ll and
every person or persons, and their legal representatives, who has or
have heretofore settled on the north side of the west branch of the
river Susquehanna, upon the Indian territory, between Lycomick or
Lycoming creek on the east, and Tyagaghton or Pine creek on the
west, as well as other lands within the said residuary purchase from
the Indians, of the territory within this state, excepting always
the lands herein before excepted, shall be allowed a right of
pre-emption to their respective possessions, at the price
aforesaid.[23]

It may be worth observing, however, that legislation tends to reflect
popular demand rather than the hard facts of a situation. In this case
the settlers of the region prior to 1780 stood to benefit by this
legislation and formed an effective pressure group.

The contrary view in this long-standing geographical debate is based,
for the most part, upon the records of journalists and diarists who
traveled along the West Branch _prior_ to the first Stanwix Treaty and
who thus had no axe to grind.

That the Lycoming Creek was in fact the Tiadaghton referred to by the
Indians at Fort Stanwix in 1768 is strongly indicated by the weight of
evidence derived from the journals of Conrad Weiser (1737), John Bartram
(1743), Bishop Spangenburg (1745), Moravian Bishop John Ettwein (1772),
and the Reverend Philip Vickers Fithian (1775). In addition, the maps of
Lewis Evans (1749) and John Adlum (1792), the land applications of
Robert Galbreath and Martin Stover (1769), and a 1784 statute of the
Pennsylvania General Assembly all tend to validate Lycoming's claim to
recognition as the Tiadaghton. Each datum has merit in the final
analysis, which justifies the specific examination which follows:

Supporting evidence is found in Weiser's German journal, which was meant
for his family and friends, and translated into English by his
great-grandson, Hiester H. Muhlenberg. (Weiser also kept an English
journal for the Council at Philadelphia.) Weiser wrote: "The stream we
are now on the Indians call Dia-daclitu, (die berirte, the lost or
bewildered) which in fact deserves such a name."[24] (This is an obvious
misspelling of Diadachton.) Weiser was following the Sheshequin Path
with Shickellamy to Onondaga and this entry is recorded on March 25,
1737, long before there was any question about the Tiadaghton.

There seems to be some confusion over Bishop Spangenburg's use