Tuscarora and Locust Lake State Parks

History

Before European Settlers arrived in Pennsylvania, a deep forest of hemlock, white pine, ash, hickory, elm, oak, cherry and American chestnut covered the Locust Valley. Claimed by the Lenni Lenape, conquered by the Susquehannocks, and later controlled by the New York Iroquios League of Five Nations, the land has a strong American Indian history.

When settlers discovered anthracite coal in Schuylkill County, immigrants swiftly arrived for the mining jobs and arrived in the Locust Valley in the mid-1800s. It was not economically feasible to mine the coal in the Locust Valley, but the area did not escape the American Industrial Revolution.

The forests fell to the logger's ax and sawmills turned the trees into lumber, shingles, tool handles and other wood products. Tanneries crushed hemlock and white pine bark for tanning leather. Colliers burned chestnuts and oaks into charcoal. Strong timbers supported the roofs of mines. The forests were gone by the early 1900s, replaced by shrubby land prone to seasonal floods and forest fires. Some farmers tilled the cleared land.

Purchased by the Marshalonis Brothers, the Locust Lake area became a fishing spot and picnic grove. When digging a lake, the brothers found a dam, boards and the hub of a waterwheel under seven feet of leaves, silt and debris. The remains of an old logging mill and dam were under silt from flooding and runoff caused by the removal of all of the trees for lumber during the logging era.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the Marshalonis Brother's land in 1966. Locust Lake State Park officially opened on June 10, 1972.

The Tuscarora Indians

The Tuscarora Tribe of American Indians dwelled in small villages along several major rivers in the coastal plains of North Carolina. After contact with European traders, the Tuscarora became avid fur traders. Land-hungry settlers dealt unfairly with the Tuscarora. Years of unequal trade, mistrust and even kidnapping of Tuscarora children for slaves finally escalated into the Tuscarora War from 1711 to 1713.

The Tuscarora were defeated and asked for help from their powerful New York relatives, the League of Five Nations. The League sent this message to Governor Robert Hunter of New York:

Tuscarore Indians are come to shelter themselves among the five nations they were of us and went from us long ago and are now returned. . .we desire you to look upon the Tuscarores that are come to live among us as our Children who shall obey our commands & live peaceably and orderly.

O'Callaghan and Fernow (eds.), Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, V, 387.

Beginning in 1714 and continuing for 90 years, bands of Tuscarora migrated from North Carolina to southern New York. Most of the families followed the Tuscarora Path up the valleys of the Susquehanna River to New York, but many also made their own paths. All along the routes, many mountains, streams, valleys and towns bear the name Tuscarora, evidence of this 500-mile migration.

Local tradition holds that sometime between 1715 and 1722 the Tuscarora briefly dwelled in the Locust Valley.

The League of Five Nations welcomed the Tuscarora and made them the sixth nation in the League. Although not equal with the other five tribes, the Tuscarora voiced their opinions through one of the other tribes.

Today, 700 Tuscarora Indians are still part of the League of Six Nations and now have equality with the other tribes. Tuscarora State Park was named to honor these transient residents of Pennsylvania.

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