The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-08-22
mot entered, etc. No rights reserred.l
SIX
PIONEER LIFE on the ALLEGHENIES.
FOURTH PAPER.

/
( Is littleness; that he who feels contempt
/ For any living thing hath faculties
! Which he has never used; that thought with him
I Is in its infancy"
/ few mornings ago, after partaking of COED
substantial breakfast at the hospitable board OF
Mr. Andrew Burgoon. of Clearfeld township. that
intelligent and genial gentleman and myself start
ed out to explore and view the ''Oid Fort and its
surroundings. This ''Old Fort Is mysterious
structure situate the summit Of hin not far
4 from the northern boundary line Of Cambria eoun-
ty. and is between and two miles above the con-
huence Of Beaver-dam and Slate-lick creeks. At
/ the time OF the frst settlement Of the adjacent
country, clear neldsr OF portions OF iand entirely
destitute OF trees existed in the vicinity Of
the forts These clear fields are supposed TO have
Deen lndlan corn -helds during some long past pc
/ riod Of time-hOw remote no one knows and 1 may
add as notable fact that the maize growing there
AT the present tlie i somewhat in size
many stalks waving above the head of the observer
TO the uncommon height of eleven or twelve feet
from the ground rms proves at least that the
land Is well adapted to the production Of Indian
corn.
Many years ago this ancient earthwork was over
grown with huge tree. two three centuries old
at the least calculation Ash. hickory. sugar and
eim trees occupied the area ol the Tort while out
side the general pine forest held dominion All
question; and it would furnish a pretty good les
in authorization for certain class OF sceptics
they have not beheld with their own optics
First-Ihe fort was in use and theu lay idle for
many years before the trees began 70 grow.
SecOnd-The trees were from three to four centu-
ries in obtaining the growth witnessed by the first
Hence we may with certainty infer that this .Old
Fort was constructed some four centuries ago and
had been present at the construction OF the
earthwork and had witnessed the process with our
he must believe although he has never seen them,
for the silent voices Of those arborescent witnesses
spoke 70 the mental Of the beholder with more
force than the strongest assertions Of human testi
mony.
But to return from this digression The fact that
trees Of gOOdiy size were growing within the
of the fort while no trees occupied the space Of
tbe clear eI5eHbicb corvc7oT seyars he iesI
HON In ftt -F,nr
pie who built the -OId Fort" lived there long an
teri0r TO the tfIers Of the eIear GeIds II mis- he
not true why did grow in the fort while none
within the Of the clear fields lying in the
! immediate vicinity and surrounded by the same
/ l omitted to state that the rampant Of this an
cient iortlhcation was formerly four or hve feet
/ high and local tradition says that well occu-
pied the centre Of the area whose depths had been
feet Nothing is at present TO be seen Of the we'll
and the rampant Is nearly quite oblitcrated hay
fna been pIoyyed over and re-Ilovysd for many wears
/ past \ rank crop Of oats now and mods
within the Of this antique structure and every
I link of memory seems to be broken between the
living present and the buried past. Some one has
/ said that Times change and change with
them = and the trits saying seems to be amply YER
ihed in this Instance.
! standing within the lines Of the fort one has a
magnificent and fr-rea hing view Of the surround
/ ing country. On one side away through the misty
distance, you can look into Ceareid county; then.
+ turning. you behold the dim. blue mountains OF
I Blair county stretching away like fairy land Of
vision till they blend into the far horizon Turn
/ ing again. the Glen Conneu settlement can be
in other directions C'resson I.oretto Chest Springs
. Carroutown, and their respective surroundings,
may be distinctly Observed.
We viii now give brief history Of the settle
ment OF this portion OF the county as the next pro
per thing in order. -
About the year i7os. 1Ir. Daniel Turner took NJ
land along the Clcarield creek, within the limits
OF Cambria county in what is now White towns hip
He was the only settler in that region for good
many years, and passed his time in hunting and
/ trapping. He had been engaged in the iron bust
/ ness in one Of the eastern counties, but through
some unfortunate concurrence Of mercantile intri-
cacies ne failed and lost all his property With a
! bare suficiency 10 enable him to remove TO the
wilds of the AlleghenieS he lost sight OF his
poverty and his losses amid the stirring scenes OF
I pioneer life. Land surveying. too. occupied a por
tion of his time but hunting and trapping pleased
/ him best and brought the most provision for hi.
I household. The seclusi0n of the life led by hin
and his family Is we'll excmplifed by the following
. incident: Andrew Anderson and wife were tht
grandparents of Andrew and William Burgoon
who arc now thrifty farmers in the vicinity Of tn,
Beaver-dams. in Clearlicld and White townships
On one occasion these worthy people paid visit
thrifty with plenty Of substantial food to subsis
on in the shape Of coru-pone, venlsOn. bear meat
cult to yet-a fast from wheat bread for months be
ing common occurrence-whilc salt was so scarce
in those days that the price frequently ran up tt
fabulous figures In the course Of the conversation
Mrs. Turner remarked that the Andersons were
the ehrst Whte persons outside her OWn ianily "hon
she had seen for four long years Her enjoyment
Of the visit may therefore be easily Imagined
Here, apart from the world and its ways. lived
Daniel Turner like Alexander Selkirk on his lont
island. while dogs. guns and wild animals were IA
miliar objects IN ms daiiy ii.lnbeS through the ior
csts. Monarch of all he surveyed. he was patri
arch in the midst of his family. defending. prOyid
ing Tor aud giving law 70 ms Ilt1ie klngdoIn lih
the patriarchs Of the Oiden time. such is the lif
Of pioneer in his isolated home.
As We have previously stated. hunting and trap
ping Allied 10 great extent the measure Of DAME
Turner's days, and we might add portion Of his
nights too Tor hunt docs not always cnd VIII
, sundOwn. Many were his ingenious cOntrivancei
for capturing the wild denizens of the forest, an,
II may therefore not be amiss Just here to give
readers an idea of the shape Of bcar-traps, dead
falls, and snares in general. His woifpen We vii
hrst describe. he selected a site IN a narrow "a
vine where two trees grew near together, and bull
close log structure gradually tapcrng 70 the tOl
/ till the opening was about two square yards u
. area. \ beam was fastened in notches cut into tn
{ tOpmost logs, that il lay across the middle o
. the opening A PAIR OF doors hll2ed togytheT 4
the middle. were supported by and iusteued 20 thl
cross-bcaIn. so that they would give way downward
into me pen Wlen any colsl ieriole weight press e
4 upon them A gangw2y Of a log y two was lai
f across IRON the edge Oi the raFlue 10 the JOpmos
log OF the pen. thus afordlng the unsus IeetinS an
fmal an easy access TO the trap-doors, which gav
way as soon as its weight rested upon them A
aIluring beit OF some Slnd was placed IN a eoisplS
uous position in the bottom OF the pen, and tina
completed the arrangement
: On one occasion 10 less than eleven wolish nose
pointed upward toward the observer in the morn
ing as he gazed down upon the disconsolate grou
Of shaggy prowlers who unwillingly occupied tn
ground floor in Mr.. Turner's pen.
We viii now give the reader another vcritabl
bear story. In December. lSii- that redoubtabi
hunter old Richard Ashcraft. was out after gam
IN inc neiShpore9i oI OIleh 1"lleli' Z. settieinel
IN what Is now thest t0Wnshis, IN Jhis county
: While on this hunt he discovered an ancient no
low cheSnut tree, within whose friendly shelter p
is the wont of the bruin family in winter. wcr
, suugly euscOuccd a she bear and her two cub,
2 Leaving them undisturbcd. Mr.. Shcrait rcturuC
T home. but next day he invited Andrew BuTgOOU
then boy of considerable size and grit to accom-
{ pany him on an expedition against Mrs. Bruin an
, her little family and mayhap against the old hca
himself He couldn't have pleased Andy bette
than by proposing such an excursion. 80 out the
: both started and ere long were on the ground an
had placed the old chestnut tree state OF siclg'
= + There a large hole in the great trunk som
twenty feet from the ground. which serve
the bear family as q means ui icgrcSS and c2ress
? and widc-dwake hunters, recounOitering tn
r position through this aperture, found the bea
Oncss and her family at home Old man Asl
craft then commander chief Oi the cxpediti0
= drew up his forces around the treC-which force
D consisted Of Andy Burgoon-and directed tn
said forces 10 bswl. after The manner of calf, j
4 most d0letul strains. pounding away IN the NEAR
T. f time with club on the hollow tree In order
r. awaken its sleeping occupants. All this was 70
: lowed 70 the letter by the irrepressihle ANDY
{ Ashcraft himself meantime climbing up the hi
10 get peep into the hole.
The result OF this strataCcm soon became -
. parent for as the lad hammered away and bawlC
like calf in the last agonies under the butcher
I knife. a growing and scrombInS sound gre
Z louder and louder, till at last the great she he,
Poked her nose out nj the entering aperture Tn
: was precisely a. she was expected 10 do and q
= sooner was her head well out than the sharp tTal
y of AshcTafts rifle sounded her deatEkncil and %
fell back into the hollow trunk with bullet in h
F forehead. The huge tree was quickly feiied To o.
. ground and one OF the cubs tDmahuwked by As
, craft while the other was despatched In . trtcc
. the eager dogs. The skins were soon taken or an
! the meat hung up a tree tn sent for the ne
= day. when il packed home on q horse
~ We will describe a nCar-pen and give I
! construction in detail FOR the benefit OF the ty
= 4 hunters A proper site is first selected betweJ
" two convenient trees. which must lend their
=, in the construction Of the pen. Notched logs a
q then built together To the height of about seven
=, eight feet in the shape of paralelOgram. so TIA
the structure viii be about eight feet long and fo
vHsA or Hf 10