Post by Ronnie Gunn on Dec 11, 2009 12:20:00 GMT -5
University perpetuates Historical error---ronnie gunn
Subject: article for college newspaper- "The Rocket"
Up on Wolf Creek, a tributary of Slippery Rock Creek is a place called the Narrows. There is a small Indian camp site here, that a woman named Guffy-Miller believed was the site of a meeting Christian Fredrick Post and the Delaware Indians. The result of which kept them out of Pontiacs war in 1763.
Her father was a Senator, and she managed to get a bronze marker placed at the site commemorating this event. Of course it didnt take place here. It was at one of the Kuskuskie villages in the Beaver valley. Ive been trying to get this marker removed for years now, without any success. Recently a proffessor from S.R.U. came down to Harmony Pa. and delivered a talk on Indians. He proclaimed the same story, and he dont have a clue that he's perpetuating and error, and he's a PHD. I didnt say anything, not wanting to throw cold water on his talk.
So I sent a letter to the editor the S.R.U. newspaper. the Rocket. Instead of running the letter, they are going to do a news article. Below are my responses to their questions. Post ,being a large player in the Indian wars deserves the truth be told.
(reporters questions)
1. What does this error mean to you, as a historian?
This error is extremly important because as time goes by, and the error is repeated over and over, it becomes accepted as the truth. The Historical Marker in question was placed there around 1924 or 25, just about 85 years ago, or almost three generations. A friend of mine who is an alumni of SRU, knew that I was interested in Indian history and took me to the Wolf Creek narrows around 1992. When I read the inscription, I knew immediately that although all the information about the meeting of Christian Frederick Post and the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Indians was correct, this was not the correct location. He, a college graduate didnt know any better...As a historian and author (Pennsyltucky Handbook of Indians) where events took place is extremly important. Not only because of the relics that may be deposited there, but the place is a link in a chain-of -events.
2. Why should people, especially students of SRU, be concerned about the error?
People should and must be concerned about the TRUTH. More so those who are students in an Institution of higher learning. These Institutions should be certain that they are teaching the truth to students, who in the future become teachers themselves. They must not let laziness or complacency overide the search for what really happened and where did it happen, particullary when they own the land in question. Teachers and students of history should let no stone be overturned in any quest in general, and surely this quest in particular.
3. What actions would you like to take to resolve the issue?
I spoke at length to the late Dr. David Dixon, about this problem. I told him that the Marker should be removed from the Narrows and erected somewhere between New Castle and Wampum along rt 18, as this is the heart of the area known as "Kuskuskies". Kuskuskies represents an area comprising perhaps six Indian villages which existed from around 1720 to 1765. One at present day West Pgh, on the Beaver River. This was a Huron village. One at the junction of the Mahoning river with the Shenango River. On the left side,(Warner farm) and one on the right side. (here all the top soil has been removed to a depth of 4 ft. this would remove graves and most artifacts.) The Island in-between was also occupied. One Six miles up the Mahoning at present Edinsburg on the Chambers farm, Known as 36LR11. This was excavated in 1959-60 by John Zakucia, and he located 70 graves at this site.
This was a prominent town, but all of them had an ebb and flow according to many different factors. One at the junction of the Neshannock Creek with the Shenango River (New Castle). As Dr. Dixon and I discussed this, he agreed with me that the site at wolf Creek Narrows was not the site of the meeting with Post and the Delawares. He thought it would be wise to move the marker down on the campus somewhere, and erect beside it, another marker explaining the situation. I agreed that this would be a great plan. However he was called to that Spiritual Temple, that House not made with hands, before this could be executed. This is where it should be moved to,in honor of Dr. Dixon.
4. Can you, for my as well as other's sake who are not very informed with the issue, put the entire issue into plain terms? Just a paragraph or two outlining all of the major issues?
Post was married to two (not concurrently) Delaware women, and was trusted and well liked by the Indians. For that reason he was selected to travel west and try to engage the Delawares. The purpose was to keep them on the side of the English, and if hostalities broke out, to keep them neutral. Pontiac's war of 1763 was on the horizon. Post made two trips to the Ohio country, one in the spring and one in the fall of 1758. He was successfull in his endeavors. He spoke to the Indians on several occasions, one of which was at Fort Duquesne. The Local Indians wanted his message to be heard by as many as possible. He visited Logstown on the Ohio, passed thru Sauconk or King Beavers town and traveled up the Beaver River to the Kuskuskie villages. These are all on the Beaver River watershed, and not on the Slippery Rock tributaries. So lets just use our heads here a little bit.
Ok, so when the treaty was agreed to, there were perhaps two hundred warriors from several villages present. Counting the women and children, this would be a population of about 600 people. Let reason enter here. We are going to have a meeting, It will take several days, a lot of food will be prepared, many fires will be built. Housing will be neccessary. So do we all go to a small non-descript sugar maple camp on Wolf creek, or do we go to the big area which is now New Castle, where we already have these facillities?
Or maybe the 100 acre site which is now the Warner farm at the headwaters of the Beaver river, which had two villages side by side.
Let us look at the Wolf Creek site. In the Spring-1996 vol. 66 No. 1 edition of the Pa. Archaeologist, we find the result of the excavation of the wolf Creek site as reported by R. Skirboll and Roger W. Hanson. The excavations were done at different times by the College students and others. They describe the site as " lies on a NARROW SHELF" which is 33 meters wide and 51 meters long. Hardly room for an encampment of 20 Indians. They discover 21 "features" two of which were modern and 12 prehistoric firepits. Ten of these were "small" with a max.dia. of 40 to 60 cm. Findings; yes this was a camp site used for thousands of years, but NOT where Post met with the Lenni Lenape. There simply was not room enough for a couple of hundred Indians to make an encampment, and the evidence is in their findings.
The shame of it all, is this. What I said early on, that the error will be perpetuated and passed down from teacher to student is already happening. In this fore-mentioned article the site is referred to as "THE KUSKUSKIE SITE" three times!
Local tradition informs us, that the former owner believed this was the site of the Kuskuskies meeting, and her father was a powerfull man. They donated the said site to the Universary, and although others knew better, she got her way. C. Hale Sipe was one of those, but he never in his two excellent books on Indian History ever mentions it. He published photos of other historical markers in his book "Indian Wars of Pennsylvania" but not the wolf Creek marker. 'Nuff said, I rest my case.
Ronald P. Goebel President
The Ancient and Honorable
Pennsyltucky Historical Society
Subject: article for college newspaper- "The Rocket"
Up on Wolf Creek, a tributary of Slippery Rock Creek is a place called the Narrows. There is a small Indian camp site here, that a woman named Guffy-Miller believed was the site of a meeting Christian Fredrick Post and the Delaware Indians. The result of which kept them out of Pontiacs war in 1763.
Her father was a Senator, and she managed to get a bronze marker placed at the site commemorating this event. Of course it didnt take place here. It was at one of the Kuskuskie villages in the Beaver valley. Ive been trying to get this marker removed for years now, without any success. Recently a proffessor from S.R.U. came down to Harmony Pa. and delivered a talk on Indians. He proclaimed the same story, and he dont have a clue that he's perpetuating and error, and he's a PHD. I didnt say anything, not wanting to throw cold water on his talk.
So I sent a letter to the editor the S.R.U. newspaper. the Rocket. Instead of running the letter, they are going to do a news article. Below are my responses to their questions. Post ,being a large player in the Indian wars deserves the truth be told.
(reporters questions)
1. What does this error mean to you, as a historian?
This error is extremly important because as time goes by, and the error is repeated over and over, it becomes accepted as the truth. The Historical Marker in question was placed there around 1924 or 25, just about 85 years ago, or almost three generations. A friend of mine who is an alumni of SRU, knew that I was interested in Indian history and took me to the Wolf Creek narrows around 1992. When I read the inscription, I knew immediately that although all the information about the meeting of Christian Frederick Post and the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Indians was correct, this was not the correct location. He, a college graduate didnt know any better...As a historian and author (Pennsyltucky Handbook of Indians) where events took place is extremly important. Not only because of the relics that may be deposited there, but the place is a link in a chain-of -events.
2. Why should people, especially students of SRU, be concerned about the error?
People should and must be concerned about the TRUTH. More so those who are students in an Institution of higher learning. These Institutions should be certain that they are teaching the truth to students, who in the future become teachers themselves. They must not let laziness or complacency overide the search for what really happened and where did it happen, particullary when they own the land in question. Teachers and students of history should let no stone be overturned in any quest in general, and surely this quest in particular.
3. What actions would you like to take to resolve the issue?
I spoke at length to the late Dr. David Dixon, about this problem. I told him that the Marker should be removed from the Narrows and erected somewhere between New Castle and Wampum along rt 18, as this is the heart of the area known as "Kuskuskies". Kuskuskies represents an area comprising perhaps six Indian villages which existed from around 1720 to 1765. One at present day West Pgh, on the Beaver River. This was a Huron village. One at the junction of the Mahoning river with the Shenango River. On the left side,(Warner farm) and one on the right side. (here all the top soil has been removed to a depth of 4 ft. this would remove graves and most artifacts.) The Island in-between was also occupied. One Six miles up the Mahoning at present Edinsburg on the Chambers farm, Known as 36LR11. This was excavated in 1959-60 by John Zakucia, and he located 70 graves at this site.
This was a prominent town, but all of them had an ebb and flow according to many different factors. One at the junction of the Neshannock Creek with the Shenango River (New Castle). As Dr. Dixon and I discussed this, he agreed with me that the site at wolf Creek Narrows was not the site of the meeting with Post and the Delawares. He thought it would be wise to move the marker down on the campus somewhere, and erect beside it, another marker explaining the situation. I agreed that this would be a great plan. However he was called to that Spiritual Temple, that House not made with hands, before this could be executed. This is where it should be moved to,in honor of Dr. Dixon.
4. Can you, for my as well as other's sake who are not very informed with the issue, put the entire issue into plain terms? Just a paragraph or two outlining all of the major issues?
Post was married to two (not concurrently) Delaware women, and was trusted and well liked by the Indians. For that reason he was selected to travel west and try to engage the Delawares. The purpose was to keep them on the side of the English, and if hostalities broke out, to keep them neutral. Pontiac's war of 1763 was on the horizon. Post made two trips to the Ohio country, one in the spring and one in the fall of 1758. He was successfull in his endeavors. He spoke to the Indians on several occasions, one of which was at Fort Duquesne. The Local Indians wanted his message to be heard by as many as possible. He visited Logstown on the Ohio, passed thru Sauconk or King Beavers town and traveled up the Beaver River to the Kuskuskie villages. These are all on the Beaver River watershed, and not on the Slippery Rock tributaries. So lets just use our heads here a little bit.
Ok, so when the treaty was agreed to, there were perhaps two hundred warriors from several villages present. Counting the women and children, this would be a population of about 600 people. Let reason enter here. We are going to have a meeting, It will take several days, a lot of food will be prepared, many fires will be built. Housing will be neccessary. So do we all go to a small non-descript sugar maple camp on Wolf creek, or do we go to the big area which is now New Castle, where we already have these facillities?
Or maybe the 100 acre site which is now the Warner farm at the headwaters of the Beaver river, which had two villages side by side.
Let us look at the Wolf Creek site. In the Spring-1996 vol. 66 No. 1 edition of the Pa. Archaeologist, we find the result of the excavation of the wolf Creek site as reported by R. Skirboll and Roger W. Hanson. The excavations were done at different times by the College students and others. They describe the site as " lies on a NARROW SHELF" which is 33 meters wide and 51 meters long. Hardly room for an encampment of 20 Indians. They discover 21 "features" two of which were modern and 12 prehistoric firepits. Ten of these were "small" with a max.dia. of 40 to 60 cm. Findings; yes this was a camp site used for thousands of years, but NOT where Post met with the Lenni Lenape. There simply was not room enough for a couple of hundred Indians to make an encampment, and the evidence is in their findings.
The shame of it all, is this. What I said early on, that the error will be perpetuated and passed down from teacher to student is already happening. In this fore-mentioned article the site is referred to as "THE KUSKUSKIE SITE" three times!
Local tradition informs us, that the former owner believed this was the site of the Kuskuskies meeting, and her father was a powerfull man. They donated the said site to the Universary, and although others knew better, she got her way. C. Hale Sipe was one of those, but he never in his two excellent books on Indian History ever mentions it. He published photos of other historical markers in his book "Indian Wars of Pennsylvania" but not the wolf Creek marker. 'Nuff said, I rest my case.
Ronald P. Goebel President
The Ancient and Honorable
Pennsyltucky Historical Society