[35] In a letter to this writer, May 19, 1962, Professor Marshall states: "It was my opinion that the treaty marked, in one aspect, a bargain between Johnson and the Six Nations. I do not accept Billington's charge of betrayal of their interests. But it does seem to me that this meant hard bargaining in New York, when the state of Indian and colonial lands was precisely known to both sides, and indifference and ignorance beyond this point.... As far as I am aware, there was no prolonged and close discussion about the running of the line in Pennsylvania in the least comparable to that which took place over its location in New York." _See_ Peter Marshall, "Sir William Johnson and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 1768," _The Journal of American Studies_, I (Oct., 1967), pp. 149-179. [36] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 340. [37] Helen Herritt Russell, "Signers of the Pine Creek Declaration of Independence," _The Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings and Addresses_, XXII (1958), 1-15. [38] The fame of this historic elm stems from the fact that it is reputed to be the site of a local declaration of independence made the same day as the adoption of Jefferson's draft in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776. The author is indebted to Donald H. Kent, Director of the Bureau of Archives and History, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, for the idea and some of the expression in this paragraph. [39] Paul A. W. Wallace, _Pennsylvania: Seed of a Nation_ (New York, 1962) p. 3. This delightful book in the "Regions of America" series, edited by Carl Carmer, contains an excellent chapter on the significance of Pennsylvania's "Three Rivers." [40] Gristmills--meeting places of the Fair Play tribunal--a school, and a church would all be found in this Pine Creek region. However, the church (Presbyterian) would not be built until the territory became an official part of the Commonwealth following the second Stanwix Treaty in 1784. [41] Robert Frost, _Complete Poems of Robert Frost_ (New York, 1949), p. 467. This poem somehow characterizes the experiences of the settlers of this frontier and many frontiers to come. CHAPTER TWO _The Fair Play Settlers: Demographic Factors_ James Logan, president of the Proprietary Council of Pennsylvania, 1736-1738, once declared that "if the Scotch-Irish continue to come they will make themselves masters of the Province."[1] His prediction, which was to be generally proven in the Province during the French and Indian War, was to be demonstrated particularly in the West Branch Valley during the Revolutionary period. The Scotch-Irish were the dominant national or ethnic group in the Fair Play territory from 1769 to 1784. This dominance is demonstrated in Chart 1, which indicates the national origins of eighty families in the Fair Play territory. CHART 1 National Origins of Fair Play Settlers[2] Expressed in Numbers and Percentages