Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2014 - 30

the lake. When that ice tongue melted away, a large mass of
ice remained in the position of the current lake while outwash
poured into the valley around the ice block on all sides. When
the mass eventually melted, a water-filled kettle remained and
established what is now the largest natural lake in the state of
Pennsylvania. The Seneca name "Conneaut" translates to "where
the snow lingers."
Conneaut Lake has an elevation of 1,073 feet above mean
sea level. Its 947 surface acres have an average depth of 27 feet
and a maximum depth of 69 feet as calculated in 1989 by Dr.
Milt Ostrofsky during mapping and research for Allegheny
College. Like several of the other glacial lakes of northwestern
Pennsylvania, Conneaut Lake's banks became settlements during
the 18th century. Then, it became a borough in the 19th century
and a major resort destination. The resort peaked in the early
20th century in terms of resident populations, lodging facilities
ranging from rental cabins to deluxe hotels, watercraft of every
sort and amusement parks.
The first woolly mammoth bones were found in Conneaut
Lake in 1958 by an excavator digging through marl to establish
access canals extending from the lake's southeast corner to Nye's
Marina, which was being constructed. Unsure what he had
encountered, the worker and his employer invited biologists and
anthropologists from nearby Allegheny College to come to the
site and identify the species. The mammoth's 60-inch long curved
tusk and other bone fragments are proudly exhibited in the
museum, along with parts from a mastodon discovered in 1970
near the lake's north end, another mammoth found in 1980 and
yet another mammoth, which scuba divers came across in 1987.
Near each of these finds were tools used by prehistoric residents
while hunting and preserving meat. Good examples of axes and
arrowheads are also displayed at the museum.
Extensive research has been conducted on a woolly
mammoth specimen found in 1991 by Charles Moon in
Lake Pleasant, Erie County, during practice dives by sheriff 's
deputies who came across a shoulder bone. They contacted
June Kirkpatrick at Gannon University who coordinated the
recovery effort, documenting the bones, their locations and
other items found in association. Girdled rocks were found at

A partial woolly mammoth jawbone includes a molar measuring
9 inches.

30

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * January/February 2014

the site, which are typically used to weigh down fish nets or
other nets. Some of the mammoth bones included marks,
which were not natural occurrences, such as cuts and gouges
into bone. It was concluded that prehistoric humans had
practiced subaqueous meat caching, which is the deliberate
storage of meal below water, rather like refrigeration. Due
to cuts on its heel bones (where major leg ligaments would
be cut by gleaners) and the absence of the toes (usually
consumed by the hunters first as a delicacy), this specimen
had been hunted, killed and cached for future consumption.
The bones are stored at Gannon University, Erie County.
Woodland elk have been extinct in Crawford County since
the 1840s. When the superb set of woodland elk antlers (also
found in the water) were radiocarbon dated by Carnegie
Museum, it was determined that this animal died between the
years of 1760 and 1820.

Racing and raising the Liberty II

Harvey N. Snavely, Pittsburgh, built the tunnel-hulled
mahogany open-cockpit Liberty II and equipped her with
an experimental 8-cylinder, 330 horsepower aircraft engine
named Liberty, which was manufactured by General Motors
to make a fantastic racing craft. It clocked at 78 miles per hour.
During time trails for a race on Conneaut Lake in August 1922,
she capsized and sank as captain Snavely and mechanic Robert
Hancock swam for shore.
Sixty-three years later, scuba divers William Houghton and
Brian Simpson found her upside down with her propeller
and rudder protruding above thick muddy glacial silt in
49 feet of water. They coordinated the lift of the amazingly
well preserved boat on July 13, 1985. After litigation and
negotiations involving the Pennsylvania Historical and
Museum Commission and the divers, it was eventually agreed
that a non-profit organization in Conneaut Lake could restore
and manage this artifact. More years of painstaking restoration
to the boat and engine by the former Lakeland Museum
Foundation have in essence resurrected the Liberty II, which is
operational again, although she spends most of her time these
days as the centerpiece of the Conneaut Lake Museum.

So far, three woolly mammoth skeletons and a mastodon skeleton
have been found in or along Conneaut Lake, Crawford County.
PFBC Facebook: PaFishandBoat
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2014
