Initial hunters and settlers in the territory that includes present-day Jenner Township were Mingo, also known as the Seneca, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois. The land was ceded by the Iroquois Six Nations officially by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768 to Penn family as proprietors of Pennsylvania province. Early European traders crossed Jenner Township as early as 1750, when Christopher Gist documented his brief time there in his travel diary. Gist is said to have named Quemahoning Creek, which drains much of Jenner Township. The Northern Trail, an established Indian trail, crossed the territory from east to west, intersecting Quemahoning Creek at Kickenapaulin's Town, a rather substantial Indian settlement, the site of which now lies under the waters of the Quemahoning Reservoir, just outside the township. In August 1758, the Northern Trail was improved, initially for the British military use, and renamed the Forbes Trail, later known as the Pennsylvania Road, the Lincoln Highway, and now U.S. Route 30.