In 1791, Alexander Hamilton’s Federal excise tax on whiskey caused the Whiskey Rebellion among Scotch-Irish farmers in Western Pennsylvania. George Washington, as President, took charge of having Federal troops to put down this misunderstood ethnic tax Rebellion, which these Scotch-Irish natives thought was only against them. It was at this time, while traveling through the lower end of the Oley Valley en route to Western Pennsylvania, that he and Rev. Henry Muhlenberg stopped off to eat at the White Horse Tavern in Douglassville in the lower Oley Valley. During the American Revolution, Patriotic farmers provided hundreds of wagons for winning our freedom with a number of six-horse teams besides flour and iron supplies from our foundries and mills in the vast Oley Valley basin.
However, the most popular aspect of trading with the natives of the Oley Valley for Philadelphians was not their iron manufacturing, but their Americana regional food dishes that became the delight of visitors who ate at their wayside Inns, which followed native Rhineland recipe specialties of these German American immigrants. Backed by bountiful harvests in the East Penn Valley, PA Dutch American citizens shared their home cooking of hearth breads, apple butter and Schmear Kase (commercially, Philadelphia cream cheese) with the city folk of Philadelphia, not to mention soft pretzels, potato chips and shoofly pie. These food staples were eaten by area natives when they traveled to far away early American farm Markets.
Thereby, native country foods of the PA Deitsch people of the Valley were apparent in every early American community as their red, white and blue Conestoga wagons were a common sight to every road leading to Philadelphia. Four and six horse teams were used to drive to and from Philadelphia to stock up with supplies from its seaport, an arduous task that was not taken lightly! Driven usually by six-horse teams of Conestoga horses, though, even the smallest eight bow wagon seemed to be overwhelming to any pedestrian. But 11 or 13 bow wagons were very huge and intimidating and had to be pulled by eight-horse teams. Therefore, the very sight of an American Conestoga wagon driving down the streets of Philadelphia in bold red, white and blue was a symbolic presence along with bold horses’ hooves becoming the type of dramatic feeling we wanted in our star spangled United States flag.
After America won our independence from England, these Conestoga wagons became the wagon of choice in our Westward expansion. And as patriotism reigned, if one were to list the significant Contributions of the Pennsylvania Dutch to the American culture, foremost among these would be the Pennsylvania Long Rifle and the Conestoga wagon, paramount for our Westward expansion. For 100 years (1750-1850), these two inventions were the trademarks of a courageous people whose ingenuity, creativity and love of life would never die. The masterful craftsmanship and folk art embellishment found on both the Pennsylvania Long Rifle and the Conestoga wagon remain proof of their importance to the early pioneer and are today, along with the American bald eagle, symbols of our national heritage.
Richard L.T. Orth is assistant director of the American Folklife Institute in Kutztown.
