Northumberland County Historical Society in Sunbury, Pennsylvania boasts artifacts that are found on site. A local historian spoke on the history of the area and the people central to it, peppering the history with anecdotes of the main characters.

The city of Shamokin (in Northumberland County) contained a melting pot of native peoples in the 1700s.  The largest American Indian town at the time, Chief Shikellamy came down to Shamokin around 1728 with his family, where his children married into people at Shamokin. 

Conrad Weiser was initially from Hudson’s River Valley, and grew up speaking Pennslyvania German. He was a Dutch pioneer living on the frontier– the historian referred to him as “Pennsylvania’s agent,” as the government would send him on errands like going to Shamokin.    

When he was a teen he was sent to live with the Mohawk Indians and learned to speak Mohawk; to get by he had to learn English as well.  Shikellamy and Weiser became very good friends, and Shikellamy gave him a prime place of real estate that the historian said “we are standing on right now” at the Historical Society.

 Weiser and Shikellamy worked closely for many years, and made many trips together. One winter they embarked on a journey by foot, and during the trek Shikellamy took a treacherous fall from a steep ravine on ice. 

His backpack strap luckily caught a tree, stopping the fall, and Weiser helped free him. Shikellamy “felt the great spirit had important things for him to accomplish” and that’s why his fall was broken; the historian notes that they were eventually able to avert the war.