By Great Rivers: Lives on the Appalachian Frontier tells the story of people who shaped events during a period of rapid political and social change in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States in the eighteenth century. The several dozen individuals (men and women, Native Americans, colonial agents, missionaries, fur traders, Indian captives, surveyors) profiled here reflect a multi-cultural society that developed on that frontier. Wars in the last half of this century posed a grave threat to this society. This book focuses on the Appalachian region—eastern and western Pennsylvania, western New York and Ohio—a vast wilderness expanse linked by the great rivers that served as corridors of travel in the eighteenth century. Many key historic events occurred at the strategic forks of four rivers where these people lived or visited—the Forks of the Delaware (Easton, PA), Forks of the Susquehanna (Sunbury, PA), Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh, PA) and the Forks of the Muskingum (Coshocton, OH) and the Niagara River, pathway between the Great Lakes. The book includes quotes from contemporary travelers, diarists and prominent figures like Benjamin Franklin to provide context to help readers understand the period.

ROBERT B. SWIFT is a native of western New York and the author of The Mid-Appalachian Frontier: A Guide to Historic Sites of the French and Indian War. (2001) He is a veteran journalist with a career spanning four decades. Much of that career has been spent as a statehouse reporter in Harrisburg, PA. Swift graduated from Allegheny College, Meadville, PA, with a bachelor’s degree in American studies in 1974. He lives in Grantham, PA.