Two Pennsylvania Historical Markers commemorate the event and are located at 1200 W. It was destroyed on Jwhen the entire garrison was either killed or carried into captivity and the fort was burned. Located just east of present-day Lewistown, the fort was twice attacked by Native Americans. This included Fort Granville, erected in 1755-56. A string of forts was constructed to defend the Pennsylvania frontier during this conflict. A marker was placed at the mouth of Kishacoquillas Creek by the Juniata River where she may have first arrived, a former elementary school was named in her honor and a street in the borough still bears her name.Īs more settlers arrived and efforts were made to build cabins and clear land, the French and Indian War disrupted their efforts. Dorcas’ legend can still be found around her former stomping grounds. Known as Lewistown’s first European woman settler, Dorcas died at the age of 93 and her tombstone can be found at the cemetery at the corner of Water and Brown Streets. As the decades passed, Dorcas became a very successful and admired businesswoman and was known to be “a high spirited, determined woman, full of energy and fire and possessed of a nature easily aroused.” In 1762, his widow warranted his land in Lewistown and returned in 1765 to operate a trading post alone with her children, a startling decision for the era. However, the destruction of nearby Fort Granville during the French and Indian War forced the family to return to Carlisle, where Arthur died in 1760. After securing much of the land where Lewistown now stands, Arthur and Dorcas Buchanan built a cabin near the mouth of Kishacoquillas Creek. The most notable family to settle here was the Buchanan family in 1754. Discovering the promising advantages and opportunities this area presented, the settlers began negotiating with the Native Americans for the purchase of valuable land. The first European settlers in the area were of Scotch-Irish decent, arriving about 1750.
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