Archive for January, 2011

Revolutionary War Forts and Blockhouses on the Ohio

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

I was recently given a book that peaked my interest to the point that I read it completely in one sitting.  It was a short history of frontier forts and blockhouses in the upper Ohio River valley and the soldiers who manned them during the Revolutionary War.  The book by Michael E Nogay was “Every Home a Fort, Every Man a Warrior”.  Not only was it fact filled, it was a good read.  I highly recommend it. 

 

A second edition will be published with more information about the fort or blockhouse in Georgetown, PA.

Truthiness

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

History is always impure.  It is a mixture of truth, error, and uncertainty.  It becomes tainted with the uncertainties and imperfections of the real world.  After all, histories are written by humans.

 

History has power over us because we are blind to these impurities.  All histories are imperfect.  However, some are more imperfect than others.  Some, based on reliable and objective reports, come close to indisputable truth.  Others, based on unreliable or subjective sources, come close to absolute falsehood.  It is not always obvious which are which.

 

The Frontier Fort in Georgetown falls into this zone of truthiness.  The Poe brothers frontier adventures certainly do.  I must have ten versions of the Poe brothers battle with the Indians.  Each version tells a fascinating, yet oddly different, story.

BM Laughlin Book Updates 1838

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

The comparison of  The Lytle-Holdcamper List and the BM Laughlin Book continues.  The comparison now extends through the year 1838 – some 440 steamers built at Pittsburgh. 

The link to the spreadsheet is located on the page:  Laughlin v Lytle-Holdcamper .  Since I will be updated the spreadsheet periodically, I want only one link to the data.