French to leave. George Washington, half brother of Lawrence and Arthur Washington, was to be Indian emissary, spy and messenger to the French somewhere on La Belle Riviere. He was dis- patched to Willis' Creek fCumberland, lVId.J where he would meet Christopher Gist, who would pilot the mission. Washington and Gist delivered the letter and finally received a reply. The French supplied the Indians with liquor and the snow grew deeper so as to render the way impassable for the weary horses. Gist and Washington took off by foot from Venango the nearest way to the Allegheny. They came by way of Pine Creek Valley to the Allegheny. Near the present Wash- ington Crossing Bridge they built a raft with Hone miserable hatchetw and started across only to be thrown into the water. After spending the night on an island, the next day, January I, 1754-, they made their way to Turtle Creek, post of John Fraser. French control over the area was checked by the English in November of 1758. The expedition of General John Forbes against Fort Duquesne routed the French. The Indians were not easily disposed of. The Conspiracy of Pontiac in I763 was a perilous time for infant Fort Pitt and all northern regions. Settlers were not safe on the north bank of the Allegheny until after General Anthony Wayne's defeat of the Indians at Fallen Timbers, I794, and the resultant Treaty of Greenville, Ohio, in 1795. I3 I ' ...t.a..,..' T

Page 16 text:

-Gir w -. you 'TT' , X 1 FIRST ROW: J, Ruby, M. Vulakovich, L, Lyons. SECOND ROW: R. Harris, K. Hughes, C. Plesco. THIRD ROW: R. Sheets. KNEELINC' E 'Nliclnclis A. Kfrlu-rl U KIl.Il1'I' I '41-If POLI iv CHIEF J. DRAGANAC ly. . . A L , , . 1 . .. . I lllgl, II, I'u-Ill:-r, Orvsir. H'l X'VIlINCf VV. Floral, A. Kl.l4IIlw4'll, II. Wfllnm-xx, H. I.ilvri1-lx, T. 'IMII1-x' f 1 B Un I2 I. NI-tzgvr. W. Ffggfflglr, M. Olejarcz. .

Page 18 text:

LAND POLICY Settlers did not always wait for the land to be pur- chased from the Indians or for survey to be made. As early as 1780 the Pennsylvania Assembly had set aside the Donation and Depreciation Lands for the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Line in the Revolutionary War. Provision had been made for issuing to the soldiers certificates of depreciation equivalent to the amount represented by the drop in purchasing power of their pay. These certificates could only be used in the purchase of land in a tract reserved north and west of the Ohio and Allegheny and south of a line drawn due west from the mouth of Mahoning Creek where it enters the Allegheny above Templeton. Names of the surveyors were attached to their districts. The mouth of Pine Creek marks the division between Cunningham's Survey 41515 which extends northeasterly to Bull Creek and that of Jones 414 to the west. Survey preceded legal claim to land but many squatters had prior right to purchase in a given time. Some X - , ,ff of the land owners listed for the Etna district in the Warranty Atlas of Allegheny County are: Edward Bartholomew, Thomas Bradford, Paul Zantzinger, George Wallace, and John Wilkins, Sr. Original owners received patents. Later ones have deeds. The Wilkins family is prominent among those receiving patents. John Wilkins, Sr. was issued War- rant Number 9 on Feb. 1, 1794-, for land in what is now the heart of Etna. This was patented to John Wilkins, Jr. in Aug. 30, 1799, a plot of 309 acres and twenty-seven perches called Newberry, By law all patents received a name. Cabbage Hill was named Dodridge. lts warrant was granted to George Wal- lace on Feb. 1, 1794. The survey was entered on Oct. 28, 1794-. However, it was patented to John Wilkins, Jr. on Aug. 30, 1799. A major. portion of Etna is within the warrant issued to Edward Bartholomew. The survey was made on July 1, 1785, and the patent was issued to Robert Buntin as Willybrook.', A115, sffcfagffets on-1554 of 7 fli' ys l ALLEGHEMW cis ffm 5 PA UL, 1 ZANTZI GER 7 v ' .W e - L 2 0 M3105 r li: ' Th f gag, ' aealiffgir 4..,s,57ff'e Y 1 fp. r: , .1 1 I- 7-V -ix., if' Y im f'-- ----H --AY H .. .Y iw, ,L -NA X- I 'I . X ,Q f -+l x 7 1 N- uf L. .N ,'-1 X gi , W '- t ' 'Q5fAN'yf-,LAT Xll f, L- lfjpfi-.Q p t A jg, A gpffjf 7 I Vfgiyl -Q---as Lew ,L ,W W ' -J 5 C 5 f ag s rr are ,C I J, ' ,felt ,.f-,. , ,' t '-'N ll? fi J l ' fl QD A 1 f ci' f' fbi: F g if ie'-fe +9-A N , s..Ta,g L, .ma ' J! J ii r ...ll . F Y gl'-jv I I X A Vfflffr if l - .. X 1 ft If ' 1 l l Ji- ' 7 limi !iglhf'7P-Z at .f 7 .,,f, VAX ,, .,--a - . , as V, X ',,,,,.,.f I ,f ' -V hlfll' ,MZTIIW X , '7'J ' . .,. K, 4 . ff X 'ff I4 f f , 14 ,-ff fv t J r N 6