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Pittsburgh History > Pittsburgh: Historically Prime Real Estate
Greetings! My name is Alliquippa (All-ee-QUIP-ah), and I welcome you to this edition of Making Tracks. I hope you enjoy your visit and check out all of our activities: make a drum, discover your family history, rewrite a piece of American history and play our game, the Seneca Sling. Speaking of Senecas, I happen to be a member of the Seneca tribe. In my language, Seneca is called Onodowahgah, which means “people of the great hill.” Most of the Seneca tribe live in New York near the mountains, but long ago we used many parts of Pennsylvania for hunting grounds. We are one of the six tribes that make up the Iroquois Nation. One legend says that my ancestor Alliquippa, a Seneca Queen, set up camp many years ago where the three rivers meet near Pittsburgh. And it was there she met George Washington, who was on a military mission near her camp. The two became friends, the legend says.
Men are the political leaders in our tribe, but the women choose who will represent us. Those chosen make up our tribal council, led by our chief. Our chief then goes before the Iroquois Great Council to make decisions that affect our tribe, as well as the other five tribes that make up our Nation. The Great Council rules over all of the six tribes of the Iroquois’ “Six Nations,” or Haudenosaunee, which means “people of the longhouse.” (It’s a lot like how state representatives and senators represent citizens in Congress! In fact, many say America’s forefathers set up the United States government by using the Iroquois Nation as a model—the senators are like tribal council members who report to a chief–the president!)
Life as a Seneca is a proud one, full of rich history, bravery, endurance and tradition. It was nice meeting you, and I hope you have fun while you’re here on Making Tracks! Information contained in this article courtesy of www.senecaindians.com and www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/projects/march02/mar02-pg1.htm. Pittsburgh: Historically Prime Real Estate The city of Pittsburgh has three rivers that look kind of like a fork: The Ohio is the handle, and the Allegheny and Monongahela are the prongs. Any land that sits between two major bodies of water is going to be popular. Land like that is rich and fertile and grows the best crops. Plus, you have three rivers you can travel on to trade what you grow with others to make money and get supplies. It’s prime real estate. This prime real estate was very popular for hundreds of years, and is the main reason why Pittsburgh grew to be the city it is. First Settlers But before Pittsburgh became a city, it was home to its first settlers: the Moundbuilders. The Moundbuilders were a mysterious tribe of people who buried their dead in mounds they constructed in the ground. They’d pitch camp near the mounds to be close to their dead ancestors. (But not too close—eeewww!)
Second Settlers Then people from Europe began arriving. First the French, then the English. The French wanted to trade with the Indians. The English wanted the land to themselves. Struggles over the land eventually led to the French and Indian War. It was during this war that the English built Fort Pitt, named for the British Secretary of State, William Pitt. The English won the war, and the Iroquois Indians gave up a lot of land to the English—who then moved their friends and relatives onto the land. They named the area Pittsborough. The Revolutionary War came. More forts were built, and people fought fiercely to protect their land and their freedom. The American settlers won that war, and moved some more friends and relatives into the area. Farming
Industry As the country grew, so did industry. And Western Pennsylvania had plenty to offer industry, too. The mountains surrounding Pittsburgh and its neighboring states were full of iron, ore and coal. Industrial giants like Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, George Westinghouse and others moved in, and steel became king. Factories grew, universities were built, and Pittsburgh became a major city on the national map. Pollution from the factories eventually became a problem, with smog so thick streetlights were turned on during the day. So in 1973 the city began an urban renewal program. Today, even though Pittsburgh is still known as a steel town, it’s also known for its universities, its tourism and its sports teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates and Penguins!
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Reading List
Pittsburgh: Then and Now by Walter C. Kidney (for established readers) and |
Meet Alliquippa
The Seneca tribe is made up of clans: Turtle, Bear, Hawk, Heron and Wolf, among others. My mother’s clan is Wolf, which makes me Wolf. My father was from the Bear clan, but became a member of our Wolf clan when he married my mother. When I marry, my husband will join the Wolf clan, too.
You may be wondering what a longhouse is. A longhouse is what we used to live in. (They were a lot like today’s apartment buildings—mats and wood screens separated the house into individual rooms.) A whole clan of 60 people could live in one longhouse! It was made of wood and elm bark. But today, we live in houses or apartments, just like you!
Corn, beans and squash are popular foods among the Seneca. We call them the “Three Sisters.” It is said that growing and harvesting these three foods together works well because they each have something to offer the other. Beans and corn help each other gather nitrogen through their roots, and squash leaves grow big to provide shade and protection from pests who might eat away the crop.
Other tribes wandering the area saw how rich the prime river real estate was and decided to settle there, driving out the moundbuilders, who were relatively quiet anyway. The new tribes included the Iroquois, the Seneca and some other tribes.
Western Pennsylvania was great for farming. And that’s what most families did. And they found that whiskey could be made and sold for a great profit. So they sold it. Then the new federal government put a tax on the whiskey, which hurt its sales. The farmers got together and rebelled against the new tax. The Whiskey Rebellion was soon quashed by President George Washington.
