[4] When colonial settlers first arrived in what is now Mifflin Township, they were outside the western boundary of what was then the Province of Pennsylvania.

These men established their own form of government, known as the "Fair Play System", with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for the group.

In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own Declaration of Independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the banks of Pine Creek.

This area was densely covered with trees and brush until about 1790, when the first settlers attempted to clear some of the land that surrounds Larrys Creek.

As timber and lumber became a major industry in the mid-19th century, Larrys Creek was a source of power for sawmills and other mills.

The relatively low flow of water in the creek did not allow rafts of logs to be floated downstream to the river and the lumber boom at Williamsport.

Lumbering removed the tree trunks, but left many flammable limbs, branches, and stumps behind.

On May 2, 1872, a large forest fire destroyed the villages of Carter and Gould, 6 miles (10 km) north of Salladasburg on Larrys Creek in Mifflin Township.

Presently there are large tracts of second-growth forest, and small lumber companies still operate in the township.