Misplaced Pages

#750249

116-534: The West Branch, which is 243 miles (391 km) long, is entirely within the state of Pennsylvania , draining a large mountainous area within the Allegheny Plateau in the western part of the state. Along most of its course it meanders past mountain ridges and through water gaps , forming a large zigzag arc through central Pennsylvania around the north end of the Allegheny Mountains . In colonial times,

232-548: A genteel French woman, albeit one in Indian dress. Elizabeth (or Élisabeth) Couc apparently also used the name of Isabelle, the French form of Elizabeth; the two names were then interchangeable. Historian Alison Duncan Hirsch uncovered a record from 1711 that lists payments to "Eysabelle Montour interpretress", the only known reference to Montour's first name in an English document. Isabelle Couc presumably had an Algonquin name too, but it

348-981: A Farmer in Pennsylvania, To the Inhabitants of the British Colonies , which were published in the Pennsylvania Chronicle between December 2, 1767, and February 15, 1768. When the Founding Fathers convened in Philadelphia in 1774, 12 colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress . The Second Continental Congress , which began in May 1775, authored and signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, but when Philadelphia fell to

464-589: A French father. She said that she had been captured by the Iroquois about fifty years earlier (i.e. around 1694), when she was about ten years old, and that she did not remember much about her parents. She had been adopted and raised by the Iroquois, she said. She eventually married Carondawana, an Oneida war chief, with whom she had several children before his death in battle in 1729. In 1974, historian William A. Hunter tentatively identified Madame Montour as Elizabeth Couc,

580-575: A Sokoki (Western Abenaki ) woman. If Montour was born in 1685, her birth apparently went unrecorded, and her first name is uncertain. Her given name has also been represented as Catherine, Elisabeth/Isabelle, and Madeleine. As pieced together by Hirsch, Madame Montour was Isabelle Couc and led an eventful life before beginning her career in New York as an interpreter for the British. In 1684, Couc married Joachim Germano, with whom she had at least one child. By

696-723: A century, the Pennsylvania General Assembly met at various places in the Philadelphia area before it began meeting regularly in Independence Hall in Philadelphia for 63 years. However, events such as the Paxton Boys massacres of 1763 had made the legislature aware of the need for a central capital. In 1799, the General Assembly moved to the Lancaster Courthouse. The Pennsylvania General Assembly met in

812-596: A council in Philadelphia between Governor Patrick Gordon and an Iroquois group. Madame Montour and Carondawana had a close relationship with Shikellamy , a noted Oneida diplomat who benefited from the couple's cultural and linguistic expertise. In 1729, Carondawana was killed fighting against the southern Catawba , traditional foes of the Iroquois. After her husband's death, Montour was gradually excluded from Pennsylvania diplomacy by Shikellamy and his colonial associate Conrad Weiser , who wanted to keep tight control of

928-625: A governor of New France. By 1745, she had left Otstonwakin and was living with her son Andrew on an island in the Susquehanna River near the Native village of Shamokin , which was settled by Delaware, Oneida and Siouan -speaking Tutelo. In March 1746, Andrew took her west, across the Appalachian Mountains to Logstown on the Ohio River . She was reportedly going blind by that time. This

1044-512: A grant that incorporated all lands included in the original Virginia Company of Plymouth Grant and other lands. This grant was in conflict with the Dutch claim for New Netherland , which included parts of today's Pennsylvania. On June 24, 1664, the Duke of York sold the portion of his large grant that included present-day New Jersey to John Berkeley and George Carteret for a proprietary colony. The land

1160-451: A heavy snowstorm, presumably because of a faulty flue . The General Assembly met at a nearby Methodist Church until a new capitol could be built. Following an architectural selection contest, Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb was asked to design and build a replacement building. However, the legislature had little money to allocate to the project. When they dubbed the roughly finished, somewhat industrial Cobb Capitol building complete,

1276-457: A leader in technology and healthcare. Similarly, Philadelphia has a concentration of university expertise. Healthcare, retail, transportation, and tourism are some of the state's growing industries of the postindustrial era. As in the rest of the nation, most residential population growth has occurred in suburban rather than central city areas, although both major cities have had significant revitalization in their downtown areas. Philadelphia anchors

SECTION 10

#1732844123751

1392-405: A mixed born in 1667 near Trois-Rivières , New France , in what is now Quebec , Canada. Elizabeth (also known as Isabelle, which was used interchangeably in French at the time) Couc was one of five children recorded for Pierre Couc dit Lafleur (1627–1690), a French-born fur trader and interpreter, and Marie Miteoamegoukoué (1631–1699), a Christian Algonquin woman. Hunter conceded that some of

1508-464: A threat. In 1709, during Queen Anne's War , Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire and his men assassinated Louis Montour on orders from Governor Vaudreuil . After Louis Montour's murder, Madame Montour emerged as his successor, identified as Mountour's sister and benefiting from some of the trust accorded to him. Although she evidently could not read or write, she was valuable as an interpreter, able to speak French, English, and several languages in both

1624-639: A vital and historic role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire , hosting the First and Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia , which formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander in 1775, and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania

1740-827: Is in Duncannon in Perry County . According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report , there were an estimated 12,691 homeless people in Pennsylvania. Among Pennsylvania residents, as of 2020, nearly three out of four, 74.5%, are native to the state and were born in Pennsylvania, 18.4% were born in a different U.S. state, 1.5% were born in Puerto Rico , U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parent(s), and 5.6% were foreign born. Foreign-born Pennsylvanians are largely from Asia (36.0%), Europe (35.9%), and Latin America (30.6%) with

1856-484: Is known about him. He served as a messenger, and was reportedly killed in the French and Indian War. Montour's daughter or niece, Margaret, sometimes known as "French Margaret", became the leader of French Margaret's Town, an Indian settlement at the mouth of Lycoming Creek a few miles up the West Branch Susquehanna River from Montour's village. Margaret Montour's daughter Catharine Montour also became

1972-464: Is the fifth-most populated state in the U.S. after California , Texas , Florida , and New York . In 2019, net migration to other states resulted in a decrease of 27,718, and immigration from other countries resulted in an increase of 127,007. Net migration to Pennsylvania was 98,289. Migration of native Pennsylvanians resulted in a decrease of 100,000 people. 7.2% of the population was foreign-born as of 2021. Pennsylvania's center of population

2088-471: Is the southeastern Delaware Valley , which includes and surrounds Philadelphia, the state's largest and nation's sixth-most populous city. The second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh , is centered in and around Pittsburgh , the state's second-largest city. The state's subsequent five most populous cities are Allentown , Reading , Erie , Scranton , and Bethlehem . Pennsylvania's history of human habitation extends thousands of years before

2204-413: Is unknown. Parmenter and Hagedorn are among contemporary historian who have argued that Madame Montour was not Isabelle Couc, but rather her niece. According to this interpretation, Montour was born in an Indian village near modern Sorel, Quebec , around 1685, a year consistent with the story that she told Marshe. Her parents were Louis Couc Montour , who was the brother of Isabelle Couc, and Madeleine,

2320-535: The Algonquian and Iroquoian families . With family connections throughout the region, she was also an ideal cultural intermediary. According to historian Jon Parmenter, Madame Montour's role as a "behind the scenes" consultant was even more important than her work as an interpreter. When Robert Hunter became governor of New York in 1710, Montour became his personal interpreter and one of his most trusted advisers. They communicated in French. Her husband Carondawana took

2436-764: The British in the Philadelphia campaign , the Continental Congress moved west, where it met at the Lancaster courthouse on Saturday, September 27, 1777, and then to York . In York, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation , largely authored by Pennsylvania delegate John Dickinson, that formed 13 independent States into a new union. Later, the Constitution was written, and Philadelphia

SECTION 20

#1732844123751

2552-758: The Delaware River in the east and the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania. The second tribe, the Susquehannock , spoke an Iroquoian language and were based in Western Pennsylvania from New York state in the north to West Virginia in the southwest, including the Susquehanna, Allegheny , and Monongahela rivers near present-day Pittsburgh . European disease and constant warfare with several neighboring tribes and groups of Europeans weakened these two tribes, and they were grossly outpaced financially as

2668-482: The Delaware River to the east, 80°31' W to the west, and the 42° N to the north, except for a short segment on the western end where a triangle extends north to Lake Erie . The state has five geographical regions: Allegheny Plateau , Ridge and Valley , Atlantic Coastal Plain , Piedmont , and Erie Plain . Pennsylvania's diverse topography produces a variety of climates, though the entire state experiences cold winters and humid summers. Straddling two major zones,

2784-516: The Dominican Republic , China , Mexico , and Vietnam . Madame Montour Madame Montour (1667 or c. 1685 – c. 1753) was an interpreter, diplomat, and local leader of Algonquin and French Canadian ancestry. Although she was well known, her contemporaries usually referred to her only as " Madame " or " Mrs. " Montour. She may have been Isabelle (or Elizabeth) Couc, a mixed-race woman born in 1667, or perhaps Isabelle Couc's niece, who

2900-561: The French and Indian War . He was granted 880 acres (3.6 km ) of land by Pennsylvania in the Montoursville area. He left Montoursville at some point and moved to what now is Juniata County before finally settling on Montour's Island in the Ohio River near Pittsburgh . She may have had another son, Lewis (or Louis) Montour, whose Indian name was apparently Tau-weson or Tan Weson. He may have been her nephew rather than her son. Little

3016-786: The Hurons and Iroquois blocked them from proceeding west into Ohio during the Beaver Wars . As they lost numbers and land, the Hurons abandoned much of their western territory and moved closer to the Susquehanna River, and the Iroquois and Mohawk tribes moved further north. Northwest of the Allegheny River was the Iroquoian Petun , who were fragmented into three groups during the Beaver Wars:

3132-848: The Northeast megalopolis and is associated with the Northeastern United States . Pittsburgh is part of the Great Lakes megalopolis and is often associated with the Rust Belt . During the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States , the small town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania , received worldwide attention after United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township , located 1.75 miles (2.82 km) north of

3248-506: The Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln . Control of the machine was subsequently passed on to Cameron's son J. Donald Cameron , whose ineffectiveness resulted in a transfer of power to the more shrewd Matthew Quay and finally to Boies Penrose . The post-Civil War era, known as the Gilded Age , saw the continued rise of industry in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was home to some of

3364-765: The Spanish–American War . Pennsylvania was an important industrial center in World War I , and the state provided over 300,000 soldiers for the military. On May 31, 1918, the Pittsburgh Agreement was signed in Pittsburgh to declare the formation of the independent state of Czechoslovakia with future Czechoslovak president Tomáš Masaryk . In 1922, 310,000 Pennsylvania miners joined the UMW General coal strike , which lasted 163 days and shut down most coal mines within

3480-529: The Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768, opening what is now Lycoming County to settlement. However, the Line of Property (or Purchase Line ) border defined by "Tiadaghton Creek" dividing colonial and Native American lands was disputed. The colonists claimed this was Pine Creek , the Iroquois and other tribes Lycoming Creek . The area between Pine and Lycoming creeks was disputed territory. The illegal settlers there were part of

3596-702: The United States . Pennsylvania has 51 miles (82 km) of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles (92 km) of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary . Of the original Thirteen Colonies , Pennsylvania is the only state that does not border the Atlantic Ocean . The boundaries of the state are the Mason–Dixon line (39°43' N) to the south, Twelve-Mile Circle on the Pennsylvania- Delaware border,

West Branch Susquehanna River - Misplaced Pages Continue

3712-460: The United States . It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie . Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn ,

3828-594: The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia . The university, one of nine colonial colleges , was the first college established in Pennsylvania and one of the first in the nation. Today, it is an Ivy League university, which is routinely ranked among the world's best universities. Dickinson College in Carlisle , founded by Benjamin Rush and named after John Dickinson, was the first college founded after Revolutionary War and

3944-603: The county commission and freedom of religion , which were subsequently replicated in many of the Thirteen Colonies . What had been Upland on the Pennsylvania side of the Pennsylvania-Delaware border was renamed Chester County when Pennsylvania instituted its colonial governments on March 4, 1681. Penn signed a peace treaty with Tamanend , leader of the Lenape, which began a long period of friendly relations between

4060-502: The seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, and Pittsburgh is the center of the nation's 27th-largest metropolitan areas. As of 2020, the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania is the nation's 69th-largest metropolitan area. Pennsylvania also has six additional metropolitan areas that rank among the nation's 200-most populous metropolitan areas. Philadelphia forms part of

4176-479: The " Big Runaway " occurred throughout the West Branch Susquehanna valley. Settlers fled feared and actual attacks by the British and their allies. Homes and fields were abandoned, with livestock driven along and a few possessions floated on rafts on the river east to Muncy , then further south to Sunbury . The abandoned property was burnt by the attackers. Some settlers soon returned, only to flee again in

4292-535: The " Fair Play Men " system of self-government, with their own Declaration of Independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. In the American Revolutionary War , settlements throughout the Susquehanna valley were attacked by Loyalists and Native Americans allied with the British. After the Wyoming Valley battle and massacre in the summer of 1778 (near what is now Wilkes-Barre ) and smaller local attacks,

4408-673: The 15th U.S. president and was the first president to be born in Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg , the major turning point of the American Civil War , took place near Gettysburg in July 1863. An estimated 350,000 Pennsylvanians served in the Union Army forces, including 8,600 African American military volunteers . The politics of Pennsylvania were for decades dominated by the financially conservative Republican -aligned Cameron machine , established by U.S. Senator Simon Cameron , later

4524-512: The 1690s she was living in Michilimakinac (present-day Michigan) with two of her sisters and their husbands, who worked as interpreters in the fur trading center. Isabelle may also have worked as an interpreter for Sieur de Cadillac , the local French commander. Cadillac would later claim that Isabelle led a "dissolute life", and had more than one hundred male lovers; some historians attribute his vitriol to some personal bias. When Cadillac moved

4640-501: The 1690s, where he worked as a fur trader. After King William's War ended, he began to facilitate trade between western Algonquians and merchants in Albany, New York . He accompanied the "Far Indians" to Albany. This lucrative enterprise diverted profits from New France to New York, and promoted diplomatic ties between the Iroquois and the western nations. Officials in New France saw this as

4756-537: The 45th President of the United States Donald Trump occurred. Pennsylvania is 170 miles (274 km) north to south and 283 miles (455 km) east to west. Of a total 46,055 square miles (119,282 km ), 44,817 square miles (116,075 km ) are land, 490 square miles (1,269 km ) are inland waters, and 749 square miles (1,940 km ) are waters in Lake Erie . It is the 33rd-largest state in

West Branch Susquehanna River - Misplaced Pages Continue

4872-428: The 48 states. The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard served as an important naval base, and Pennsylvania produced important military leaders, including George C. Marshall , Hap Arnold , Jacob Devers , and Carl Spaatz . During the war, over a million Pennsylvanians served in the armed forces, and more Medals of Honor were awarded to Pennsylvanians than to individuals from any other state. The Three Mile Island accident

4988-507: The Americas began, at least two major Native American tribes inhabited Pennsylvania. The first, the Lenape , spoke an Algonquian language and inhabited the eastern region of the state, then known as Lenapehoking . It included most of present-day New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley and Delaware Valley regions in eastern and southeastern Pennsylvania. The Lenape's territory ended somewhere between

5104-543: The Dutch began settling the Delmarva Peninsula by establishing the Zwaanendael Colony on the site of present-day Lewes, Delaware . In 1638, Sweden established the New Sweden Colony in the region of Fort Christina on the site of present-day Wilmington, Delaware . New Sweden claimed and, for the most part, controlled the lower Delaware River region, including parts of present-day Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, but settled few colonists there. On March 12, 1664, King Charles II of England gave James, Duke of York

5220-559: The English name "Robert Hunter" to honor the governor. He became "king" of the Algonquian-speaking Shawnee in Pennsylvania in 1714, and traveled between there and New York with Madame Montour for years, strengthening connections between them and the Iroquois. Although Madame Montour served as an interpreter through the 1710s, there are few records of her activities at this time. In 1719, she petitioned New York for back pay, although with Governor Hunter's departure in 1720, she may not have received it. According to historian Alison Duncan Hirsch,

5336-493: The French garrison to Fort Detroit in 1701, Isabelle evidently relocated there with her new husband, Pierre Tichenet. She became involved with Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont ; when he deserted the fort in 1706, she fled with him. Her experience in the northwest territory gave her more exposure to a variety of Algonquian and Iroquois languages, increasing her facility in each. Perhaps around 1708, Montour married an Oneida war captain named Carondawana. (If Madame Montour

5452-427: The General Assembly refused to occupy the building. In 1901, political and popular indignation prompted a second contest that was restricted to Pennsylvania architects; Joseph Miller Huston of Philadelphia was chosen to design the present Pennsylvania State Capitol that incorporated Cobb's building into a magnificent public work, finished and dedicated in 1907. James Buchanan , a Franklin County native, served as

5568-452: The Moravian Church, visited Otstonwakin in 1742 on his journey to Onondaga , the Iroquois capital in western New York. He delivered a sermon in French, during which Montour reportedly wept. Montour asked Zinzendorf to baptize two Indian children, but he declined, explaining that the Moravians did not perform baptisms in a village without first establishing a mission there. "She left me displeased", wrote Zinzendorf. In 1744, Montour attended

5684-409: The Netherlands confirmed the English conquest on July 21, 1667, although there were temporary reversions. On September 12, 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , the Dutch reconquered New York Colony / New Amsterdam , establishing three County Courts, which went on to become original Counties in present-day Delaware and Pennsylvania. The one that later transferred to Pennsylvania was Upland. This

5800-439: The Petun of New York, the Wyandot of Ohio, and the Tiontatecaga of the Kanawha River in southern West Virginia. South of the Allegheny River was a nation known as Calicua, which may have been part of the Monongahela culture . In the 17th century, the Dutch and the English each claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their colonial lands in America. The Dutch were the first to take possession. By June 3, 1631,

5916-563: The Quakers and the Indians. Additional treaties between Quakers and other tribes followed. The Treaty of Shackamaxon of William Penn was never violated. Between 1730 and when the Pennsylvania Colony was shut down by Parliament with the Currency Act in 1764, the Pennsylvania Colony made its own paper money to account for the shortage of actual gold and silver. The paper money was called Colonial Scrip . The Colony issued bills of credit, which were as good as gold or silver coins because of their legal tender status. Since they were issued by

SECTION 50

#1732844123751

6032-415: The West Branch were vital hunting grounds and agricultural lands for Native Americans . During Pennsylvania's great lumbering era, the most significant log drive was conveyed on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The Susquehanna's West Branch Canal Division further shaped the corridor, linking towns and villages and providing vital opportunities for commerce. Finally, railroads in the corridor fused

6148-404: The attacking British forces to burn it down, Fort Antes was one of only two structures in the valley to survive the Big Runaway. The Susquehanna Boom was a system of cribs in the West Branch Susquehanna River designed to hold timber in the river until it could be processed at one of the nearly 60 sawmills along the river between Lycoming and Loyalsock creeks in Lycoming County . The boom

6264-430: The bank of the river. During the height of the lumber industry in Lycoming County, 1861–1891, the various mills produced 5.5 billion board feet (13 million m) of lumber. Williamsport became one of the most prosperous cities in Pennsylvania and in the United States. Men like James H. Perkins, Peter Herdic , and Mahlon Fisher became millionaires while many of the men who actually worked in the river struggled to survive on

6380-415: The borough of Carrolltown . It flows generally north, crossing the eastern corner of Indiana County at Cherry Tree , then into southern Clearfield County . Near Mahaffey it turns generally northeast and flows past Curwensville and Clearfield . In northern Clinton County it turns to the southeast to Lock Haven . At Lock Haven, it turns east, flowing through the West Branch Susquehanna Valley along

6496-429: The city's population as of 2000. In the 20th century, as Pennsylvania's historical national and even global leadership in mining largely ceased and its steelmaking and other heavy manufacturing sectors slowed, the state sought to grow its service and other industries to replace the jobs and economic productivity lost from the downturn of these industries. Pittsburgh's concentration of universities has enabled it to be

6612-443: The conference for the treaty of Lancaster , where she told her story to Witham Marshe, as described above. Marshe, like others, thought that Montour was a French woman captured by and raised among the Indians, rather than a métis of partial French ancestry. Historian Alison Duncan Hirsch has argued that the captivity story Montour told to Marshe was a fiction she created to reinvent herself in Pennsylvania, claiming her father had been

6728-420: The development of labor unions helped them gain living wages. However, the rise of unions also led to a rise of union busting with several private police forces springing up. Pennsylvania was the location of the first documented organized strike in North America, and Pennsylvania was the location of two hugely prominent strikes, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Coal Strike of 1902 . The eight-hour day

6844-432: The earliest known signs of human activity in Pennsylvania and perhaps all of North America, including the remains of a civilization that existed over 10,000 years ago and possibly pre-dated the Clovis culture . By 1000 CE, in contrast to their nomadic hunter-gatherer ancestors , the native population of Pennsylvania had developed agricultural techniques and a mixed food economy. By the time European colonization of

6960-410: The early 18th century. The lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley were then chiefly occupied by the Munsee phratry of the Lenape (or Delaware) people and were under the nominal control of the Five (later Six) Nations of the Iroquois . Madame Montour 's village of Otstonwakin or Ostuagy was a vitally important location during the settlement of what is now Lycoming County. Her village at

7076-416: The early 19th century the river provided the principal canoe route across the Alleghenies connecting the Susquehanna and Ohio valleys, with a portage at Cherry Tree to Blacklick Creek , a tributary of the Conemaugh River . In the late 18th century, Cherry Tree marked the frontier between the Pennsylvania Colony and the Shawnee and Lenape lands to the west as specified by treaty. The lands along

SECTION 60

#1732844123751

7192-492: The east bank after the American Revolutionary War. Montour's son Andrew Montour also became an important interpreter in Pennsylvania and Virginia, as did his son John Montour . Some of Montour's female relatives were prominent local leaders in New York and Pennsylvania, and have often been confused with her by historians. There has been confusion about details of Madame Montour's life. She has often been confounded with her female relatives, particularly Catharine Montour , who

7308-443: The evidence connecting Madame Montour with Elizabeth Couc was "vague and contradictory". He accepted that Montour had been captured by an Iroquois war party around 1695, but if she was Elizabeth Couc, she was much older than ten at the time. Hirsch and Sivertsen have explained the discrepancies by suggesting that Montour was deliberately vague about her past; this allowed her to present a different account of herself in Pennsylvania as

7424-417: The fifth and currently the sixth-largest city after decades of being among the top three. After 1990, as information-based industries became more important in the economy, state and local governments put more resources into the old, well-established public library system. Some localities, however, used new state funding to cut local taxes. New ethnic groups, especially Hispanics and Latinos , began entering

7540-463: The first. At the time, Pennsylvania was the most ethnically and religiously diverse of the thirteen colonies. Because a third of Pennsylvania's population spoke German , the Constitution was presented in German so those citizens could participate in the discussion about it. Reverend Frederick Muhlenberg , a Lutheran minister and the first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives , acted as chairman of Pennsylvania's ratifying convention. For half

7656-444: The foot of Bald Eagle Mountain ridge past Williamsport , the largest city on the river, then turns south at the end of the ridge. From there it winds around Muncy , emerging from a water gap between Montour Ridge and Shamokin Mountain and joining the north (main) branch of the Susquehanna from the northwest approximately 2 miles (3 km) north of Sunbury . From its upper reaches to its lower reaches, it receives: Up through

7772-448: The foundation of the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. Archaeologists believe the first settlement of the Americas occurred at least 15,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period , though it is unclear when humans first inhabited present-day Pennsylvania. Between 10,000 and 16,000 years ago, Native Americans crossed the two continents, arriving in North America . Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Jefferson Township includes

7888-515: The government and not a banking institution, they were interest-free, largely defraying the expense of the government and therefore taxation of the people. It also promoted general employment and prosperity, since the government used discretion and did not issue excessive amounts that inflated the currency. Benjamin Franklin had a hand in creating this currency, whose utility, he said, was never to be disputed. The currency also met with "cautious approval" by Adam Smith . In 1740, Franklin also founded

8004-409: The group. In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the banks of Pine Creek . Fort Antes was a stockade surrounding the home of Colonel John Henry Antes, built circa 1778 in Revolutionary Pennsylvania in the United States. The fort was built under the direction of Colonel Antes, who

8120-433: The land be called New Wales, but there were objections to that name, so he recommended Sylvania (from the Latin silva : "forest, woods"). The King named it Pennsylvania (literally "Penn's Woods") in honor of Admiral Penn. The younger Penn was embarrassed at this name, fearing that people would think he had named it after himself, but King Charles would not rename the grant. Penn established a government with two innovations,

8236-567: The largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Heinz Company was also founded during this period. These huge companies exercised a large influence on the politics of Pennsylvania; as Henry Demarest Lloyd put it, oil baron John D. Rockefeller "had done everything with the Pennsylvania legislature except refine it". Pennsylvania created a Department of Highways and engaged in a vast program of road-building, while railroads continued to see heavy usage. The growth of industry eventually provided middle class incomes to working-class households after

8352-514: The largest steel companies in the world. Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Steel Company in Pittsburgh and Charles M. Schwab founded Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem . Other titans of industry, including John D. Rockefeller and Jay Gould , also operated in Pennsylvania. In the latter half of the 19th century, the U.S. oil industry was born in Western Pennsylvania , which supplied

8468-490: The links between communities and commerce within the corridor. The first recorded inhabitants of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were the Iroquoian -speaking Susquehannocks . Their name meant "people of the muddy river", from the Lenape name of the Susquehanna River, Siskuwihane ( sisku "mud", hane "river"). Decimated by diseases and warfare, they had died out, moved away, or been assimilated into other tribes by

8584-417: The majority of the state, except for the southeastern corner, has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb ). The southern portion of the state has a humid subtropical climate. The largest city, Philadelphia , has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa ). Summers are generally hot and humid. Moving toward the mountainous interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder,

8700-452: The mouth of Loyalsock Creek on the West Branch Susquehanna River was an important stopping point for the Moravian missionaries who were spreading the gospel throughout the wilderness of Pennsylvania during the 1740s. Count Zinzendorf , a missionary being guided by Conrad Weiser with the permission of Shikellamy , came to Ostuagy in 1742. The British purchased land from the Iroquois in

8816-442: The north-central region with York , Carlisle , and the state capital Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River in the east-central region of the state. Altoona and Johnstown are in the state's west-central region. The state's three-most populated cities, in order of size, are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. As of the 2020 U.S. census , Pennsylvania had a population of 13,011,844, up from 12,702,379 in 2010. Pennsylvania

8932-627: The number of cloudy days increases, and snowfall amounts are greater. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie , can receive over 100 inches (250 cm) of snowfall annually, and the entire state receives plentiful precipitation throughout the year. The state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into autumn. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, such as 30 recorded tornadoes in 2011; generally speaking, these tornadoes do not cause significant damage. Cities in Pennsylvania include Philadelphia , Reading , Lebanon , and Lancaster in

9048-635: The old Dauphin County Court House until December 1821 when the Federal -style Hills Capitol, named for Lancaster architect Stephen Hills , was constructed on a hilltop land grant of four acres set aside for a seat of state government in Harrisburg by the son and namesake of John Harris, Sr. , a Yorkshire native who founded a trading post and ferry on the east shore of the Susquehanna River in 1705. The Hills Capitol burned down on February 2, 1897, during

9164-462: The places named for her descendants and relatives. Montour's role as interpreter and cultural go-between was continued by her son, Andrew Montour , who shared his mother's gift for languages. He worked as an interpreter for Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Sir William Johnson's Indian Department . Andrew Montour was appointed as a captain in George Washington 's regiment at Fort Necessity during

9280-420: The province's relationship with the Iroquois. After 1734, she no longer appeared at councils in an official capacity. She retired to her village, where she operated a trading post and supply depot, and raised her son Andrew Montour to be an interpreter and diplomat. During the 1740s, Montour met several Moravian missionaries who were evangelizing in Pennsylvania. Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf , bishop of

9396-429: The remainder from Africa (5%), North America (3.1%), and Oceania (0.4%). The state's largest ancestry groups, expressed as a percentage of total people who responded with a particular ancestry for the 2010 census, were German 28.5%, Irish 18.2%, Italian 12.8%, African Americans 9.6%, English 8.5%, Polish 7.2%, and French 4.2%. As of 2018, the top countries of origin for Pennsylvania's immigrants were India ,

9512-553: The river valley provided an important route to the Ohio River valley. In the 19th century, its lower valley became a significant industrial heartland of Pennsylvania. In the 20th century, the upper reaches of the West Branch turned a yellow/orange color due to sulfurous drainage from nearby and abandoned deep bituminous coal mines. The West Branch rises on the west side of the Alleghenies in northwestern Cambria County , just outside

9628-400: The river, beginning on the south side near Duboistown and ending on the north side near Linden. The boom was made of 352 separate cribs that were 22 feet (7 m) high. The boom was opened and closed at the upper end by a device known as a "sheer boom". It was 1,000 feet (300 m) long and was controlled with a hand-powered windlass . The sheer boom gathered the logs into the main boom that

9744-539: The river. The modern borough of Montoursville developed on the east bank after the American Revolutionary War. Because of her cultural knowledge of Native American affairs and facility with both the Iroquoian and Algonquian language families, Montour was sought as an adviser by Pennsylvania officials and private traders. She first appears in the Pennsylvania historical record in July 1727 as an interpreter at

9860-416: The son of the state's namesake . Prior to that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden , a Swedish Empire colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system , and religious pluralism . Pennsylvania played

9976-404: The southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, and the tri-cities of Allentown , Bethlehem , and Easton in the central east, known as the Lehigh Valley . The northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining cities of Scranton , Wilkes-Barre , Pittston , Nanticoke , and Hazleton . Erie is located in the northwest. State College is located in the central region. Williamsport is in

10092-439: The state is forested . While it has no ocean shoreline, it has 140 miles (225 km) of waterfront along Lake Erie and the tidal Delaware River. Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous state in the United States , with over 13 million residents as of the 2020 United States census . The state is the 33rd-largest by area and has the ninth-highest population density among all states. The largest metropolitan statistical area

10208-569: The state to fill low-skill jobs in agriculture and service industries. For example, in Chester County , Mexican immigrants brought the Spanish language , increased Catholicism , high birth rates, and cuisine when they were hired as agricultural laborers; in some rural localities, they made up half or more of the population. Stateside Puerto Ricans built a large community in the state's third-largest city, Allentown , where they comprise over 40% of

10324-569: The state's manufacturing-based economy contributed to the development of much of the nation's early infrastructure, including key bridges, skyscrapers , and military hardware used in U.S.-led victories in World War I , World War II , and the Cold War . Pennsylvania's geography is highly diverse. The Appalachian Mountains run through the center of the state; the Allegheny and Pocono mountains span much of Northeastern Pennsylvania ; close to 60% of

10440-796: The state. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge established the Allegheny National Forest under the authority of the Weeks Act of 1911. The forest is located in the northwest part of the state in Elk , Forest , McKean , and Warren Counties for the purposes of timber production and watershed protection in the Allegheny River basin. The Allegheny is the state's only national forest. Pennsylvania manufactured 6.6 percent of total U.S. military armaments produced during World War II , ranking sixth among

10556-519: The state." The ensuing hostilities became known as Pontiac's War . After the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, delegate John Dickinson of Philadelphia wrote the Declaration of Rights and Grievances . The Congress was the first meeting of the Thirteen Colonies , which convened at the request of the Massachusetts assembly; nine of the 13 colonies sent delegates. Dickinson then wrote Letters from

10672-535: The summer of 1779 in the "Little Runaway". The Sullivan Expedition helped stabilize the area and encouraged resettlement, which continued after the war. In 1790, Timothy Matlack , Samuel Maclay and John Adlum were commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to survey the headwaters of the Susquehanna and explore a route for a passageway to connect the West Branch with

10788-532: The town. All 40 civilians and 4 Al-Qaeda hijackers on board were killed. The hijackers had intended to crash the plane into either the United States Capitol or The White House . After learning from family members via air phone of the earlier attacks on the World Trade Center , however, Flight 93's passengers revolted against the hijackers and fought for control of the plane, causing it to crash. It

10904-476: The unification of the states. Established in 1773, it was ratified on September 9, 1783, five days after the Treaty of Paris . James Smith wrote that in 1763, "the Indians again commenced hostilities, and were busily engaged in killing and scalping the frontier inhabitants in various parts of Pennsylvania. This state was then a Quaker government, and at the first of this war the frontiers received no assistance from

11020-565: The vast majority of kerosene for years thereafter. As the Pennsylvania oil rush developed, Pennsylvania's oil boom towns, such as Titusville , rose and later fell. Coal mining, primarily in the state's Coal Region in the northeast region of the state, also was a major industry for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1903, Milton S. Hershey began construction on a chocolate factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania ; The Hershey Company grew to become

11136-577: The wages paid to them by the lumber barons. Pennsylvania This is an accepted version of this page Pennsylvania ( / ˌ p ɛ n s ɪ l ˈ v eɪ n i ə / PEN -sil- VAY -nee-ə , lit.   ' Penn's forest country ' ), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( Pennsylvania Dutch : Pennsilfaani ), is a U.S. state spanning the Mid-Atlantic , Northeastern , Appalachian , and Great Lakes regions of

11252-634: The waters of the Allegheny River . The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers ( squatters ) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River Valley of Pennsylvania. Because they settled in territory claimed by Native Americans , they had no recourse to the Pennsylvania colonial government. Accordingly, they established what was known as the Fair Play System, with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for

11368-474: The wording of an official recommendation about Montour's salary "has been misread to mean that she was asking to be paid the same as a man "; rather, she wanted the pay of an interpreter, which was higher than that of a common soldier. At some point, Montour and her family migrated to the province of Pennsylvania . Exactly when and why she moved is unclear. She may have been traveling between New York and Pennsylvania as early as 1714, when her husband Carondawana

11484-656: Was Montour's daughter or niece, the chart illustrates both possibilities. The first Montour to come to prominence was Louis Montour , who was either Madame Montour's brother or father. Born Louis Couc, he adopted "Montour" as his surname in the 1680s. During King William's War (1689–1697), Montour and other Indians in Canada fought against British-allied Iroquois from the province of New York . At this time an Iroquois raiding party may have captured his daughter, who, according to some interpretations, became known as "Madame Montour". Louis Montour relocated to Michilimakinac in

11600-565: Was a member of the Pennsylvania militia . It was on the east side of Antes Creek , overlooking and on the left bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River on a plateau in Nippenose Township south of modern-day Jersey Shore in western Lycoming County . The local militia held the fort for a short period of time until it was ordered by Colonel Samuel Hunter to abandon Fort Antes during the Big Runaway . Despite being abandoned and attempts by

11716-587: Was appointed as the Iroquois spokesman for the Shawnee living in Pennsylvania. By 1727, she and Carondawana were living at Otstonwakin, a village also known as Otstuagy or French Town. The site of previous Native American villages, Otstonwakin was located along the Great Shamokin Path , at the important confluence of Loyalsock Creek with the West Branch Susquehanna River , on the west bank of

11832-446: Was born around 1685 and whose given name is uncertain. In 1711, Montour began working as an interpreter and diplomatic consultant for the province of New York . Around 1727, she and her husband Carondawana, an Oneida , moved to the province of Pennsylvania . Her village, known as Otstonwakin , was at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek on the West Branch Susquehanna River . The modern borough of Montoursville , named for her, developed on

11948-456: Was capable of holding up to 300 million board feet (700,000 m) of logs. The lower end of the boom was where the logs were sorted. The mills in Williamsport, South Williamsport , and Duboistown each had their own distinctive brand burnt into the logs. The men working at the end of the boom would sort the logs according to their corresponding brand and float them into the correct holding pond along

12064-584: Was constructed in 1846 under the supervision of James H. Perkins. A boom is a chain or line of connected floating timbers extended across a river, lake, or harbor, so as to obstruct passage or catch floating objects. The Susquehanna Boom extended 7 miles (11 km) upstream from Duboistown to the village of Linden in Woodward Township . The boom was constructed by creating a series of man-made islands known as "cribs". These cribs built of local mountain stone and sunken timber were stretched diagonally across

12180-550: Was eventually adopted, and the coal and iron police were banned. At the beginning of the 20th century, Pennsylvania's economy centered on steel production, logging , coal mining , textile production, and other forms of industrial manufacturing . A surge in immigration to the U.S. during the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided a steady flow of cheap labor for these industries, which often employed children and people who could not speak English from Southern and Eastern Europe . Thousands of Pennsylvanians volunteered during

12296-572: Was her last appearance in the historical record, aside from a brief statement made by trader John Harris in January 1753: "Madame Montour is dead." Exactly when and where she died is unknown. Madame Montour has numerous descendants, and many Iroquois people still carry the Montour name. Montoursville, Pennsylvania , which was founded near the site of Otstonwakin, was named for her. Montour County, Pennsylvania , and Montour Falls, New York , are just two of

12412-416: Was instead the niece of Isabelle Couc, Carondawana was probably her only husband.) The couple had a son about 1720 named Andrew Montour , who would become a well-known interpreter in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Iroquois kinship terms often described a woman's niece as her daughter, for example, so there is confusion about the identities of Montour's other possible children. Another boy, Lewis (Louis) Montour,

12528-687: Was not yet in British possession, but the sale boxed in the portion of New Netherland on the West side of the Delaware River. The British conquest of New Netherland began on August 29, 1664, when New Amsterdam was coerced to surrender while facing cannons on British ships in New York Harbor . The conquest was completed in October 1664, when the British captured Fort Casimir in what today is New Castle, Delaware . The Treaty of Breda between England, France, and

12644-527: Was once again chosen to be cradle to the new nation. The Constitution was drafted and signed at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, now known as Independence Hall , the same building where the Declaration of Independence was previously adopted and signed in 1776. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution , five days after Delaware became

12760-540: Was partially reversed on February 9, 1674, when the Treaty of Westminster ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War and reverted all political situations to the status quo ante bellum . The British retained the Dutch Counties with their Dutch names. By June 11, 1674, New York reasserted control over the outlying colonies, including Upland, and the names started to be changed to British names by November 11, 1674. Upland

12876-439: Was partitioned on November 12, 1674, producing the general outline of the current border between Pennsylvania and Delaware. On February 28, 1681, Charles II granted a land charter to Quaker leader William Penn to repay a debt of £16,000 (around £2,100,000 in 2008, adjusting for retail inflation) owed to William's father. The transaction represents one of the largest land grants to an individual in history. Penn proposed that

12992-406: Was possibly her son, or perhaps her nephew. "French Margaret" Montour , a woman often described as Montour's daughter, may have been a niece. In the simplified family tree chart shown below, the names in green are the two women who have been identified as Madame Montour. Andrew Montour is connected on the chart to both of his potential mothers. Similarly, because it is uncertain if French Margaret

13108-477: Was prominent in western New York. Historians have long attempted to separate fact from fiction and piece together her life from a few records and conflicting names. Much is uncertain about her early life. In 1744, Witham Marshe met the "celebrated Mrs. Montour" at an important treaty conference held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania . When asked about her background, Montour told Marshe that she had been born in Canada to

13224-441: Was the most significant nuclear accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history. The state was hard-hit by the decline and restructuring of the steel industry and other heavy industries during the late 20th century. With job losses came heavy population losses, especially in the state's largest cities. Pittsburgh lost its place among the top ten most populous cities in the United States by 1950, and Philadelphia dropped to

13340-643: Was the only one of the four aircraft hijacked that day that never reached its intended target and the heroism of the passengers has been commemorated. Since 2003, the Tekko anime convention has been held annually in Pittsburgh. In October 2018, the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation , a conservative Jewish synagogue, experienced the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting , which resulted in 11 fatalities. On July 13, 2024, near Butler, Pennsylvania , an assassination attempt on

13456-564: Was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution . In July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg , fought over three days in and around Gettysburg , was the bloodiest and most decisive battle of the American Civil War , claiming over 50,000 Union and Confederate fatalities and repelling Robert E. Lee 's invasion of the North, leading to the Union's preservation . Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries,

#750249