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Like most other American communities, the
original inhabitants of Plymouth were nomadic tribes of Indians whose
villages dotted the banks of the fertile river valley along the
Susquehanna. Many such tribes have occupied the valley, but Plymouth
is proud to claim the Shawnee Indians as its very own. George Catlin,
authority on Indian life in America as quoted saying, "there is
not a tribe on the continent whose history is more interesting than
that of the Shawnee, nor any that has produced more extraordinary
men." Chief Kakawatchie and his small tribe of Shawnees (about 22
braves) wandered into the valley around 1701 and established a village
along the Susquehanna River at the lower end of what is now called
Flat Road. Their homes were called hogans and were made of long poles
tied together and covered with bark or skins. Hogans are much larger
than the tepees used by the Western Indians. In 1742, Count
Nicholas Louis Zinzendorf, a Moravian missionary from Bethlehem, came
to Plymouth and preached Christianity among both the Delaware and
Shawnee tribes. It is reported that shortly after Zinzendorf came to
the valley, he was in his tent as Indians crept silently through the
darkness. These Indians felt that Zinzendorf was their enemy and were
prepared to kill him. As the flap of the tent was thrown back, they
stopped to see Zinzendorf kneeling in prayer. In the far corner of the
tent they saw a poisonous snake crawl into the tent and head straight
for the missionary. The Indians remained quiet and waited to see if
the snake was going to bite the praying white man. The snake crawled
over the missionary's legs and out the other side of the tent. This
was a sign to the Shawnee Braves that the "Great Spirit"
wanted Zinzendorf's life spared. Both the Shawnee and Delaware Indians
left the valley after a skirmish commonly known as the Grasshopper
Way. This skirmish took place on the opposite side of the river near
the end of the Carey Avenue Bridge.
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