An Area Ripe with History
Available on this web site are stories that give
you an insight into life on the early frontier. We are not speaking of the Wild West with
Buffalo Bill Cody and Sitting Bull. We are not speaking of the Gold Rush days in
California or even settling Kansas or Nebraska or fighting at the Alamo. We are speaking
of history that took place long before in a much more remote area…NORTHWESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA.
The Great Marshburg Explosion
Just before his death several years ago, the honorary Mayor of the Village of
Marshburg, Larry Ely, relayed a story to me that dated back to his youth.
The Two Graves
We take for granted the history–rich area in which we live. The story "The Two
Graves" first appeared in the Mountain Laurel Review in November 1994. It is
the story of the two tombstones located on Route 321 between Kane and Marshburg.
The Kane Family, Part One
The earlier history of Pennsylvania, the United States and McKean County is
marked by the distinguished name of Kane. The family name was well known first as pioneers
and then associated with law, medicine, lumbering, railroad development, and oil and gas.
COMING SOON: The Kane Family Part Two: Elisha Kent Kane, Railroad Baron and
Lumberman
Cornplanter Chronicles -
Volume 4, Part 5
Cornplanter loved remembering his battles as a young man. Jeremiah Morrison loved
listening to the stories. He was not even born when the French and the British battled for
the continent. This was his first-hand account of how history was made. As he listened to
Cornplanter talk of those days, it was almost as if he was there. Even Cornplanter’s
narrative was such that he told a story of people who lived the events; not from his
mind’s-eye view of the events.
Cornplanter’s Cave
The Warriors returned north to their homes on the Allegheny. They were full of
themselves and their victories over the rebels. Unlike Brant and a significantly smaller
number of Mohawk and Onondaga, the Seneca did not have Sir Guy waiting to give them and
their families presents from a grateful King. Cornplanter, unlike Sayengaraghta who was
also Seneca, did not have a hundred pound a year pension. Cornplanter was not supplied
British rations. He was not even supplied powder. Cornplanter took powder and muskets from
a now well supplied Continental Army when he ran low.
Cornplanter’s Wager
The War of 1812 just ended. The Indians of the Six Nations remained neutral, even though
Cornplanter himself had sympathies and ties to the British just across the border in
Canada. Though battles raged on Lake Erie and all along the Niagara frontier, the area
immediately east of the supply route from Pittsburgh to Erie remained at peace. The
garrison in Warren was manned by two officers and 17 regulars, all of whom either owned or
worked at farming from May to October.
Whatever happened
to Marjorie West?
On May 8, 1998 it will be 60 years since Marjorie West disappeared. Local stories claim
that she was taken to Canada and hidden by members of the family. Others assert that she
fell down an abandoned oil well. None of these items of gossip bears any credence except
to note for those who continue to read on that the meanness of a small town is unmatched
by the worst war crime that can be imagined.
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