The Purchase Line is the name commonly given to the line dividing Indian from British Colonial lands established in the

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Province of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotia ...

of 1768 in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. In

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

documents, it is referred to as the Line of Property. That article contains the treaty text and other sections.

History

The relevant section of the treaty reads: * "from thence" ( Kittanning) "a direct Line to the nearest Fork of the west branch of Susquehanna" This line was not clearly defined until in a meeting between Indian and Pennsylvania representatives in 1773 at the well-known "Canoe Place" or upper limit of canoe navigation on the Susquehanna at its confluence with Cush Cushion Creek at present-day

Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania Cherry Tree is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 276 at the 2020 census. History Cherry Tree was originally known as "Canoe Place" because its location marked the spot where the West Branch of the Susq ...

. This was agreed to as the "nearest point" of the treaty. This became the tri-point between present-day Clearfield,

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity) or the early medieval period. After the ...

, and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

counties, although the borough of

was later included entirely in

for convenience. The line is still a boundary through most of its length: in Armstrong County running ESE from Kittanning it separates the townships of Rayburn and Valley (north) from Manor and Kittanning (south). There is gap through the town of Cowanshannock, but at the knick point of the boundary between Armstrong County and Indiana County the line begins again, separating the Indiana County townships of South Mahoning, East Mahoning, Grant and Montgomery (north) from Washington, Rayne and Green (south). The hamlet of Purchase Line is on PA 286 in Green township just south of the actual line.

Maps

References

* "The Documentary History of the State of New York", by E.B. O'Callaghan, M.D.; Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., 1850 (Vol. 1 pp. 379–381 text of treaty)

External links

* Purchase Line, PA is at coordinates * Cherry Tree, PA is at coordinates * Kittanning, PA is at coordinates {{DEFAULTSORT:Purchase Line Pre-statehood history of Pennsylvania Aboriginal title in the United States Borders