the horrors of an Indian war again, as appears from the following petition addressed to John Penn, Esq., Governor of Pennsylvania:

PITTSBURG, June 14, 1774.

In this petition it is set forth that there was great reason to apprehend that that country would be immediately involved in all the horrors of an Indian war. The petitioners say "That our circumstances at this critical juncture, are truly alarming-deserted by the far greater part of our neighbors and fellow subjects, unprotected with places of strength to resort to, without ammunition, provisions, and without almost every other necessary store; our houses abandoned to pillage; labor and industry entirely at a stand, our crops destroyed by cattle; our flocks dispersed; and the minds of our people distracted with the terrors of falling along with their helpless and unprotected families, the immediate victims of savage barbarity. In the midst of these scenes of desolation and ruin, next to the Almighty, we look up to your Honor, hoping from your known benevolence and humanity, such protection and relief as to your Honor shall seem meet."

Ens. Makay, Devereux Smith, Wm. Butler, James O'Hara, Samuel McKenzies, John Ormsby, John McCallister, Andrew Robinson, Edward Thompson, Wm. Evans, Wm. McClellan, Wm. Lea, Frederick Henry, John Henry, Christopher Miller, John Stewart, Richard Carson, James Carnahan, John Chilton, John Carnahan, Peter Eckley, Edward Murry, Wm. McConnell, James Kyle, Benjamin Coe, Joseph Kyle, John Worf, Robert Patterson, Reuben Powell, Peter Coe, Wm. Elliott, John Emerson, Adam McClintick, James Neely, Leaven Cooper, Nathaniel Field, Alrich Allen, David Watson, John Cleghorn, Stephen Lowry, Silas Miller, John Carnahan, Wm. Stuart, Clemence Findley, John Findley, Andrew Findley, Robert Thompson, Samuel McGomery, Thomas Carrol, James Patterson, Arthur St. Clair, James Pollock, David Sample, Michael Huffnagle, Samuel Shannon, Samuel Smith, James Dugan, George Hutcheson, Geo. McDowell, Nathan Young, Michael Coffman, Wm. Piper, George Glen, David McCann, Alex. Johnston, John Cavenaugh, Robert Mickey, David Mickey, Alex. McDowell, Robert Nox, James McDowell, Thomas Bleack, David Tomson, Jacob Meens, John Smith, John McNaghar, Hugh Lorrommer, Benjamin Sitten, Thomas Sutton, H. Slatten, Daniel Lavoyer, James McCurdy, Abel Fisher, Robert Porter, John Livingston, Robert Laughlin, Samuel Shenon, Charles Kille, Dudley Dougherty, Hugh Hamill, Richard Shannon, John Weesnor, John Shannon, Joseph Gaskins, Robert McDowell, John Jordan, John Smith, Thomas Galbraith, Samuel Evans, Henry Fitzgerald, Edmond Mullally, James Thompson, William McKenzie.

"From this time until the close of the Revolutionary War, but little improvement was made at Pittsburg. The fear of Indian hostilities, or the actual existence of Indian warfare prevented emigration. In 1775, the number of dwelling houses within the limits of our present city, did not, according to the most authentic accounts, exceed twenty-five or thirty. During the Revolution, the Penn family were adherents of the British Government, and in 1779, the Legislature of this State confiscated all their property, except certain manors, &c., of which surveys

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had been actually made and returned into the land office, prior to the 4th of July, 1776, and also, except any estates which the said Penns held in their private capacities, by devise, purchase or descent. Pittsburg and the country eastward of it and south of the Monongahela, containing about 5800 acres, composed one of these manors, and of course remained as the property of the Penns.

"In the spring of 1784, arrangements were made by Mr. Tench Francis, the agent of the Penns, to lay out the manor of Pittsburg, in town lots and out lots, and to sell them without delay. For this purpose he engaged Mr. Geo. Woods, of Bedford, an experienced surveyor, to execute this work. In May, 1784, Mr. Woods arrived here, bringing with him as an operative surveyor, Mr. Thomas Vickroy, of Bedford county, who was then a very young man, and now (1840) lives and enjoys vigorous health, at a good old age. Through their activity and industry, the work was soon completed, and the lots and out lots being placed in market, seem to have been very rapidly purchased. From this time improvement seems to have commenced here-mechanics and traders composed a greater proportion of the population. In 1784, Arthur Lee, a conspicuous diplomatist during our Revolution, was appointed a commissioner to treat with the Indians, and on his way passed through Pittsburg. In his journal we find the following notice of this place: "Pittsburg is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as in the north of Ireland, or even Scotland. There is a great deal of small trade carried on; the goods being brought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per cwt. from Philadelphia and Baltimore. They take, in the shops, money, wheat, flour and skins. There are in the town four attornies, two doctors, and not a priest of any persuasion, nor church, nor chapel. The rivers encroach fast on the town; and to such a degree, that, as a gentleman told me, the Allegheny had within thirty years of his memory, carried away one hundred yards. The place, I believe, will never be very considerable." If Mr. Lee could now visit the valley of the head of the Ohio, he would find here, a free white population exceeding that of the six largest cities and towns in the Old Dominion. The appearance of Pittsburg at that time, was not such as would excite extravagant expectations. A small town, composed of two or three brick redoubts, converted into dwelling houses, and some forty or fifty round or hewn log buildings, inhabited principally by poor mechanics and laborers, would have a very discouraging aspect to the eye of a Virginia gentleman, who had visited London, Paris and Madrid. But these mechanics and laborers were free, had the directions of their own exertions, were industrious, were striving for the advantages of themselves and their offspring, and the possession and enjoyment of the produce of their own labor were secured to them by equal laws. These circumstances, aided by the natural advantages of this situation, in less than fifty years, converted a village of a few petty log houses, into a large, wealthy, and rapidly increasing city.

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Discouraging as were the appearances of things in 1784, yet in 1786, John Scull and Joseph Hall, two poor but enterprising young men, boldly determined to risk their little all in a printing establishment

here, and on the 29th of July, of that year, issued the first number of the Pittsburgh Gazette. The publication of a paper, by disseminating information, and attracting attention to the place, no doubt contributed to the growth of the town; it therefore deserves to be mentioned as one of the causes of the rise of a frontier village to a great city.

"About this time the tide of emigration from Pennsylvania and Virginia to Kentucky commenced, and in its progress it contributed to the advancement of the place, not only by leaving portions of the funds of the emigrants, in exchange for the means of transportation and supplies, but occasionally leaving here some of the emigrants themselves.

"The Indian wars, too, which raged on our Northern and Western frontier, until Wayne's treaty, in 1795, by collecting here large bodies of troops, thus creating a demand for the produce of farms and shops, contributed greatly to the prosperity and growth of our town. On the 24th September, 1788, an act passed creating the county of Allegheny, out of parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties. By this act the Courts were appointed to be held at Pittsburg, until certain trustees named in the act, should erect suitable buildings on the reserved tract opposite Pittsburg. By the act of the 13th April, 1791, this provision of the act of 1788 was repealed, and the trustees were authorized and required to purchase lots in Pittsburg for a Court House and Jail.

"The creation of a separate county, and the consequent establishment of county offices, and the frequent assemblage here of jurors, suitors and witnesses, operated to the advantage and improvement of the place. The most important event, however, in the early history of our town, was the Western Insurrection, in 1794. This disturbance compelled the Government to send a large number of troops to this neighborhood. These troops were principally volunteers; active, enterprising young men, many of whom were so pleased with Pittsburg and the surrounding country, that after performing their tour of duty, they returned home merely to make the necessary arrangements for a permanent settlement here. From that time the progress of this city has been regular, and scarcely interrupted, except by the reaction which took place after the late war.

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"In addition to the foregoing Brief Sketch,' a few statistical and appropriate facts relative to the progress of our town, at an early period, will here be added.

In an article written by the late Judge Breckenridge, then a young attorney, and published in the first number of the Pittsburg Gazette, the number of houses in the town of Pittsburg, was stated to be about one hundred. Allowing to each house five inhabitants, which is probably quite enough, the population would be about five hundred.

The article alluded to is here introduced:

"It was in the spring of the year 1781, that, leaving the city of Philadelphia, I crossed the Allegheny Mountain, and took my residence in the town of Pittsburg,

"If town it may be called, that town was none,
Distinguishable by house or street-"

But in fact a few old buildings, under the walls of a garrison, which stood at the junction of two rivers. Nevertheless, it appeared to me as

what would one day be a town of note, and in the meantime might be pushed forward by the usual means that raise such places. Two or three years had elapsed, and some progress had been made in improvement, when a Gazette was established at this place for the western country, and one of my earliest contributions was the following, intended to give some reputation to the town, with a view to induce emigration to this particular spot. Whether it contributed in any degree to this object, I do not know, nor is it material at the early period, and the state of society at that time, July 26, 1786:

ON THE SITUATION OF THE TOWN OF PITTSBURG, AND THE STATE OF SOCIETY AT THAT PLACE.

"The Allegheny river running from the north-east, and the Monongahela from the south-west, meet at the angle of about 33 degrees, and form the Ohio. This is said to signify, in some of the Indian languages, bloody so that the Ohio river may be translated the River of Blood. The French have called it La Belle Riviere, that is, the Beautiful, or Fair River; but this is not intended by them as having any relation to the name Ohio.

"It may have received the name of Ohio about the beginning of the present century, when the Six Nations made war upon their fellowsavages in these territories and subjected several tribes.

"The word Monongahela is said to signify, in some of the Indian languages, the Falling-in-Banks, that is, the stream of the falling-in, or mouldering banks.

"At the distance of about four or five hundred yards from the head of the Ohio, is a small island, lying to the north-west side of the river, at the distance of about seventy yards from the shore. It is covered with wood, and at the lowest part is a lofty hill, famous for the number of wild turkeys which inhabit it. The island is not more in length than one quarter of a mile, and in breadth about one hundred yards. A small space on the upper end is cleared and overgrown with grass. The savages had cleared it during the late war,-a party of them attached to the United States having placed their wigwams and raised corn there.

"The Ohio, at the distance of about one mile from its source, winds round the lower end of the island and disappears. I call the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela the source of the Ohio. It is pleasant to observe the conflict of these two waters where they meet: when of an equal height, the contest is equal, and a small rippling appears from the point of land at their junction to the distance of about five hundred yards. When the Allegheny is master, as the term is, the current keeps its course a great way into the Monongahela before it is overcome, and falls into the bed of the Ohio. The Monongahela in like manner having the mastery, bears away the Allegheny, and with its muddy waters discolors the chrystal current of that river. This happens frequently. inasmuch as these two rivers, coming from different climates of the country, are seldom swollen at the same time. The flood of the Allegheny rises perhaps the highest. I have observed it to have been at least 30 feet above the level, by the impression of the ice on the branches of trees which overhang the river, and had been cut at the breaking up of the

winter, when the snow and frost melting towards the north-east, throw themselves down with amazing rapidity and violence in a mighty deluge. The current of the Allegheny is in general more rapid than that of the Monongahela, and though not broader or of greater depth, yet, from this circumstance, throws forward a greater quantity of water in the same space of time. In this river, at the distance of about one mile above the town of Pittsburg, is a beautiful little island, which, if there are river gods and nymphs, they may be supposed to haunt. At the upper end of the island, and towards the western shore, is a small ripple, as it is called, where the water, bubbling as if it sprung from the pebbles of a fountain, gives vivacity and an air of cheerfulness to the scene.

"The fish of the Allegheny are harder and firmer than those of the Monongahela or Ohio; owing, as is supposed, to the greater coldness and purity of the water. The fish in general of those rivers are good. They are the pike, weighing frequently fifteen or twenty pounds; the perch, much larger than any I have ever seen in the Bay of Chesapeake, which is the only tide from whence I have ever seen perch; there is also the sturgeon, and many more kinds of fish.

"It is a high amusement to those who are fond of fishing, to angle in those waters, more especially at the time of a gentle flood, when the frequent nibbles of the large and small fishes entertain the expectation, and sometimes gratify it by a bite; and when those of the larger size are taken, it is necessary to play with them a considerable time before it can be judged safe to draw them in. I have seen a canoe half loaded in a morning, by some of those most expert in the employment; but you will see in a spring evening the banks of the rivers lined with men fishing at intervals from one another. This, with the streams gently gliding, the woods at a distance, green, and the shadows lengthening towards the town, forms a delightful scene. Fond of the water, I have been sometimes highly pleased in going with a select party, in a small barge up or down the rivers, and landing at a cool spring, to enjoy the verdant turf, amidst the shady bowers of ash wood, sugar tree, or oak, planted by the hand of nature-not of art.

"It may be said by some who will read this description which I have given, or may be about to give, that it is minute and useless, inasmuch as they are observations of things well known. But let it be considered that it is not intended for the people of this country, but for those at a distance, who may not yet be acquainted with the natural situation of the town of Pittsburg, or having heard of it, may wish to be more particularly informed. Who knows what families of fortune it may induce to emigrate to this place?

"There is a rock known by the name of M'Kee's rock, at the distance of about three miles below the head of the Ohio. It is an end of a promontory, where the river bends to the north-west, and where, by the rushing of the floods, the earth has been cut away during the several ages; so that now, the huge, overhanging rocks appear hollowed beneath, so as to form a dome of majesty and grandeur, near one hundred feet in height. Here are the names of French and British officers engraved, who in the former times, in parties of pleasure, had visited this place. The town of Pittsburg, at the head of the Ohio, is scarcely