Native Americans-Early Contact 1600-1771

Native Americans-Early Contact 1600-1771. . Prior to the 17th century, the area we know today as Beaver County was inhabited by the Monongahela People, of whom we know little. These early natives disappeared from the area sometime in the early 1600s.

The earliest European visitors to the region were fur traders who arrived around the same time that the Delaware Indians migrated here from the Susquehanna River Valley in the eastern part of the state. Eventually the Shawnee, Wyandot, and members of other displaced tribes settled here as well.

By the mid-1700s, British and French envoys were moving into the region, drawn by the area's natural abundance. A young Major George Washington passed through during his mission to direct the French to leave, as commanded by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia.

Date Unknown , A group of rock carvings known as petroglyphs were made near Smith's Ferry on a rock shelf that extended into the Ohio River. Scientists believe these carvings were made by the Monongahela People. The petroglyphs were completely covered by the Ohio River once the dam system was built.

Early 1600s , The Monongahela People disappeared without a trace. The area remained unoccupied until the Delaware migration.

1694 , Arnout Viele explored the Ohio Valley accompanied by a band of Shawnee. The Dutch trader was the first colonial to visit future Beaver County.

Ca. 1725 , The Delaware tribe began migrating to this area from the eastern part of the state, settling at Sawkunk near present-day Bridgewater.

Ca. 1727 , The Shawnee tribe established the first village of Logs Town on a narrow plain on the north side of the Ohio River in present-day Harmony Township. It became known by the French as "Chiningue," pronounced "Shenango."

1740s/1750s , Around 1744 a new Logs Town was built close by that included Delaware, Shawnee, and Wyandot, as well as the remains of various other tribes. George Washington visited the village in 1753, a year before it was burned by Indians loyal to the British. The French re-built some houses there in 1756. It was the principle Indian village and trading center in the area until abandoned in 1758.

1748 , A new, larger Sawkunk was established near the western end of present-day Beaver, The smaller one remained, but the larger one became the predominant village. Around 1756 the French built log cabins with stone chimneys for the Indian inhabitants.

August 27, 1748 , Pennsylvania agent Conrad Weiser visited the Indian village of Logs Town (now Ambridge), before exploring the entire Beaver Valley.

August 8, 1749 , French officer Pierre Celeron de Blainville visited the Indians at Logs Town (present Harmony Township) while traversing the region to place lead markers at the mouths of major rivers, laying claim to the area for France, Rev. Joseph Peter Bonnecamps performed the public religious ceremony Catholic Mass.

1757 , Jesuit Father Claude Francis Virot established the first Catholic mission at Sawkunk among the Delaware Indians. At some point, Chief Pakanke of the Wolf Clan drove him off. Father Virot was later killed by the Iroquois during the French and Indian War while serving as chaplain to a French force attempting to relieve Fort Niagara.

Fall 1764 , British Colonel Henry Bouquet, then commander of Fort Pitt, led an army of 1,500 militia and regulars into the Ohio country to quell the Indian uprising known as "Pontiac's Rebellion.” During its march, the army encamped along the Tuscaravwas Trail, (aka The Great Trail,) in what is now Ohioville Borough.

1770 , Mingo Chief Logan maintained a hunting lodge near present day Rochester known as "Logan's Town” or "Mingo Town." . This historical marker is in Beaver in Beaver County Pennsylvania