On October 2, 1755, the savages suddenly appeared in Tuscarora Valley, in the vicinity of Patterson’s Fort, on the north side of the Mahantango Creek, in Snyder County, and killed and captured forty persons.
This fort was situated immediately beyond the dividing line of Juniata and Snyder Counties, and in the vicinity of Pomfret Castle, which seems to be often mistaken for Fort Patterson.
There were two Fort Pattersons and two Captain Pattersons, which has also caused much confusion. The two captains were father and son, and their places near each other, and both stockaded, although Captain William Patterson’s fort was not built until 1763.
Benjamin Franklin gave the following directions to George Croghan in a letter dated December 17, 1755: “You are desired to proceed to Cumberland County and fix on proper places for erecting three stockades; namely, one back of Patterson’s—each of them fifty feet square, with a blockhouse on two of the corners and a barracks within, capable of lodging fifty men.”
The one “back of Patterson’s” was to be on the Mahantango Creek, where Richfield, Snyder County, now is situated, and was to be built by Colonel James Burd and Captain James Patterson.
Captain James Patterson commanded a company of rangers in Braddock’s campaign, under Colonel James Burd, and assisted in cutting the way through the forests.
In the year 1751 James Patterson, with five or six other settlers, settled in the Juniata Valley at the present town of Mexico.
Patterson cleared his land, engaged in farming and erected a large and strong log house, which afterward became known as Fort Patterson. It became the haven of refuge and defense for the settlers in the attack made upon them by the Indians.
Patterson was a man of daring and considered by the Indians to be a crack marksman. Whenever Indians appeared at his plantation he delighted to shoot at a mark, when his unerring aim impressed his visitors that he would be a dangerous foe.