At the Howland Preserve meeting on Thursday, Dave Buck reminded me of the question he posed back in 2006 at the first River Symposium. I had just given a short paper on “Europeans and the Susquehanna River” that quoted the opening lines of a poem by the famous German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Nicht am Susquehanna, der durch Wüsten fließt.” At the time, I had just begun my work on the Shamokin Diaries and was immersing myself in the world of the Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. He asked if I had ever heard of “Friedenshütten,” a mission on the North Branch near Wyalusing. I replied that I had but was not that familiar with it. Dave, in his usual dogged fashion, pursued me after the session and explained where the mission was supposed to have been and that it was linked to one slightly further up the North Branch, Sheshequin. And so my curiosity was piqued. Continue reading “More than a point on a map…”
Visualizing Connections…
Over the last five years, my work in the archives of the Moravian Church in the USA and also Germany, has focused on the Moravian mission to the Native Americans in Pennsylvania during the 18th century. The primary focus has been on the Moravian mission at Shamokin, Pa (now Sunbury), which sits at the confluence of the North and West branches of the river and which, in the contact period, was known as the “capital of the Woodland Indians”. Continue reading “Visualizing Connections…”
A Meeting at the Howland Preserve: or, Moonrise over Mile Marker 223.5
Another trip upriver to a beautiful spot on the North Branch, the Howland Preserve on the Vosburg Neck, just north of Tunkhannock, where Alf Siewers and I met with a great group of people interested in joining us in telling the story of the river. Ably led by Dave Buck of Endless Mountain Outfitters, the agenda was clear. Let’s get moving! Continue reading “A Meeting at the Howland Preserve: or, Moonrise over Mile Marker 223.5”
The Place of Tunkhannock in the Cultural History of the Susquehanna River
Yesterday I made my way up roads that were once Indian paths to one of my favorite places in North East Pennsylvania, Tunkhannock (click for ppt presentation). The invitation to speak on the cultural history of Tunkhannock and its place on the Susquehanna River came from Margie Young, Program Coordinator of the Wyoming County Cultural Center/Dietrich Theater and was supported by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Continue reading “The Place of Tunkhannock in the Cultural History of the Susquehanna River”
Moravian Studies and Digital Thinking and Praxis 