The
Allegheny River (historically, especially in
New York state, also spelled
Allegany River) is a tributary of the
Ohio River, approximately 325 mi (523 km) long, in the
U.S. states of
New York and
Pennsylvania. It drains a rural
dissected plateau of 11,580 sq mi (29,992 km²) in the northern
Allegheny Plateau, providing the northeasternmost drainage in the watershed of the
Mississippi River. Its tributaries reach to within 8 mi (13 km) of the shore of
Lake Erie in southwestern New York. The valley of the river has been one of the most productive areas of energy extraction in U.S. history, with extensive deposits of
coal,
petroleum, and
natural gas.
Description
It rises in north central Pennsylvania, in central
Potter County, Pennsylvania, approximately 10 mi (16 km) south of the New York border. It flows west past
Coudersport then turns north into western New York State, looping westward across southern
Cattaraugus County for approximately 30 mi (48 km), past
St. Bonaventure University and
Salamanca and forming the northern boundary of Allegheny State Park before re-entering northwestern Pennsylvania approximately 20 mi (32 km) southeast of
Jamestown, New York.
It flows in a broad zigzag course generally southward across western Pennsylvania, first flowing southwest past
Warren,
Oil City, and
Franklin, forming much of the northwestern boundary of
Allegheny National Forest. South of Franklin it turns southeast across
Clarion County in a
meandering course, then turns again southwest across
Armstrong County, flowing past
Kittanning. It enters the
Pittsburgh suburbs from the northeast and joins the
Monongahela River in downtown Pittsburgh to form the Ohio.
It is joined from the south by Potato Creek in
McKean County, Pennsylvania near its source. At Olean, New York it is joined form the north by Olean Creek. After re-entering Pennsylvania, it is joined by Kinzua Creek from the east 10 mi (16 km) upstream from Warren. At Warren it is joined from the north by Conewango Creek. At Franklin, it is joined by
French Creek. In eastern Clarion County, it is joined from the east by the
Clarion River, one of its principal tributaries. Southeast of Kittanning it is joined from the east by Crooked Creek, then from the east by the
Kiskiminetas River, another of its principal tributaries at
Freeport.
History
In the
16th century control of the river valley passed back-and-forth between
Algonguin-speaking Shawnee and the
Iroquois. By the time of the arrival of the
French in the early
18th century, the Shawnee were once again in control and formed an alliance with the French against the incursion of
British settlement across the
Allegheny Mountains. The conflict over the expansion of British settlement into the Allegheny Valley and the surrounding
Ohio Country was a primary cause of the
French and Indian War in the
1750s. During the war,
the village of Kittaning the principal Shawnee settlement on the river, was completely destroyed by British reprisal raids from central Pennsylvania.
Nevertheless, the British, after gaining control of the area in the 1763
Treaty of Paris, kept the area closed to white settlement, in part to repair and maintain relations with the Native Americans. The pressure to open the river valley and the surrounding area to settlement is considered by historians to be one of the root causes of the
American Revolutionary War in the following decade.
During the
19th century, the river became a principal means of navigation in the upper Ohio valley, especially for the transport of
coal. Although the building of the railroads lessened the importance of the river somewhat, the lower river (navigable as far as
East Brady, Pennsylvania through locks) has continued to serve as route of commercial transportation until the present day. In 1875, the first U.S. petroleum was drilled north of the river at
Titusville.
In 1965 the completion of the federally-sponsored Kinzua Dam for
flood-control in northwestern Pennsylvania east of Warren created the long Allegheny Reservoir, part of which is included in the Allegheny National Recreation Area. The dam flooded parts of lands deeded "forever" to the
Seneca tribe and to
Cornplanter and his descendents.
See also
Category:Pennsylvania rivers
Category:New York rivers
de:Allegheny River