The Olden Times (Volume 1)

An Original Monthly Publication Devoted to the Preservation of Documents and Other Authentic Information in Relation to The Early Explorations and The Settlement and The Improvements of the Country Around The Head of The Ohio Edited by Neville B. Craig Esq.
Originally published in 1846, and reprinted in 1876, in 2 volumes contain one of the most significant collections of documents that pertain to the expansion, settlement and Indian wars of the frontier that would lead to independence from Great Britain and the land that would become Pennsylvania and Ohio. Mr. Craig was peculiarly fitted for such an undertaking. Born in a redoubt built by Colonel Bouquet in 1764, his life of more than three score and ten, was spent within a rifle-shot of the place of his birth. Familiar in his early years with many of the characters who appear upon these pages, in later life his antiquarian tastes led him to spend much of his time in searching and preserving everything relating to the early history of the country in and about the headwaters of the Ohio. These scare first hand accounts and primary material concerning the settlement of Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, military campaigns (e.g. English vs French, English vs Indians, Indian Wars) represent a lifetime of work by Mr. Craig and by most historians is considered to be an unrivaled collection of Western Pennsylvania/Ohio Valley important original source material.
The Olden Times was originally published as a monthly magazine in 1846-1847 with 24 numbers issued. These monthly publications resulted in enough material to be bound into two volumes, all together some eleven hundred pages, containing many documents, both rare and of great interest in some instances private journals of persons taking a prominent part in those early events.
Volume 1 contains, among other articles about Aboriginal history, information and letters written by prominent people on the Delaware, Shawnee, Iroquois, and their Indian traditions and displacement of the Indians as their land is settled by the whites. Washington s Journal of his first Campaign in 1753, Stobo s Letters, Colonel Armstrong s Taking of Kittanning, Christian Posts, Two Journals of Missions to the Shawnees, Colonel Bouquet s Expedition Against the Ohio Indians, Journals of George Croghan, and Washington s Journal of a Tour to the Ohio in 1770 are but other chapters in Volume 1. One of the most interesting chapters in Volume 1, however, is the very simple telling of the manners and customs of our forefathers as they moved westward and settled the land. Their habits of diet, dress and housekeeping are explained in detail and are very revealing. Volume 1 also has an index.
Volume 2 contains Ormby s Narratives of Campaigns of Colonel Forbes and Bouquet, History of Dunmore s War, History of Chief Logan s Speech, Lyon s Narrative of Captivity, and Colonel Conolly s Plot and Imprisionment. Translations of the celebrated and rare work upon Washington s Campaign Against the French Indians of the Ohio, printed by the French Government, entitled Memoire Precis des Faits, covering over 130 pages; Colonel Broadhead s Expedition, Arthur Lee s Journal of a Mission to the Indians in 1758, and Journal of General Butler for the same purpose, and Letters upon the Iroquois occupying more than 100 pages. The destruction of Hanna s Town, and the chapters on the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784, Regulations of Prices and Transactions at Ft. Pitt, and events leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 are extremely informative. Volume 2 also has an index.
These two volumes are an unrivaled collection of Western Pennsylvania/Ohio Valley important original source material. The intrinsic value and diversity of these collected works is priceless as many documents are unprocurable; being only available in private collections.