The Journey of James Potter: A British Officer Ascends Mt. Nittany and Places a Fertile Valley Below

This Neighborhood Historia column appears in the April 2021 difficulty of Town&Gown.

“My God, Thompson, I have found an empire!”

From his perch at the peak of McBride’s Gap on Mount Nittany, Captain James Potter marveled at the pristine valley that stretched prior to his firm. The corporation experienced been touring for times exploring for appropriate spots for a British fort. As their leader, Potter appeared in no way to be happy … until now.

Our story of Captain Potter’s famed expedition commences years earlier in 1756. The British Colony of Pennsylvania was heart stage in a massive conflict, the French and Indian War. Acquiring been sparked by situations in close proximity to Pittsburgh, the war introduced considerably conflict to Pennsylvania. The Appalachian Mountains, the frontier of our extensive place in the mid-1700s, had been embroiled in a intricate net of alliances in between Native American tribes and European nations, major to horrific tales of violence in the backcountry.

In this theater, younger British provincial officer James Potter observed his 1st motion. Potter noticed numerous engagements throughout the forests of Pennsylvania, and throughout his travels commenced cultivating concepts of a postwar settlement in the Pennsylvania wilderness. In Kittanning, a key Indigenous American metropolis and crossroads, Potter grew to become agency in his conviction.

In 1758, the Treaty of Easton opened the doorway for Captain Potter to fulfill his vision. The treaty was a key step towards quelling violence amongst British settlers expanding westward and the Natives who lived on the land. In the agreement, a demarcation line would individual the Native American and British lands at the Allegheny Mountains, for the goal of bringing peace to the Pennsylvania backcountry.

A marker outside the house VFW Put up 9575 in Centre Corridor notes the locale of Old Fort, which was constructed in 1777. Community Historia image.

The British, looking to make certain their new treaty would be upheld, began scheduling the construction of a sequence of forts in western Pennsylvania. This was the chance the youthful, freshly minted captain, James Potter, was hoping for. In 1759, Potter was requested to assemble a group of companions to explore the land alongside the West Department of the Susquehanna River.

Less than the navigation of their Indigenous American guide, the enterprise began their expedition. When they set off from Fort Augusta in current-day Sunbury, Potter and his second-in-command, William Thompson, made the decision to vacation light to just take benefit of Pennsylvania’s shallow streams that carve by means of the dense wilderness. They journeyed along the Susquehanna for miles, exactly where they would halt and make camp, constantly cautious of their environment.

Even with peace introduced by the 1758 treaty, there was some debate amid the males as to where the border truly was. There have been rumors of Native Individuals attacking settlers just north of the Susquehanna, and claims of British violence from tribal villages around Pittsburgh. This tenuous agreement did not fill the men with self esteem, and they manufactured each precaution for probable conflict.

On reaching Lock Haven, or “Great Island” as it had been referred to as by their Indigenous American guidebook, the corporation broke absent from the Susquehanna. Into the wilds they paddled, their mild canoes navigating the shallow, tight waterways with relieve. From there, they relied entirely on their information, as maps did not detail the region. Their journey took them down Bald Eagle Creek to current-working day Milesburg, to Spring Creek, then to the mouth of Buffalo Operate, the latest web site of Tussey Mountain Outfitters in Bellefonte. Though these areas appeared suitable to full their mission, Potter urged the guys to press on.

At Buffalo Operate, the firm remaining the canoes at their makeshift camp and conducted the up coming section of their journey on foot. Potter’s information knew of an previous Native American route that led to a position where by the organization could get a vantage of their surroundings: McBride’s Hole on Mount Nittany.

The exact trails Penn Staters ascend for a attractive landscape of campus, Potter and his guys climbed for discovery. Captain Potter’s declaration of triumph to his associate Thompson are the text of a male attaining his goals. This valley he now seemed upon, Penn’s Valley, was excellent: vast and with soil so fertile it would sometime be picked out as the area for lots of settlers, and possibly most impactfully, the Pennsylvania Farm School.

Just under McBride’s Gap, Potter would depth the first place for a fort in the region all around a spring. Created in 1777 and located in Centre Corridor, Previous Fort was the initial main stage in building Potter’s empire a actuality. Captain Potter would be immortalized several years later on by the naming of Potter Township, Centre County’s oldest township. Today, it serves as a prominent reminder of the background and adventure of James Potter and his companions.


Nearby Historia is a enthusiasm for nearby history, group, and preservation. Its mission is to connect you with regional historical past by means of partaking written content and walking excursions. Regional Historia is owned by public historians Matt Maris and Dustin Elder, who co-author this column. For a lot more, visit localhistoria.com.

Previously: Two Daughters, Two Memorials: A 1906 Ceremony Sheds Mild on Centre County’s Civil War Background

Resources: Commemorative Biographical File of Central Pennsylvania: Like the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical Sketches of Distinguished and Consultant Citizens, Etcetera. J.H. Beers, 1898 Linn, John Blair. Heritage of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania. Don Mills, 1883 Mitchell, J. Thomas. Index to Heritage of Centre and Clinton Counties. Centre County Library and Historic Museum, 1962.