Life, Liberty and Death
on the Appalachian Frontier

by Robert B. Swift

Life, Liberty and Death on the Appalachian Frontier tells the stories of the 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 interests of state and religion, and for military and economic gain.

The book focuses on the 18th century leading to the American Revolution and events that occurred mainly in Pennsylvania and New York. It highlights the geography of the Appalachians—the major waterways 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 in Pennsylvania and New York, the diplomats Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy crossing rough terrain in northern Pennsylvania and New York on a peace mission to the Iroquois Capital of Onondaga during the harsh winter of 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 1755 near the Forks of the Ohio in Pennsylvania and seeing Mary Jemison, a Pennsylvania girl, transformed into a Seneca matron in the Genesee River Valley in New York.

The book includes quotes from contemporary travelers, diarists, missionaries, traders and prominent figures like Conrad Weiser and James Logan to help readers understand the period.

Paperback, 2024, 233 pp., 6" x 9", color illustrations, index, notes, biblio, cover artwork by Robert Griffing, $20.00.