Juniata River

Geobox River
name = Juniata River
native_name =
other_name =
other_name1 =

---

image_size = 300
image_caption = Juniata River in Riddlesburg, PA
country = USA
country1 =
state = Pennsylvania
state1 =
region_type = Counties
region = Dauphin
region1 = Perry
region2 = Juniata
region3 = Mifflin
region4 = Huntingdon
district =
district1 =
city = Lewistown
city1 = Huntingdon
city2 = Mount Union
length_imperial = 90
watershed_imperial = 3400
discharge_location = Newport
discharge_average_imperial = 7270
discharge_max_imperial = 26200
discharge_min_imperial = 1350
discharge1_location = Mapleton Depot
discharge1_average_imperial = 4550
source_name = Raystown Branch
source_location =
source_district =
source_region = Somerset County
source_state = Pennsylvania
source_country = USA
source_lat_d =
source_lat_m =
source_lat_s =
source_lat_NS =
source_long_d =
source_long_m =
source_long_s =
source_long_EW =
source_elevation_imperial =
source_length_imperial = 118
source1_name = Frankstown Branch
source1_location =
source1_district =
source1_region =
source1_state = Pennsylvania
source1_country = USA
source1_lat_d =
source1_lat_m =
source1_lat_s =
source1_lat_NS =
source1_long_d =
source1_long_m =
source1_long_s =
source1_long_EW =
source1_elevation_imperial =
source1_length_imperial =
source_confluence_location = Alexandria
source_confluence_district =
source_confluence_region =
source_confluence_state = Pennsylvania
source_confluence_country = USA
source_confluence_lat_d = 40
source_confluence_lat_m = 33
source_confluence_lat_s = 39
source_confluence_lat_NS = N
source_confluence_long_d = 78
source_confluence_long_m = 04
source_confluence_long_s = 06
source_confluence_long_EW = W
source_confluence_elevation_imperial = 660
mouth_name = Susquehanna River
mouth_location = Duncannon
mouth_district =
mouth_region = Perry County, Dauphin County
mouth_state = Pennsylvania
mouth_country = USA
mouth_lat_d = 40
mouth_lat_m = 24
mouth_lat_s = 05
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 77
mouth_long_m = 00
mouth_long_s = 48
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_elevation_imperial = 330
tributary_left =
tributary_left1 =
tributary_right = Tuscarora Creek
tributary_right1 =
free_name =
free_value =


map_size = 300
map_caption = Juniata River watershed and tributaries The Juniata River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 90 miles (145 km) long, in central Pennsylvania in the United States. The river is considered particularly scenic along much of its route, having a broad and shallow course passing through several mountain ridges and steeply-lined water gaps. It formed an early 18th-century frontier region in Pennsylvania and was the site of
Native American attacks against white settlements during the French and Indian War. The watershed of the river encompasses an area of approximately 3400 sq mi (8800 km²), approximately one-eighth of the drainage area of the Susquehanna. Approximately two-thirds of the watershed is forested. It is the second largest tributary of the Susquehanna after the West Branch Susquehanna.

Description

It is formed in central Huntingdon County, in the small village of Ardenheim, 3 mi (5 km) southeast of Huntingdon, by the confluence of the Frankstown Branch Juniata River and the Raystown Branch. It flows southeast, through a gap in the Jacks Mountain ridge. On the southeast side of the ridge it receives Aughwick Creek from the south, then flows northeast, along the eastern flank of the Jacks Mountain ridge to Lewistown, where it collects the Kishacoquillas Creek. From Lewistown it flows generally southeast, in a winding course, receiving Tuscarora Creek from the south and passing through a gap in the Tuscarora Mountain ridge. The Juniata River is joined by two creeks in Millerstown Pennsylvania. It receives the Cocolamous Creek .7 miles southeast and the Wildcat Run Creek 2.8 miles southeast of Millerstown, Pennsylvania in northeast Perry County. It also receives Buffalo Creek .9 miles northwest of Newport and joins the Susquehanna 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Duncannon, approximately 15 mi (24 km) northwest of Harrisburg.

Etymology

The word 'Juniata' is a corruption of the Iroquoian word 'Onayutta,' meaning 'Standing Stone.' There was a large standing stone where the town of Huntingdon now stands. It was reportedly convert|14.5|ft|m|1 tall, with a smoothed side with the history of the local Juniata Tribe. It disappeared in 1754, when the tribe left; legend says they took it with them. A second stone was raised by the new settlers but destroyed in 1897. A two-foot (0.6 m) fragment of the second stone sits in the Juniata College's museum. [cite book | last = Kaylor | first = Earl C. |title =Martin Grove Brumbaugh: A Pennsylvanian's Odyssey from Sainted Schoolman to Bedeviled World War I Governor, 1862-1930 | publisher = Fairleigh Dickinson University Press | date = 1996 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=2W5H1Pxs0QgC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=juniata+etymology&source=web&ots=oIrlnoy5zM&sig=H-uh85hyqDlcl5qoFXJtGNMjSgQ |isbn=0838636896|accessdate = 2007-11-27]

History

The first known inhabitants of the river valley were the Onojutta-Haga Indians. The valley was later inhabited by the Lenape until a treaty negotiated by William Penn opened the land to east of the Allegheny Ridge to white settlement. In 1755-1756, as a result of Lenape anger over loss of their lands, the white settlement in the valley suffered fierce raids and abductions from Lenape and Shawnee at Kittanning on the Allegheny River. Over 3,000 white settlers were killed in the raids. The burning of Fort Granville at present-day Lewistown in 1756 prompted Pennsylvania governor John Penn to launch a reprisal against the Lenape and Shawnee led by Lt. Col. John Armstrong, who burned Kittanning in September 1756.

During the 19th century, the river was paralleled by the Juniata Division Canal, part of the canal system of Pennsylvania and a rival to the Erie Canal. The state sold the canal to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which abandoned the canal in 1889 after severe flooding. Parts of the original locks from the canal, as well as remnants of a dam approximately 1 mile (2 km) south of Millerstown, are still visible today.

The river is a popular destination for recreational canoeing and fly fishing, in particular for smallmouth bass and channel catfish suited to river's gentle course. The muskellunge was introduced as predatory sport fish and is now a prized catch. Attempts are underway by the state to reintroduce the once-prevalent American shad, which went into decline largely because of dams on the river. Walleye is another game fish prevalent in the Juniata River.

The National Book Award and Pulitzer prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell wrote of the river in a section of "The Book of Nightmares," (1971), entitled "Dear Stranger, Extant in Memory by the Blue Juniata".

The river cuts through several southwest-to-northeast ridges, largely of sandstone between limestone valley floors. Several of the river's tributaries, including Kishacoquillas Creek, are degraded by pollution, but the main stem of the river is considered fairly clean by regional standards. Only two towns of over 10,000 people, namely Altoona and Lewistown, lie within the watershed of the river. Steep slopes along much of the river's course have largely discouraged widespread development.

Other

Dennis P.McIlnay wrote a book about the Juniata River titled "Juniata, River of Sorrows". The book is a documentary about his trip down the Juniata which discribes what he saw, people he met, and the history of the river during the 1600s and the 1700s. [http://www.chartingnature.com/books.cfm?book=B12700 Juniata, River of Sorrows]

Pictures

ee also

*List of Pennsylvania rivers

References

External links

* [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/current/?type=flow U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations]
* [http://www.jcwp.org/ Juniata Clean Water Partnership]
* [http://www.acb-online.org/pubs/projects/deliverables-152-3-2003.pdf The Juniata and Chesapeake Bay] (PDF)