The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784: A Study of Frontier Ethnography — John Shaqi
The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784: A Study of Frontier EthnographyWolf, George D.
History
The Fair Play Settlers of the West Branch Valley, 1769-1784: A Study of Frontier Ethnography
Wolf, George D.
Frontier and pioneer life -- Pennsylvania; Lycoming County (Pa.) -- History
[8] John F. Meginness, _Otzinachson: A History of the West Branch Valley
of the Susquehanna_ (Williamsport, 1889), p. 106. The full passage from
the Bethlehem Diary (now in the Moravian Archives) was translated by the
late Dr. William N. Schwarze for Dr. Paul A. W. Wallace, historian of
the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, as follows: "In the
afternoon [June 8, New Style] our brethren left that place [beyond
Montoursville] and came in the evening to the Limping Messenger on the
Tiadachton Creek, where they spent the night." In the _Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography_, II (1878), 432 (hereafter cited as
_PMHB_), Zeisberger's account is translated in this manner: "In the
afternoon we proceeded on our journey, and at dusk came to the 'Limping
Messenger,' or Diadachton Creek [a note identifies this as Lycoming],
and encamped for the night." Here the error is in identifying the
Limping Messenger with the stream. Meginness, of course, repeated the
error in his _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 106. Referring the passage to
Vernon H. Nelson of the Moravian Archives, through Dr. Wallace, resulted
in a clarification of the translation and the affirmation of the
"Limping Messenger" as a camp on the stream. In the Bethlehem Diary,
under June 8, 1754, the sentence appears as follows: "des Nachm.
reissten unsre Brr Wieder von da weg u kamen Abends zum hinckenden Boten
an der Tiatachton Creek, u lagen da uber Nacht." In the original travel
journal the passage reads: "des Nachm. reissten wir wieder von da weg, u
kamen Abends zum _hinckenden Boten_ an der Tiatachton Crick u lagen da
uber Nacht." De Schweinitz in his _Zeisberger_ further confused the
issue in his description of the journey. He takes the adventurers
(Zeisberger, Spangenburg, Conrad Weiser, Shickellamy, and Andrew
Montour) through the valley of the Tiadaghton Creek on the Sheshequin
Path to Onondaga (Syracuse). There was an Indian path up Pine Creek, but
it led to Niagara, not Onondaga.
[9] Meginness, _Otzinachson_ (1889), p. 106. This is an added note of
Meginness' commentary upon the citation noted above.
[10] John Blair Linn, _History of Centre and Clinton Counties,
Pennsylvania_ (Philadelphia, 1883), p. 468. Linn also deals with the
Tiadaghton question in his "Indian Land and Its Fair Play Settlers,"
_PMHB_, VII (1883), 420-425. Here he simply defines Fair Play territory
as "Indian Land" encompassing the Lycoming-Pine Creek region.
[11] _Minutes of the First Session of the Ninth General Assembly of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ..._ (Philadelphia, 1784), Appendix,
Proceedings of the Treaties held at Forts Stanwix and McIntosh, pp.
314-322.
[12] _Ibid._, Oct. 23, p. 319.
[13] _Ibid._
[14] _Ibid._, Oct. 22, p. 316.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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