Special Collections & Archives John P. Saylor: Conservationist In Congress

Starting in 1957, Saylor began voicing his strong opposition to the construction of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River near Warren. Styled a "nature-loving obstructionist" by one of his congressional colleagues, he opposed the dam because of its high cost ($120 million) and size, its debatable effectiveness on flood control and the Army Corps of Engineers' stubborn refusal to study alternative plans, its destruction of one of the most scenic stretches of river in Pennsylvania, and most of all because of its breaking of the 1794 treaty with the Senecas, the oldest federal treaty that was still in effect at that time.

"…[Y]our great object seems to be the security of your remaining lands, and I have therefore, upon this point, meant to be sufficiently strong and clear. That in the future you cannot be defrauded of your lands; that you possess the right to sell and the right of refusing to sell your lands."  
    --President George Washington, Proclamation to Chief Cornplanter of the Senecas, December 29, 1790

"…[T]his [Treaty of 11 November 1794] is a new and important security against your being cheated; and shows the faithful care which the United States now means to take for the protection of your lands." 
    --Timothy Pickering, personal envoy of President Washington, to the Senecas, 1794

Despite the opposition of Saylor and others, and several suits made by the Seneca Nation against the Army Corps of Engineers, which were ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court, the Treaty of 1794 was broken, and construction of the Kinzua Dam began in 1960.

The Kinzua Dam caused the complete inundation of almost 10,000 acres of Seneca lands, and rendered another 20,000 acres of their land virtually useless because of periodic flooding caused by fluctuating water levels in the reservoir. Almost 700 members of the Seneca Nation were forced to relocate. The federal government eventually compensated the Senecas $15 million for the land and the relocation costs.

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