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Most people will tell you that Peters Township was named after the creek that flows through it. But, who named Peters Creek? There are several versions of that story. Some say it was named after an early trapper or frontiersman named Peter. Others say it was named after the Peters family that settled here. A few folks say it was named after the legendary Indian Peter.
In the early 1700's, this area was populated by Native Americans from several tribes that hunted and trapped along the streams and rivers. They were the sole inhabitants except for a few French fur traders.
During the mid to late 1700's, adventuresome farmers from the colony of Virginia arrived and staked their claims to the fertile bottom lands along local rivers and streams. They planted corn. some of these newcomers got along with the indigenous natives and lived along side them in harmony. Others quarreled over hunting and trapping rights and resorted to violence against the natives. Settlers killed Indians. Indians killed settlers.
 Wright House Erected 1815 Maintained by the Peters Creek Historical Society |
By the latter part of the eighteenth century, local settlers had created numerous "refuge forts" throughout the area. These were little more than fortified cabins where families could hide during Indian raids.
Young marauding braves seeking vengeance or perhaps just loot would slip down the Allegheny river into the Ohio basin raiding settlements along the river and its tributary streams. They would hike the "warriors trail" to the upper reaches of the Monongahela near present day Morgantown, and continue raiding down the Mon Valley and all of its tributaries, then disappear up the Allegheny.
Settlers were terrified of these marauding Indian raiders. Entire families were found murdered. Sometimes the women and children were taken captive and marched as far as Canada to become slaves or hostages of their captors. Mere rumour of an Indian raid would send families scurrying to the nearest refuge fort where they would hide out until assured that it was "all clear".
About this time, a lonely old Indian supposedly hunted and fished the creeks and streams of this area. Everyone called him Peter. According to legend, Peter warned local farmers of impending raids on several occassions. The grateful settlers began to call him "Good Peter" or "Good Indian Peter". When he passed on, they named his favorite stream "Peters Creek".
Map of 1700's Western PA
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