MUSKINGUM COUNTY was formed March 1, 1804, from Washington and Fairfield. The word Muskingum, said Kilbourn’s Gazetteer, “is said to signify in the old Indian language an elk’s eye, or the glare of an elk’s eye.” Col. John Johnston stated that “Muskingum is a Delaware word and means a town on the river side. The Shawanese call it Wa-ka-tamo sepe, which has the same signification.” The surface is rolling or hilly, and clay the predominating soil. The ancient works are numerous. It is a rich and thickly settled county.The Muskingum country was principally occupied by the Wyandots, Delawares and a few Senecas and Shawanese. An Indian town once stood, years before the settlement of the country, in the vicinity of Duncan Falls, from which circumstance the place was often called “Old Town.” Near Dresden was a large Shawanese town called Wakatomaca. The grave-yard was extensive, and when the whites first settled there the remains of cabins were still visible.