Forgotten Heroes of the Maryland Frontier

Forgotten Heroes of the Maryland Frontier: Christopher Gist, Evan Shelby, Jr., Thomas Cresap

By Allan Powell

191 pages, hardcover, 8-1/2 X 11: $29.95

ISBN 0-9619995-1

Reviewed by Bill Scurlock

To call the three men examined in Forgotten Heroes “forgotten” is a bit of an overstatement, since many of us in muzzleloading have become familiar with them from our own historical research. However, to the general public, I’m sure that they are virtually unknown and forgotten. These frontier characters, Christopher Gist, Evan Shelby, Jr. and Thomas Cresap, played important and pivotal roles before, during and after the French and Indian War. Allan Powell, also the author of Maryland and the French & Indian War (reviewed in these pages in the July/August 1998 issue), deserves great credit for bringing the stories of these three neglected heroes to our attention as we approach the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War.

Moving from one home site to another, Gist, Shelby and Cresap left their mark as settlers, traders, soldiers, scouts, surveyors, road builders and even justices of the peace. Their heroics span the colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and beyond. Not only did these men help determine the outcome of the French and Indian War, but also their legacy continued with sons who contributed greatly to the success of the American Revolution.

Powell does a fine job of describing the political and economic background of the era, giving the reader a good understanding of the forces moving the events of this “world war.” His narrative is interspersed with first-person quotations from journals, letters and other correspondence from the time. In addition, his use of well-drawn maps keeps the reader on track with the movements of these men. A bonus in this book is a postscript that presents some very revealing figures on the cost of this war to Great Britain. That huge debt was the driving force behind British economic policies that alienated the American Colonies and provoked a violent separation from the empire.

Forgotten Heroes of the Maryland Frontier can be ordered from Allan Powell, 3 Bittersweet Drive, Hagerstown, MD 21740; phone 301-797-4916. Single copies cost $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping.