This cache is part of the 25 cache Pennsylvania State Parks America250PA GeoTrail. Have fun exploring and discovering Pennsylvania's history
Birthplace of an Oil Boom
In August of 1779, Continental Army troops under Colonel Daniel Brodhead marched up the Allegheny River from Fort Pitt in Pittsburgh in an expedition against the Seneca Nation. The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States against the British during the American Revolutionary War. During the war the Senecas sided with the British, leading the Continental Army leader, General George Washington, and his staff committed to invading native territory.
Colonel Daniel Brodhead’s expedition travelled on foot with “six hundred and five rank and file” covering 400 miles in 35 days. They destroyed 165 Seneca houses in 11 towns and more than 500 acres of crops. On their return trip to Fort Pitt, the expedition followed the old Venango Road; a trail that ran on the east side of the Allegheny River from the mouth of French Creek to Pittsburgh. This route would have taken the group close too, or even through Oil Creek.
The area of Oil Creek was well-known to native tribes long before Brodhead’s expedition. Pitts in the area used by Seneca Indians to collect oil have been carbon dated to around the year 1420. Indians used petroleum as healing salve for toothaches, headaches, swelling and more. Oil kept away mosquitoes, waterproofed animal hides and baskets, dressed hair, and made decorative paint.
Seneca Indian leader, Chief Cornplanter, also
known as John Abeel III, Gaiant’wake, and Kaiiontwa’kon, allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War. He fought against the advancements of expeditions against his people. However, after the war Chief Cornplanter sided with the United States acting as a mediator between settlers and Indian Nations. In gratitude for his services, the Pennsylvania Legislature granted Cornplanter a tract of land along Oil Creek. Later in life, Cornplanter largely regretted his partnership with the Americans denouncing much of his affiliation. His tract of land at the mouth of Oil Creek eventually became the present site of Oil City, Pennsylvania.
For more information about this state park and its amenities, please visit the website: Oil Creek State Park | Department of Conservation and Natural Resources| Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
