Several questions about Valley Forge, during the Revolution and current (Apologies for the Vanity)

None ^ | 12-02-05 | Me

[Optimus Prime]

I've got several questions about Valley Forge, both during Revolutionary times and now, and I was hoping you folks could help me out.

[Optimus Prime]

Anyway, here're my questions.

1) What Indian tribes could one find in the general vicinity of Valley Forge during the Revolutionary times?

2) In the modern day, is there still a Valley Forge town? I checked Wikipedia, and it says that a place called Schuylkill Township contains what was Valley Forge. Is that true?

3) In Valley Forge/Schuylkill, which team is considered the home team? The Philadelphia Eagles (My initial guess, given how close Valley Forge is to Philadelphia) or the Pittsburgh Stealers?

That's all I got right now, though I may have more questions. Either way, I'd greatly appreciate some answers to my questions. Thanks.

[andrew1957]

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=18&X=573&Y=5547&W=3&qs=%7cvalley+forge%7cpa%7c

[bnelson44]

Lots of info here:
http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/

[xcamel]

Anyway, here're my questions.



1) What Indian tribes could one find in the general vicinity of Valley Forge during the Revolutionary times?

Mohegans
Delaware
Shackamaxon
Siconesse

2) In the modern day, is there still a Valley Forge town? I checked Wikipedia, and it says that a place called Schuylkill Township contains what was Valley Forge. Is that true?

No, Schuylkill Township is it.

3) In Valley Forge/Schuylkill, which team is considered the home team? The Philadelphia Eagles (My initial guess, given how close Valley Forge is to Philadelphia) or the Pittsburgh Stealers?

Philadelphia Eagles



That's all I got right now, though I may have more questions. Either way, I'd greatly appreciate some answers to my questions. Thanks.

[bnelson44]

info here as well:

http://www.nps.gov/vafo/

[Strategerist]

I don't think there were any Indians whatsoever in the vicinity of Valley Forge in the American Revolution; it was a heavily settled area and actually outside of some very small communities largely consisting of Indians that had intermarried and that really didn't continue the Indian Culture, the East Coast Indians were all dead or migrated out much earlier than a lot of people would imagine.


The home teams of the Valley Forge area are all univerally the Philly teams. Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh is like the other side of the moon; people even talk completely differently out there.

[kittymyrib]

Have you read "1776" by the historian, David McCullough? Lots of excellent information in this very readable book. My brilliant home-schooled grandsons, who are 13 and 10, learned a great deal from using this book as one of their US History texts.

[Optimus Prime]

A better way to phrase the question would probably be:

"Which Indian tribes made their home in the area of Valley Forge prior to the arrival of the Colonists?"

Thanks for the help, all. It's very much appreciated. And thanks for the book suggestion. I'll definitely be checking it out.

[Tribune7]

1) What Indian tribes could one find in the general vicinity of Valley Forge during the Revolutionary times?

IIRC, the Indians were pretty much gone from that part of Pa. by the time of the Revolution. The Lenni Lenape is the tribe most closely identified with Southeastern Pa.

2) In the modern day, is there still a Valley Forge town? I checked Wikipedia, and it says that a place called Schuylkill Township contains what was Valley Forge. Is that true?

That is true. There is no municipality called Valley Forge. There is a Valley Forge Post Office, however, and several zip codes accept that as a city name so you will see businesses & such with a Valley Forge address.

In Valley Forge/Schuylkill, which team is considered the home team? The Philadelphia Eagles

Valley Forge is in Chester County which is a Philadelphia suburb and is strong Eagles country.

[SICSEMPERTYRANNUS]

OP,

I had the privilege of going to Valley Forge Military Academy so I may have some insight. Valley Forge has its own Zip and is located close to King of Prussia, Delaware County PA.

From some of my reading the Oneidas may have been in the area at the time.

The Eagles are the home team. VF is about 20 miles form Philly.

Hope this helps.

SIC

[elcid1970]

Remember, Schuylkill is pronounced "Skookle"!

[freeandfreezing]

I highly recommend a visit to the Valley Forge Park. Its a very moving experience to walk the land where the patriot army camped. And when you are done you can head over to King of Prussia for one of the largest malls in the United States.

And the post about the Lenni Lenape is correct. They were one of the last tribes in the area. If I remember my grade school history correctly some were still living in the area just east of West Chester, PA (south of Valley Forge) circa 1776.

[marblehead17]

My brother and his wife (who grew up on what I think is called the Main Line, County Line road or something like that) had their wedding reception at St. David's Country Club. Beautiful area.

[SICSEMPERTYRANNUS]

We used to call it the "Surekill," as in the Surekill Distressway. : )

SIC

[SICSEMPERTYRANNUS]

MH, St David's is a beautiful club. Right next door to VFMA. Both are right off the "Main Line," in Wayne, PA.

SIC

[Namyak]

As a Pennsylvanian, Tribune7's response strikes closest to the mark as far as I know.

[silverleaf]

I used to be quite interested in PA history during Revolutionary war times...geneology reserach gave me insights into a number of ancestors who fought with and against Indians in PA, from time of French and Indian War and beyond. Some were killed by Indians and some were captured in various generations of settlement in eastern, central and western PA. Several were at Valley Forge with Washington.

If you read about William Penn's treaty negotiations and look at the old maps, you can get some idea of which tribes inhabited or claimed control over which territories. Boundaries then were not as they are drawn by state lines today.

These sites might help:

http://www.americanrevolution.org/ind1.html

http://www.cr.nps.gov/logcabin/html/vf4.html

[marblehead17]

VFMA is where the movie TAPS was filmed, right? My brother got married at the Church of The Redeemer in Bryn Mawr. Great old stone church. Just beautiful. The wedding was in September and the weather was awesome.

[trimom]

In Valley Forge, the Eagles are the home team....but please, that would be the Pittsburgh STEELERS!

[moonman]

Long before the American Revolution, William Penn allowed a lot of the Amish and Mennonite to settle west of the Schuylkill River. They were not given deed to the land though. They were actually squatters. This area, Valley Forge and beyond, was considered wilderness and the British never felt it necessary to defend because the people who lived there were mostly of German heritage and didn't have a dog in this fight.

While camped at Valley Forge during the winter, General Washington seen hundreds of his men freezing to death and hundreds more giving up and simply going back to their homes and families.

General Washington knew of these religious Germans (Amish and Mennonites) living nearby and approached them with a deal. Keep in mind that these people don't believe in any kind of war, killing and other harm to another human. The deal was, if they would join in on the fighting, and if victorious, deeds to land they were squatted on would be drawn up.

What do you think happened?