The area known as Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was established in 1769 through a treaty between the Iroquois Indians and Penn family agents. The land is in a valley between the Conemaugh and Stoneycreek Rivers of Western Pennsylvania. The Iroquois name, Conemaugh, means otter creek. As you might guess, at one time the waterway was home to river otters.
Otters are animals that require a very clean habitat to survive.
Early industries, such as timbering, small iron furnaces and grain mills, capitalized on the waterways and other natural resources like coal, iron ore and limestone within the watershed. The rivers provided transportation routes, powered the mills, and supplied water for farms and the small communities along the rivers banks. Trees and coal fueled the forges that processed the iron ore. Eventually, the Allegheny Portage Railroad was constructed in the river valley. In 1852, Andrew Carnegie established the Cambria Iron Company, which replaced many of the small iron furnaces in the valley.