Johnstown stops the unstoppable Yankees
Coming to Johnstown, PA, on July 26, 1927, the New York Yankees were flying high. They had a record at this point in the season of 67-26-1 and had won their previous two games against the Chicago White Sox. The legendary Murderer’s Row, the hard-hitting starting Yankee’s line-up that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Bob Meusel, and Earle Combs, led the team. Ruth would hit 60 home runs in 1927, which is a record that would stand for 34 years. Gehrig would finish the season with 175 runs batted in. Many fans and baseball historians consider the 1927 Yankees the best baseball team of all time. So it was big news when the Yankees arrived in Johnstown to play baseball. “Johnstown baseball fans who attend the big exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Johnstown Middle Read more…
The first residents of Johnstown (part 2)
The Indians first mounted a large attack against white men in the Johnstown, Pa., area was during the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755. This was at the beginning of the French and Indian War. The French soldiers and Native American warriors joined to fight and defeat British General Edward Braddock. Braddock was mortally wounded during the battle and died near present-day Uniontown. Years later, Native Americans started warring on their own against White settlers and the British. “The Native Americans were upset over British laws being enforced by General Jeffrey Amherst,” said Scott Perry, museum facilitator at the Bushey Run Battlefield. One problem was that Amherst cut off the Native American supply of gunpowder, which they had grown dependent on for their hunting. This was named Pontiac’s War after one of the leading Native American generals. The Native American raids were Read more…
The first residents of Johnstown (part 1)
Chiefs of the Iroquois Indians and members of Pennsylvania’s government met on November 5, 1768. They sat down together and negotiated what is now called the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. The agreement opened up the Conemaugh Valley and Stonycreek Valley by encouraging their settlement. When the treaty became effective the following April, a warrant was taken out for 249 acres between Conemaugh and Stonycreek rivers. What was initially an Indian town called Conemaugh eventually grew into Johnstown. It also opened up the shortest land route between Philadelphia and the Great Lakes, which was of interest to merchants. The treaty was a turning point in relations between whites and Indians in the region. By that time, the two cultures had been trading for about 40 years. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix marked a formal agreement to settle some land disputes between Read more…
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