Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier

by James H. Merrell

James Merrell's brilliant book is an account of the "go-betweens," the Europeans and Indians who moved between cultures on the Pennsylvania frontier in efforts to maintain the peace. It is also a reflection on the meanings of wilderness to the colonists and natives of the New World. From the Quaker colony's founding in the 1680s into the 1750s, Merrell shows us how the go-betweens survived in the woods, dealing with problems of food, travel, lodging, and safety, and how they sought to bridge the vast cultural gaps between the Europeans and the Indians. The futility of these efforts became clear in the sickening plummet into war after 1750. "A stunningly original and exceedingly well-written account of diplomacy on the edge of the Pennsylvania wilderness."--Publishers Weekly

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Native American, Native American History, Geography, 18th Century

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

James Hart Merrell, the Lucy Maynard Salmon Professor of History at Vassar College, was born and raised in Minnesota. Professor Merrell is one of the leading scholars of early American history, and has written extensively on Native American history during the colonial era. Professor Merrell is one of only five historians to be awarded the Bancroft Prize twice.

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Penn, founder of the Pennsylvania Colony, was an idealist. He sincerely believed that all men, no matter how different, could live together in peace, and he based the Indian policy of his colony on that principle. A 1701 treaty between Penn's colony and the Conestogas Indians was typical; in it both sides pledged:
"that they shall forever hereafter be as one Head & One Heart, & live in true Friendship & Amity as one People."
Penn went on to promise "for himself, his heirs and Successors:
“Yt he and they will at all times shew themselves true Friends & Brothers to all & every one of ye Said Indians."
In 1763, a copy of that document was found with the dismembered bodies of peaceful Indians, victims of the violent carnage wrought by the Paxton Boys, colonist enraged by the savagery of the French and Indian War on the Pennsylvania frontier.

Yet between the founding of Penn's Woods and the war were over seventy years of Peace. This "Long Peace", the product of William Penn's idealism, was tenuously maintained only through the efforts of a remarkable group of men, both Indians and colonist, who moved between the two worlds. These negotiators were the go-betweens and interpreters of both language and culture that made Penn's dream of peace a practical reality for so long.

James H. Merrell's book thoroughly examines these negotiators and their world in fascinating detail. What sort of men became negotiators, the standing they had in their various communities, the hardships and challenges of the trails they traveled, their modes of communication (including the significance of ceremonies, wampum, and written treaties); all of this is explored in depth. Merrell draws on many case histories of specific negotiators, like Conrad Weiser, George Croghan, Christian Frederick Post, Andrew Montour, Shickellamy, Civility, and many others to sketch out the broader canvas of the life, motivation, and methods of negotiators on the frontier. He follows the broad arc of their rise to prominence, their pinnacle of success, and the slow unraveling of their effectiveness on into the ultimate failure of their craft in the outbreak of the French and Indian War and beyond.

Merrell focuses on the ambiguous nature of this frontier diplomacy. Though it served for many years to keep the peace in Pennsylvania, and though on the surface the negotiators seemed to be a perfect blending of the Colonial and Indian cultures, he points out the deep philosophical differences, and the fundamentally different goals of the Indian and Colonial negotiators. George Croghan may have taken on many Indian ways, and Moses Tatamy (called a settlement or "tame" Indian) may have dressed like a colonist and even practiced their religion, yet neither they, nor any of the negotiators, ever operated under a single, common shared vision. All remained firmly planted in the worldview of their birth, despite surface similarities, , and in this lay the key to the ultimate breakdown and failure of the negotiating enterprise.

Understanding the relationship that the Eastern communities had to their frontier is crucial to a proper understanding of the Colonial period, and I know of no other single book that gives such a clear, detailed, and fascinating account of that relationship. In addition, it is an invaluable source detailing the genesis of the French and Indian War, which started in the Pennsylvanian back woods. Over one hundred pages of notes make it a valuable source for discovering further areas of study as well. Any student of this period of American history should find Into the American Woods both enjoyable and immensely useful.

[Daniel Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and fascinating read of the people-groups relationships in early Pennsylvania and the go-betweens that fostered those relationships. The pacing was slow in places, and the organization of the material caused it to jump around in dates which got confusing (each chapter would trace the development of a specific topic throughout the time period under study) Also, the author seemed to have a one-sided opinion on where each side "really" stood -- for example, most of the characters would say things that appeared to support one viewpoint then later say something that supported a different viewpoint (how human, they changed their views over time) Yet the author is convinced he knows which viewpoint was the character's "true" one, even if the evidence was skewed against it. That is, if the person spoke one viewpoint 99 times and another once, the author felt the one time was enough evidence if it fit his opinion of the matter.

Overall a worthy read, I like these books that just lay out the first hand accounts. Read it without any preconceived notions and let the facts speak for themselves.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a masterful history of the treaties, conferences, conflicts, violence, and facade of agreement that existed on the Pennsylvania frontier and Ohio country in the late seventeenth and eighteenth century. Merrell is an impressive historian and a master story teller, and this book showcases both talents.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEAUTIFUL, MASTERFUL HISTORY!

I throughly enjoyed this book and the metaphor of the woods. The investigation into the go-betweens in colonial Pennsylvania was artful and thought provoking. It leave much to be wondered about those forgotten in broader colonial tales and the impact they had on our country.

4.6/5 drunken brawls.

[David Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Merrill’s 1999 work Into the American Woods focuses on the diplomatic boundary crossers and go-betweens who facilitated treaty making between different Indian groups and colonists in 17th and 18th century Pennsylvania. “Before a speaker could rise, wampum in hand, to open a treaty session, before a scribe’s pen even began to scratch its way down a page, there was a vital round of journeys taken, meals shared, letters scribbled, beads strung, speeches drafted, and squabbles settled. This work, and the famous council orations it framed was as magical as it was mysterious, as powerful as it was perilous. Go-betweens transformed gibberish (whether English or Iroquois, Delaware or Shawnee) into words.” Merrill’s work is a declension narrative however, rather that the invocation of an, in some sense, ideal Middle Ground of coexistence. Rather than facilitating mutual understanding the diplomats he follows merely manage crises, as entrenched in the worldview of their side and as unwilling to forgive as to forget. If these men, Merrill seems to say, so often working together to bridge the divide between peoples, could not themselves reach some kind of conceptual middle ground, it may be that there are distances between peoples which are unbridgeable. “In the end,” he eulogized “no amount of negotiation, however skilled, could satisfy so many competing interests . . . The bloodshed and anguish forever changed the face of the frontier, leaving Penn’s peaceful vision little more than a memory.

Penn’s Woods descended into furious violence in the 1740 as diplomacy finally failed to keep a lid on the pressures built over land appropriations, merging with the great conflagration of the Seven Years War between the imperial powers to which Shannon and White ascribe the ultimate destruction of the Middle Ground world of the Old Northwest. Shannon helps to alleviate some of the darker conclusions about the possibility of intercultural co-existence drawn by Merrill, placing the sharp rise in tension around land acquisition within the context of Iroquois needs. “Like many other native peoples in North America, the Iroquois face increasing pressure on their land base from a growing colonial population in the eighteenth century. A solution they found to this problem was to sell other people’s land rather than their own, and nowhere did the Iroquois practice this tactic more successfully (at least in the short run) than in Pennsylvania. At a series of treaty conferences in the 1730s and 1740s, the Six Nations asserted their authority over native peoples and lands south of the Longhouse and became the most important participants in Pennsylvania’s ‘Chain of Friendship’ with its Indian neighbors.”

[Derek Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers an aspect of Colonial days touched on only tangentially, if at all, in most histories: the white woodsmen who served as intermediaries between the settlers, he Pennsylvania government and the Indians. Remarkable men, most remarkable for living and acting as they did with little real payback.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read October 2011 for HST 301: Graduate Historiography

Just as enjoyable the second time around.

Re-read September 2013 for HST 301.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty easy read and some interesting material. It does seem to never end though.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decently researched and a worthwhile topic, but it reads like an extended thesis paper. The biggest problem however is that it should have been organized completely differently, with the first chapter eliminated and turned into footnotes for the remaining chapters. The poor organization and initial lack of flow made for challenging reading.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of negotiators on the frontier is one that I knew little about, and as such I learned much from this book. I didn't realize prior to reading it that this book was very narrowly focused on the negotiators themselves rather than attempting to cover a broader history of Pennsylvania in the 1700s. Given that, I would likely have benefited from reading a more general history first and then tackling this book. Even things as momentous as the French and Indian War, which I fortunately had done prior reading on, largely play out in the background without much explanation.

Also, despite the fact that the chapter headings indicate a linear coverage of the timeline, each chapter tends to tell stories from various decades rather than just the years indicated in the title, which tends to give the book the feel of a collection of anecdotes more than the telling of a grand narrative. This however, along with the fact that characters tend to come and go without much introduction or farewell, may be due to the spottiness of the historical record more than anything else.

Nevertheless, for anyone interested in learning about the history of the interactions between the Native Americans and the Colonists, this book is a great resource. For best results, precede it with a good general history and follow it up with "Crucible of War."

[Aannedomm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merrell fully brings the reader into 18th century Pennsylvania as he explains the relationships between Indians and colonists while focusing on the intermediaries, a difficult group to define and give voice to. His use of primary source material is excellent.

[Pat Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine that the frontier used to mean eastern Pennsylvania. This title takes us back to the beginnings of Indian treaties and the promises made and unmade in early colonial history. Well documented. Good read but it did take me some time. I had to handle it in chunks.

[Audra Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding look at a period of history from a perspective we're not taught in school.

[Thom DeLair]

As a Western Pennsylvanian I really enjoyed the animated and dynamic narrative about the state's colonial history.

On the negative end, I found the writing a bit verbose at times, especially sections heavy on quotations, which were jagged on the flow of pros, and left me a little lost in the woods, having to reorient myself to find the path back to the narrative. Though, through reading the book I became more accustomed to it.

On the positive side, the book brings together the complex components that involved colonial Pennsylvania diplomacy between colonists and native americans and the immense challenges of achieving William Penn's american dream of cultural harmony between the groups.

There were the many folks and factions on both sides: Iroquois, Shawnee and Delaware on one end and grizzly fur traders, land hungry borders, austere colonial officials and pious Moravians on the other. Being familiar with a lot of the historical figures in advance of reading the book certainly helped. The descriptive details of locations, from the dark recesses of the forest to the carnival atmosphere of the later treaties also thickened the atmosphere. It presents a vibrant depiction of the period, teetering between war and peace with many agents in the network.

The book does a great job presenting the complex social dynamics of tense negotiations that come with high stakes diplomacy: troubles in translation, troubles in motives and trust, etc. The book also presents some interesting mirrors with adversaries and contrasts between allies. I recommend it to Pennsylvanians that want an exciting but complicated story of their state's history.