Life, Liberty And Death on the Appalachian Frontier, published by Masthof Press, tells the stories of men and women who traveled across the mountain ranges and through the river valleys that make up the Appalachian region, often called the first frontier, during the 18th century.

They set out on epic journeys for all sorts of reasons – in pursuit of a better life, a matter of survival, to acquire land and escape bad conditions back home, in the interest of state and religion and for military and economic gain.

This book focuses on the 18th century leading up to the American Revolution and major events that occurred mainly in Pennsylvania and New York.

The book highlights the geography of the Appalachians – the major waterways such as the Susquehanna, Schuylkill and Juniata Rivers in Pennsylvania and Mohawk and Genesee Rivers in New York serving as human highways, the gaps in the mountain ranges that eased travel and the forest trails that connected Native American villages.

The lens is trained on a multi-cultural society –

-- Native Americans dispossessed of their land;

-- The diplomats Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy crossing rough terrain in northern Pennsylvania and New York on a peace mission to Onondaga in 1737;

-- Scots-Irish emigrants building churches beside freshwater springs on the Susquehanna Valley frontier

-- Following Nurse Charlotte Browne as she retreats with the remnants of a British Army after the defeat of Gen. Edward Braddock in 1757 near the Forks of the Ohio; and

-- Seeing Mary Jemison, a Pennsylvania girl, transformed into a Seneca matron in the Genesee River Valley.

The book tells the fate of the Okehocking reservation established by William Penn in modern Ridley Creek State Park and the trials of Pennsylvania surveyors as they crossed Sinnemahoning Creek in modern Sinnemahoning State Park enroute to Lake Erie.

The natural history of this period is covered with pieces describing the roosts of the extinct passenger pigeon, the medicinal plants used by the Seneca along the Allegheny River and the paintings on trees along Native American trails.

This is Swift’s third book on the subject of the Appalachian frontier during the 18th century. 

He is also the author of The Mid Appalachian Frontier: A Guide to Historic Sites of the French and Indian War and By Great Rivers Lives on the Appalachian Frontier.

[Posted: October 22, 2024]

10/28/2024