A Brief History of Indiana County
Indians and traders
were the initial visitors to Indiana County, followed by the native
Americans who
traveled along War and Game paths such as the North-South Catabwa
Path and the traders
traversing the East-West Kittanning Trail.
It was along the
Kittanning Trail in Indiana County that Colonel John Armstrong led
his expedition
of 300 frontiersmen to overwhelm the Indians at Kittanning after first
encamping at Cherry
Tree and stopping at the Indiana Spring which today can be visited
on the IUP campus.
Peace with the
Native Americans was ultimately reached largely through the Purchase
of 1776 in which
the Great Nations ceded the land south of "Purchase Line" leaving
nearly all of
the county free for settlement.
From that frontier
wilderness in the eighteenth century, Indiana County had its initial
growth as an agricultural
county and prospered as a power center in the modern era.
Indiana County
thrives with an economic base combining education, agriculture, energy
production and
commerce into an outstanding quality of life for its nearly 90,000 residents.
Indiana County
is uniquely both the Christmas Tree Capital of the World. and a major
national center
for energy production. More than 14,000 students are studying a variety
of disciplines
at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania while in Smicksburg the Amish
continue their
traditional lifestyle. The County remains a recreation mecca with a major
state park, five
county parks and eight state gamelands abounding in wildlife.