The Ford at the Schuylkill: A Glimpse of early Reading, Pennsylvania from Lenapehoking to Frontier Outpost : an illustrated history

The Ford at the Schuylkill: A Glimpse of early Reading, Pennsylvania from Lenapehoking to Frontier Outpost : an illustrated history by Kathy M Scogna. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780965229210.

Reading and Berks County, Penna, history The Ford at the Schuylkill takes the reader back to the early Indian village sites, the Lenape way of life, tools, and medicine. The first European pioneers were an intrepid bunch. Drawn to the fertile land, sparked by the promise of religious freedom, each one had hopes of a better life. They did not wear fine English clothing. They were not the landed gentry. These men and women wore buckskin clothing and carried Pennsylvania long rifles. With their sweat and toil they cut down the huge trees, dragged the timber to the new county seat (Reading) and erected log houses and stores on a former Indian village site. The commingling of these cultures soon led to a clash of cultures called the French and Indian War, when the very existence of the frontier outpost, Reading Town, was in question. Importance of Conrad Weiser, settlers surnames and town lots, Lenape place names in Berks County, quotes from settlers journals. Many Indian artifacts photographed were from the collection of Lester Breininger, and were sold at auction by Pook and Pook, 2011.