SRTA Lore

The River...News, Stories, History, Lore, Images and Wikipedia

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Susquehanna Journals: A Day of Duck Hunting, October 14, 1974 - Bob (Kerstetter) and I went on the river for ducks about 6:15 A.M. We used Bob’s boat and laid along a fairly large grass patch right out from our landing. The decoys, six blacks on one bunch, six mallards on one, and eight geese decoys on the other, were to the north of us. The wind was coming out of the south real strong and it was misty, rainy and low cloud covering until around 3:30 in the afternoon. I can say this was one of the best duck hunting days we had in many years. We missed, mostly me, an awful lot of real good shots. Bob and I each shot two bluebills but I should have had many more along with some blacks and mallards. The first hour was really the best. We saw thousands and thousands of flight ducks going south but they were a mile high.

About ten o’clock we went for ham, eggs and coffee at the cabin. After we ate we went back to Peg’s Island and pulled the steps leading from the river to the island out of the water. Then we headed back over to the patch and as we were going through the cut, Bob missed a wood duck. We laid at the patch till four o’clock and then called it a day. We didn’t have any more shooting the rest of the day.

Along the Susquehanna River Trail , by John Capwell READ IT NOW

Paddling the Susquehanna River Trail is Still Getting Easier, by John Capwell READ IT NOW

Between Wrightsville and the mighty dam at Safe Harbor is the greatest concentration of significant Native American archaeological sites in Pennsylvania. As we paddled along on our third day, we passed the former locations of five 16th and 17th century Susquehannock villages, once occupied by thousands of people. We passed by 18th century Native American towns whose residents treated with William Penn himself. We paddled over the Walnut Island petroglyph panels, aboriginal effigies chipped into bedrock outcrops in the river, drowned in the 30’s by the Safe Harbor Dam. Dozens of older archaeological sites, some of them more than 8,000 years old and buried a dozen feet or more in the floodplains and islands, slipped past our gunwales all day.

Not all the petroglyphs were inundated. Some are still visible just below the Safe Harbor Dam spillway. Known as the Safe Harbor Petroglyphs, like those on Walnut Island they were produced at some unknown time in prehistory. Their ages and origins are undetermined, and they're one of the great mysteries of Pennsylvania's Stone Age. They depict a variety of clearly recognizable shapes and figures from the natural world; bird and bear tracks, turtles, snakes, a fox, human faces, a hunter with a bow. There are also fanciful figures from mythology; bird-men with features of both, concentric spirals, a snail-like creature with some type of headdress, and many other figures that defy description. Like their ages and origins, their purpose is unknown. Perhaps they represent an attempt evoke hunter's magic, and ensure a successful foray for some of the species of game. They might be clan symbols, and may serve to demarcate the territories of particular families or bands. Perhaps they're a kind of writing, and record the legends and history of their makers. Whatever their age, origin, and meaning, they ‘re a treasure; a direct attempt at communication by the first people of the river. Sadly, they've sustained a lot of damage from modern residents of the Susquehanna Valley. Nineteenth and twentieth century graffiti has destroyed or obscured some of the figures, and vandalism is a continuing and chronic problem.

This reach of the river was, for countless generations of Native Americans, the heartland. Every wrinkle of the landscape, every stream emptying into the river, every rock outcrop, would have all been as familiar to them as our own hometowns and backyards are to us. Thousands of them lived here for thousands of years. They’re all gone, victims of warfare and disease and greed, and they’re not just gone from the landscape. At lunchtime we stopped at the Long Level, on the west shore of the river, and I was asked to deliver a short lecture on the Pre-Columbian heritage of this part of the river.

“After giving the Sojourners a brief introduction to Susquehannock history at lunch, I asked for a show of hands of all those who had heard of the sites and historical events I’d just talked about. In a crowd of over 150 people, only a smattering of hands went up. So it is that most of the Commonwealth’s modern residents know almost nothing about the lives and accomplishments of their predecessors.”

This gave me pause. I still find it hard to believe, and more than a little depressing, that a whole race of people can be forgotten in less than 300 years. As educators and advocates for the past, we clearly had a lot of work to do.

Day four on the river was occupied entirely with driving the dugout and her trailer around both the Safe Harbor and Holtwood dams. When we tried to launch her for at least a few miles of paddling, a powerful wind blew the impounded river into whitecaps, and while the dugout might have been able to push into them, I made the decision not to do it in the interests of safety. We elected instead to wait and launch again below the Holtwood Dam and paddle to Conowingo on day five.

When dawn came, we knew we had our work cut out for us. The Conowingo reservoir is almost 14 miles long and that would require a tremendous push without any help from the current. I conferred with Alan Quant, and at his suggestion, we upped our crew from three to four. The new four person team included Bill Everhart, a veteran of many Sojourns and a skilled and profoundly experienced canoeist. Bill changed everything, and he taught us yet another lesson in the archaic art of travel by dugout. After a few hundred yards, Bill turned to me and said “Look, this thing is as heavy as, well, a log. We can make that work for us, or against us.” He went on to explain that the traditional methods of adjusting the direction of a canoe, that is ruddering with the stern paddle or drawing and prying with the bow paddle, were hampering us. These are highly effective steering strokes that every novice learns in his or her first canoeing class, but they are lateral strokes, that is they push or pull the boat sideways, not forward. By necessity they slow the vessel down. Bill reasoned if we all paddled forward all the time, and simply switched sides at a verbal signal to adjust the direction of travel, the additional and cumulative momentum might make the big old boat move smartly down the reservoir. So we tried it his way. With Bill calling “Hut!” every so often to signal a switch, we tracked an arrow-straight path down the west shore and covered nearly the whole 14 mile stretch in a little over three hours! The heavy dugout behaved like a new and unfamiliar vessel. It was amazing, and a real insight into the methods that Native paddlers surely employed when confronted with big lakes, high wind, or long, upstream journeys. Once again, we relearned lessons they knew by heart, and our respect for them grew immeasurably.

By the end of day six, we were to reach the head of the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, and the end of our journey. Four of us launched the dugout early that day, ahead of most of the other Sojourners, and rode the powerful current down toward the largest estuary in eastern North America. It was easy paddling, and there was time to think about lots of things. My mind went to the wild rapids at Marietta, to City Island, to Curtis Pond, to Susquehannock towns and earlier settlements. Memories of the week past flooded over me; hard work and bright sun, the amusing incongruity of paddling a dugout canoe right past the nuclear plant at Peachbottom, questions from and bantering with our fellow Sojourners, evening camaraderie in the huge and colorful encampments of a hundred or so tents, a heron stalking the flats, certain rocks and eddies of current. As Havre de Grace came in sight, it dawned on me that successfully paddling the dugout down 70 miles of river, as spectacular an achievement as it was, wasn’t really the most significant accomplishment of our long voyage. Our great, lumbering, wonderful craft, so awkward and graceful at the same time, had transported us back into the lives of generations long gone from this place. For a time, we saw things they way they did, from inside the solid hull of a dugout. I wanted it to go on forever.

And then, as we slid beneath the I-95 bridge, I realized it couldn’t:

“The cry of a bird pulls me back from reverie. It’s an osprey. Just ahead I can see the landing at Havre de Grace, and the local press and dignitaries lined up to greet us, and there’s a new but familiar smell on the wind that blows warm and gentle in my face. A big smile: salt water.” (final installment)

Confederate Calvary Sighted Crossing the Susquehanna River Trail Monday July 2, 1863. Contributed by John Capwell, Adapter of History

Reports from Herndon and Port Treverton indicate that a squad of mounted Confederate scouts crossed the Susquehanna River Trail, just above island 112, using the bridge that connects the two communities. The bar wench at the Herndon House said that last week she looked out her third floor room window and spotted the mounted scouts coming across from the Port Treverton side of the river. She stated that she got to the roof and rotated the weather vane so as to confuse the soldiers on the cardinal points of the compass. She further told us that the soldiers looked at what appeared to be a map and they seemed to be confused. The soldiers then attempted to scavenge some food, but failing to find anything of significance, returned across the bridge to Port Treverton without paying the toll for either crossing.

The suspicion is that these troops were the same troops spotted outside Duncannon several days ago near mile 85 on the Susquehanna River Trail. Some farms in the area report horses, livestock and clothing from clotheslines being liberated by these soldiers. On the 28th of the previous month, a squad of Union soldiers confronted 20 Confederate soldiers and 15 of the confederates were captured outside of Fountaindale. The horses in their possession were returned to their owners. Local residents are encouraged to take inventory of their livestock and to report any missing animals to the local sheriff.

Telegraph reports indicate that skirmishes between Union and Confederate soldiers occurred south of Harrisburg. Residents in the Herndon area were worried that the Confederate scouted the area for food for their troops. Other concerns along the Susquehanna River Trail are that these soldiers might damage the railroad along the East shore of the river. Although rumors stated that the troops in the Duncannon and Herndon area were Stuart's Cavalry, General J.E.B. Stuart's Cavalry is south of Hanover. A brief pitched battle in the streets of Hanover sent Stuart fleeing. To deal with what appears to be an impending attack on Harrisburg, trench fortifications are currently being constructed around the city. Local residents are encouraged to report any military activity and avoid helping the confederate troops along the Susquehanna River Trail.

Susquehanna Greenway Partnership - This year a new regional partnership has developed that includes government units, agencies, community groups and individuals. It centers on the corridor defined by the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. This long, narrow constituency has been broken into "reaches," each representing a segment of the corridor. SRTA is represented on the Reach 3 Community Involvement Committee which extends from Sunbury to the mouth of Swatara Creek at Middletown in Dauphin County, PA.

From the Partnership comes the defining statement that it "...is working to bring alive the rich story and legacy of the Susquehanna corridor -- to foster pride in the Susquehanna and its encompassing region. By creating awareness of the area's treasured natural, cultural, historic, scenic, and recreational resources, the Partnership works to foster stewardship of these assets for the use and enjoyment of all people." No question, the SRTA is a significant part of this championing of the River. Further information about the Partnership's activities, membership and publications may be acquired locally through SEDA Council of Governments at:

RR 1 - Box 372 - Lewisburg, PA 17837 - Phone: (570) 524-4491 - Email crc@seda-cog.org

Or visit the website at http://www.susquehannagreenway.org

River Bibliography

Bruce Bishoff has provided us with a list of river related books that he is aware of. If you have others, please let us know. We would like to build a complete bibliography of Susquehanna River literature. An annotated bibliography would be even nicer:

Appalachian Waters 3: The Susquehanna River and Its Tributaries – Walter F. Burmeister, 1975 – Appalachian Books, Oakton VA 22124, 600pp (out of print)

This volume includes stream locator maps and contains individual river/stream descriptions of all canoeable waterways of the Susquehanna River’s extensive watershed. The descriptions include mileage, elevation drop, travel time, degree of difficulty using standard measures, scenery ratings and a detailed narrative for the entire river as broken down into short stretches defined by launch sites, river crossings and communities.

Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake - Jack Brubaker, 2002, Penn State Univ. Press, http://www.psupress.org (800) 326-9180.

The narrative traces the course of the river from its New York beginnings down to the Chesapeake Bay. The author reviews the natural and human history and condition of the river and considers its future. The changes that have taken place over time are described. Over 70 maps and illustrations are included.

Down the Susquehanna by Canoe (article) – Ralph Gray and Walter M. Edwards - National Geographic Magazine, July, 1950, pp 73-120

Six people, traveling in two aluminum and one rock scarred canvas canoe, went at a leisurely pace for 36 days from Otsego Lake to Havre de Grace during a dry summer. Noting that the river “got wider but little deeper” the authors included many historic references, claiming that “the history of the land has been written very largely in water”. Many photographs recall the scenes of a half-century ago.

Canoeing on the Juniata, 1888 – Henry K. Landis, 1993 – Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and Landis Valley Associates (out of print), 67pp.

Written by a Landis Valley, Lancaster County native this book is a journal of a leisurely 16 day trip down the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers from McVeytown to Harrisburg using canals and the river for the trip. Many full-page photos taken during the trip add to the historical interest of the volume.

Guide to Public Fishing Waters and Boating Access in Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, 1997, 96pp

Although designed primarily as a reference guide for public fishing purposes, this volume contains charts that list Fish & Boat Commission launch sites and their locations.

Juniata, River of Sorrows – Dennis McIlnay, 2003, Live Oaks Press, http://www.liveoakspress.com (814) 472-3095 or books@liveoakspress.com

Juniata River Paddling Guide, Lewistown to Duncannon, pamphlet – Blue Mountain Outfitters, 4pp, www.bluemountainoutfitters.net (717) 957-2413 or bluemountain@paonline.com

In addition to a map and river descriptions credited to Gertler’s Keystone Canoeing this pamphlet lists access sites, liveries, campgrounds and traveler resources along the waterway.

Keystone Canoeing: A Guide to Canoeable Water of Eastern Pennsylvania, 3rd edition, Edward Gertler, 1993, Seneca Press, 417pp

Along with other canoeable waters in Pennsylvania, this detailed reference guide describes all branches of the Susquehanna. Each description includes a river user-friendly map, narrative text, canoeable season report, list of hazards, location of gauges and a chart listing gradient, difficulty, distance, estimated travel time and a scenery rating

Rivers of Pennsylvania – Tim Palmer, 1980, Penn State Univ. Press (out of print), 229pp

A narrative description of all canoeable rivers and streams in Pennsylvania, this volume discusses recreational features, historical events and environmental issues.

Susquehanna, River of Dreams – Susan Stranahan, 1993 – The Johns Hopkins University Press, 322pp, http://www.press.jhu.edu/press/index.html (410) 516-6900

This illustrated, detailed narrative covers geology, economic development, logging, floods, pollution, nuclear development, farming and shad restoration. In addition to describing all that has happened to the river, the author emphasizes the move toward a positive future for the river.

Susquehanna River Paddling Guide, Sunbury to Harrisburg, pamphlet – Blue Mountain Outfitters, 4pp, http://www.bluemountainoutfitters.net (717) 957-2413 or bluemountain@paonline.com

In addition to a map and river descriptions credited to Gertler’s Keystone Canoeing this pamphlet lists access sites, liveries, campgrounds and traveler resources along the waterway.

Susquehanna’s Indians – Barry C. Kent,1984 – The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 438pp

Tracing the history of the first Americans back to the fifteenth century, the author presents a scholarly work that describes the tribes that lived and hunted in the Susquehanna River valley. Included are photographs of excavated objects, graphs and drawings.

The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals – William Shank, 1981 – American Canal and Transportation Center, York PA, 128pp

Covering all reaches of the Susquehanna watershed, and most major streams in the state, were canals developed in the 1800s. Remnants of many miles of these man-built waterways can still be seen along the shorelines. This book is a detailed history of their development, use and demise. It contains many photographs, drawings and lock locations.

The Susquehanna River Guide – Christopher Beatty, 1998 – Ecopress, 128 pp paperback

The Susquehanna River Guide is a concise resource for outdoor recreation in the river corridor between the Chesapeake Bay and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (plus the West Branch of the Susquehanna up to Williamsport, PA). Activities covered in special "how-to" chapters include fishing, boating, and hiking. River features such as dams, islands, wildflower and wildlife refuges, parks, boat ramps, marinas and more are shown on over forty detailed maps

REAL RIVER RATS... should check out the collection of Susquehanna River publications in the Penn State Libraries system. To see what is there, go to the Penn State LIAS system (CLICK HERE) and run a search. Type in the words "Susquehanna River" in the "Keywords Anywhere" box then click on "Search Catalog." You might also want to click on "Sort By (Title)." You'll find more documents on the Susquehanna than you ever thought existed. A lot of them are technical reports by agencies, such as the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, but there are also a lot of interesting river history and lore titles.