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Show ~54 El\ffGRANT'S GUIDE. east and west of the Aleghany mountains; its physical position can .. not be examined with too much care. This river rises in Potter county in Pennsylvania, and flowing northwest by the bends of the stream about fifty miles, then enters the state ~f New-York; a few miles within which, at the junction of Olean creek stands the flourishing village of Hamilton. B low· H amilton th~ river flows some di tance west, inclines again northwest rcc~ives several larO'e branches from the state of New-York, grad~aily assumes a south~est course, again enters Pennsylv.ania, and continuing that direction to the town of \iVarren, there rece1ves from the northwe ' t Chatauque river. This stream issues from Chatauque lake, the extreme head waters of which rise within S or I 0 miles of Lake Erie. To the northeast of Chatauque Jake I ies Buffalo swamp, a l a~·ge morass of fifteen or twenty miles in length, and three or four w1d~, out of the south extremity of which a large creek issues, and falls mto Chatauque creek below tbe lake. After receiving Chatauque river, the Aleghany continues southwest to the mouth of French creek. The latter rises jn the southwest an()'le of the state of New- York, flows southwest to l\leadville ~ixty miles, winds to the southea.~t, and pu~suing that c?~rse about forty miles, falls into the Alegbany at Franklm. The united st~eams continue nearly southeast to Kitarring, then southwest to the City of Pittsburg. Below Franklin, no branch of any consequence joins the Aleghany river from the right bank, but several unite with it from the left, whidr serve to augment its ·volume of water, and add to its navigable u~efuluess. Toby's creek rises in M'Kean, flows southwest by west througb Jefferson, joins the Aleghany river in Venango county; its entire ]ength exceeJing one hundred miles. . Sandy Lick creek, and two or three others, fall into Aleghany rn:er between Toby's creek and the Kiskiminitas river. This latter stream rises east of the Chestnut ridge, through which it passes in its course to the westward· The extreme south~rn source of the I\'iskiminitas is the Conemaugh river, rising near the town of Somerset, in the valley between the Aleghany mountain and Chestnut ridge ; the stream flows along the valley to the northwest, thirty miles, receives a Jarge accession of water by a creek from the opposite direction. The united streams turn suddenly west, and pierce the Chestnut ridge, forming an enormous passage, visible from the apex of the Aleghany mountain 30 or 40 miles Jistant. This affords one of the finest and most extensive prospects in America. On the road from Bedford to Pittsburg, by Youngstown, the Aleghany mountain is passed obliq~ely; from the summit of which the beautiful valley of Somerset hes expanded as an imrnen e picture, with the long softened line of C~est· nut ritlge on the back ground; and to close the delightful landscape, the immen e gap formed by the Conemaucrb, seems to invite the tra· vell r to the still more fertile regions beyo~d the Jimit of his view. The sources of the Conemaugh, and those of the Juuiati arJp:o~ch vvithin a short distance uf each uther. The Aleghany mountam lll· , EMIGRANT'S GUfDE. 255 te r¥ening, the possibility of an artificial cornmun.ication ~s ~o~b.ted. There are no falls of any particular consequence m the KJskJmJmta~, and without considerable expense, this stream might b~ rendered navigable above the Chestn~t ~idge. Salt w~ter has b~en discovered of excellent quality; coal, m 1mmense bodies, and lfon ore abound upon different branches of the Kiskimin itas, and Conemaugh proper. . Two canals have been projected to unite the waters of Lake Ene with those of the Alegbany river. The first by French .creek to Waterford or Erie ; the second by Chatauque lake. It IS confiden.tly asserted that no serious impediment exists to prevent the completion of either of the foregoin~ channels of comm~nic ation.. . . . An object, however, of direct, and certamly p~achcabl~ u.tJIJty, Ii the opening of a direct road from Newburgh, or ~(m.gston, m Lhe state of New-York, to Hamilt n, on the Aleghany. ThJs route would no doubt be of infinite utility to the emigrants from all the New - E~gland states, by saving tbem from a paintul, c~rcuitou.s, and expens1ve journey through New-Jersey and Penns.ylv.ama to Pittsburg . . In t~e Jist of roads at the end of Chap. VII. wd] be shown the relat 1ve dJstanccs by the various roads ; of course, the emigrant can rna~e hi~ own selection. The current of the Aleghany river, though raptd, Is not impeded by fails ; therefore, an uninterrupted navigatioFl from Hamilton to Pittsburg has beeu opened, and must add ~reatly to the wealth and commercial facility of the western country m ge~eraJ. . The Monongahela river flows;. in th.e sa~e valley. wxth the prece~m~ stream but in a directly oppos1te d1rect1on. Th1s valley, or mmor basin, is boundeJ west by the rid.ge of hiJJs ~oticed in page 252, but on the east, in part by Chestnut ndge, and m part b,r: the Al~ghany mountain · and affords an additional proof that the nver basms are but very little, if at all, influenced by the ch~in~ ~f mountains. The MonongapeJa rises in the state of V ngm1a, near a. far south as 38° north lat. interlocking with the south branch of Potomac by its east fork, and with Little Kenhawa, and Elk river of the Great Kenhawa, by its west f0rk. . The east branch is generally known by the name of. T1~e~ va1ley river which like the Conemaugh, pierces the mountams m 1ts way to th~ main' stream : it is navigable into the Green-briar valier ; boats have descended from this elevated region to New-Orleans, With flour and other produce. . After the junction of the 1\fonongahela, or west branch wJtb the Tiger valley river, thirty miles above 1\Iorgantown, an~ forty a??ve the Virginia line, the united stream forms a. fine na\:Igable rn er, extremely rapid, but without falls, ?r ex~ra?r.dm.ary rapids. The length of the l\1unongahela, m V 1rgmxa, Is about one l~undr~d anu twenty miles, following the main stream, anJ nearJy a hke distance foJJowing the channel of the Tiger valle~ branch.. . Cheat river, joins the Monongahela a short d1stance vntbm Pennsyl' Vania. The latter river ri ses in Virginia, near the southwest corner of Maryhnd, between the sources of the north branch .of Pot~rnac and those of Tiger valley. Ri~ing ea t of Chestnut r1dge, this stream ilows to the north sixty or seventy miles, th~n tu.rns a?ruptly we.st through the mountain, and finally forms a JUnction w•th the mam |