Ironic twist or premonition?  The North Fork oil spill

Now I'm not one to believe in physic occurrences or paranormal phenomenon, but this one caught my eye and attention.

Is this just a case of Irony, or is there something more going on? You be the judge!

By now, most of us around here have heard about the huge oil spill on the Allegheny National Forest. Or more specifically, the North Branch along 321 that flows into Chappel Bay.

The oil spill was a man made disaster that was caused by an intentional act of vandalism by a father and son team. Christopher and Andrew Horton. Remember the name.

They were the two "disgruntled" employees of Snyder Brothers Oil Inc. who were arrested for causing this environmental disaster that is the worst disaster to happen in the ANF in recent times.

Just by chance last night while doing some casual reading, just to pass some time (perched upon my porcelain throne), I was flipping the pages of a book called "Sawmills Among the Derricks", by Thomas T. Taber lll.  It's about the early days of oil and timber exploitation around here from the early 1800's to just after the 1920's or so.  This area was exploited for it's oil and timber even that long ago.

While aimlessly flipping the pages, the words "Chappel Fork" caught my eye, so I stopped on that page. Then I read the two or three paragraphs on that page about that area. I was very surprised by what I read (on page 727, for those who have this book).

It tells of a town that was located where the North Fork of Chappel Fork turns into a bay of what is now the Allegheny Reservoir (AKA Kinzua Lake).  The town was where 321 comes south down from the Bradford District Ranger Station and first hits the "bay" or body of the lake. The town at that location  was called "Watsonville".  The village of Watsonville was created in the fall of 1885 when W.F.Nichols and Son erected a sawmill there.

A logging railroad was used that ran up the North Branch of Chappel Fork (now Chappel Bay) to the Klondike area. The railroad was named after the valley (now rt 321) that was known as "Oil Valley".  The railroad that ran from Watsonville to the Klondike area was named "the Oil Valley Railroad".   Sure, there was early oil development in the area, but it's just ironic that the creek that is flowing with oil today, known as the North Fork or North Branch was called "Oil Valley".

Ironic, but taken alone not too strange.  .... But there is more!

The mill at Watsonville, where the North Fork (comes down Oil Valley) and joins Chappel Bay, was a mill that cut 60-100,000 board feet of lumber a day. The mill was supervised by "David Horton"!   Horton, being the same last name as the two culprits that flooded "Oil Valley" with Snyder Brothers oil! 

So a valley (the cut that 321 comes down), was known as "Oil Valley", and my guess is that we will once again call this area  "Oil Valley", but this time for a good reason!  And Ironically the mill at the mouth of Oil Valley, was run by a guy named Horton, the same name as the guys (Chris and Andy Horton)  who flooded the North Fork with oil.

Was this just a big coincidence or some kind of supernatural premonition? You tell me!

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