"forgetful of the past, and regardless of the fu"ture;" and the experience of all ages and countries undoubtedly affords abundant testimony to the truth of this declaration. There are however, perhaps, few instances in which it has been more forcibly exemplified, than in a struggle to form a settlement among the mountains of the new world.

That territory, the history of which, is attemptcd to be sketched in the following pages, has never been celebrated either for its extent or power; unless indeed, it may have been among the tribes composing its aboriginal inhabitants, of whom very little is now known, but of whom relicks have been found indicating a people of more importance than those tribes who subsequently occupied the country. That however, which renders it particularly worthy of notice, is the unexampled sufferings of its early settlers; and the frequent destruction of its infant settlements; subjects which have excited the notice of many modern historians, and have more recently been the theme of a celebrated English bard.‡

WYOMING is the name given to a beautiful Valley situate along the river Susquehanna in the North Eastern part of the State of Pennsylvania. It is about three miles wide, and twenty-five miles long, and is formed by two ranges of mountains nearly parallel to each other, extending from the North east to the South west. These mountains contain

+Campbell.

many rocky precipices and are covered with wood consisting principally of Oak and Pine. The average height of the eastern range is about one thousand feet; that of the western, about eight hundred. They are of a very irregular form having elevated points, and deep hollows or openings which are called "Gaps." The Susquehanna enters the Valley through a gap in the western mountain called the "Lackawannock Gap," and flowing in a serpentine course about twenty miles, leaves the Valley through another opening in the same mountain, called the "Nanticoke Gap." These openings are so wide only as to admit the passage of the river and are in part faced with perpendicular bluffs of rocks, covered with a thick grow th of Pine and Laurel, which have a very fine appearance when viewed from the river, or from the road which passes along their basis. The river is in most places about two hundred yards widefrom four to twenty feet deep, and flows with a very gentle current except at the rapids, or when swelled with rains or melting snows. Near the centre of the Valley it has a rapid called the "Wyoming Falls ;" and another called the "Nanticoke Falls" where it passes through the Nanticoke Gap. Several tributary streams fall into the river, after passing through rocky gaps, to the mountains on each side of the Valley, forming beautiful cascades as they descend into the plain. Those on the North-west side are Toby's Creek, Moses* Creek and Island Run. On the South-east side are Mill Creek, Laurel Run, Solomon's Creek

and Nanticoke Creek; all of which are sufficient for Mills, and abound with fish.

Along the river, and on both sides, are level fertile plains extending in some places nearly a mile and an half from the margin of the stream, where small hills commence stretching to the mountains, the river sometimes washing the base of the hills on one side and sometimes on the other.. The surface of the plain in some parts of the Valley is elevated about ten feet higher than in other parts, forming a sudden offset or declivity from These plains are called the upper and lower" Flats," and spontaneously produce quantities of Plumbs, Grapes, many kinds of Berries, and a great variety of wild Flowers.

one to the other.

In many parts of the Valley, and in the sides of the mountains, Mineral Coal of a very superior quality is found in great abundance; it is of the species called Anthracite, which burns without smoke and with very little flame, and constitutes the principal fuel of the inhabitants, as well as their most important article of exportation.

In the Valley of Wyoming there exists some remains of ancient fortifications which appear to have been constructed by a race of people very different in their habits from those who occupied the place when first discovered by the whites. Most of these ruins have been so much obliterated by the operations of agriculture that their forms cannot now be distinctly ascertained. That which remains the most entire was examined by the writer during the summer of 1817, and its dimensions

carefully ascertained, although from frequent ploughing, its form had become almost destroyed. It is situated in the Township of Kingston, upon a level plain on the north side of Toby's Creek about one hundred and fifty feet from its bank, and about half a mile from its confluence with the Susquehanna. It is of an oval or elliptical form, having its longest diameter from the N. W. to the S. E. at right angles to the Creek, three hundred and thirty seven feet, and its shortest diameter from the N. E. to the S. W. two hundred and seventy two feet. On the S. W. side appears to have been a gate way about twelve feet wide, opening towards the great Eddy of the River into which the Creek falls. From present appearances it consisted probably of only one mound or rampart, which, in height and thickness, appears to have been the same on all sides, and was constructed of earth, the plain on which it stands not abounding in stone. On the outside of the rampart is an entrenchment or ditch, formed probably by removing the earth of which it is composed, and which appears never to have been walled. The Creek on which it stands is bounded by a high steep bank on that side, and at ordinary times is sufficiently deep to admit canoes to ascend from the River to the Fortification. When the first settlers came to Wyoming, this plain was covered with its native forest, consisting principally of Oak and Yellow Pine; and the trees which grew in the rampart and in the entrenchment, are said to have been as large as those in any other part of the Val

ley; one large oak particularly, upon being cut down, was ascertained to be seven hundred years old. The Indians had no tradition concerning these fortifications, neither did they appear to have any knowledge of the purposes for which they were constructed. They were perhaps, erected about the same time with those upon the waters of the Ohio, and probably by a similar people and for similar purposes.

WYOMING is a corruption of the name given to the place by a nation of Indians called the Delawares, who called it Maughwauwame. The word is a compound; Maughwau, meaning large or extensive, and wame, signifying plains or meadows; so that it may be translated "The Large Plains." The name in the language of the Six Nations, is SGAHONTOWANO, "The Large Flats;" Gahonto, meaning, in their language, a large piece of ground without trees*, by which it appears that some part of these plains, probably the lower flats, contained no woods. The Delawares pronounced the first syllable short, and the German Missionaries, in order to give the sound as near as possible to the Indian pronunciation, wrote the word M'chweuwami. The early settlers, finding it difficult to pronounce the word

*These particulars, the writer obtained from the Rev. John Heckaweldar of Bethlehem, who was a Missionary among the Indians as early as 1765, and to whose politeness he is much indebted. See Note I. at the end of the Volume..