The Pine Creek Path was a major Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 trail

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

 in the U.S. State

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 that ran north along Pine Creek

Pine Creek (Pennsylvania)

Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek is long...

 from the West Branch Susquehanna River

West Branch Susquehanna River

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...

 near Long Island (modern day Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania

Jersey Shore is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is on the West Branch Susquehanna River, west by south of Williamsport. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. In the past, Jersey Shore held farms, railroad shops, cigar factories, a...

) to the headwaters of the Genesee River

Genesee River

The Genesee River is a North American river flowing northward through the Twin Tiers of Pennsylvania and New York. The river provided the original power for the Rochester area's 19th century mills and still provides hydroelectric power for downtown Rochester....

 (in modern day Genesee Township, Pennsylvania

Genesee Township, Pennsylvania

Genesee Township is a township in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States and lies near the source of the Genesee River. The population was 789 at the 2000 census...

).

Course

At the southern end of the trail there was a Native American village at the site of Jersey Shore and the Great Shamokin Path

Great Shamokin Path

The Great Shamokin Path was a major Native American trail in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania that ran from the native village of Shamokin along the left bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River north and then west to the Great Island...

 ran east–west here along the West Branch Susquehanna River. The Great Shamokin Path connected the Saponi village of Shamokin

Shamokin (village)

Shamokin was a multi-ethnic Native American trading village on the Susquehanna River, located near the site of the modern Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Early in the eighteenth century, the village consisted of Iroquois migrants from the north, as well as Shawnee and Lenape settlers moving away from the...

 (modern Sunbury

Sunbury, Pennsylvania

Sunbury is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and West branches. The population was 9,905 at the 2010 census...

) on the Susquehanna River

Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...

 in the east, with the Great Island (modern Lock Haven

Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

The city of Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, micropolitan statistical area, itself part of the...

) and villages further west (what are now the boroughs of Clearfield

Clearfield, Pennsylvania

Clearfield is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,631 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clearfield County.-Geography:Clearfield is located at ....

 and Kittanning

Kittanning, Pennsylvania

Kittanning is a borough and the county seat of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is situated northeast of Pittsburgh, along the east bank of the Allegheny River. The name means "at the great stream" in the Delaware language...

) and the Allegheny River

Allegheny River

The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

. In the north another path continued north along the Genesee River and led to the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

 Nation in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

The main Pine Creek Path followed Pine Creek north, switching banks until it reached the First Fork (modern Little Pine Creek

Little Pine Creek

Little Pine Creek is a tributary of Pine Creek in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Little Pine Creek is formed by the confluence of Blockhouse Creek and Texas Creek, approximately upstream of Pine Creek. Blacks Creek joins Blockhouse Creek approximately above. of Little Pine...

 at the village of Waterville). From there it stayed on the left bank the rest of its course along Pine Creek, passing through the Pine Creek Gorge

Pine Creek Gorge

Pine Creek Gorge, also known as, The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is situated in approximately 160,000 acres of the Tioga State Forest in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania along Pine Creek. The Canyon begins south of Ansonia, near Wellsboro, along U.S. Route 6 and continues for approximately...

 to the Second Fork (Babb Creek

Babb Creek

Babb Creek is a tributary of Pine Creek in Pennsylvania in the United States.The tributary Stony Fork Creek joins Babb Creek just upstream of the community of Blackwell, upstream of Pine Creek....

 at Blackwell) and on to the Third Fork (modern Marsh Creek

Marsh Creek (Pine Creek)

Marsh Creek is a tributary of Pine Creek in Pennsylvania in the United States.Marsh Creek begins in the borough of Wellsboro, at the confluence of Kelsey Creek, Morris Branch, and Charleston Creek. Marsh Creek flows north, then west, and joins Pine Creek just downstream of Ansonia in Tioga County...

) and the village of Ansonia. There it left the gorge and turned west, going past modern Galeton

Galeton, Pennsylvania

Galeton is a borough in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Bradford. Light industries such as knitting mills and a tannery have existed in Galeton. In 1900, 2,415 people lived in Galeton, and 4,027 people lived there in 1910...

 to West Pike, where it left the creek and headed north to the Genesee River. The exact course of the path between West Pike and the headwaters of the Genesee River are uncertain. In the south, an alternate branch (west of the main path) led north from the West Branch Susquehanna River along Chatham Run, past modern Woolrich to the main path near Waterville.

Use

The path was used by Iroquois warriors on their war raids to points south. One of the earliest accounts of the path is from Moses Van Campen, who was captured on Bald Eagle Creek

Bald Eagle Creek (West Branch Susquehanna River)

Bald Eagle Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River mostly in Centre County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It runs through the Bald Eagle Valley at the foot of the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge to Lock Haven....

 in 1782, and taken north as a prisoner along the path. Some isolated bands of Native Americans remained in the Pine Creek Gorge until the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

. When lumbering become a major industry along Pine Creek in the 19th century, the path was used by lumbermen. They would take rafts of lumber in the spring down Pine Creek from Ansonia to Jersey Shore, and then walk back north along the path. Attempts to convert the path into a wagon road early in the same century were unsuccessful – when John Peet tried it he said it took 18 days, crossed Pine Creek "eighty times going to and eighty times coming from", lost a wheel, broke two axles, and upset the wagon twice.

In 1883, the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway

Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway

The Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway was a railroad built in the early 1880s to give the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad access to the coal regions around Clearfield, Pennsylvania, USA...

 opened, following the course of the path from Jersey Shore to Ansonia. The railroad soon became the Pine Creek Railway, a part of the Fall Brook Coal Company. It was leased by the New York Central Railroad

New York Central Railroad

The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

 in 1899, and was consolidated into the New York Central Railroad in a 1914 corporate reorganization. The Pine Creek line was one of those taken over by Conrail in 1976, but the last train ran on the route on October 7, 1988. After the removal of the tracks, the right-of-way was converted to the Pine Creek Rail Trail

Pine Creek Rail Trail

The Pine Creek Rail Trail is a rail trail in the Appalachian Mountains of north-central Pennsylvania.The trail begins just north of Wellsboro, runs south through Pine Creek Gorge , and ends in Jersey Shore...

, which was named one of "10 great places to take a bike tour" in the world in a 2001 USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

article.