Good land–bad land: ecological knowledge and the settling of the old Northwest, 1755–1805

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe settlement of the Old Northwest and more specifically of the territory that became the state of Ohio did not take place according to the pattern of a slowly moving frontier. Instead, the land was settled in a very irregular way, with patches of settled land spreading along the Ohio and Scioto River from the south well up to the north. One reason for this irregular settlement pattern was knowledge about what was conceived as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ land. Based primarily on the narratives of early travelers and observers, this article analyzes the content, origin and political usage of ecological knowledge in the settlement of Ohio. How was ecological knowledge developed and how was it spread? To what extent was Indigenous knowledge included and where did it come from? How did knowledge transfer between the Indigenous knowledge system and the Euro-American knowledge system occur? Where was knowledge transfer successful and where did it fail?