Prior to the Revolutionary War, there were no white settlers on Paint Creek. The region was under the control of the Indians. Although there were no Indian tribes that were permanently located in the region, there were several tribes that liked to hunt along the stream. However, the Shawnee tribe which was located in the Scioto Valley of Ohio seemed to claim the region and resented having any other tribe intrude on their hunting grounds. When a hunting party of Shawnees met a hunting part of another tribe on what they considered their territory, there would be a fight and usually a few scalps were lifted.

The Shawnees had several camping sites along the stream but the largest and most developed camp was near the head of the stream at what is now known as Sweeneyburg. There they had cleared a large area of underbrush and usually there was a party of Shawnees encamped there. They seemed to have an unlimited supply of red paint, where they obtained this paint nobody knows but they used it generously in decorating their campgrounds, painting the boughs of the trees and the rocks along the stream and around the camp. It was from this painting by the Indians that the stream got the name Paint Creek.