Girty's Run
Location
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountyAllegheny
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • coordinates40°33′59″N 80°02′09″W / 40.5664568°N 80.0358894°W / 40.5664568; -80.0358894
Mouth 
 • coordinates
40°28′42″N 79°58′07″W / 40.4784022°N 79.9686637°W / 40.4784022; -79.9686637
 • elevation
738 ft (225 m)
Basin size13.4 m2
Basin features
River systemAllegheny River
A European man dressed in stereotyped native american clothing. He is shown with a bearded face, wearing a bandana on his head, and carrying a musket. He appears to be beckoning native american warriors to attack alongside him.
Simon Girty, namesake of Girty's Run Creek, as depicted in 1928 in "the White Savage," by Thomas Boyd . Note that this depiction was based on oral tradition. Simon Girty: Wilderness Warrior contains a more accurate depiction based on firsthand accounts.

Girty's Run is a tributary of the Allegheny River located in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.[1]

The creek is named after the Girty family who settled in the area. Some sources claim it was named for John Girty.[2] Others claim it was named for Thomas Girty,[3] brother of the famous renegade Simon Girty. However, most scholarly investigations concluded that the stream was named for Simon Girty, son of Simon Girty the Elder.[4]

History

Prior to the European colonization, the Millvale area was the starting point of the Venango Path, a Native American trail which led Lake Erie. The Seneca people hunted and fished the lands.[5] The European Simon Girty and his father settled in the area. During a major raid by Chief Tewea of the Lenape and Captain François Coulon de Villiers of the French, Girty's stepfather, Thomas, was taken captive, tortured, and killed. Chief Guyasuta adopted Simon and assimilated him into Seneca culture. Due to his difficulty living with Europeans, Simon settled on the Venango Path near a creek which now bears his name. After fighting against the colonists in the American Revolution, Girty moved to Canada.[4] The creek on which he settled remains Girty's Run Creek.

Course

Girty's Run joins the Allegheny River at the borough of Millvale.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Girtys Run". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
  2. ↑ "Mrs Sabra M Girty". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh. 28 May 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 7 Jan 2020.
  3. ↑ "Early History - The Girty Family". Girty's Run Watershed. Retrieved 7 Jan 2020.
  4. 1 2 Butts, Edward (2011). McKnight, Jeniffer (ed.). Simon Girty: Wilderness Warrior (PDF). Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN 978-1-4597-0075-8.
  5. ↑ Waddell, Louis M.; Bomberger, Bruce (1996). The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania, 1753-1763. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. pp. 5–6.



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