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© 2009 Michael Milliken

History

As early as 1731, English traders visited the Juniata Valley traveling upon the Indian paths but were driven away from settlement since there were many hostile Indians here and the village of Ohesson was home to over one hundred Shawnee and Delaware Indians where Lewistown now resides.  

Map of Indian Territories and More Info About the Indians

     From History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata Valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:

"The Juniata Valley region was purchased from the Indians July 6, 1754. Settlers had been intruding on this land before this date, and were driven away, but they returned. At length, in 1750, the justices of Cumberland County, with the undersheriff passed through Sherman's, Path and Tuscarora Valleys and the Cove in Fulton County and dispossessed the intruders. It was at last determined to purchase this region as the only sure method of averting serious trouble. This was effected on Albany, at the date above given. A great many men in the Cumberland Valley and farther eastward were ready, at the signal, to locate upon the more desirable places."

     After the purchase of the land from the Indians, the first settler was Arthur Buchanan, a trader, who settled on the site of Lewistown, in 1754.  Fort Granville was erected in 1755 but was destroyed by French and Indians. 

     Mifflin County was established 1789 and named for Thomas Mifflin, a man of Scotch-Irish descent who was born in PA, was the first governor of the Commonwealth under the Constitution of 1790, and was a Revolutionary War hero. 

     Juniata County  was created on March 2, 1831, from part of Mifflin County and named for the Juniata River which runs through both counties.  The Indian name "Juniata" is said to mean "people of the standing stone" or "Blue Water" depending on the source.

When the Indians formed an alliance with the British during the Revolutionary War, loyal patriots guarded General Washington's flank against Indian attacks. Local militia had formed and the Logan Guards answered Washington's call. They made their way south to become a vital reinforcement to Washington's fort on the Potomac.