Early Pennsylvania Travelers - Paperback

by John L. Moore (Author)

Before highways and railroads connected Pennsylvania, travel meant following ancient trails through dense forests, crossing treacherous mountains, navigating rivers and canals, and confronting the dangers of an unsettled landscape.

In Early Pennsylvania Travelers, historian John L. Moore brings that world to life through the words of the people who experienced it firsthand. Drawing directly from journals, personal letters, memoirs, and historical newspaper records, Moore presents vivid accounts of pioneers, missionaries, soldiers, and ordinary travelers as they made their way across Pennsylvania from the eighteenth century into the early twentieth century.

Their stories capture a landscape-and a nation-in transition. Missionaries cling to horses' tails while climbing steep mountains in 1772. Hundreds of horses and boats accompany General Sullivan's military campaign in 1779. Federal tax collectors face threats of tarring and feathering during the Whiskey Rebellion. Meriwether Lewis departs Pittsburgh in 1803 with his dog at his side. Later travelers cross the Alleghenies by canal, survive a deadly railroad collision during a 1905 blizzard, and, in 1912, recount an eerie premonition connected to the Titanic.

Together, these firsthand accounts trace the remarkable transformation of travel in Pennsylvania, from Native American trails and rough dirt roads to canals and iron railways. Rich in authentic voices and vivid historical detail, Early Pennsylvania Travelers offers a fascinating window into the hardships, ingenuity, and adventure that shaped transportation and everyday life in early America.