Soon after the Piligrims and other early settlers came to this country,cities began to grow along the Atlantic coast.By the early 1700s,there were several big cities with many people.People began to move island,or away from the coast.Many families moved into the Pennsylvania forests.There they would build a log cabin and rough cornhusk beds and start farming.Many of these settlers came from Germany,Ireland and Scotland.They moved to Pennsylvania for many reasons.Some,family wanted to own their own land.

These farmers grew food to sell to  the big eastern cities like Philadelphia.These cities were growing very quickly.The people in them neeede more goods,or supplies,in order to live.Trappers and hunters also moved inland.They provided city people with goods from the forest.Forest goods included animal hides and furs for clothing and blankets.They used herbs to make medicines.

CLEARING THE LAND

Land west of Philadelphia was mostly wilderness.A wilderness is land that has not been changed by farms or buildings.Indians living in these forests had built villages and cleared some land for crops.However,most of the land was still covered by thick forests.

Farmers needed open space to build homes and plant crops.When they found a flat place near fresh water,they cleared the wilderness by cutting down trees.Then they built cabins from logs from the trees.Settlers needed a one-room log cabin and a corn crop to survive the winter.

Settlers could not survive without two important tools- an ax and rifle.They used axex to clear land,chop firewood,and cut logs for the cabin.Settlers used rifles to kill deer,bears,squirrels,and turkey.Without rifles,settlers would not have eaten much meat.

EVERYDAY LIFE

To survive,settlers had to make almost everything they needed themselves.In cities,people could buy goods from stores.There were no stores dep in the wilderness.Wood was the most important resource in the settlers everyday lives.Settlers used wood to build their cabins,and nearly everything that went inside.They used wood to make wagons,tools,cradles,benches,and bowls.Wilderness settlers often lived far apart,but they would gather from miles around to help a new neighbor raise logs for a new cabin.Settlers turned these log raising into a chance to visit.

After all the hard work of putting up a cabin,settlers enjoyed music,feasting,and storytelling.A finished log cabin might have looked like the one above.Like the Pilgrims,the Pennsylviania settlers learned many of the skills they needed from their Indian neighbors.In the Pennsylvania forests,these were the Delaware Indians.

Like the Wampanoag,the Delaware knew how to use the natural resources of the land.The Delaware taught the settlers how to grow corn,beans,and squash.The Indians even shared recipes for cooking thse foods.The Delaware also showed the settlers which wild herbs made the best medicines.