Loyalsock Creek
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{{Infobox River | river_name = Loyalsock Creek
| image_name = Loyalsock Creek from Hillsgrove Bridge.jpg
| caption = Loyalsock Creek from the [[Hillsgrove Covered Bridge]]
| origin = Western [[Wyoming County, Pennsylvania|Wyoming County]]
| mouth = [[West Branch Susquehanna River]], at [[Montoursville, Pennsylvania|Montoursville]]
| basin_countries = [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States]]
| length = 63.6 mi (102 km)
| elevation = 2272 ft (693 m)
| discharge =
| watershed = 495 [[mi²]] (1282 [[km²]])
}}
'''Loyalsock Creek''' is a [[tributary]] of the [[West Branch Susquehanna River]] located chiefly in [[Sullivan County, Pennsylvania|Sullivan]] and [[Lycoming County, Pennsylvania|Lycoming]] counties in [[Pennsylvania]] in the [[United States]]. [[As the crow flies]], Lycoming County is about {{convert|130|mi|km|0}} northwest of [[Philadelphia]] and {{convert|165|mi|km|0}} east-northeast of [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]].
Loyalsock Creek is about 63.6 mi (102 km) long. The [[source (river or stream)|source]] is in western [[Wyoming County, Pennsylvania|Wyoming County]] near the Sullivan County line and its [[confluence (geography)|confluence]] with the West Branch Susquehanna River is at [[Montoursville, Pennsylvania|Montoursville]]. The area surrounding the confluence with the Susquehanna River has been flooded numerous times over the past decade devastating many local homes and businesses.
The name is a corruption of a word in the language of the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|local indigenous peoples]] meaning "middle creek" (the original was something like ''Lawi-sahquick''). This refers to Loyalsock Creek's location between [[Lycoming Creek]] and [[Muncy Creek]], with the mouths of each about 6 mi (10 km) up- and down-stream of the mouth of the Loyalsock. Several important trails used by the local indigenous peoples ran along parts of the Loyalsock or crossed it. Two important villages of the local indigenous peoples were located on its banks, one of which, Ots-ton-wak-in, was the home to [[Elizabeth Catherine Montour|Madame Montour]] and her son [[Andrew Montour]], and later became Montoursville.
[[Image:Major Watersheds in Lycoming County Pennsylvania.png|thumb|300 px|left|Map of the West Branch Susquehanna River (dark blue) and Major Streams in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. '''Loyalsock Creek''' (green) is the fourth major creek to enter the river in Lycoming County and is located between the [[Lycoming Creek]] (yellow) and [[Muncy Creek]] (light blue) watersheds. Its major tributary, '''Little Loyalsock Creek''', is shown north of Loyalsock Creek (in green, number 5). They meet at Forksville, Pennsylvania in Sullivan County.]]
Its main tributary is '''Little Loyalsock Creek''', which has its confluence at [[Forksville, Pennsylvania|Forksville]] in Sullivan County. The names of Forksville and the surrounding [[Forks Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania|Forks Township]] come from the fork of the creek there.
Pennsylvania receives the most [[acid rain]] of any state in the United States. Because Loyalsock Creek is in a [[sandstone]], [[limestone]], [[shale]], [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]], and [[coal]] mountain region, it has a relatively low capacity to [[Neutralization|neutralize]] added [[acid]]. This makes it is especially vulnerable to increased acidification from acid rain, which poses a threat to the long term threat to the health of the plants and animals in the creek.
<ref name="acid">{{cite web
| url = {{wayback|http://www.fish.state.pa.us/Fish/acidrain.htm}}
| title = Acid Precipitation
| publisher = Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
| accessdate = 2007-08-13
}}</ref>
Loyalsock Creek is used for [[trout]] [[fishing]], [[white water]] [[kayak]]ing, and the Loyalsock Trail which runs along it is an opportunity for [[hiking]]. [[Worlds End State Park]] is located on the Loyalsock in Sullivan County, near Forksville. [[U.S. Route 220]] runs through the Loyalsock valley.
==History==
===Ostuagy===
[[Madame Montour]]'s village of Ostuagy was a vitally important location during the settlement of what is now Lycoming County. Her village at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek on the [[West Branch Susquehanna River]] was an important stopping point for the [[Moravian Church|Moravian]] [[missionaries]] who were spreading the [[gospel]] throughout the wilderness of [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] during the 1740s. [[Count Zinzendorf]], a missionary being guided by [[Conrad Weiser]] with the permission of [[Chief Shikellamy]] came to Ostuagy in 1742.<ref name="history">{{cite book | last = Meginness | first = John Franklin | title = History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania: including its aboriginal history; the colonial and revolutionary periods; early settlement and subsequent growth; organization and civil administration; the legal and medical professions; internal improvement; past and present history of Williamsport; manufacturing and lumber interests; religious, educational, and social development; geology and agriculture; military record; sketches of boroughs, townships, and villages; portraits and biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, etc. etc." | origdate = 1892 | url = http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/lyco-history-01.html | accessdate = 2007-03-07 | edition = 1st Edition
| publisher = Brown, Runk & Co. | location = Chicago, IL | id = ISBN 0-7884-0428-8 | chapter =
| chapterurl = http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/Chapter-34.html | quote = (Note: ISBN refers to Heritage Books July 1996 reprint. URL is to scan of 1892 version with some OCR typos).}}</ref>
Madame Montour was known to be a friend of the British. She welcomed the white men who were beginning to migrate into the [[West Branch Susquehanna River Valley]]. She also had a great amount of influence with the various Indian tribes they were feeling the pressure of colonial expansion. Madame Montour remained loyal to the British despite several attempts by the French to bring her over to their side. Historians note that this was remarkable due to the fact the that British colonial government sometimes went as long as a year without paying her for her services.
===Rail transportation===
[[Image:Loyalsock Creek Panorama.JPG|thumb|right|View of Loyalsock Creek in Plunketts Creek Township in Lycoming County.]]
Although lumbering was an important industry in the Loyalsock Creek watershed, railroads took little advantage of the creek valley below Forksville. One exception was the [[Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Railroad]], which built down into [[Hillsgrove, Pennsylvania|Hillsgrove]] and along the creek as far as [[Ogdonia, Pennsylvania|Ogdonia]] in 1902, before turning up Kettle Creek. It was removed in 1922. Above Forksville, the [[Williamsport and North Branch Railroad]] followed Mill Creek to reach the Loyalsock and followed it to a crossing at [[Ringdale, Pennsylvania|Ringdale]]. The line was built in 1893 and removed in 1938. About six miles to the east, the town of [[Lopez, Pennsylvania|Lopez]] is the largest settlement on the upper creek. Jennings Brothers Lumber Co. built a narrow-gauge logging line in the area in 1890, and another in 1891 up the creek into [[Wyoming County, Pennsylvania|Wyoming County]], to supply their sawmill at Lopez. In 1892, the [[Loyalsock Railroad]] crossed the creek here, building south to bring coal from the Bernice area southward to Harvey's Lake. It was promptly leased to the [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] and became part of the Bowmans Creek Branch. At the same time, the Loyalsock RR also built a branch along the Loyalsock downstream from Lopez to Ellis Creek, where it turned south to reach a tannery at Thorndale. This branch was removed in 1898. However, Jennings Bros. continued to operate, standard-gauging their rail line about 1900 and building up the Loyalsock as far as Shumans Lake, where their line headed up Cold Run towards High Cobble and the Dutch Mountain area. The logging railroad was finally removed in 1905 when Jennings Bros. relocated to Maryland, but was partly resurrected in 1911. Stony Brook Lumber Co. used the old grade as far as Santee Run, then turned north towards Crane Swamp. This line was removed in 1916. Traffic gradually dwindled on the Lehigh Valley; their line south of Lopez was abandoned in 1939, and it was cut back to Bernice in 1944. This marked the end of rail traffic on the Loyalsock, except for the [[Reading Railroad]] crossing near its mouth at Montoursville, still active today.<ref name="taber atlas">{{cite book | author=Taber, Thomas T., III | year=1987 | title=Railroads of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia and Atlas | publisher=Thomas T. Taber III | id=ISBN 0-9603398-5-X}}</ref>
==See also==
{{commonscat}}
*[[List of Pennsylvania rivers]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://waterdata.usgs.gov/pa/nwis/current/?type=flow U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stations]
*[http://www.bartleby.com/69/31/L06831.html ''The Columbia Gazetteer of North America, 2000'' entry for Loyalsock Creek]
*[http://www.chesapeakebay.net/wspv31/(3fwefm55tzka3q45qloiyxbu)/WspAbout.aspx?basno=177&topic=5 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Page on the Loyalsock Creek watershed from the source to Little Loyalsock Creek]
*[http://www.chesapeakebay.net/wspv31/(3fwefm55tzka3q45qloiyxbu)/WspAbout.aspx?basno=173&topic=5 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Page on the Loyalsock Creek watershed from Little Loyalsock Creek to the mouth]
**[http://www.chesapeakebay.net/wspv31/(3fwefm55tzka3q45qloiyxbu)/WspAbout.aspx?basno=172&topic=5 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Page on the Little Loyalsock Creek watershed]
*[http://dsf.seda-cog.org/lyco/lib/lyco/county_map1.pdf Official Lycoming County Map showing all townships, villages, boroughs, cities, county roads, rivers, creeks, and some streams]
*[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/pa/county/lycoming/history/lyco-history-01.html History of Lycoming County Pennsylvania edited by John F. Meginness, ©1892] (copyright expired)
{{Susquehanna River System}}
[[Category:West Branch Susquehanna River]]
[[Category:Rivers of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Lycoming County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Sullivan County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Chesapeake Bay Watershed]]