Shortly after Mifflin county was formed, in 1789, an attempt was made to run the boundary line,--a proceeding which gave rise to great excitement and came very near ending in riot and bloodshed. The bone of contention was a strip of disputed territory claimed by both Huntingdon and Mifflin counties; and we are under the impression that a majority of those residing in the territory in dispute favored the Mifflin county cause. They were mostly Irish; and, since the wars were over and no enemy to fight, were ever ready, with true Irish _hospitality_, to take a brush with their neighbors. Accordingly, when the sheriff of Huntingdon came into the disputed territory to serve a process upon a man, a party congregated at an Irish tavern, and, lying in wait for the sheriff, arrested and carried him to Lewistown and committed him to jail. He sued out a _habeas corpus_, and the judge discharged him. Filled with wrath, the sheriff went home swearing vengeance. He soon summoned a posse in Huntingdon, for the avowed purpose of taking his man at all hazards, and proceeded to the disputed territory. The people, aware of his coming, fired signal guns, and soon met in great numbers. The sheriff and his posse fortunately took a different route, which alone prevented riot and bloodshed. The boundary question was soon after settled amicably.
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE RIVER BELOW M'VEYTOWN.]
The riot of 1791, however, was a more serious affair. It will be remembered that in those days the military spirit in the Juniata Valley ran very high, though we are free to acknowledge that it has sadly degenerated since then. A gentleman named Bryson had been appointed an Associate Judge by the governor. Previous to his appointment, he held the office of Brigade Inspector; and, in his official capacity, refused to commission two colonels elected by their regiments, but in their stead commissioned two men of his own selection. This he had a right to do under the existing militia law; nevertheless, the men composing the regiments looked upon it as a most unwarrantable assumption of power in thus setting at defiance the expressed will of the majority, and they resolved that Judge Bryson should not enjoy his office. The following copy of a letter published in a paper in York, Pennsylvania, from the district attorney, is a full history of the case: