My husband came across a book that some of you may find of interest: Valley of Opportunity: Economic Culture along the Upper Susquehanna, 1700-1800 by Peter C. Mancall, Cornell University Press, Ithaca. It seems to be a published dissertation, and as such tends to be a bit dry reading, though not nearly as bad as some, and only about 200 pages. It's packed with information about the resources of the area and how they were exploited by the Indians, then by early settlers, and developers. I've only skimmed it so far, but it promises to fill in a lot of background about the conditions and economic and political influences on the lives of our ancestors. We have it from the Univ. library, but barnes&noble.com, or interlibrary loan could probably locate it if libraries don't have it. BTW--reminds me that I used to shelve books at Steele Memorial after school when I was in high school. I think they paid me 50 cents an hour--minimum wage in those days. Fran Clark in dry New Mexico