The Light in the Forest | Setting

The Light in the Forest Setting

The Light in the Forest focuses on the relationship between the Scotch-Irish settlers of western Pennsylvania and the Lenni Lenape Native Americans of the Delaware area. The story is set in 1765, against the stormy early period of Pennsylvania history when white settlers paid bounties for Native American scalps, and Native Americans captured and scalped whites. Colonel Bouquet's historic march into Native American territory along the Muskingum River in Ohio and western Pennsylvania forms the focal point of the story. Bouquet pressures the Lenni Lenape and Shawanose to sign a treaty to return all captive whites. Although the Native Americans hate to give up their adopted white relatives, they are afraid to lose their land and see it replaced by a white settlement on the banks of their sacred river. Impressed by the numerous stories of white captives who tried to return to their Native American families and culture, Richter...
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