Episode Details

1. Headline: The Origins of Logan's Lament and Frontier Misidentification Guest Author: Robert G. ParkinsonProfessor Robert G. Parkinson introduces his book, Heart of American Darkness, focusing on the 1775 publication of Logan's Lament. This famous document recorded the reflections of the Mingo chief Logan regarding the 1774 murder of his family. Logan famously blamed the atrocity on Colonel Cresup, a misidentification that persisted for centuries in American lore. Parkinson establishes the complex background of the Ohio River frontier, where land speculation and moving colonial borders created a "simmering civil war" between Maryland and Pennsylvania, involving the patriarchs Thomas Cresup and the diplomat Shikalami. 1
1750