Into the American Woods

This is a wonderful work of ethnohistory. Merrill has done a superb job of illuminating a period of U.S. history which is unknown to most people. I heartily recommend this book to anyone with an interest in early American history, native american history, or Pennsylvania history. If this is you, then by all means read it!

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

The boundary that separated the territory of Pennsylvania's Indians and colonists indicated more than just a physical change in the landscape. The vast stretches of forest and mountain that encompassed the Pennsylvania woods designated a spiritual transformation between the colonial frontier and what Europeans considered the "hideous and desolate lands." The woods' edge marked the difference between order and disorder, darkness and light, and for many colonists it was a forbidding domain where the peoples and creatures were shunned. Likewise, for Indians, the margin between the Pennsylvania woods and what colonists haughtily termed "the inhabited parts," marked the divide between their world and one of mistrust and apprehension. Although there were overlapping notions among Indians and colonists about where the woods began and ended, both groups thought the darkness of that territory to be strange and unpredictable. In his book, Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier, James Merrell explains the role and purpose of the individuals who straddled the divide between woods and clearing. More than that, these go-betweens, asserts Merrell, stood straddling Indian and colonial cultures in order to mediate a number of negotiations, land disputes, trade issues, and the occasional murder. Merrell's comprehensive discussion of the role of the cultural broker in colonial Pennsylvania during the "Long Peace" from 1680 to 1750 unravels not only the mystery behind eighteenth century frontier diplomacy, but also the curious life of the go-between. He takes the reader across that threshold between Indian and white ground in order to enter in and examine the frontier. It is his attempt to discover what it was like for the go-between to be the link between Indian and colonist, and to obtain a richer, fuller, and more colorful picture of the early American scene. At the outset of his work, Merrell stresses the complexities involved with defining the go-between; picking them out of the crowd in America's border country can be difficult work for historians. Thus, the strength of this work lies in Merrell's ability to define nearly every aspect of the frontier experience, and pick the brain of Pennsylvania's go-betweens. He contends that not every trader, missionary, or convert was a go-between. Moreover, a role in state affairs did not necessarily give one the credentials that would distinguish him from the common man. Canasatego, an Onondaga, summed it up vividly, with a hint of sarcasm, when he explained to Pennsylvania officials in 1742 that negotiator Conrad Weiser "has wore out his shoes in our messages, and has dirty'd his clothes by being amongst us, so that he is as nasty as an Indian." Merrell expands on Canasatego's idea by explaining that the role of go-between entailed a certain amount of dirty work, both figuratively and literally; once the trip was made across unforgiving terrain to reach the far side of the frontier

James H. Merrell has selected a specific topic for his book, Into the American Woods (Negotiations on the Pennsylvania Frontier). He looks at the go-betweens (both Indian and colonial) who did the negotiating in colonial Pennsylvania. The narrowness of this specific topic is deceptive as the go-betweens were from two worlds and through them can be glimpsed a piece of history much bigger than themselves. It is ultimately a sad story for the Indians as the Pennsylvania frontier of the title keeps moving north and westward until by the end of the book there seem to be virtually no Indians left in Penn's Woods despite, and often because of, all the negotiating between the two groups. The characters who comprise the book are an interesting and little understood assortment and this is thorough and informative study of these men (and a very, very few women). An interesting place to begin looking at a clash of cultures through the times they tried to come together.

This is a great read!James Merrell explores the unique role that the "go-between" played in relations between Pennsylvania and the Native American nations in the early 18th century. Forgotten people, like Andrew Montour and Conrad Weiser, come alive in this carefully documented, captivating account. Merrell traces how, notwithstanding the diplomatic efforts of the "go-betweens" of 18th century Pennsylvania, relations deteriorated from William Penn's "long peace" to the bloodiest conflicts to ever occur on the American frontier.As I write this review, I am listening to news accounts of the NATO bombing of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. James Merrell says:"Studying how negotiators handled the first two crises teaches valuable lessons in frontier brinkmanship --- not the deadly modern game of threats and bluffs hurled while teetering on the edge of a precipice, but an earlier version, where people tried to pull their world back from the abyss."Into the American Woods appeals on a number of levels: to the student of American history as well as to the citizen seeking to understand a better way of diplomacy at the end of the 20th century. Best of all, it is a "ripping good yarn," colorful and enchanting --- the type of book that you don't put down until early tomorrow morning.