The name is derived from the Allegheny River, which drains only a small portion of the Alleghenies in west-central Pennsylvania. The meaning of the word, which comes from the Lenape (Delaware) Native Americans, is not definitively known but is usually translated as fine river. A Lenape legend tells of an ancient tribe called the Allegewi who lived on the river and were defeated by the Lenape. Allegheny is the early French spelling (as in Allegheny River, which was once part of New France), and Allegany is closer to the early English spelling (as in Allegany County, Maryland, Allegany County, New York, or Alleghany County, Virginia).