For centuries before the European settlement of Western Pennsylvania, Native Americans camped and hunted along Brush Creek, traveling through what is now Cranberry Township along the Venango Trail. During America’s colonial period, Native American communities experienced a high level of turmoil as Senecas, Delawares, Tuscaroras, Iroquois, and other tribes in the Eastern U.S. were often displaced, sometimes by colonial settlers and other times by rival Indian tribes. French and English colonists also influenced Indian life, for better and for worse, including through the introduction of firearms.