SUSQUEHANNA is a bit of a mouthful but it is a lovely name for the river that Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, stands on and from where this letter is being written.
The river is almost a mile wide here and it is easy to see how it was a barrier to the early white settlers as they pushed west. The name comes from the first native settlers whom the European explorers called Susquehannocks when they came on them in the early 17th century.
The Susquehanna has a fascinating role in the history of the early United States and especially Pennsylvania, but is less well known than say, the Mississipi and the Missouri or even the Hudson. It actually begins in New York state and 500 miles later flows into the Atlantic through, Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. But attempts to make it navigable were foiled by its rocks and shallows downstream.
The poor Susquehannocks met a horrible end and those responsible were, unfortunately, Irish. This Indian tribe welcomed the first European explorer, Captain John Smith, when he advanced up the river in 1608. He was given venison, tobacco and other gifts by the Indians.
But 150 years later, after William Penn had established his colony of Pennsylvania encompassing the river, relations between settlers and Indians were tense on this frontier due to a series of wars involving the French and the Indians. The Scots-Irish Presbyterian settlers were organised into militias to defend themselves against the Susquehannocks who were now much reduced in numbers.
Just north of Harrisburg was a notorious militia group called the Paxton Boys who in 1763 were raiding Indian settlements along the river in reprisal for the deaths of some settlers and their families. The Paxton Boys' massacre of Indians who had sought refuge in a workhouse was recorded by no less a figure than Benjamin Franklin.
"They fell on their knees, protested their innocence, declared their love to the English, and that in their whole lives they had never done them injury; and in this posture they all received the hatchet. Men, women and little children were every one of them inhumanly murdered in cold blood."
Thus perished the last of the Susquehannocks at the hands of the Irish.
Today in Harrisburg, the city on the river is preparing for another Irish incursion but a peaceful one. Allied Irish Banks has acquired the largest banking group in the region called Dauphin Deposit Corp. This began back in 1835 under the name of Harrisburg Savings Institution.
AIB is already established at the mouth of the Susquehanna at Baltimore as the First Maryland Bancorp. A new name will have to be found for the new group. Calling it the Susquehanna Bank might be a nice way to make reparation for the deeds of the Paxton Boys.
Where does Harris come in? John Harris from Yorkshire emigrated to Philadelphia and by 1710 with a grant of 800 acres had set up a trading post and a ferry where today's city bears his name. It took another 100 years before the trading post had grown into a town which was named the state's capital. It is placed midway between Philadelphia in the east and Pittsburgh in the west.
The Capitol building for the Pennsylvania legislature is a magnificent structure in classical Renaissance style. The green-tiled dome is modelled on that of St Peter's in Rome and the marble staircase under the dome is copied from the Paris Opera. The building was declared "the most beautiful State Capitol in the nation" by President Theodore Roosevelt when he dedicated it in 1906.
From the steps looking towards the river, you can see the smaller green dome of St Patrick's Cathedral. It stands on the site of a modest mission church which in the early 1800s served the spiritual needs of the Irish labourers who came to build the Pennsylvania canals and railroads.
Today Harrisburg is booming. Yet it was declared one of America's "most distressed cities" in 1981. It is picking up national and regional awards for how it has combined economic development with tasteful recreational and cultural projects along the river. About $65 million has been spent on restoring historic buildings and sites.
A bad memory still lives on, however, for those living on the lower stretches of the river near Three Mile Island. In March 1979 up to 200,000 people living nearby had to flee when the nuclear reactor on the island started spilling radioactive steam and water. For a while the Susquehanna threatened to carry deadly cargoes downstream through a densely populated area but fortunately the danger was contained and no-one died.
There are seven nuclear reactors on a fairly short stretch of the river where it meanders through five counties. Each year the residents get detailed instructions about evacuation procedures if another disaster occurs.
In the pre-nuclear age, Robert Louis Stevenson was greatly moved by the sight of the Susquehanna and its name. "The beauty of the name seemed to be part and parcel of the beauty of the land... That was the name as no other could be for that shining river and desirable valley."