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Allegheny River

You’re looking at a portion of a map published in 1829, by David H. Burr, of Cattaraugus County (click here for a larger image). It shows that stretch of the Allegeny river as it passes from Pennsylvania into New York, then back into Pennsylvanian again before eventually joining the Ohio River. At this time very few Europeans live in the area shown—the town of Olean, towards the lower right, is about the only settlement of consequence. But already the county has been surveyed into numbered townships, each divided into sections. Smaller subdivisions of the sections correlate with larger populations, like those seen near Olean. 

Along the river is land marked “Allegeny Reservation.” Its creation dates back to the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797, when the Seneca Nation had been forced to cede lands following the Revolutionary War and in the face of continuing colonization. The Allegeny Reservation in 1829 encompasses about 30,000 acres of land; Burr’s map notes the location of one Seneca settlement at the place marked “Indian Village,” better known as “Deonagano” (Cold Springs). Just downstream from that is marked “Friends Settlement,” also known as Quaker Run, which was settled by missionaries in 1798 who lived in comparative harmony with the Seneca.

But this isn’t just a story about the past, because the Allegany Indian Territories (AIT) still exist today...except less of them. In 1965 the US Army Corps of Engineers began operation of the Kinzua Dam in Pennsylvania for the purpose of reducing floods and generating electricity. It also inundated 10,000 acres of Seneca land including 700 nation members. The site of Quaker Run now is known as Quaker Lake. Burr’s map is approaching two hundred years old, but the history it embodies is hard to contain in the past.

FROM THE GAZETTEER: "The Allegany River enters the State from the S. in the S.E. corner of Cattaraugus co., flows in nearly a semicircle, with its outward curve toward the N., and flows out of the State in the S.W. part of the same co. It receives several tributaries from the N. and E. These streams mostly flow in deep ravines bordered by steep, rocky hillsides. The watershed between this basin and Lake Erie approaches within a few miles of the lake, and is elevated 800 to 1,000 feet above it....For many years a large share of Western emigration was by way of the Allegany River and Pittsburgh; and, being at the head of boat navigation upon the river, Olean speedily became a place of importance. Upon the completion of the Erie Canal travel was diverted from this route and improvements advanced very slowly. The completion of the N. Y. & Erie R. R. gave a new impulse to enterprise and industry ; and the co. is now rapidly progressing in all the elements of wealth and civilization....The Genesee Valley Canal extends from Rochester up the Genesee Valley to Olean upon the Allegany. The summit level is 978 ft. above Rochester and 86 ft. above the Allegany River, at Olean, and from it 97 locks descend toward the N. and 9 toward the S." (French 62, 186-187). Major tributaries: Conewango Creek, Cassadaga Creek, Olean Creek. Major lakes: Allegheney Reservoir, Chautauqua Lake. Highest Point: Alma Hill (2,546 ft). Area: 1,920 square miles within New York state.

Four Girls.jpg

The Four Girls

"Pansy" [Isabella Macdonald Alden], Four Girls at Chautaqua (1876)

Born in Rochester, NY, Alden was encouraged in her writing at an early age and highly educated. Her primary subject matter was the moral instruction of young people—she wrote more than 75 Sunday School books and was herself a teacher—sometimes also publishing novels with a temperance theme. This excerpt comes from a wildly popular book focused upon the Chautauqua movement, which followed in a tradition of religious revivalism in America and created educational and social gatherings for primarily rural communities. Dozens of such assemblies were active at the height of the movement, all of them owing their genesis (and their name) to the first one on Lake Chatauqua in 1874. In this passage, Alden creates an ecstatic description of place as seen through the eyes of a young woman who has just experienced salvation.

Sunday morning at Chautauqua! None of all the many hundreds who spent the day within the shadow of that sweet and leafy place have surely forgotten how the quaint and quiet beauty of the place and its surroundings fell upon them; they know just how the birds sang among those tall old trees; they know just how still and blue and clear the lake looked as they caught glimpses of it through the quivering green of myriad leaves; they know just how clearly the Chautauqua bells cut the air and called to the worship. It needs not even these few words to recall the place in its beauty to the hearts of those who worshiped there that day; and for you who did not see it nor feel its power there is no use to try to describe Chautauqua. Only this, it is a place to love and look back to with a sort of sweet and tender longing all your lives.

Our girls felt somewhat of the sacredness of the place; at least they went around with a more decided feeling that it was Sunday than they had ever realized before. Three of them did.

To Flossy this day was like the revelation of a new heaven and a new earth. Her first Sunday in Christ!

There was no sunshine, neither was there rain. Just a hush of all things, and sweetness everywhere. (264-265)

Matthews, Northrup & Co., Lake Chautauqua (1885). Here's another way to make sense of the Chautauqua movement. The bird's eye view map here was created during a time when they were very popular in America, during the last couple decades of the 1800s. This is a very high-end version of one: it uses color lithography and incorporates a lot of artistic touches in its execution. The costs of creating and printing such a document presupposes investment by local merchants, buyers willing to purchase them, or both. We're located at the northwest corner of the lake, with the Chautauqua Institution in the foreground. Why is the lithograph organized this way? You'll notice that other points on the lake are captioned, as well, perhaps testifying to a broader resort scene with the Institution at its center. How did people arrive here, and why are those modes of transportation depicted (and labeled) so prominently? You can view a larger version of this map by clicking on this link.

Works Consulted

—Burr, David H. "Map of the County of Cattaraugus." 1829.

—Ellis, Franklin, and Eugene Arns Nash. History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. L.H. Everts, 1879.

—French, J.H. Gazetteer of the State of New York : embracing a comprehensive view of the geography, geology, and general history of the state, and a complete history and description of every county, city, town, village and locality, with full tables of statistics. R.P. Smith, 1860.

—New York. Department of Environmental Conservation. Allegheny River Watershed.

—Pansy [Elizabeth Macdonald Alden]. Four Girls at Chautauqua. Lothrop Publishing Company, 1876.