 After this , the lands of the West Branch Susquehanna River valley were under the nominal control of the Iroquois . The Iroquois lived in long houses , primarily in what is now New York , and had a strong confederacy which gave them power beyond their numbers . They and other tribes used the Pine Creek Path through the gorge , traveling between a path on the Genesee River in modern New York in the north , and the Great Shamokin Path along the West Branch Susquehanna River in the south . The Seneca tribe of the Iroquois believed that Pine Creek Gorge was sacred land and never established a permanent settlement there . They used the path through the gorge and had seasonal hunting camps along it , including one just north of the park near what would later be the village of Ansonia . To fill the void left by the demise of the Susquehannocks , the Iroquois encouraged displaced tribes from the east to settle in the West Branch watershed , including the Shawnee and Lenape ( or Delaware ) . 
