The Catahecassa (Snyder) Spring is located at the intersection of E. Circuit Road and Serpentine Drive in

Schenley Park Schenley Park () is a large municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located between the neighborhoods of Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland, Greenfield (Pittsburgh), Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the Nat ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The spring was built in 1906–1907 and is one of only three remaining springs within the city.

History

The first record of the

natural spring A spring is a natural exit point at which groundwater emerges from an aquifer and flows across the ground surface as surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere, as well as a part of the water cycle. Springs have long been important fo ...

in this location comes from an 1890 visitation of the park, and it describes the spring as extremely abundant in water. However, there was no mention of a structure at the location until 1899 when a small stone alcove is described there. The idea for the current fountain at the location was conceived following

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

celebrations in 1906. The fund that had been for the celebrations had leftover money, and the donors chose to spend some of it erecting a new fountain in Schenley Park. James W. Clark, who was the Director of Public Works, approved the idea, and by September 1906 designs for the fountain were completed and published. Clark had been born into a prominent family in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Pennsylvania, and had worked his way up through a career in public service, and he was the one who chose the subject matter for the fountain. The man Clark chose to memorialize on the front façade of the spring was the Native American Shawnee Chief,

Catahecassa Catecahassa or Black Hoof (c. 1740 – 1831) was the head civil chief of the Shawnee Indians in the Ohio Country of what became the United States. A member of the Mekoche division of the Shawnees, Black Hoof became known as a fierce warrior d ...

. Chief Catahecassa claimed to be present at

General Braddock Edward Braddock (January 1695 – 13 July 1755) was a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of what is known in Europe and Canada as ...

’s defeat against the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

after the failed

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

attempt to capture

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...

. He also fought at the

Battle of Fallen Timbers The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Indigenous peoples of North America, Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their Kingdom of Gre ...

, and was the Shawnee representative during the 1795

Treaty of Greenville The Treaty of Greenville, also known to Americans as the Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., but formally titled ''A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas ...

signing, which ended hostilities between Native Americans and European-American settlers in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. In the early 19th century Catahecassa was also known for his peace work as an avid proponent of adopting the customs of settlers, and adjusting Shawnee society into an agrarian one. He also refused to join with

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

and Tecumseh’s War, instead choosing to lead his people away from confrontation. The fountain in Schenley Park was meant as a memorial to his historical legacy in the region, and it was completed and installed by May of 1907. The only significant alteration to the spring since then was an act of vandalism in December of 1928, in which the vandals demolished the tip of Catahecassa’s nose. That portion of the nose has since been replaced with concrete. The spring was nominated in January of 2016 to become a City Historic Landmark by Preservation Pittsburgh.

Architecture

The Catahecassa monument was done using

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

as its architectural style. The fountain itself is made of roughly-hewn granite stele. It also has a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

bust of Chief Catahecassa on the front, making it the only natural spring which has been fronted with a decorative, bas-relief stele. The relief is situated above a bronze plaque which reads: ''"Catahecassa, Blackhoof, war chief of the Shawnees, was present at the defeat of Braddock in 1755 and took part in all subsequent wars until the treaty of Greenville in 1795, after which he remained a friend and ally of the United States."''

Gallery

Catahecassa Spring.jpg, Photo from 1922 of Catahecassa Spring Catahecassa Spring 2.jpg, Photo from 1912 of Catahecassa Spring with car and family in front Ca-Ta-He-Cas-Sa, Black Hoof, Principal Chief of the Shawannes (15251349593).jpg, Portrait of Catahecassa

References

{{Commons category, Catahecassa Spring Fountains in Pennsylvania Native American history of Pennsylvania Native Americans in art