TheAllegheny River (/ˌælɪˈɡeɪni/AL-ig-AY-nee) is a 325-mile-long (523 km) tributary of theOhio River that is located in westernPennsylvania andNew York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, northwesterly into New York, then in a zigzag southwesterly across the border and throughWestern Pennsylvania to join theMonongahela River at theForks of the Ohio atPoint State Park inDowntown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Allegheny River
The Allegheny River withFreeport, Pennsylvania in the background
Native name	Alikehane (Unami)
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania,New York
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Allegany Township, Pennsylvania, nearCoudersport, Pennsylvania at the corner of Ben Green and Cobb Hill Roads
• coordinates	41°52′22″N77°52′30″W / 41.87278°N 77.87500°W /41.87278; -77.87500[1]
• elevation	2,450 ft (750 m)[2]
Mouth
• location	Ohio River atPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• coordinates	40°26′36″N80°00′52″W / 40.44333°N 80.01444°W /40.44333; -80.01444[1]
• elevation	712 ft (217 m)[1]
Length	325 mi (523 km)
Basin size	11,580 sq mi (30,000 km2)
Discharge
• average	19,750 cu ft/s (559 m3/s) at the village ofNatrona, PA (river mile 24.3)[3]
Basin features
Progression	Allegheny River →Ohio River →Mississippi River →Gulf of Mexico
Tributaries
• left	Tionesta Creek,Clarion River,Redbank Creek,Mahoning Creek,Crooked Creek,Kiskiminetas River,Buffalo Creek,Chartiers Run
• right	Conewango Creek,Brokenstraw Creek,Oil Creek,French Creek,Bull Creek,Deer Creek,Squaw Run,Pine Creek,Girtys Run,Pucketa Creek
National Wild and Scenic River
Type	Recreational
Designated	April 20, 1992

The Allegheny River is, by volume, the mainheadstream of both the Ohio andMississippi Rivers. Historically, the Allegheny was considered to be the upper Ohio River by both Native Americans and European settlers.

This shallow river has been made navigable upstream from Pittsburgh toEast Brady by a series of locks and dams that were constructed during the early 20th century. A 24-mile-long portion of the upper river inWarren andMcKean counties of Pennsylvania andCattaraugus County in New York forms theAllegheny Reservoir, which was created by the erection of theKinzua Dam in 1965 forflood control.

The name of the river is derived from one of a number ofDelaware/Unami phrases that are homophones of the English name, with varying translations.^[4]

The nameAllegheny probably comes fromLenapewelhik hane^[5][6] oroolikhanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream'.^[7] There is aLenape legend of a tribe called "Talligewi" who used to live along the river.^[8]Frederick Webb Hodge citedHenry Schoolcraft to connect the "Talligewi" to theCherokee.^[9]

The following account of the origin of the nameAllegheny was given in 1780 by Moravian missionaryDavid Zeisberger: "All this land and region, stretching as far as the creeks and waters that flow into the Alleghene the Delawares called Alligewinenk, which means 'a land into which they came from distant parts'. The river itself, however, is called Alligewi Sipo. The whites have made Alleghene out of this, theSix Nations calling the river the Ohio."^[10]

TheDelaware Tribe of Indians gives the Lenape name asAlikehane, "river where footprints can be seen."^[11]

Native Americans, including the Lenape andIroquois, considered the Allegheny and Ohio rivers as the same, as is suggested by a New York State road sign onInterstate 86 that refers to the Allegheny River also asOhiːyo'.^[8] TheGeographic Names Information System listsO-hee-yo andO-hi-o as variant names.^[12] The river is called Ohi:'i:o` (river beautiful) in theSeneca language.^[13] In New York, areas around the river are often named with the alternate spellingAllegany in reference to the river; for example, the Village of Allegany andAllegany State Park. Port Allegany, located along the river in Pennsylvania near the border with New York, also follows this pattern.

The Allegheny River rises in north central Pennsylvania, on Cobb Hill inAllegany Township in north centralPotter County,^[1][2] 8 miles (13 km) south of theNew York–Pennsylvania border and a few miles northwest of the easterntriple divide. The stream flows south and passes underPennsylvania Route 49 11 miles northeast ofCoudersport where a historical marker that declares the start of the river is located. Cobb Hill is about a mile north. The stream flows southwest paralleling Route 49 to Coudersport.^[2]

The route continues west toPort Allegany, where thereafter the river joins with a number of small streams and widens considerably before turning north and crossing into western New York.^[14] Looping westward across southernCattaraugus County for approximately 30 miles (48 km), pastPortville,Olean,Allegany andSalamanca, the river flows throughSeneca Indian Nation lands close to the northern boundary ofAllegany State Park before re-enteringnorthwestern Pennsylvania within theAllegheny Reservoir just east of theWarren-McKean county line, approx. 10 miles (16 km) northeast ofWarren.^[15]

It flows in a broad zigzag course generally southwest acrossWestern Pennsylvania; first flowing southwest past Warren,Tidioute,Tionesta,Oil City, andFranklin, forming much of the northwestern boundary ofAllegheny National Forest. South of Franklin it turns southeast acrossClarion County in ameandering course, then turns again southwest acrossArmstrong County, flowing pastKittanning,Ford City,Clinton, andFreeport.^[16][17][18]

The river enters bothAllegheny andWestmoreland counties, thePittsburgh suburbs, and theCity of Pittsburgh from the northeast. It passes theNorth Side,downtown Pittsburgh, andPoint State Park. The Allegheny joins with theMonongahela River at the "Point" in downtown Pittsburgh to form theOhio River.^[19]

Theriver is approximately 325 mi (523 km) long, running through theU.S. states ofNew York andPennsylvania.^[12] It drains a ruraldissected plateau of 11,580 sq mi (30,000 km²) in the northernAllegheny Plateau, providing the northeasternmost drainage in the watershed of the Mississippi River. Its tributaries reach to within 8 mi (13 km) ofLake Erie in southwestern New York.

Water from the Allegheny River eventually flows into theGulf of Mexico via the Ohio andMississippi rivers.

The Allegheny Valley has been one of the most productive areas offossil fuel extraction in United States history, with its extensive deposits ofcoal,petroleum, andnatural gas.

In its upper reaches, the Allegheny River is joined from the south byPotato Creek 1.7 mi (2.7 km) downstream ofCoryville, Pennsylvania and from the north byOlean Creek at Olean, New York.Tunungwant "Tuna" Creek joins the river from the south in Carrollton, New York (flowing north from Bradford, Pennsylvania); theGreat Valley Creek andLittle Valley Creek join the river from the north at Salamanca, New York before becoming theAllegheny Reservoir.

After re-entering Pennsylvania, the river is joined from the east byKinzua Creek 10 mi (16 km) upstream of Warren; from the north byConewango Creek at Warren; from the west byBrokenstraw Creek; from the east by East Hickory Creek at East Hickory; from the east byTionesta Creek at Tionesta; from the north byOil Creek at Oil City; from the west byFrench Creek at Franklin; from the east by theClarion River, a principal tributary, at Parker; from the east byCrooked Creek southeast of Kittanning; and from the east by theKiskiminetas River, another principal tributary, at Schenley.

Buffalo Creek enters at Freeport,Chartiers Run enters at Lower Burrell,Bull Creek enters at Tarentum,Pucketa Creek enters near New Kensington,Riddle Run enters at Springdale, andGirtys Run enters at Millvale. And finally, the confluence of theMonongahela River and Allegheny form theOhio River at downtown Pittsburgh. Many additionalstreams enter or join with the Allegheny River along its course.

Several locks were built in the early 20th century to make the Allegheny River navigable for 72 miles upstream from Pittsburgh toEast Brady.

The Allegheny River has eightlocks andfixed-crest dams^[20] numbered two through nine: Allegheny River Lock and Dam No.2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 which form corresponding reservoirs.

The river is also impounded by theKinzua Dam in northwestern Pennsylvania, resulting in theAllegheny Reservoir also known as Kinzua Lake and Lake Perfidy among the Seneca. TheSeneca Pumped Storage Generating Station is associated with Kinzua Dam.

Numerous bridges and tunnels span the river throughout its course. TheAllegheny River Tunnel, utilized byPittsburgh Light Rail, went into service in 2012.

In the latter half of the 17th century, control of the rivervalley passed back-and-forth betweenAlgonquian-speakingShawnee and theIroquois. By the time of the arrival ofFrench colonialists in the early 18th century, the Shawnee were once again in control and formed an alliance with France against attempts by colonists fromBritish North America to settler across theAllegheny Mountains. The conflict over the expansion of Anglo-American settlement into the Allegheny Valley and the surroundingOhio Country was a primary cause of theFrench and Indian War in the 1750s.^[21] During the war, the village ofKittanning – the principal Shawnee settlement on the river – was completely destroyed during theKittanning Expedition, which saw 300provincial troops from theProvince of Pennsylvania brutally attack the settlement.

After gaining control of the area in the 1763Treaty of Paris, the British kept the area closed to Anglo-American colonists, in part to repair and maintain relations with the Native Americans. After theAmerican Revolutionary War, the entire river valley became part of the newUnited States, and U.S. settlers forcibly displaced the region's indigenous population. During the 19th century, the river became a principal means of navigation in the upper Ohio valley, especially for the transport of coal. Although the building of the railroads lessened the importance of the river somewhat, the lower river (navigable as far asEast Brady, Pennsylvania through locks) has continued to serve as a route of commercial transportation until the present day. In 1859, the first U.S. petroleum was drilled north of the river atTitusville. One of the underlying premises of theGenesee Valley Canal was its connection to the river, opening a trade route fromRochester, New York to the west. The advent of the railroads obviated any interest Pennsylvania might have had in participating to improve navigation on the river. The canal was closed in 1877 and the right-of-way sold to theGenesee Valley Canal Railroad.

In 1965, the completion of the federally sponsoredKinzua Dam forflood-control in northwestern Pennsylvania east of Warren created the longAllegheny Reservoir, known as Lake Perfidy among the Seneca, part of which is included in theAllegheny National Recreation Area. The dam flooded parts of lands deeded "forever" to theSeneca Nation of Indians by the 1794Treaty of Canandaigua, and lands given toCornplanter and his descendants. The event was described in theJohnny Cash song "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" from the 1964 albumBitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian, which focused on the history of and problems facing Native Americans in the United States.

The construction of the dam and the filling of the Allegheny Reservoir also necessitated the elimination of the small village ofCorydon, which was located at the confluence of Willow Creek with the Allegheny River; and the small village ofKinzua, which was located at the confluence of Kinzua Creek with the Allegheny River. All residents of both villages were forced to move.

Many prominent individuals opposed the construction of the dam at that time because of the damage it would do to Seneca lands, including Pennsylvania CongressmanJohn P. Saylor ofJohnstown, andHoward Zahniser, executive director ofThe Wilderness Society and native of Tionesta—a small settlement located along the Allegheny River several miles downstream from Warren. During the campaign for the1960 United States presidential election,John F. Kennedy assured the Seneca Nation that he would oppose the dam if elected. However, he failed to follow through on his pledge upon becoming president.

In 1992, 86.6 mi (139.4 km) of the Allegheny River was designatedWild and Scenic. This designation comprises three segments of the river located inWarren,Forest, andVenango counties.^[22]

Depression-era folk singer Buster Red recorded "Allegheny River", wherein the river is a destructive force throughout life, but not necessarily a malignant one.^[23]

Folksinger Pete Seeger's song "Where the Old Allegheny and Monongahela Flow", depicts a character living in a city pining for a return to the Allegheny River.^[24]

Old Crow Medicine Show released a song entitled "Allegheny Lullaby" that detailed life along the Allegheny in late 20th centuryRust Belt towns, the river serving as a metaphor for escape.

In 2008,Katie Spotz became the first person to swim the entire 325 mi (523 km) of the Allegheny River; she was accompanied by safety kayaker, James Hendershott.^[25] The team began at the river's source in Warren, Pennsylvania on July 22 and finished at the "Point" in Downtown Pittsburgh on August 21.^[26]

In 2017 the documentaryLake of Betrayal was released detailing the struggle of the Seneca Nation over theKinzua Dam project on the Allegheny in the 1960s.^[27]

• Allegheny Islands State Park
• Allegheny Riverfront Park
• List of rivers of New York
• List of rivers of Pennsylvania
• Pittsburgh Flood of 1936
• Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta

• Schafer, Jim; Mike Sajna (1992).The Allegheny River: Watershed of the Nation. University Park, Pennsylvania, US:The Pennsylvania State University Press.ISBN 978-0-271-00836-3.

• U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gauging stations