ing. Several branches of the Allegheny have their sources within the county, west of Elk mountain.

The soil varies with the surface of the county: the alluvial bottoms of the valleys are rich; the undulating uplands make excellent grazing farms, and where limestone strata prevail, approach the fertility of the alluvial lands. Coal, iron, fire-brick clay, and other minerals abound. The coal is said to be of superior quality, and while the projects were under consideration for extending the state improvements into this region, great anticipations were indulged that coal would form a prominent article of export. Without such facilities the cost of transportation would exhaust the profits long before it reached a market. A large furnace and ironworks were established at Karthauss, on the West Branch; but their operations are now suspended. Lumbering still constitutes the main business of the inhabitants, and agriculture has hitherto been only a secondary pursuit. The hard times, however, have wrought a favorable change in this respect; and the people of Clearfield are opening their lands, and discovering that farming, if not a quicker, is at least a surer way to get rich than sawing and rafting, or even making iron. The turnpike from Bellefonte to Meadville crosses the Susquehanna at Curwensville. Another turnpike has recently been constructed, with part of the bonus of the U. S. Bank, through Clearfield town, connecting with the Milesburg and Smethport road, which passes through the northeastern portion of the county.

The county is still but partially settled, the population in 1840 being only 5 to the square mile. The inhabitants are chiefly from other parts of the state, but there are several distinct colonies of Yankees, Germans, and French. Until near the close of the last century, Clearfield co. remained an unbroken wilderness, with the exception perhaps of here and there an Indian cornfield. Indian trails, connecting the great eastern and western waters, crossed the mountains in various directions. There was a trail towards Fort Venango, another towards Kittanning, and one towards the sources of Sinnemahoning.

In the summer of 1772, a remarkable company of pilgrims, 240 individuals, of all ages, crossed the Allegheny mountains from Bald Eagle cr., and reached some one of the branches of the Allegheny, on their way to the Ohio. They were the Moravian missionaries, with their families, and the Christian Indians from Wyalusing and Sheshequin, on the North Branch. They had with them their children and children's children, their household goods, cattle, and horses. What a wilderness for such a multitude to penetrate, with no other road than an Indian trail! (See Bradford co.)

The following facts were gathered from respectable citizens of the county:

On the site of the present county seat, there was an old Indian town by the name of Chinkla camoose, or, as some have it, Chinklacamoose's old-town. Clearfield was for many years called Oldtown, and is still by many of the older settlers. A small stream north of the town still retains the name of Chinklacamoose cr., though sometimes shortened to 'Moose cr. The Seneca Indians of Cornplanter's clan used often to hunt around Chinklacamoose.

Arthur Bell, Daniel Ogden, and Paul Clover, were among the first white settlers in the county. Clover settled at Curwensville. In 1796 Gen. Ellicott located the Susquehanna and Waterford turnpike, leading from Curwensville, past Fort Franklin and Meadville, to Waterford. In 1797 the road was opened.

Arthur Bell and Daniel Ogden, with his son Matthew, then a lad of 18, came up the West branch in the spring of 1796, bringing with them the simple tools of the pioneer, with a few potatoes and seeds for their first crop. Bell settled a few miles above Clearfield; Ogden near the mouth of Chinklacamoose creek, where, after a year or two, he built the first mill in the county. They suffered various trials and hardships in opening their new homes. Provisions were very scarce, and the nearest settlement was at Bald Eagle, about 140 miles by water; nothing of any weight could be brought by land. Mr. Bell was at one time compelled to travel this whole distance to get a plough point repaired; poling his canoe patiently up the stream, loaded with his irons, and some provisions, his provisions by some accident were wet; the first time he used his plough, the point broke again, and his toilsome journey was in vain. For some time before the mill was built, they pounded their corn in mortars. Their route by land was the old Indian path across the mountains by the Snow-shoe camp to Milesburg. Mr. Ogden once travelled this route in winter with snow-shoes, requiring 2 1-2 days to reach Milesburg, 33 miles.

Among the older residents was John Bell, a brother of Arthur. He had been an old revolutionary soldier, and when the conflict was over he sought an asylum with his brother. From his very diminutive size he commonly bore the name of Johnny Bell. From the force of military habits, or for fear of losing the art of fighting by disuse, he used to have an occasional quarrel with the friendly Indians about the settlement, and usually came off triumphant. In a frolic of this sort two of them attempted to drown him, but he came very near drowning both of them. Being an old bachelor, he was rather whimsical, and would sometimes get in a pet; in some such mood he once quit his brother's house, and encamped in the woods, determined to remain there; but Greenwood Bell, his nephew, one day made him a call at his camp, picked the little fellow up, slung him over his shoulder, and toted him off home, where he was afterwards content. ed to remain.

CLEARFIELD, the county seat, was laid out by commissioners under the act of 4th April, 1805, on lands of Abraham Witmer, Esq., a resident of Paradise, in Lancaster co. The first settlers in and about the town were Robert Collins, who came in 1807, the widow Leathers, the Valentines, Andrew Bowers, Abraham Leonard, our jovial host old John Cuyler, and a few others. Mr. Witmer still holds about 500 acres contiguous to the town. Clearfield is a smart, improving place, pleasantly situated on a broad plain by the side of the Susquehanna, and imbosomed among the hills. The annexed view was taken from the Curwensville road, west of the river.

The town contains a brick courthouse and county offices, a jail of stone, an academy, Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. A bridge here crosses the Susquehanna. A turnpike road recently completed enables the stages between Bellefonte and Erie to pass through

the town. Mr. Robert Shaw has an extensive flouring and lumber mill near town, on Chinklacamoose creek. Population in 1840, about 300. CURWENSVILLE is a busy little place on the Susquehanna, about six miles southwest of Clearfield, on the Bellefonte and Meadville turnpike. It was named after John Curwen, Esq., of Montgomery co., who was proprietor of the land, but was never settled here. Paul Clover was the first settler, and kept a tavern here about the year '98 or 1800. The village contains some 30 or 40 houses and stores, and one or two churches. A fine substantial bridge has just been erected here (in 1842) across the Susquehanna. Curwensville is quite a lively place during the lumbering season on the creeks above.

KARTHAUSS is situated on the West branch of the Susquehanna, at the mouth of Little Mushannon creek. It derives its name from Peter Karthauss, Esq., of Baltimore, who established a furnace here about the year 1820, and carried it on for some years with success. There is a very ample water-power here. In 1836 a company purchased the works and expended upon them about $80,000, but were not equally successful with the former owner. Their works were managed with coke, and were capable of making 100 tons per week. About the year 1840, their operations were suspended by the fluctuations of the times.

CALEDONIA is a recent settlement of New Yorkers and New England men, in the northern part of the county, at the confluence of Trout run with Bennett's branch of the Sinnemahoning. The road from Milesburg and Karthauss to Smethport passes through the place, and another road runs northwest to Ridgeway.

LUTHERSBURG is a small German settlement on the turnpike, 10 miles N. W. of Curwensville. The land in the vicinity is rolling, and of good quality. There is a deposit of limestone not far from the place.

MOUNTPLEASANT is a small village in the southern end of the county, on the road between Phillipsburg and Ebensburg. Not far from this place, in the forks of Clearfield cr., just south of the Cambria line, are the remains of an ancient circular fortification, the banks of which are four or five feet high, and overgrown with large trees. Clear-fields, or open patches of prairie, apparently the site of some ancient cornfields, were found in this vicinity; hence the name Clearfield.

On the left bank of the West branch of Susquehanna, below the mouth of Trout run, a colony of Frenchmen, from Normandy and Picardy, settled themselves about the year 1835 or '36. It was a wonder how they should have selected so secluded a spot, since there were previously no French within a hundred miles. The explanation of the phenomenon shows by what singular and apparently trifling causes the destinies of whole communities may be affected. Some person failed in Philadelphia, in debt to a merchant in Paris. Mr. Keating, his agent in Philadelphia, took land on the West Branch to settle the debt. The Paris merchant, by means of a German agent, to make his lands available, induced a number of families to emigrate to these particular lands; they induced others, until they number some 40 or 50 families. Thus the failure of a Philadelphia merchant planted a little French colony in the wilds of the upper Susquehanna. They have not increased much of late years, the reports of their success not having been sufficiently favorable to induce further emigration.

CLINTON COUNTY.

CLINTON COUNTY is of recent origin, having been separated from Lycoming and Centre by the act of 1839. Bald Eagle, Lamar, and Logan townships were taken from Centre, the others from Lycoming. The co. forms an irregular figure, about 50 miles long and 20 wide, with an area of about 1,070 square miles. The population in 1820 (by estimate) was 3,894; by the census in 1840, 8,323. It comprises an important portion of the West Branch valley, including the mouths of the Sinnemahoning and Bald Eagle creeks, and of several minor tributaries. In the lower part of the co. the W. Branch of the Susquehanna breaks through the great Allegheny mountain, which at this point seems to lose much of its loftiness, as if in courtesy to the beautiful stream. The Bald Eagle mountain, a remarkably straight and distinct ridge, runs close along the right bank of Bald Eagle cr. and the W. Branch. The valleys of these streams below the mountains contain lands that for beauty and fertility will compare with any in the state. Northwest of the mountains, and on the headlands of the streams, the valleys are narrow, the surface broken and precipitous, and the soil but of middling quality, being composed of the conglomerates and sandstones skirting the great coal formation. The Allegheny mountain forms the eastern limit of that formation, the coal bearing rocks reposing upon the coarse conglomerate that forms the bold eastern front of that mountain throughout the state. This part of the co. will probably never be settled by a dense population. Scattered settlements of farmers, miners, and lumbermen exist at intervals along the margin of the river and on the tributary valleys.

On Queens and Lick run, and on the Tangascootac, seams of coal have been found of excellent quality, together with a thick bed of fire-brick clay. Iron ore, also, and limestone occur, but not in quantity and quality to justify exploration. The ores and limestone for the great furnace at Farrandsville were brought from other counties. The numerous streams of this co., tumbling down as they do along the ravines of the mountains, furnish an ample amount of water-power. The co. is still but thinly settled in proportion to its area; the greater proportion of the population is concentrated at the lower end.

In 1768, the treaty of Fort Stanwix conveyed to the proprietary government all the country on both sides of the West Branch, certainly as far up as Lycoming cr., and the fair-play men said as far as Pine cr.,-and thence all the country upward on the south side of the river to its extreme southwestern source, &c. The Sinnemahoning and W. Branch had constituted one of the great routes by which the hostile parties of the Senecas descended upon the infant settlements on the frontier; and the route was equally familiar to the scouts and spies of the whites, by means of their frequent excursions to cut off parties of Indians. The fertile lands of the W. Branch did not escape the observation of these men. At the first return of quiet, subsequent to the treaty, a set of hardy pioneers, trusting more to their rifles and their bravery than to the feeble institutions of the province for protection, boldly pushed their settlements as far up as the mouth of Bald Eagle, and took up the choice lands of the

valley. Previous to the revolution, Gen. James Potter made an excursion in search of lands up the W. Branch, thence up Bald Eagle to Logan's Branch, where he crossed the Nittany mountain, and first set his eyes upon Penn's valley, afterwards his home. Clinton co. at that time was comprised in Bald Eagle township of Northumberland co. When the committee of safety for that co. was formed at the opening of the revelution, Thomas Hewes, Wm. Dunn, and Alexander Hamilton were appointed committee-men from Bald Eagle township. This was in Feb. 1776. Mr. Dunn owned the Big island, and was probably living on or near it at the time. It was not included in the treaty, but he had purchased it from an Indian for a suit of clothes; it would now clothe a regiment. This island is a conspicuous landmark in the tales of the early borderers. After the treaty of 1768, Richard Penn made a grant to Dr. Francis Allison of the splendid tract of land at the confluence of Bald Eagle cr. Judge Fleming and the M'Cormicks, who were among the earliest settlers on the tract, were heirs of Dr. Allison. Wm. Reed, the father of the present aged Mr. Thomas Reed, had a cabin on the site of Lock Haven previous to 1778. His neighbors at that time were, 'Squire Fleming and Col. Cooksey Long, with their families, and one of the M'Cormicks, a young man just married. They had a small stockade fort, or a blockhouse, for the protection of the settlement, at which Col. Long commanded. Horn's fort was on the right bank of the river, below Chatham's run; Antes' fort was also on the right bank, at the head of Nippenose bottom. Late in the fall of '77, Job Gilloway, a friendly Indian, intimated that a powerful descent of marauding Indians might be expected before long upon the head-waters of the Susquehanna; and near the close of that season the Indians killed a settler by the name of Saltzburn, on the Sinnemahoning, and Dan Jones, at the mouth of Tangascootac. In the summer of 1778, the officer in command at Fort Augusta (Sunbury) ordered all the families on the W. Branch to abandon their homes, and repair for protection to Northumberland. The flight which followed in obedience to this order, is known in the traditions of the W. Branch as the big runaway. A more detailed account of it will be found under Lycoming county.

All the old settlers on the Susquehanna are familiar with the names of Moses and Jacobus Van Campen, or, as they were usually called, Moses and 'Cobus Van Camp. Major Moses Van Campen was still living at Dansville, N. Y., in 1838, when he petitioned congress for a pension. His petition records deeds of heroism rarely equalled.

The following passages relate to this region:

"My first service was in the year 1777, when I served three months under Col. John Kelly, who stationed us at Big island, on the West branch of the Susquehanna. Nothing particular transpired during that time; and in March, 1778, I was appointed lieutenant of a company of sixmonths' men. Shortly afterwards I was ordered by Col. Samuel Hunter to proceed, with about 20 men, to Fishing cr., on the North branch of Susquehanna, to build a fort." (See Columbia co. and Bradford co.)

"In Feb. 1781, I was promoted to a lieutenancy, and entered upon the active duty of an officer by heading scouts; and as Capt. Robinson was no woodsman nor marksman, he preferred that I should encounter the danger and head the scouts. We kept up a constant chain of scouts around the frontier settlements, from the North to the West branch of the Susquehanna, by the way of the head-waters of Little Fishing cr., Chillisquake, Muncy, &c. In the spring of 1781, we built a fort on the widow M'Clure's plantation, called M'Clure's fort, where our provisions were stored. In the summer of 1781, a man was taken prisoner in Buffalo valley, but made his escape. He came in and reported there were about 300 Indians on Sinnemahoning, hunting and