The value system of Fair Play society can be analyzed in terms of the expressed ideals and beliefs, the conduct, and the material possessions of the pioneers who settled along the West Branch during this period. Journalists, diarists, and pension claimants offer recorded evidence of the ideals and beliefs of these settlers. Their actual behavior gives us some understanding of conduct as value. And finally, the probate records of the Northumberland and Lycoming County courts contribute some documentation concerning the material values of these frontier inhabitants. The result was a society dedicated to the idea of progress and oriented to a future of political and social equality and economic opportunity. A firm conviction concerning the right of property, that is, the right of individual private ownership, was developed early in the American experience in Virginia and Massachusetts and was reinforced by the experience of successive frontiers, of which the Fair Play territory was one. This is noted particularly in the pride in individual "improvements" and the vigorous assertion of property rights before the Fair Play tribunal and, later, in the regular courts. The large Scotch-Irish population on this and other frontiers characteristically asserted this view. Motivated by a spirit of individualism and the desire for a better way of life, the Fair Play settlers found land ownership basic to the accomplishment of their desired ends.[60] In conjunction with the policy of private land ownership, the support of squatters' rights tended to emphasize the equality of achievement rather than that of ascription. No man's position was ascribed in the Fair Play territory--he had to earn it. However, as we noted earlier, the pioneer farmer had to obtain the approval of his neighbors in order to settle in the area; but no evidence exists to show that this approval was in any way dependent upon social class or national origin. Furthermore, the annual election of the Fair Play men by the settlers, along with their rotation in office, gave a fair measure of political equality, which was reflected in the decisions of the tribunal affecting land claims.