Rattlesnake Colonel
Thomas Cresap
An American Paradox

Check out the Susquehanna National Heritage Area River Roots Blog Post on Rattlesnake Colonel

Paradox /ˈpār-uh-doks/ a situation, person, or thing

that combines contradictory features or qualities

  

Thomas Cresap’s life serves as a primer on Colonial American history. In addition to being at the forefront of the contentious border conflicts between the colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, he played a part in the French and Indian War, Pontiac’s Rebellion, and the American Revolution as an officer in the Maryland militia. Cresap was an active member of the Lower House of the Maryland Assembly, the Committee of Observation, the Sons of Liberty, and the Ohio Company of Virginia. Few individuals did more, over such a long period of time, to further America’s westward expansion into the Ohio Valley than Thomas Cresap, and his personal relationships with many of the most influential men of his time helped shape the frontier.

Despite all his positive contributions, Cresap was not always held in high regard by everyone. In Pennsylvania he was considered a quarrelsome and lawless ruffian known as the “Maryland Monster,” and many in the British army discounted Cresap as a “Rattlesnake Colonel.” However, settlers in Western Maryland regarded Cresap as a folk hero, and the Six Nations of the Iroquois affectionately called him “Big Spoon” for his generosity. In reality, Cresap was many things, including a frontiersman, soldier, trailblazer, ferryman, land speculator, trader, surveyor, politician, patriot, husband, and father.

Drawn from Colonial land records, legislative proceedings, journals, and personal correspondence, Rattlesnake Colonel chronicles Thomas Cresap’s controversial life and narrates the complicated political and military conflicts of eighteenth-century America in a comprehensive yet understandable way.

Buy it in Print ... $18.99 Paperback, $24.99 Hardback

Read the e-book  ... $8.99

Buy it in person ...

Pennsylvania

York County History Center
121 North Pershing Ave
York, PA 17401

Maryland

Book Center
15 N. Centre St.
Cumberland, MD  21502

West Virginia

South Branch Inn
1500 US Hwy 220N
Moorefield, WV   26836

Bonus Content

Cresap's Trip to Virginia

Read about Thomas Cresaps's trip to Virginia in 1727 and the road he would have travelled, the places he would have passed, his experiences with the Washington family and the unfortunate encounter with the Virginians which resulted in a murder and his return home to Pennsylvania. 

June 2024 Archaeological Dig
Cresap's Fort, Oldtown, MD

See pictures of some of the exciting artifacts from Thomas Cresap's cabin and storehouse site from the Tyler Bastion Field Session held  May 31 - June 10, 2024,  at Oldtown, Maryland. The archaeological dig was a joint effort conducted by the Maryland Historic Trust Office of Archaeology (MHT) and volunteers from the Western Maryland Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Maryland (ASM).  

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