he self-determination which was basic in this nation's early
development, it is essential to re-evaluate that principle in terms of
its earliest American development. If we would enjoy the blessings of
freedom, we must undergo the fatigue of attempting to understand it.

Some seventy years ago, a great American historian suggested an
interpretation of the American ethos. Turner's thesis is still being
debated today, something which I am certain would please its author
immensely. But what is needed today is not the prolongation of the
debate as to its validity so much as the investigation of it with newer
techniques which, it might be added, Turner himself suggested. This is
the merit of frontier ethnography, and, perhaps, the particular value of
this study.

To me, Robert Frost implied as much in his wonderful "Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening." Yes, the "woods" of contemporary history are
"lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."

It is hoped that this investigation is the beginning of the answer to
that promise, but it is well-recognized that there are miles to go.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Merle Curti _et al._, _The Making of an American Community: A Case
Study of Democracy in a Frontier County_ (Stanford, 1959), p. 3.

[2] _Frontier and Section: Selected Essays of Frederick Jackson Turner_,
intro. by Ray Allen Billington (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1961), pp.
52-55.

_Table of Contents_

PREFACE iii

INTRODUCTION v

I. FAIR PLAY TERRITORY: GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY 1

II. THE FAIR PLAY SETTLERS: DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS 16

III. THE POLITICS OF FAIR PLAY 30

IV. THE FARMERS' FRONTIER 47

V. FAIR PLAY SOCIETY 58

VI. LEADERSHIP AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE FRONTIER 76

VII. DEMOCRACY ON THE PENNSYLVANIA FRONTIER 89

VIII. FRONTIER ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE TURNER THESIS 100

BIBLIOGRAPHY 113

INDEX 119

[Map]

CHAPTER ONE

_Fair Play Territory: Geography and Topography_

The Colonial period of American history has been of primary concern to
the historian because of its fundamental importance