The Line of Property is the name commonly given to the line dividing Indian lands from those of the Thirteen Colonies, which were established in the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix between British officials and the Iroquois tribes. In western Pennsylvania, it is referred to as the Purchase line.
As written with original spellings and place names; (modern names in parentheses):
The starting point is the confluence of the Tennessee River with the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky. The line follows the south bank of the Ohio almost the entire length of Kentucky and all of West Virginia to Pittsburgh where the Allegheny River joins the Monongahela River to form the Ohio. It then follows the Allegheny River north.
For the line from Kittanning, Pennsylvania, to the "nearest fork" of the west branch of the Susquehanna River at Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania, see the article on the Purchase line.
From Cherry Tree the line followed the West Branch on its sinuous course due north and then northeast to Clearfield, Pennsylvania, and then meandered through the deep gorges of the Alleghenies past Renovo, Pennsylvania, exiting the mountains into Bald Eagle Valley at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and then east-northeast to the confluence with Pine Creek at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
The next section of the line is difficult to fix, since the "Burnetts Hills" of the treaty never been positively identified. Also, the distance to follow Pine Creek, let alone which of the forks of that Creek to follow, is not specified.
The only part of this section that can be definitely established is the lowest (easternmost) portion of Towanda Creek from Monroeton, Pennsylvania to Towanda, Pennsylvania.
From Jersey Shore to this point there are two competing interpretations.
The first interpretation is that the line was intended to follow the principal (west) branch of Towanda Creek which runs eastward along the base of the very prominent north face of Barclay Mountain (which forms the northernmost range of the Endless Mountains) from Canton, Pennsylvania to Towanda.
Then the question is how the line was intended to run from Jersey Shore to Towanda Creek. This creek rises a few miles south of Canton at the watershed divide that marks the tri-point between Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Most likely, the line was intended to reach the Towanda Creek headwaters along the headwaters of Lycoming Creek, which flows southwest along the base of Barclay Mountain to Roaring Branch, Pennsylvania, where it is joined by Roaring Branch which itself follows the base of Laurel Hill upstream in the same direction from a watershed divide at Jackson Corners on US 15. This is then the headwaters of Blockhouse Creek which flows in the same direction into Little Pine Creek, which flows into Pine Creek at Waterville; from there Pine Creek flows down to the West Branch at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
A second interpretation is based primarily on the existence of a Burnett's Ridge in Lycoming County on the east of PA14 beginning at Bodines south of Ralston, Pennsylvania and running east into Sullivan County, Pennsylvania; on its plateau are the headwaters of Schrader Creek, a major tributary of Towanda Creek which flows to the south of Barclay Mountain. The line would presumably follow Pleasant Stream upstream from Lycoming Creek at Marsh Hill, Pennsylvania to the watershed divide near Wheelerville in Sullivan County and then down Schrader Creek; this is the route later taken by the Susquehanna and New York Railroad and is the easiest and most direct footpath between the two branches of the Susquehanna River.
The difficulty with the second interpretation is that it would require the line to follow Lycoming Creek which flows into the West Branch just west of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, not Pine Creek. This would require the identification of "Tiadaghton" with the Lycoming, which is contrary to many other documented uses of the "Tiadaghton" name. The line would then have continued some miles down the Susquehanna from Pine Creek before turning into the hills.
The sketch map of 1768 is ambiguous and its geometry is very poor, but it seems to favor the second interpretation. It seems to show a section of the West Branch between what is labeled the Tiadaghton (Pine Creek) and the stream actually followed by the line somewhat to the east; this would appear to be Lycoming Creek.
The second interpretation would have been in favor of the Indians, adding the valley lands from Jersey Shore to Williamsport and a large hunting area at the headwaters of Pine Creek to their portion.
From Towanda, the Pennsylvania line followed the East Branch of the Susquehanna River upstream past Tioga Point (present day Athens, Pennsylvania) and then east to Owego, New York.
The section of the line east from Owego is also troublesome, because of the faulty geographic references of the negotiators. The line was to follow a straight line from Owego east to the Delaware River and upriver to a point due south of the confluence of the Unadilla River and east branch of the Susquehanna River just west of Sidney, New York. Apparently the surveys of the day were too poor to realize that a line due east from Owego at the Owego Creek/Susquehanna confluence (at 42° 05' 41"N) would not have intersected the Delaware River before reaching the line directly south from the mouth of the Unadilla. The sketch map of 1768 places the Delaware much too far north, and shows the projected east-west line intersecting it below the confluence of the East Branch at Hancock, which is actually considerably to the south of the latitude of Owego. Thus at some point the line was adjusted to the Oquaga Creek/Delaware River confluence (at 42° 03' 27"N) at Deposit, New York, which forms a natural corner point at the big bend in the West Branch of the Delaware. It is probable that this portion of the line was never surveyed before the Revolution, but instead a north-south line (present-day boundary between the towns of Tioga and Owego in Tioga County, New York) was dropped from Owego to the New York–Pennsylvania border near the 42nd parallel north sometime after this border was surveyed in 1786, and the Delaware River was followed a few miles upstream (north) from the initial monument of this border near the 42nd parallel north to reach Deposit.
The line to the mouth of the Unadilla was then drawn straight from Deposit, a bit east of north. This is the modern-day boundary between Broome County, New York and Chenango County, New York (west or Indian side) and Delaware County, New York (east or Colonial side).
The Unadilla River then forms the modern-day boundary between Chenango County, New York (west) and Otsego County, New York (east); the "west branch of the Tianaderha" referred to is not the modern West Branch of the Unadilla that rises near Bridgewater, New York, but rather Beaver Creek a few miles to the west that flows through Brookfield, New York to join the Unadilla near New Berlin, New York; Beaver Creek rises at approximately 42° 55' 11" N, 75° 19' 01" W) near Hobin Corners on US 20.
The line then strikes out in a NW direction towards the named confluence (43° 13' 33" N, 75° 32' 39" W) west of present-day Rome, New York, near East Verona, New York. This is a few miles west of Rome, so that Fort Stanwix fell in lands assigned to the Colonials. The line as finally surveyed went through the Hamilton College campus on College Hill just west of Clinton, New York where there are two stone markers.
The first clause effectively cedes most of modern-day Kentucky and West Virginia to the Virginia colony.
This line substantially enlarged the Colonial area designated in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, especially in Pennsylvania. It also included a slice of New York State east of the Unadilla and west of the previous line of settlement near Cherry Valley. Thus the Iroquois ceded only a small area in New York state, a larger area in Pennsylvania, and a huge tract that was in fact south of their area of control.
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Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat is Williamsport. The county is part of the Central Pennsylvania region of the state.
Piatt Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,045 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeast states. At 444 miles (715 km) long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States. By watershed area, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States, and also the longest river in the early 21st-century continental United States without commercial boat traffic.
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch being its principal tributary.
Lycoming Creek is a 37.5-mile-long (60.4 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.
Larrys Creek is a 22.9-mile-long (36.9 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lycoming County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, its watershed drains 89.1 square miles (231 km2) in six townships and a borough. The creek flows south from the dissected Allegheny Plateau to the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian periods.
Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania. The creek is 87.2 miles (140.3 km) long. Within Tioga County, 23.25 miles (37.42 km) of Pine Creek are designated as a Pennsylvania Scenic River.
White Deer Hole Creek is a 20.5-mile (33.0 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clinton, Lycoming and Union counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, the White Deer Hole Creek watershed drains parts of ten townships. The creek flows east in a valley of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods.
Tiadaghton State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry. The forest is primarily in western and southern Lycoming County, with small portions in Clinton, Potter, Tioga, and Union Counties. The district's topography consists of narrow, flat to sloping plateaus cut by deep, steep-sloped valleys carved by fast moving mountain streams, including Pine Creek, Slate Run, and their tributaries. The Tiadaghton district extends south across the lowland along the west branch of the Susquehanna River to the narrow crests of Bald Eagle Mountain and North and South White Deer Ridge. The majority of forest cover is dominated by mixed oak forests, with some areas of northern hardwoods. The Tiadaghton State Forest is one of eight forest districts in the Pennsylvania Wilds region.
Pennsylvania Route 44 is a 149.24 mi (240.18 km)-long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route, which is signed north-south, is designated from Interstate 80 (I-80) and PA 42 in Buckhorn northwest to the New York state line near New York State Route 417 in Ceres Township.
Little Pine State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 2,158 acres (873 ha) in Cummings Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Little Pine State park is along 4.2 miles (6.8 km) of Little Pine Creek, a tributary of Pine Creek, in the midst of the Tiadaghton State Forest. A dam on the creek has created a lake covering 94 acres (38 ha) for fishing, boating, and swimming. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 4001, 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of the unincorporated village of Waterville or 8 miles (13 km) southwest of the village of English Center. The nearest borough is Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles (24 km) south at the mouth of Pine Creek on the West Branch Susquehanna River.
Upper Pine Bottom State Park is a 5-acre (2.0 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in Cummings Township on Pennsylvania Route 44 and is surrounded by the Tiadaghton State Forest. It is on Upper Pine Bottom Run, which gave the park its name and is a tributary of Pine Creek. Upper Pine Bottom State Park is in the Pine Creek Gorge, where the streams have cut through five major rock formations from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods.
The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers (squatters) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States. Because they settled in territory claimed by Native Americans, they had no recourse to the Pennsylvania colonial government. Accordingly they established what was known as the Fair Play System, with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for the group. In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776 beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the banks of Pine Creek.
Colton Point State Park is a 368-acre (149 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the west side of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across at this location. The park extends from the creek in the bottom of the gorge up to the rim and across part of the plateau to the west. Colton Point State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers opportunities for picnicking, hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. Colton Point is surrounded by Tioga State Forest and its sister park, Leonard Harrison State Park, on the east rim. The park is on a state forest road in Shippen Township 5 miles (8 km) south of U.S. Route 6.
Leonard Harrison State Park is a 585-acre (237 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the east rim of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across here. It also serves as headquarters for the adjoining Colton Point State Park, its sister park on the west rim of the gorge. Leonard Harrison State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. The park is in Shippen and Delmar Townships, 10 miles (16 km) west of Wellsboro at the western terminus of Pennsylvania Route 660.
Slate Run is a 7.3-mile-long (11.7 km) tributary of Pine Creek in Tioga and Lycoming counties, Pennsylvania in the United States.
The West Branch Susquehanna Valley of central Pennsylvania, United States, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians, is the low-lying area draining into the West Branch Susquehanna River southeast of the Allegheny Front, northeast of the Bald Eagle Valley, southwest of the Wyoming Valley and north of the water gap formed between Shamokin Mountain and Montour Ridge.
The Sheshequin Path was a major Native American trail in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania that ran between two Native American villages: "French Margaret's Town" on the West Branch Susquehanna River and "Sheshequin" on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. The path ran north and east along Lycoming Creek in Lycoming County and followed much of Towanda Creek in Bradford County. It was a shortcut between the two main branches of the Susquehanna River and was used by early settlers as well as Native Americans.
The Big Runaway was a mass evacuation in June and July 1778 of white settlers from the frontier regions of North Central Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War. It was precipitated by a series of raids against local settlements on the northern and western branches of the Susquehanna River by Loyalist troops and British-allied Indians, which prompted Patriot militia commanderes to order the evacuation. Most of the settlers relocated to Fort Augusta near modern-day Sunbury, Pennsylvania at the confluence of the northern and western branches of the Susquehanna River, while their abandoned houses and farms were all burnt as part of a scorched earth policy.
The Pennsylvania Wilds, or the Pennsylvania Wilds Conservation Landscape, is a predominantly rural and forested region in northern central Pennsylvania, mostly within the Allegheny Plateau. It covers about a quarter of the state's territory, but is home to only 4% of its population. It is one of Pennsylvania's 11 state-designated tourist regions.
