Name Queen Alliquippa | Children Kanuksusy | |
 | ||
Relations her great great great great great great great great great grand daughter is Sofia Ekis Died December 23, 1754, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States | ||
Queen Aliquippa (died December 23, 1754) was a leader of the Seneca tribe of American Indians during the early part of the 18th century.
Contents
Biography
Little is known about Aliquippa'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 of Mingo Seneca living along the three rivers (the Ohio River, the Allegheny River, and the Monongahela River) 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."
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 but 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, Aliquippa moved her band to the Aughwick Valley of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania for safety. She died there on December 23, 1754.
Legacy
The city of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania was named in her honor by the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. However, she herself had no connection to the land upon which the city was built.
She is mentioned by Tom Hanks's character in one of the last scenes of Charlie Wilson's War, when discussing matters with Gust Avrakotos in a reference to his hometown of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.