Queen Alliquippa

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Queen Alliquippa (d. December 23, 1754) was a leader of the Seneca tribe of American Indians during the early part of the 18th century.

Little is known about Alliquippa's early life. Her date of birth has been estimated anywhere from the early 1670s to the early 1700s.

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 Alliquippa 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 Alliquippa, who had expressed great concern that we passed her in going to [Fort LeBouef]. 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 Alliquippa was a key ally of the British leading up to the French and Indian War. Alliquippa, 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, Alliquippa moved her band to the Aughwick Valley of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania for safety. She died there on December 23, 1754.

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[1].