Box 3-4: Friends Kinzua Dam Project, 1956-1964

The land of Seneca Nation of Indians reservation along the Allegheny River in New York was granted to them by federal treaty signed by George Washington. In the 1950s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planned a dam named Kinzua on the Allegheny which would flood nearly the entire reservation, but would protect the city of Pittsburgh. However, there was an alternative: by utilizing a naturally occurring glacier hole to create a reservoir, the Conewango dam would produce three times as much flood water at less cost than Kinzua. The Seneca asked that this alternative be investigated prior to final decision, though the Corps of Engineers was adamant.