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The Road to Black Ned's Forge: A Story of Race, Sex, and Trade on the Colonial American Frontier * Turk McCleskey * Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014 * x, 326 pp. * $29.95
In a well-researched study of Virginia during the colonial era, Turk McCleskey provides an insightful analysis of Augusta County and its ties to settlements in Pennsylvania, Tidewater Virginia, and the Carolinas through migration and trade. He reveals how economic development and demographic growth changed social and political structures in a backcountry where settlers, slaves, hunters, and Indians met on contested ground. Drawing upon a wide range of primary sources, including court records, accounting ledgers, colonial statutes, wills, and perquotations, sonal correspondence, as well as carefully selected secondary literature, McCleskey demonstrates how the westward advance of the market economy changed patterns of interaction among an increasingly diverse population in search of prosperity, independence rooted in landownership, and freedom. In addition to a rich narrative, he includes a wealth of information in four appendices.
Describing the experiences and relationships of Edward Tarr, a...