Learn something new!
Humans have used the land in Pennsylvania in many different ways throughout history. As we explored in last week’s issue on geology, central Pennsylvania remained a frontier longer than many other regions. During the fast-paced colonial expansion, the wonderful little town of Marietta, Ohio was founded in the late 1780’s while Bellefonte was not laid out until 1795.
A PA different from today...
New discoveries and science continually change the date of arrival to this region for the first people, but regardless, these early inhabitants would have experienced terrain and landscapes that would have only barely resembled those we see today. Locally the landscape would have ranged from small patches of coniferous tree species to large expanses of tundra. The landscape to the north would have been dominated by massive glaciers spanning the width of the continent. Eventually, the landscape morphed into something resembling today’s boreal forests throughout Canada.
Early hunter-gatherers...
Predominantly hunter-gatherers, the first human explorers would have stalked megafauna such as wooly mammoths, giant beavers, and the oddly named elk moose. This lifestyle would have dominated the continent until climactic shifts were brought about by the retreating glaciers. As warmer temperatures crept up, the continent and rainfall became more stable and people began shifting from an archaic (or subsistence) society into what would become the pre-colonial societies.
Pre-colonialists...
Throughout this pre-colonial era there was a shift from following migratory paths and seasonal food supplies to actively managing the landscape and extracting resources. Charcoal and pollen evidence and soil samples from our valley floors indicate that large areas were maintained as open grassland or plains-style habitat. Stone tool creation was also plentiful in our area due to the relative ease of access to jasper deposits near Mount Nittany and Bald Eagle Creek. These regions were downright industrial in their production and were likely in use for over 1,000 years.
Trade routes would have ferried produced goods to every corner of the state. The main route diverged from the population center located near modern-day Milesburg where goods could be put on Bald Eagle Creek and transported by water downstream. Over-land routes across the ridges were much less traveled but one route likely followed Spring Creek and Slab Cabin Run before crossing over Tussey Mountain and heading south to the Standing Stone Creek and eventually into present-day Huntingdon. These routes would have been the lifeblood of the settlements at either end.
Arrival of colonialists...
All of this would drastically change with rapid encroachment of European colonists through the 1700’s. As the native lands were ceded to colonial growth, surveyors moved ahead of land men in order to find prime areas to settle.
By the mid 1700's, unfortunately, most native populations had moved much further west or had succumb to pestilence in the 100 or so years of colonial presence.
Spurred by tales of spectacular unclaimed lands, early settlers followed the now deserted footpaths leading them into the Penns Valley area in the 1760’s. General James Potter was one of these early pioneers, and on a return trip from service in the frontier remarked to his assistant, “My Heavens, Thompson, I have discovered an empire.”
Late 1700's through 1800's...
It would take decades before Potter’s “empire” would take hold. A new nation at war would hamper the westward development of an area only reachable by canoe or foot. Following the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the recognition of the United States as an independent nation, there were thousands of soldiers and officers who had served in the colonial army. The nation, unable to levy a national tax and with little in the way of assets, began to grant unclaimed parcels to these men throughout the frontier. Iron was discovered in our region around this time and soon the iron boom gripped the landscape as many prospectors and businessmen to collected claims near productive iron operations. In our area the prominent gentleman Philip Benner gathered nearly 100 men to make a voyage and establish Rock Iron Works.
Early 1900's...
The iron industry demanded incredible resources nearly unchecked through the entirety of the 1800’s, but by the turn of the next century almost all of the work had moved out of the state. By then, 80% of the state had been cut to the ground to feed industry. The resulting barren landscape was awash with rampant erosion due to the lack of supporting forests and much of the state contained little in the way of wildlife. This devastation inspired early titans of conservation, including Theodore Roosevelt and Joseph Rothrock. These early foresters would establish the pattern that much of the nation would follow for managing and stewarding forest resources. During the early 1900's, work of these early environmentalists helped create the wonderfully forested place we call home.
