Mount Nittany
Encyclopedia
Mount Nittany is the common name for Nittany Mountain, a prominent geographic feature in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The mountain is actually part of a complex of ridges that separates Nittany Valley
from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Valley between them. On USGS topographic map
s, Nittany Mountain is generally shown as the lower ridge line that runs below Big Mountain
on the west and Big Kettle Mountain on the east side, coming together to form a single ridge line at the southern terminus. This nomenclature is not always consistently applied to the same geologic formation, and there is a shorter Nittany Mountain ridge shown above the Sugar Valley as well.
Mount Nittany is a Penn State University landmark. The athletic teams and the mascot of the school, the Nittany Lion
, are named in honor of the mountain and its history.
The word Nittany is derived from the Algonquian language
word Nit-A-Nee meaning "single mountain". In Penn State folklore, Nit-A-Nee is also the name of an Indian maiden whose actions caused Mount Nittany to be formed. The original inhabitants of the area used Nit-A-Nee to describe the mountain, and it likely became corrupted to Nittany by the first Europeans
to settle the area in the 18th century. By the time of Penn State's founding in 1855, the word Nittany was already in use. Some sources cite the word Nit-A-Nee as meaning "barrier against the wind", which is not as likely.
In 1945 the landowners of Mount Nittany were preparing to sell the mountain, and allegedly timber rights also. The alumni of the Lion's Paw Senior Society heard of this, and bought an option to buy the mountain. It took the Lion's Paw alumni until May 1946 to raise the money needed to buy the mountain. In 1981, Lion's Paw established the Mount Nittany Conservancy, an organization intended to raise money from the general public in addition to the money raised by Lion's Paw members. Since its establishment, the Mount Nittany Conservancy has purchased hundreds of additional acres on Mount Nittany.
Nit-A-Nee, which means "barrier against the wind," was an Indian maiden whose lover, Lion's Paw, was killed...
Nit-A-Nee enfolded him into her arms and carried his still erect body back to a place in the center of the Valley where she laid the strong Brave in his grave and built a mound of honor over his strength.
On the last night of the full moon, after she had finally raised the last of the soil and stone over his high mound, a terrible storm came up unleashing itself with thunder and lightning and the wailing of a horrendous wind from the depths of the earth. Every Indian in the Valley shuddered and all eyes were directed to the Indian Brave's high mound upon which the strong maiden Princess Nit-A-Nee was mounted with arms outstretched to touch the sources of the lightning bolts in the sky
Through the night they watched with awe as the Indian Brave's burial mound grew and rose into a Mountain penetrating the center of the big valley between the two legs of the Tussey and Bald Eagle Ridges. When the dawn finally came, a huge Mountain was found standing erect in the center of the Valley.
A legend had been born. The mound and the maiden had given place to a Mountain, and standing on its summit was a Lion surrounded by eleven orphaned male cubs, each of whom had the courage of the fearless Indian Brave and the heart and strength of the mysterious Indian Princess. From this day forward every place in the valley was safe, and the wind wrested nothing from the fields on which these Lions strode as fearless heroes from the Mountain. The people of the Valley from that date forward knew only happiness and bounteous plenty.
In the fullness of time, men and women came from across the farthest seas to build a college at the foot of this Mountain. The strength and courage of the students of this college became known far and wide.
As each student learned the destructive power of the North Wind across the fields, each also learned the strength of the Princess known as "Breaker of the Wind," called in her language Nit-A-Nee, and the courage unto death of the Indian Brave called Lion's Paw.
As long as this strength and courage is known in the Valley, Mount Nittany will stand as a breaker of the wind.
This is the legend of Mount Nittany. May it stand forever high and strong in our midst, our breaker against the harsh winds of destiny and fate which sweep down from the north.
May Mount Nittany ever rise above us as the Guardian before the gates of Old Penn State. May the mysterious Indian Princess ever stand in our midst as breaker and shield against the destructive power of the winds of fate. And may the Nittany Lion's cubs forever join in the games which are the guarantee of the life of the land we love.
." The neighboring Bald Eagle
, Tussey
and Shriner Mountains are part of the same sedimentary formation consisting of, from youngest to oldest, Tuscarora Formation
Quartzite
, Juniata Formation
Shale
, and Bald Eagle Formation
Sandstone
. These layers were folded during the Appalachian orogeny.
Nittany Mountain is part of a synclinal
depression of the anticlinal
Nittany Arch
, which originally formed a huge mountain, since eroded, that towered over what is now Nittany Valley. The present Nittany and Big Mountain ridges were originally a valley in this ancient mountain. The Nittany ridge line is topped by the erosion resistant Bald Eagle Sandstone. The more durable Tuscasora Quartzite formations are found exposed on the higher ridges of the northern end of the same syncline: Big Mountain to "Riansares Mountain" and Big Kettle Mountain to "The Winehead". The more easily eroded Juniata Shale forms the depression between the lower and higher ridges, and the drainage from this area cut small ravines in the Nittany ridge line. The same three rock layers are exposed in the neighboring ridges.
Beneath the sedimentary layers is a formation of Dolomite
and Limestone
. The Bald Eagle Sandstone topping Mt. Nittany prevents the erosion of the underlying limestone to the same level as the surrounding limestone valleys.
Nittany Valley
The Nittany Valley is an eroded anticlinal valley in the central portion of Centre County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is separated from the Bald Eagle Valley by Bald Eagle Mountain and from Penns Valley by Mount Nittany. The valley is closed to the north by a high plateau that joins...
from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Valley between them. On USGS topographic map
Topographic map
A topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines in modern mapping, but historically using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features...
s, Nittany Mountain is generally shown as the lower ridge line that runs below Big Mountain
Big Mountain (Pennsylvania)
Big Mountain is the high point on the Tuscarora Mountain ridge in south central Pennsylvania in the United States. The . summit is located in the Buchanan State Forest and offers an viewshed that is one of the more stunning in the Commonwealth....
on the west and Big Kettle Mountain on the east side, coming together to form a single ridge line at the southern terminus. This nomenclature is not always consistently applied to the same geologic formation, and there is a shorter Nittany Mountain ridge shown above the Sugar Valley as well.
Mount Nittany is a Penn State University landmark. The athletic teams and the mascot of the school, the Nittany Lion
Nittany Lion
This article is about the Penn State mascot. For the Penn State fight song see "The Nittany Lion ".The Nittany Lion is the mascot of the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, USA and its athletic teams. It refers to the mountain lions that once roamed near the school, and...
, are named in honor of the mountain and its history.
The word Nittany is derived from the Algonquian language
Algonquin language
Algonquin is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by the Algonquin First Nations of Quebec and Ontario...
word Nit-A-Nee meaning "single mountain". In Penn State folklore, Nit-A-Nee is also the name of an Indian maiden whose actions caused Mount Nittany to be formed. The original inhabitants of the area used Nit-A-Nee to describe the mountain, and it likely became corrupted to Nittany by the first Europeans
European American
A European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
to settle the area in the 18th century. By the time of Penn State's founding in 1855, the word Nittany was already in use. Some sources cite the word Nit-A-Nee as meaning "barrier against the wind", which is not as likely.
In 1945 the landowners of Mount Nittany were preparing to sell the mountain, and allegedly timber rights also. The alumni of the Lion's Paw Senior Society heard of this, and bought an option to buy the mountain. It took the Lion's Paw alumni until May 1946 to raise the money needed to buy the mountain. In 1981, Lion's Paw established the Mount Nittany Conservancy, an organization intended to raise money from the general public in addition to the money raised by Lion's Paw members. Since its establishment, the Mount Nittany Conservancy has purchased hundreds of additional acres on Mount Nittany.
Legend of Mount Nittany
The legend of how Mount Nittany was formed is quoted below, with the permission of the Mount Nittany Conservancy:Nit-A-Nee, which means "barrier against the wind," was an Indian maiden whose lover, Lion's Paw, was killed...
Nit-A-Nee enfolded him into her arms and carried his still erect body back to a place in the center of the Valley where she laid the strong Brave in his grave and built a mound of honor over his strength.
On the last night of the full moon, after she had finally raised the last of the soil and stone over his high mound, a terrible storm came up unleashing itself with thunder and lightning and the wailing of a horrendous wind from the depths of the earth. Every Indian in the Valley shuddered and all eyes were directed to the Indian Brave's high mound upon which the strong maiden Princess Nit-A-Nee was mounted with arms outstretched to touch the sources of the lightning bolts in the sky
Through the night they watched with awe as the Indian Brave's burial mound grew and rose into a Mountain penetrating the center of the big valley between the two legs of the Tussey and Bald Eagle Ridges. When the dawn finally came, a huge Mountain was found standing erect in the center of the Valley.
A legend had been born. The mound and the maiden had given place to a Mountain, and standing on its summit was a Lion surrounded by eleven orphaned male cubs, each of whom had the courage of the fearless Indian Brave and the heart and strength of the mysterious Indian Princess. From this day forward every place in the valley was safe, and the wind wrested nothing from the fields on which these Lions strode as fearless heroes from the Mountain. The people of the Valley from that date forward knew only happiness and bounteous plenty.
In the fullness of time, men and women came from across the farthest seas to build a college at the foot of this Mountain. The strength and courage of the students of this college became known far and wide.
As each student learned the destructive power of the North Wind across the fields, each also learned the strength of the Princess known as "Breaker of the Wind," called in her language Nit-A-Nee, and the courage unto death of the Indian Brave called Lion's Paw.
As long as this strength and courage is known in the Valley, Mount Nittany will stand as a breaker of the wind.
This is the legend of Mount Nittany. May it stand forever high and strong in our midst, our breaker against the harsh winds of destiny and fate which sweep down from the north.
May Mount Nittany ever rise above us as the Guardian before the gates of Old Penn State. May the mysterious Indian Princess ever stand in our midst as breaker and shield against the destructive power of the winds of fate. And may the Nittany Lion's cubs forever join in the games which are the guarantee of the life of the land we love.
Geology of Mount Nittany
"Mount Nittany is part of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian MountainsAppalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
." The neighboring Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle Mountain
Bald Eagle Mountain, once known locally as Muncy Mountain, is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, running east of the Allegheny Front and northwest of Mount Nittany. It lies along the southeast side of Bald Eagle Creek, and south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, and...
, Tussey
Tussey Mountain
]Tussey Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending east of the Bald Eagle, Brush, Dunning and Evitts Mountain ridges...
and Shriner Mountains are part of the same sedimentary formation consisting of, from youngest to oldest, Tuscarora Formation
Tuscarora Formation
The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.-Description:...
Quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
, Juniata Formation
Juniata Formation
The Ordovician Juniata Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania and Maryland. It is a relative slope-former occurring between the two prominent ridge-forming sandstone units: the Tuscarora Formation and the Bald Eagle Formation in the Appalachian Mountains.-Description:The Juniata is...
Shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
, and Bald Eagle Formation
Bald Eagle Formation
The Ordovician Bald Eagle Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in central Pennsylvania, USA. It is a ridge-forming unit in the Appalachian Mountains.-Description:...
Sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. These layers were folded during the Appalachian orogeny.
Nittany Mountain is part of a synclinal
Syncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...
depression of the anticlinal
Anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
Nittany Arch
Nittany Arch
The Nittany Arch or Nittany anticline is an anticline geologic formation in the western part of the Ridge-and-Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains of Central Pennsylvania, United States...
, which originally formed a huge mountain, since eroded, that towered over what is now Nittany Valley. The present Nittany and Big Mountain ridges were originally a valley in this ancient mountain. The Nittany ridge line is topped by the erosion resistant Bald Eagle Sandstone. The more durable Tuscasora Quartzite formations are found exposed on the higher ridges of the northern end of the same syncline: Big Mountain to "Riansares Mountain" and Big Kettle Mountain to "The Winehead". The more easily eroded Juniata Shale forms the depression between the lower and higher ridges, and the drainage from this area cut small ravines in the Nittany ridge line. The same three rock layers are exposed in the neighboring ridges.
Beneath the sedimentary layers is a formation of Dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
and Limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. The Bald Eagle Sandstone topping Mt. Nittany prevents the erosion of the underlying limestone to the same level as the surrounding limestone valleys.
External links
- Hike Mount Nittany
- History of Lion's Paw
- Mount Nittany Conservancy
- Centre Region Parks & Recreation
- ClearWater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania, Inc.
- Mount Nittany WebCam view from the Hetzel Union BuildingHetzel Union BuildingThe HUB–Robeson Center, commonly referred to as the "HUB" is the student union building centrally located on the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University. It was originally built in 1953 and had major renovations done in 1973 and 1983. The most recent round of expansions and...
(HUB)