# Red and I go check out old Corydon!



## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Today,...for a pleasant diversion, Lauren had asked me about one of the long flooded and mostly forgotten towns that I used to travel through as a kid.... Corydon, Pa. The infamous Chief Cornplanter (brother to Blacksnake and Handsome lake)...also referred to in the Johnny Cash song, his grave is just above here, where the locals were relocated (whites and Senecas) to higher ground, with the flooding of the Kinzua Dam in the early 60's... Years back, before I really had a clue, I had the luck to stumble on and dig a privy near here. (Of course NOT on gov't land!)[] In the autumn season, they lower the water for the winter, and we thought perhaps some of the old town may have been exposed. We hiked around to see what we might see.

 Corydon as I remember it....


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

And as it looks today...[]


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

We started out along the recently exposed shoreline, and Laur (eagle eyes)[] spotted this crude neck near the base of an old stump....


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Hey,...iszat a foundation!!??


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Believe it or not,...this is the remains of an old bridge crossing this small creek. Right where the brush is there's still iron rail and some concrete over top of the stone.


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

This bridge was near the house foundation...In amongst the rubble that is usually submerged, there were traces of the past occupants...The leg of a cast iron bathtub...Enamaled cooking utensils, etc....Really makes you wonder about who lived there, and their story...


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Plowshare....


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Looks like a train wheel! (The Pennsy R.R. ran through here...)


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Just after the small bridge, we came upon evidence of a later (40's) dump....


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

*


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

It was pretty desolate....


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

It was weird to see the old telephone poles chainsawed off. The only other tracks we saw were some racoon, and these...Too far from civilization to be a regular dog...


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Walking back to the truck, we walked right into the next state...![]


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Of course when you turn around....

 There are myriad boundaries here....within 500 feet of one another there's Allegheny national forest, NY state, Pennsylvania, Seneca Indian nation territory, also Allegheny state park (NY state)....as you drive along, the signs keep changing back and forth as the road winds through all the areas....


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## downeastdigger (Nov 26, 2011)

Thanks for the post Joe.  Really cool old photo.  And even cooler to see how it looks today, and kind of creepy.  I'm thinkin all the bottles are way down deep in the muddy silt somewhere.  Definitely a town that won't ever be seen again.  any bottles from there?


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Last, but far from least,...when we arrived home, we stopped out at our mailbox, and what a nice surprise! Our friend Tony (Rockbot) sent these cozy coveralls to Laur....She could have used them earlier in the day, as the wind off the lake was biting cold...How ironic...A real nice pair of insulated coveralls,...from Hawaii! [] Thanks a million Rocky! A very thoughtful and generous gift, and Laur says "Mahalo" to you! (and she'll put them to good use under the bakery, and on the colder digs coming up...) Very much appreciated.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Thank you.


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## Jim (Nov 26, 2011)

Great pics, Joe. Places that "no longer exist" like Corydon are never completely erased, and it's cool to find a few little pieces of history from them.  ~Jim


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## SAbottles (Nov 26, 2011)

Joe, your posts ~ as ever ~ are absolutely fascinating ! Look forward to seeing Lauren modelling that Hawaian "haute coutier" on her Facebook [] !


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Thanks everyone,...It fascinates me too, as I remember the old Indian basket lady that had a small stand under a butternut tree near this place, and also the Indian trading post near the river intersection, where we could get ice cold birch beers and an old iron bridge over the Allegheny river... (I have an early memory of a 50's desoto car burning on this bridge)...I remember that everyone got frantic when the wooden 'sleeper' floorboards of the bridge caught fire....(My young logic puzzled over why they didn't just let it burn through and put itself out in the river?...)[]

 I went looking for more images of this area but could find ...not much...

 Here's a replacement stone they made for Chief Cornplanter, his original had deteriorated, and when you go to this spot in the cemetery, folks leave small items and objects along the edges as a respect...When Laur and I first visited this place, I had a small early aqua med in my pocket,...just seemed right to leave it.[]


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 26, 2011)

Pennsylvania's one surviving Indian community lived until 1964 on the Cornplanter Tract in Warren County, northwest Pennsylvania. In that year the newly constructed Kinzua Dam was shut, flooding the Allegheny Reservoir and submerging the community's physical remains. 
 The Cornplanter Tract was not an Indian reservation. It was a grant of land made in 1791 to Cornplanter, a chief of the Seneca Nation, and to his heirs by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Through this gift, the government of Pennsylvania expressed its gratitude to Cornplanter for his Indian diplomacy in the early years of American independence. 


 Cornplanter's people knew him as Kaintwakon, meaning "by what one plants." The white people knew him also as John Abeel (rendered also as Obail) and by other names. He was born to his Seneca Indian mother about 1750 at Ganawagus, near Avon, New York. The Wolf Clan to which she belonged was a ranking Indian family. Among its members were several prominent Indian leaders, Kiasutha, Handsome Lake, Red Jacket, and Governor Blacksnake, all principals in the drama of Indian-white relations which spanned the remainder of the century after 1755. Ultimately, this drama would determine whether this country, especially that part west of the Allegheny Mountains, would be French or English, European or Indian. 


 Here's a small pic of a Seneca home on the old Cornplanter land grant,...right upstream from Corydon.


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## madman (Nov 26, 2011)

very nice joe !


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 27, 2011)

Thank you Madman,...it's a subject I'm passionate about, and the 91 miles of shoreline afforded by the Kinzua Dam, I feel, should have never been. One other aside about the land grant is that it was signed personally by George Washington himself, assuring the Senecas that they would not and could not ever be forcibly relocated for _any_ reason...(Except for a Federal Government Dam project) [sm=rolleyes.gif] anyhow,....I included one more pic of a map found in an old book, that shows where things were...If you look closely at the top right of the map, you can see where we were today it's sorta cut off, but visible "Willow Creek"...which is now Willow bay. Please pardon the glare on the pic.


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## rockbot (Nov 27, 2011)

Very nice and informative post. Thanks for some good out doors exploration and the history to go with it.

 Glad to hear Red can join in some cold weather digs![]


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 27, 2011)

Thanks again for everything you've shared with us Tony...I'm heading for bed...Fred's coming by in the morning for a dig at the bakery...Then maybe a hike later in the day, to another dig site... Thanks everyone for your comments and interest. I found one more pic of Chief Cornplanters grave, (opposite side, with the offerings and tokens on it. I also couldn't sign off without including the lyrics of Johnny Cash's song about this place... Thanks for listening to my ramblings...[]

 As long as the moon shall rise as long as the rivers flow
 As long as the sun will shine as long as the grass shall grow
 The Senecas are an Indian tribe of the Iroquios nation
 Down on the New York Pennsylvania Line you'll find their reservation
 After the US revolution cornplanter was a chief
 He told the tribe these men they could trust that was his true belief
 He went down to Independence Hall and there was a treaty signed
 That promised peace with the USA and Indian rights combined
 George Washington gave his signature the Government gave its hand
 They said that now and forever more that this was Indian land
 As long as the moon shall rise...
 On the Seneca reservation there is much sadness now
 Washington's treaty has been broken and there is no hope no how
 Across the Allegheny River they're throwing up a dam
 It will flood the Indian country a proud day for Uncle Sam
 It has broke the ancient treaty with a politician's grin
 It will drown the Indians graveyards cornplanter can you swim
 The earth is mother to the the Senecas they're trampling sacred ground
 Change the mint green earth to black mud flats as honor hobbles down
 As long as the moon shall rise...
 The Iroquios Indians used to rule from Canada way south
 But no one fears the Indians now and smiles the liar's mouth
 The Senecas hired an expert to figure another site
 But the great good army engineers said that he had no right
 Although he showed them another plan and showed them another way
 They laughed in his face and said no deal Kinuza dam is here to stay
 Congress turned the Indians down brushed off the Indians plea
 So the Senecas have renamed the dam they call it Lake Perfidy
 As long as the moon shall rise...
 Washington Adams and Kennedy now hear their pledges ring
 The treaties are safe we'll keep our word but what is that gurgling
 It's the back water from Perfidy Lake it's rising all the time
 Over the homes and over the fields and over the promises fine
 No boats will sail on Lake Perfidy in winter it will fill
 In summer it will be a swamp and all the fish will kill
 But the Government of the USA has corrected George's vow
 The father of our country must be wrong what's an Indian anyhow
 As long as the moon shall rise (look up) as long as the rivers flow (are you thirsty)
 As long as the sun will shine (my brother are you warm) as long as the grass shall grow


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## carobran (Nov 27, 2011)

ive never heard that one,i like his song"THE BALLAD OF IRA HAYES".....[][]


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## GEEMAN (Nov 27, 2011)

Excelent Joe ! I very much enjoy reading about your outings. 91 miles of shoreline that should never have been = Amen


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## RedGinger (Nov 27, 2011)

Thank you so much, Rocky!  I was trying to follow Joe's post last night to thank you, but just couldn't hang in long enough.  Those coveralls are so warm and comfortable.  I really appreciate you sending them!  

 As for the Senecas, it really is a tragedy what the government did to them.  It should have never happened.


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## MIdigger (Nov 27, 2011)

Great story and pictures. Reading the history/reading the headstone one wonders exactly how old this fellow really was. Born about 1750/Died 1836 aged about 100 years. Mustve had another good 14 years! We all should be so lucky!

 I love the historical stuff you guys always have, its great reading.


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## Wheelah23 (Nov 27, 2011)

Totally unrelated I'm sure, but that gravestone looks a lot like this bitters bottle.


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 27, 2011)

> but that gravestone looks a lot like this bitters bottle.


 
 Pretty crazy Connor....but also pretty true....It looks very similar.


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## towhead (Nov 28, 2011)

Great pix!  Luv the coveralls!  -Julie


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## Gromit0299 (Nov 28, 2011)

Thanks for the history lesson, Joe.  I love learning about old "abandoned" towns.  I've been really itching to visit Centralia at some point.   Love urban exploration.  You learn so much from it.


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## WAHIAWA DIGGER (Nov 29, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  JOETHECROW
> 
> Last, but far from least,...when we arrived home, we stopped out at our mailbox, and what a nice surprise! Our friend Tony (Rockbot) sent these cozy coveralls to Laur....She could have used them earlier in the day, as the wind off the lake was biting cold...How ironic...A real nice pair of insulated coveralls,...from Hawaii! []Â Thanks a million Rocky! A very thoughtful and generous gift, andÂ Laur says "Mahalo" to you! (and she'll put them to good use under the bakery, andÂ on the colder digs coming up...) Very much appreciated.
> 
> ...


 
 Nice Coveralls... Insulated coveralls might be too much of an over-kill in most places here in Hawaii but as Rocky would tell you that on a good day you can go snowboarding on the Big Island.  BTW, my hometown Wahiawa can come down to a brisky 50s on a nice winter morning... Us... we start freezing below 70. lol.  I could imagine Hawaiians in PA.  Great dig guys... Aloha! Nate


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## JOETHECROW (Nov 30, 2011)

> we start freezing below 70. lol. I could imagine Hawaiians in PA. Great dig guys... Aloha! Nate


 
 Too funny Nate! [] Thanks for the kind words...Aloha to you too!


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