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THOSE who have never visited the western, slope of the Alleghany Mountains, find it difficult to realize the accounts that reach them of the sudden floods which rise sometimes in a single night, and sweeping through the gorges and valleys, bear irresistible destruction before them-uprooting trees,-bearing away from the scant farms the result of a season of toil,lifting dwellings from their foundations, and leaving behind, almost as suddenly as it was

accomplished, a scene of desolation in nature, and of sorrow in the domestic circle.

These sudden inundations are caused by the waters which fall upon the vast and rapid slopes of the mountains during heavy rain storms, and concentrating rapidly as they descend into the ravines, convert the brooks into streams, the streams into rivers, and the rivers into lakes; sometimes causing a rise in the Ohio River of twelve or fifteen feet in a single day, and covering, for a short period, large tracts of that beautiful and fertile valley. Owing to the frequency of these floods, the people of that region usually take the precaution to select for their dwelling-places and farms, elevated situations; but even then they are not entirely safe from danger, for it has occasionally happened that the flood has surpassed, in its extent, all human calculation, and many a family who has retired to rest in fancied security at night, has found itself houseless and homeless on the morrow-the farm devastated-crops

destroyed, and cattle swept away. The following sketch will illustrate the hardships and sufferings that have been encountered by those hardy pioneers who, in advance of the age in which they lived, made the mountains vocal with civilization, and caused

"The wildernes: to blossom like the rose."

Let the reader take a retrospective glance, for a period of about thirty-five years, from this present anno domino 1850, and see in his

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A dimensions had been erected for the use of the mily. No barn had yet been rea

mind's eye the little frame-built cabin of Jares • Hanford, lying cosily under the very branches of a huge oak, within a rifle-shot of the Conemaugh River, in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. This river empties into the Alleghany River a few miles from the site of the now thriving city of Pittsburgh. There you will see the spot on which Jerry, with his hearty young wife, and little Annie, their child, then about four years old, made their first settlement in the Great West, after having been deprived by some legal chicanery, of the old homestead in Connecticut, on which Jerry had been born, and from which his father, after fighting the battles of his country's independence, and his mother, who first taught him to pray, had been buried. The young couple were thoroughly learned in all matters pertaining to farming; and having braved a passage of the Alleghanies in a covered wagon, with little to boast of at the shrine of Mammon, beyond their old vehicle, a span of horses, an economical sufficit of kettles and pans, a good, but rather ancient, musket, which had been a trophy in the family of the Hanfords since the battle of Bennington, and a brace of stout hearts, they were fain to halt on the spot above described as one adapted to their then limited means of cultivating the soil. They had been told that land was so plenty in the "West" that all a body had to do was to "squat," as they called it, build them a house, and go right to work farming; and that, as the land belonged to nobody, nobody would trouble them about title deeds, or writs of ejectment. They did not, it is true, select the finest farming portion of the Great West; but after the weary journey of passing the mountains, they were fain to be content with the first spot that indicated soil enough for a crop of grain, a hill of potatoes, and pasture for the cow, when they should get one-and there, in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, they pitched their tent and reared their habitation. At that time, there was not another human creature resident within twenty miles of their settlement-the wilderness was primeval, and the wild beasts of the forest were their only companions.

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ed, because lumber was not only scarce ut expensive, and the few cattle that they had acquired were sheltered from the storms of winter by a hovel which Jerry had himself erected, and the materials of which were logs, branches of trees, and a thatch of dried grass. Taken all in all, their means of comfort had been greatly increased, and the little family were comparatively happy.

Two years had gone by since their first settlement, and some changes had taken place both in the external aspect, and the social condition of the squatters. Another member had been added to the family, in the person of "little Robby," who was now nearly a year old. The old log hut had been converted into pig-sty, and a building of rather more ample

In addition, also, to their immediate comforts. the deep and almost frightful solitude of the place had been somewhat softened by the proximity of three other families, who, like themselves, being driven by the hardships of civilization from the dense haunts of men, had cast their fortunes in the wilderness, determined to rise with the rising greatness of a new country, rather than live submerged beneath the mature littleness of artificial existence. These families had all "squat" within the range of a mile from the domicil of our friend Jerry Hanford, and as they had been all mechanics, their talents were frequently brought into use in doing little jobs for one another, from the mending of a broken ploughshare even to the building of a shanty. A carpenter's and a blacksmith's shop had been erected, and the "settlement" was getting along snugly, and even prosperously. Two years had passed in the accomplishment of these small changes and improvements, when one afternoon, about the middle of September, Mrs. Hanford heard the whistle and voice of her husband in the field near the house.

"Whe-wit-whe-wit-here Bose-here boy,

here!"

No response was heard to this earnest summons. Bose, the dog, having little to do that day, had gone on a hunt to the foot of the mountain, in company with another of his own race, who belonged to the neighboring blacksmith. Hanford's voice and whistle was again heard, evidently not in the best humor with the absentee.

"Whe-wit-whe-wit;-here, boy-here! Confound the dog!-he is never to be found when he's wanted. Here's a sou'-easter coming down from the mountain like all creation, and the cows are, nobody knows where.Whe-wit-whe-wit;-here-here- here ;

come, boy!"

Be it known to the reader, that Bose was a personage of no small importance in the family of his master. He had his duties to perform

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