In present-day eastern Perry County, the Susquehanna River bends abruptly southeast around the end of Peter's Mountain, and just northwest of this mountain the Juniata River joined the Susquehanna many millions of years ago. Over time, yearly floods from winter snows, spring rains, and summer storms created an alluvial flood plain and several large islands, and the shallow water near the meeting of the two rivers became a logical crossing point for westward travel from prehistoric to modern times. Established where the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers meet, Baskins' Ferry dates to before the spring of 1767 and was owned and operated by James Baskins and later by generations of the Baskins family until 1839, when a bridge was built across the river. After floods swept away bridges, the ferry was reestablished in 1865 and again in 1889; a special act of the Pennsylvania Legislature required the bridge to be rebuilt by January 1, 1874. An iron bridge was later built, and in 1922 it was replaced by a concrete bridge that still stood 100 years later, as of 2022. Just west near the tip of Duncan's Island, an old channel called The Gut helped form the island, and there the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal crossed the Juniata River by an aqueduct.