Little Indian Run (also known as Indian Camp Run) is a tributary of Little Muncy Creek in Lycoming County and Sullivan County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Franklin Township and Jordan Township in Lycoming County and Davidson Township in Sullivan County. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The surficial geology in the stream's vicinity mainly consists of alluvium, bedrock, Wisconsinan Till, Wisconsinan Till Moraine, and Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift. Wild trout naturally reproduce within the stream. A number of sawmills were historically located on the stream.

Course

Little Indian Run begins in a pond at the base of Huckleberry Mountain in Franklin Township, Lycoming County. It flows east-southeast for a few tenths of a mile, briefly passing through Davidson Township, Sullivan County. The stream then turns south-southwest for a few tenths of a mile, crossing Pennsylvania Route 42 before turning south-southeast for several tenths of a mile. In this reach, it passes through two more ponds and a wetland and receives an unnamed tributary from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

. It then turns south for more than a mile, its valley deepens, and it receives two unnamed tributaries from the left and two from the right. The stream then begins flowing south-southwest for several tenths of a mile along and/or the boundary between Franklin Township and Jordan Township. It then receives an unnamed tributary from the right and turns south. After several tenths of a mile, the stream reaches the end of its valley and turns west. After a few tenths of a mile, it turns southwest for a short distance, crossing

Pennsylvania Route 442 Pennsylvania Route 442 (designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as PA 442) is a state highway located in Lycoming and Columbia Counties in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at PA 405 in Muncy. The east ...

and reaching its confluence with Little Muncy Creek. Little Indian Run joins Little Muncy Creek upstream of its mouth.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Little Indian Run is above sea level. The elevation near the stream's source is above sea level. The

surficial geology Superficial deposits (or surficial deposits) refer to geological deposits typically of Quaternary age (less than 2.6 million years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated sediments may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beach ...

along the middle reaches of the valley floor of Little Indian Run mainly consists of alluvium. However,

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

consisting of sandstone and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

makes up the surficial geology on the sides of the stream's valley in this reach. Further upstream, there are large patches of Wisconsinan Till and Wisconsinan Till Moraine and smaller patches of Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift, which contains stratified sand,

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

, and some

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

s. The upper reaches of Little Indian Run are in an area that was covered in glaciers during the

Wisconsinan Glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...

. However, the lower reaches are beyond the maximum extend of the glaciers. Red rock of the Catskill Formation occurs near the stream, and various fish fossils have been observed in this rock.

Watershed and biology

The

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of Little Indian Run has an area of . The mouth of the stream is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Lairdsville. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Sonestown. The stream's mouth is located near Unityville. A bridge carrying T-738 over Little Indian Run is owned by Jordan Township. The Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC. has applied for and/or received a permit to build and maintain a natural gas pipeline crossing the stream.

History

Little Indian Run was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1179566. The stream is also known as Indian Camp Run. This variant name appears in the 1880 book ''The Geology of Lycoming County'' by Andrew Sherwood and Franklin Platt. Historically, there were three sawmills on Little Indian Run: the I.J. Boudeman Saw Mill, the F. Cleman Saw Mill, and the Smith & Magargel Saw Mill.

Biology

Little Indian Run is classified as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Wild trout naturally reproduce in the stream from its headwaters downstream to its mouth.

References