Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEWS The Planting of Civilization in Western Pennsylvania, By SOLON J. BUCK and ELIZABETH H. BUCK. (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1939. xiv, 555 p. Illustrated. $5.00.) This book embodies a penetrating and skilful synthesis of the history of western Pennsylvania from the earliest beginnings to approximately 1820. An impressive and convincing work, it bids fair to become the authoritative one for the field which it covers. A common criticism, usually justified, of most state and sectional histories has been the absence of perspective, inadequacy of sources, and fre- quently the failure to grasp adequately the significance of the sources used. The present instance is distinguished by the opposite qualities. The clarity of expres- sion and the generally unhurried narrative, packed though it is through twenty- three chapters with a multiplicity of factual matters, will appeal not only to the general reading public for whom it is intended but to the scholar as well. No selected frontier area can be sharply delimited, and in the present instance Dr. and Mrs. Buck, while necessarily drawing arbitrary lines, have included the counties of Potter, Cameron, Clearfield, Blair, and Bedford on the eastern fringe as one boundary of the section under survey; the entire area of the state west of this line, including the drainage basin of the Ohio, becomes the center with which the principal part of their story is concerned. At the outset there is laid before the reader a panoramic view of the physical environment which was to be the scene of warfare, settlement, the evolution of frontier government, and ultimately the beginnings of a.highly civilized community within the period treated. In this regard there are stressed the significance of the Appalachian system, the outline of primitive trails, and the river systems, forests, and other natural resources which were important factors not only in the early stages of this particular area but also in the future industrial and social development of the State. Not unconnected with this phase was the Indian culture, which properly receives one lengthy chapter containing a review of the best modern knowledge on that subject. It is pertinent to observe in this connection that the authors have adopted a moderate viewpoint; they follow the views neither of those who profess to believe that the Indians have always been unjustly treated, nor of those who have assumed that the savage race had no ethical or legal rights which white people were bound to respect. As an example of the tone of the discussion, reference may be made to the view expressed that the Indian did have, theoretically, a good case for opposing an invasion of his lands, yet those lands which he sought to protect were actually not more than hunting grounds and in no sense were they used for homes or for agriculture except in and about widely scattered villages. The Indian question is not entirely disposed of in one chapter. The subject appears again and again in succeeding pages. It was not in fact until about 1795 270 I94O BOOK REVIEWS 271 that the Indian problem ceased to be an issue. Of course the two great episodes in western Pennsylvania with international repercussions were the conflict between France and England for control of the forks of the Ohio, and the American Revolution. In both wars the Indian was necessarily a partisan: he espoused the cause of the French in the first and that of the British in the second. He was thus a constant factor in both periods. The authors state that the founda- tions for the planting of civilization in western Pennsylvania were laid by the English occupation of the site of Fort Pitt in 1758. This was true to the extent that the French menace was definitely removed. But other obstacles were yet to be met and overcome before the area was ready for white occupation. The appearance of the Indian uprising of 1763 came perilously near to erasing the English in the western country, including the region under consideration, and was only suppressed by regular troops under Henry Bouquet. The fact of this widespread Indian revolt led to the further intervention, this time by the British government, in the issuance of the royal proclamation of 1763, to which one chapter of the book is devoted. The effect of this proclamation on Pennsylvania is succinctly stated. According to one of its provisions the Appalachian divide was indicated as the line beyond which land purchases and white settlements should not for the present be made without the consent of the crown. But this line in Pennsylvania was within the charter limits of that colony. Whether the proprietors of Pennsylvania could successfully ignore the proclamation in grant- ing lands, as was their right under the charter, was "never brought to an issue." At the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, however, the Penns succeeded, with the co-operation of the crown, in purchasing from the Indians a great strip of terri- tory, known as the "New Purchase." Henceforth the area in question, which included a wide stretch of land extending across the colony from the extreme northeast to the southwest corner, was understood to be open for settlement, even though the proclamation of 1763 was not formally rescinded. Although the authors have not elaborated on the point, it is the reviewer's belief that they have reached as sound a conclusion as is at present possible with respect to the applica- tion of the proclamation to Pennsylvania. Incidentally, Fort Pitt was within the so-called "New Purchase." The way was therefore open for pioneer settlers to penetrate the new country. Prefatory to a fairly detailed account of this expansion there appears a chapter on the "Cultural Heritage of the Pioneers" which suggests not only the influence of Old World factors but also that of the old colonies of Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, especially the back country of the colonies mentioned. This is for the most part well-travelled ground, though the approach is fresh and the conclusion in- teresting. "The trans-Alleghany West did not introduce a new manner of life; it merely spread a manner of life that was already flourishing just east of the mountains." The Virginians were the first to enter the region as agricultural settlers. The significance of this becomes apparent in the subsequent conflict between Virginia and Pennsylvania over their respective claims within the present boundaries of 272 BOOK REVIEWS April the latter. The story of this emergence of divisive forces, leading almost to civil war, is told in some detail. The settlement of southwestern Pennsylvania took place in the years 1769 to 1774. The predominant element in the stream of migration into this region was English; but the stolid, neat, and industrious Ger- mans, the irrepressible, far from neat Irish and Scots-Irish were also elements in the population which in the end exercised a large influence. The fact of the ultimate mergence of these diverse groups is also stressed. Space forbids more than a brief reference to other phases of the history of the region which are developed in these pages. The manner in which settlements expanded, necessitating the creation of new counties, the development of trans- portation, the evolution of local government, the emergence of radicalism cul- minating in the Whiskey Rebellion, and the final victory of Jeffersonian democ- racy over Federalism are some of the subjects which receive careful appraisement. To some readers perhaps the most attractive features of the book will be those chapters dealing with the commercial, domestic, community, intellectual and religious life of the people, all of which phases are an integral part of the evolution of civilization in any region. All in all the book is more than an informative chronicle; it is a story of human fortitude, of reckless faith and courage; and of steady growth from savage conditions to a stabilized society. In the minds of the authors western Pennsylvania was clearly a proving- ground for the struggle farther west; it was another cycle in the recurring pat- terns of culture. This is no doubt true in so far as these cycles had already occurred. The reviewer is moved, however, to venture a warning that the char- acteristics of the frontier so accurately described in the present book will not necessarily be found in later frontier areas. In certain respects quite the contrary situation will be found. And so the reader must not assume because individualism, for example, flourished so notably on the Pennsylvania frontier that it was to become an equally marked feature of succeeding ones farther west. To that extent the Turnerian thesis respecting the significance of the frontier, which the authors of this book have amply illustrated, is subject to considerable modifica- tion. In short the reader should not be tempted to read into this work an interpre- tation which can be similarly applied to other new sections of the country. The scholar will miss the customary citations to authorities, the complete absence of which is not due to the choice of the authors. Some compensation for this loss is found in a comprehensive forty-three page essay in the end-pages on the bibliography of the subject, which is in itself a notable contribution. While the omission of direct citations in no way lessens the present significance of the volume the fact remains that it was an unfortunate decision of the sponsors and publishers; it is a reflection on the growing appreciation of the lay public which is no longer dissuaded from reading books which contain these implements of scholarship.

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