CHAPTER XIX.

PLACES ON THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD FROM HARRISBURG TO THE TUNNEL OF THE ALLEGHANY.

Rockville - Marysville - Duncannon - Aqueduct - Newport - MillerstownMifflin - Lewistown- Newton Hamilton - Mount Union - Huntingdon Tyrone Altoona - Kittanning Point Resting-Place - View from the Mountain.

S

TARTING from Harrisburg the capital, which we described in the last chapter, and following the Pennsylvania Railroad to its termination at Pittsburg, we next name,

ROCKVILLE, 110 miles. Here the railroad comes to the Blue Ridge, or the Kittatinny Mountain, the first of the Alleghany range on the route. At this point the road crosses the Susquehanna on a bridge 3,670 feet in length. Looking up and down the river from this bridge, the prospect is exceedingly fine and magnificent. Just to the north are seen the high mountains, through which the river pours its waters down a huge break, forming the foaming, fretting rapids. Here the large bridge of the Northern Railway connects the villages of Dauphin and Marysville. Looking to the south, the river, nearly a mile wide, is seen, filled with islands, and bordered by fertile farms. The population of Rockville is 259.

MARYSVILLE, 113 miles. This town abounds in iron ore; and vast quantities of iron are manufactured within its limits. It was originally settled by Scotch-Irish emigrants, who, not possessing the pacific spirit of William Penn, had much trouble with the Indians. Whole families were massacred; and at one time nearly all the settlers were driven from their homes, but they soon returned, and exterminated the Indians. Population is 25,477. Number of manufacturing establishments 282, which employ 1,037 men. The capital invested $1,438,174.

DUNCANNON, 119 miles, is the seat of the Duncannon Iron Company. It manufactures a large amount of pig and bar iron and nails. Near this place is a branch of the mountain, called "Profile Rock," which strongly resembles the human face. Passing on a mile above Duncannon, we come to the mouth of the Juniata River, and Dunkin's Island, a famous place in the early history of the State.

David Brainerd, a missionary among the Indians, informs us that a large Indian town was settled upon this island, and that the Indians used to make it a favorite place of resort. He tells us of an eccentric Indian, who made his appearance "in his pontifical garb, which was a coat of bear-skins, dressed with the hair on, and hanging down to his toes; a pair of bear-skin stockings; and a great wooden face, painted,—the one side half black, the other half tawny, about the color of an Indian's skin, with an extravagant mouth, cut very much awry; the face fastened to a bear-skin cap, which was drawn over his head. He advanced towards me with an instrument in his hand, which he used for music in his idolatrous worship, which was a dry tortoise-shell, with some corn in it, and the neck of it drawn on to a piece of wood, which made a very convenient handle." Some years later this island was the scene of many battles between the Indians and the whites. In 1756 all the whites abandoned it; and in 1760 a terrible fight occurred between them and the Indians. At one of these outbreaks, the wife of the owner of the island, to escape from the savages, swam the Susquehanna, taking her infant with her. This was a great feat, when it is considered that the river is here a mile wide. This island has since been a delightful and favorite summer resort: its attractions are many, and its air is pure.

AQUEDUCT, 123 miles, is the point at which the Pennsylvania Railroad leaves the Susquehanna River, and follows the "blue Juniata," through mountains and valleys, till it reaches the middle of the great Alleghany Mountains. This little river seems almost to have possessed strategic powers; for it pursues its winding course of a hundred miles, sometimes dashing boldly against the mountain wall, which it has torn asunder, sometimes winding around obstructions, and creeping slyly

through secret valleys and the dens of wild beasts. "At some points the mountains appear to have retired from the attacking current, leaving numerous isolated hills standing as sentinels to watch its progress. But the severed mountains, the towering embankments, and the sentinel-like hills, are all toned into form and moulded into shape by the action of the elements and the foliage of Nature, leaving no abrupt precipices, and but few naked rocks, to mar the uniform beauty. The valleys, and many of the hills, are brought under cultivation; and some of the latter rise in the distance, presenting alternate squares of yellow, green, and brown, showing the progress of agricultural industry, while their summits are crowned with clumps of forest-trees, indicating the luxuriance of the growth before the march of civilization invaded it. Every hour of the day, every change of the season, gives new tints to these mountains and valleys. The morning mist often shrouds them beneath its veil; and as this is penetrated and dispersed by the sun, cloud-like forms sail away towards the sky, pausing at times amid the higher summits, as if to rest before taking their final flight to join their sisters in the illimitable firmament. The tints of evening spread over them golden and purple halos; while deep and dark shadows sink into the water, and creep up the wooded embankments. Spring clothes the entire landscape in a tender green. Summer deepens this into a darker tint, and intersperses it with the yellow of the ripening harvest. Autumn scatters its gems over all, lighting up the forests with the many bright hues of the changing foliage; and winter brings its pure mantle of white, over which tower the eververdant pines, or repose dark beds of rhododendrons. In the river valley, almost every tree has its parasite in a Virginia creeper, festooning it from the ground to the topmost branch; and here and there a larger vine binds a number together, as if it had grown weary of its first love, and taken others to its embrace. At some places the road passes through broad, cultivated valleys, and at others it is built along ravines so narrow that its bed is carved out of the overhanging rocks. Now a mountain spur bars its way, and a tunnel is pierced through the obstacle; and, again, the river is so tortuous, that engineer

ing skill disdained to follow it, and numerous bridges carry the roadway from bank to bank. Almost every mile of its course opens up new scenes, which present themselves to the traveller like the ever-changing pictures of a kaleidoscope."

"1

NEWPORT, 132 miles, was known, from its first settlement in 1814, to 1820, as Reiderville, since which year it has borne its present title. It has a furnace, two steam tanneries, a planingmill, foundery, grist-mill, saw-mill, a stone and earthen ware factory. It also has a large commission and mercantile business. About two miles from the station, iron ore is mined for local use. There are in the borough six churches, a bank, good schools, and several hotels. Population 945.

MILLERSTOWN, 138 miles, is a very old town, having been laid out as early as 1800. It is a great resort in summer; and its location, upon the bank of the Juniata, is very fine. It contains a furnace and foundery; and near it are worked iron-ore mines, employing about one hundred and seventy men. It contains two churches, three public halls, a bank, several good hotels; and the Juniata Valley Normal School, which has an attendance of about one hundred pupils. Population 533.

MIFFLIN, 154 miles, is the county-seat of Juniata County, which was separated from Mifflin by act of March 2, 1831. It is mountainous, interspersed with many beautiful and fertile valleys, chief of which is the Tuscarora, consisting of rolling hills of limestone and slate. Numerous streams water this county, and it is particularly famed for the purity of its air. Iron ore is abundant in all parts of it. The first settlements were made by Scotch-Irish, about 1749, who first built a fort, and cleared land, in Tuscarora Valley.

The settlers were much annoyed by the Indians, until the commencement of the Revolutionary war. It was in this county that the "Grasshopper War," between the Tuscarora and Delaware Indians, occurred. These tribes lived on each side of the Juniata; and the children got into a dispute about some grasshoppers. The women took sides with the children, and from this the men were drawn into it; and, before it was settled, a bloody and relentless war was had, in which many

1 Sipes's Pennsylvania Railroad, p. 118.

lives were sacrificed on both sides. It was not until after the Revolution, and the railroad was built, which followed the Pennsylvania canal, that any considerable improvement was visible, when agriculture and manufactures were stimulated, and its mineral wealth was developed to the present prosperous condition. The population of the county is 17,390. Its agricultural products are valued at $1,097,659. It has 204 manufacturing establishments, employing 395 hands. Mifflin is on the left bank of the Juniata, upon a lofty elevation, and is connected with the railroad on the right by a bridge over the river. It was laid out by John Harris in 1791. The country immediately surrounding it is delightfully picturesque, and the views are charming. It contains the usual county buildings, three churches, two banks, two public halls, and three good hotels. It does a flourishing business with the adjacent regions, and ships considerable iron ore. Population 857.

LEWISTOWN, 166 miles, is the seat of justice of Mifflin County. Mifflin County was formed from Cumberland and Northumberland, by act of Sept. 19, 1789. It is about thirty-nine miles long from south-east to north-west, and about fifteen miles broad. It has many mountain ranges running through its entire length, which form beautiful and fertile valleys of slate and limestone land. These valleys are in a high state of cultivation, and present a rich appearance to the eye of the traveller as he speeds by on the iron road above them. The most noted of these valleys is Kishicoquillas, unsurpassed in variety of scenery, and productiveness of soil, making it the cynosure of a refined and cultivated class of people, who have resided here for a century. This valley was so named for an Indian chief, who had his cabin near where Lewistown now stands. He was a Shawnee, friendly to the whites; was influential in preserving the peace, which, before the defeat of Braddock, existed between the whites of the interior of Pennsylvania and the Indians; and he was held in high esteem by the Provincial offiAt the time in our early colonial history when the French missionaries were inducing the Indians to join them in their alliance against the English, upon making overtures to Kishicoquillas, he sternly refused, protesting that "no earthly

cers.