“Queen” Aliquippa, of the Seneca

Queen Aliquippa (died December 23, 1754) was a leader of the Seneca tribe of American Indians during the early part of the 18th century.

The most commonly repeated story of Aliquippa's life begins with the visit she made with her husband and infant son to Wilmington, Delaware, in the autumn of 1701. The family had made the trip from their home in the Conestoga Valley in central Pennsylvania to bid farewell to William Penn as he prepared to sail home to England.

The end of her story was: “After the fall of Fort Necessity on July 4, 1754, Aliquippa and the remainder of her clan moved onto the fortified homestead of frontier trader George Croghan. That place, called Augswich, was where the tired Seneca leader, then probably over 80 years old, lived out her last few months.

Queen Aliquippa died there on December 23, 1754. Croghan's blunt journal entry records her passing, "Alequeapy, ye old quine is dead."

Origins and family

Allemykoppy has not been identified as her husband.

From https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/vol...

Originally, there were five nations, as noted above. Later, the Tuscarora joined the league, as a consequence there are currently six nations within the League. Therefore, identifying an American Indian as Iroquois does not place her or him within a specific tribe or nation. Rather, that identification merely notes that this individual belongs to one of the nations that comprise the Iroquois League. Thus, identifying Aliquippa as Iroquois adds some validity to notion that she was Seneca.
Aliquippa’s date of birth is not known, but based on the fact that as a young woman she visited William Penn in 1701 suggests that she was born in the latter part of the 1600’s. Hilliard (1996) says that she was born in the 1680’s somewhere in upstate New York. Hilliard goes on to say that another version of Aliquippa’s life indicates that she was born in 1706, along with a twin sister named Snow in the Face, in a village called Indian Ridge in Washington County, PA.

This would place the location of her birth approximately halfway between the current locations of Pittsburgh, PA and Wheeling, WV, a significant distance from upstate New York. Another question raised by this story is how Aliquippa was able to travel to see Penn in 1701, along with a husband and child when she was not born until five years later. Since Aliquippa’s visit with Penn is well established, we have to question the validity of this story.

In all likelihood, her father was a man of importance, perhaps a chief, with the Mingos. Her husband may have been a chief as will, but this is another point of confusion. One historian surmises that her husband was Connodaghtoh, a Mingo who died shortly after the 1701 encounter with William Penn. Another names Allemykoppy, a Seneca chief, as her mate. At least one other reference states that she was married to the Seneca chief Alleguippas. (While Alleguippas was in central and western Pennsylvania around the same time period as Aliquippa, it seems most likely that the two have been linked only by the similarity of their names.) Whatever the case, she seems to have outlived her husband, and apparently inherited his position of importance in the community. In the words of another Seneca chief of the era, Tanacharisson, the Half-King (or the Half-King as the British called him), it was not unusual for women to occupy a position of power with the Iroquois. "Women have great influence on our young warriors," he said, "It is no new thing to take women into our councils, particularly among the Senecas." This was becoming increasingly true in the mid-1700s, as frequent skirmishes depleted the ranks of the male warriors and the tribal system among the Iroquois began to break down.

Kanuksusy “Capt. Newcastle,”“Col. Fairfax” Was her son. A daughter, “Summer Eve,” is also seen on Wikipedia with no further information.

Biography

Queen Aliquippa - Mingo Seneca

Little is known about Alliquippa's early life. Her date of birth has been estimated anywhere from the early 1670s to the early 18th century.

By the 1740s, she was the leader of a band ofMingo Seneca living along the three rivers (theOhio River, the Allegheny River, and theMonongahela River) near what is nowPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

By 1753, she and her band were living at the junction of the Monongahela andYoughiogheny Rivers near the present site ofMcKeesport, Pennsylvania.

George Washington wrote of his visit to Alliquippa in December 1753 stating:

"As we intended to take horse here [at Frazer's Cabin on the mouth of Turtle Creek], and it required some time to find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of the Youghiogheny to visit Queen Alliquippa, who had expressed great concern that we passed her in going to [Fort Le Boeuf ]. I made her a present of a match-coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was thought much the better present of the two."

Queen Alliquippa was a key ally of the British leading up to the French and Indian War. Alliquippa, her son Kanuksusy, and warriors from her band of Mingo Seneca traveled toFort Necessity to assist George Washingtonbut did not take an active part in the Battle of the Great Meadows on July 3–4, 1754.

After the British defeat at the Battle of the Great Meadows and the evacuation of Fort Necessity, Alliquippa moved her band to the Aughwick Valley of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania for safety. She died there on December 23, 1754.

By the 1740s, she was the leader of a band of Mingo Seneca living along the three rivers (the Ohio, Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers) near what is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

By 1753, she and her band were living at the junction of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers near the present site of McKeesport, Pennsylvania.

George Washington wrote of his visit to Aliquippa in December 1753 stating:

"As we intended to take horse here (at Frazer's Cabin on the mouth of Turtle Creek), and it required some time to find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of the Youghiogheny to visit Queen Aliquippa, who had expressed great concern that we passed her in going to Fort Le Boeuf. I made her a present of a match-coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was thought much the better present of the two."

[Major George Washington meets with Mingo-Seneca
tribal leader Queen Aliquippa - 1753.]

George Washington meets with Seneca tribal leader Queen Aliquippa in 1753

Queen Aliquippa was a key ally of the British leading up to the French and Indian War. Aliquippa, her son Kanuksusy, and warriors from her band of Mingo Seneca traveled to Fort Necessity to assist George Washington and his Virginia militiamen, but did not take an active part in the battle that followed on July 3, 1754.

After the British defeat at the Battle of the Great Meadows and the evacuation of Fort Necessity, Aliquippa moved her band to the Aughwick Valley of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania for safety. She died there on December 23, 1754.

Queen Aliquippa led American Indians through turbulent times. In her life, Aliquippa met with traders, diplomats and generals. If not for Queen Aliquippa, Pittsburghers today might be speaking French instead of English.

Links

• https://www.nps.gov/fone/learn/historyculture/upload/FONE%20Alliqui...
• https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/vol...
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Alliquippa
• http://woodlandindians.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=5534
• http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/Indians.html
• http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-211
• http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM411
• http://keystonemarkertrust.org/?page_id=364
• http://www.aliquippapa.gov/aliquippa_history.php
• https://www.nps.gov/fone/learn/historyculture/upload/FONE%20Alliqui...
• http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/blog/at-the-history-center/womens...
• http://www.bchistory.org/beavercounty/BeaverCountyCommunities/Aliqu...
• http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2008/12/queen-aliquippa.html?m=1
• https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&con...
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Seneca-45

  ---

  
  

Seneca Indian