Settling the Western Virginia Backcountry, Part Two

This is a continuation of the chapter,“Settling the Western Virginia Backcountry” from the Ph.D dissertation of John M. Boback:  Indian Warfare, Household Competency, and the Settlement of the Western Virginia Frontier, 1749 to 1794. The first portion of that chapter can be read here.   ~~~~~ All white settlers driven out of western Virginia by early 1758 [...]

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Settling the western Virginia backcountry: part 1

As part of an effort to employ this blog, not only as a source of news about current events at Pricketts Fort, but also as a resource of information about the early history of the lower Monongahela valley, and of the Virginia frontier generally, I began last winter posting, in three parts, the third chapter [...]

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The Shawnee: their septs, their chiefs & their women

As part of an effort to employ this blog, not only a source of news about current events at Pricketts Fort, but also as a resource of information about the early history of the lower Monongahela valley, and of the Virginia frontier generally, I will be posting a series of excerpts from John M. Boback’s [...]

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Comments about Charity Prickett and the nature of historical legends from John Boback

A comment from frontier historian John Boback, regarding a claim made in the story below, “Tales of the Early Pricketts” from the 1917 history, Marion County in the Making: Charity Taylor Prickett was not the first white woman to cross the Allegheny Mountains.  She was not even among the first 100 white women across the Alleghenies.  For example, [...]

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Boone’s ginseng expedition — further thoughts on how much he transported

(from historian John Boback):  The frontier ginseng trade has been a topic of personal interest for many years.  In regard to your recent blog post, I would like to “weigh in” on the question of tons versus tuns.  I think that author Robert Morgan was incorrect in speculating that Nathan Boone had meant “tuns” of [...]

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The final word on the Stephen Morgan story

(from John Boback): This has so far been a great series of postings on the traditional accounts of Prickett’s Fort. It really helps to illuminate the dangers of relying on unverifiable historical documents and vague oral tradition. As one of my mentors at WVU pointed out, “Memory can be a very selective thing.” In response [...]

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And still more on the Stephen Morgan story . . .

(This is from historian John Boback):  “You have discovered an interesting connection between the Morgan family and the Northwestern Journal.  Several researchers have gone to great lengths to locate a surviving copy of that article. All have failed.  There are presently no known copies of the alleged article in any library or archives.  Mr. Lough claimed to possess [...]

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