The Travels of Richard Traunter - (Early American Histories) (Paperback)

About the Book

"This work chronicles two treks of Richard Traunter's through the Native Southeast in the late seventeenth century, when a smallpox epidemic was killing unprecedented numbers of Indians, and when the Indian slave trade was contributing to depopulation. Traunter was a trader who made pacts with several Indian nations to increase profits for himself and his employer, William Byrd I, and by extension, to advance the English colonial enterprise"--

Book Synopsis

In the final years of the seventeenth century, Richard Traunter--an experienced Indian trader fluent in three Indigenous languages--made a number of trips into the interior of Virginia and the Carolina colonies, keeping a record of his travels and the people he encountered. This primary-source edition of Traunter's account makes his crucial text, held in private collections for more than three hundred years, widely available for the first time.

Traunter's journals shed light on colonial society, Indigenous cultures, and evolving politics, offering a precious glimpse into a world in dramatic transition. He describes rarely referenced Native peoples, details diplomatic efforts, and relates the dreadful impact of a smallpox epidemic then raging through the region. In concert with Eno Will, the head man at Ajusher who accompanied Traunter on both treks, Traunter also helped establish trade pacts with eight Indigenous nations.

Part natural history, part adventure tale, all expertly contextualized by Sandra Dahlberg, Traunter's narrative provides a unique vantage point through which to view one of the most important periods in the colonial South and represents an invaluable resource for students and specialists alike.

Review Quotes

A revealing glimpse into the world of a colonial Virginia trader, providing a good primary source addition to the growing body of scholarship on the Native South. . . With her careful editing and research, Dahlberg has revealed a stark glimpse of the colonial South. Overall, The Travels of Richard Traunter is a brief primary source that will shed some light on this complex, destructive period in the history of Native and colonial America.-- "Journal of Southern History"

Recommended to academic libraries with an interest in resources about American Indians and colonial history. -- "American Library Association"

A very important manuscript. Traunter's account explores a shadowy realm--the interior, piedmont region of what is now Virginia and the Carolinas--at a crucial point in its history and sheds new light on Native life at a tumultuous time: one of disease, war, enslavement, and the fracturing and coalescing of these piedmont peoples. Traunter is a knowledgeable guide, and he has a great deal to say.

--James H. Merrell, Vassar College, author of The Indians' New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors from European Contact through the Era of Removal

About the Author

Sandra L. Dahlberg is Professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown and the coeditor, with Vivyan Adair, of Reclaiming Class: Women, Poverty, and the Promise of Higher Education in America.