Bald Eagle's Nest
Milesburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
A Delaware Indian village named for a noted Munsee chief Woapalanne or "Bald Eagle." Located at union of Spring and Bald Eagle Creeks. From here raids on the frontier were made in Revolutionary days.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Where Spring and Bald Eagle Creeks meet stood a Delaware Indian village named for the noted Munsee chief Woapalanne, whose name translates to "Bald Eagle." During the Revolutionary era this settlement was a staging point for raids against frontier settlements, part of the brutal borderland warfare that engulfed central Pennsylvania. The chief's name endures across the region today in creeks, mountains, and towns.
Why it matters
The site is a reminder that the American Revolution was also a war on the frontier, where Native nations made their own strategic choices and left an indelible mark on the very map of Pennsylvania.
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Related people
- · Woapalanne (Bald Eagle)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fort Antes
Jersey Shore, PA · est. 1947
Colonel Henry Antes built this stockade in 1776 at the mouth of Antes Creek on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, near the region's first gristmill. When the frontier collapsed in the panic of 1778 known as the Great Runaway, settlers fled downriver and the abandoned fort was burned by Native raiders—leaving the valley emptied of the families who had briefly tried to hold it.
Fort Standing Stone
Huntingdon, PA · est. 1955
Fort Standing Stone once guarded this bend of the Juniata River where Stone Creek joins it, throwing up a stockade against raids on the exposed frontier. In July 1778, at the height of the Revolutionary War, Continental troops and militia were ordered here as part of a broader plan to defend the backcountry from attacks. The old fort stood a short distance south of this marker; the settlement it protected grew into Huntingdon.
Fought's Mill
Mifflinburg, PA · est. 1947
A mill has stood near this spot since 1771, when Fought's Mill first turned grain for the settlers of Buffalo Valley. During the Revolution, the sturdy mill doubled as a place of refuge when frontier raids threatened the scattered farms of the region. It was also here, on November 3, 1776, that Buffalo Valley held its first election under Pennsylvania's new revolutionary state constitution.
Lee Massacre
Union Township, PA · est. 1947
On August 16, 1782, Major John Lee and his family were killed near this place in a raid by an Indian war party, with only his son Robert surviving. The attack came during the violent final years of the Revolutionary War on the Pennsylvania frontier, when British-allied raids terrorized isolated valley settlements. Such tragedies were a grim feature of life on the contested edge of the new nation.