History & local legend
The mouth of Chartiers Creek, where it meets the Ohio River near McKees Rocks, is the starting point of a grim tale Charles M. Skinner published in the nineteenth century. In “Flame Scalps of the Chartiers,” a settler chooses a homesite a short distance upstream. His wife, two children, and brother later join him.
Returning from a hunting trip, the brothers find the cabin burned and the woman and children dead. After burying them, they leave a message on birch bark at the creek mouth and head east. Trappers discover the message, but the brothers are never heard from again.
Skinner's tale ends with cries heard in the valley on summer nights and strange lights moving over the slopes. Some tellers interpret the lights as the parents searching for their children; others see the spirits of the slain themselves. Two lights shine gold and are associated with the children.
