The Allegheny Pilot

The Allegheny Pilot, first published in 1855, is an early travel guide to western Pennsylvania’s rivers and navigable waterways, complete with detailed maps, notes, and charts. Originally written for lumber raftsmen and even considered to be the “Lumberman’s Bible,” it remains an important document on the original path of the Allegheny and its tributaries, which have since been changed by the construction of the Kinzua Dam and other man-made alterations to the landscape. The book benefits not only from Babbitt’s own knowledge, experience, and research on the Allegheny, but also from his having “spent much time in conversing with many of the oldest settlers along the river, collecting from them, orally, many historical facts besides those pertaining to the navigation of the river.” The Allegheny Pilot is a fascinating look at a transient historical landscape in a time when the beginnings of modern industrialization began to push westward across the state’s frontiers, irrevocably changing them.