gxvt:
Kinzua by Matt Bango on Flickr.
The Death of General Braddock, Battle of Monongahela, French and Indian War 1755.
The soldier in the blue uniform is a young George Washington.
Oley Valley, Pennsylvania
As the Lenape legend goes, A beautiful woman, the wife of a powerful chief, became very ill. All the old medicine men were called in, and they powwowed and administered herb medicines, but all to no effect. The Lovely woman grew weaker and weaker. Finally, in desperation, the young chief journeyed to this oak tree, and there—-in solitude—-he offered up prayer to the Great Spirit, that his wife be saved.
His prayer was answered.
A few years later this same chief feared attacks from a hostile tribe. Again he went to the tree and prayed. The Great Spirit gave him guidance, The chief gathered blankets and beads and journeyed the camp of the enemy. His gifts were accepted, and before he left, he smoked the pipe of peace with the chief of the other tribe. From then on, the Sacred Oak was looked upon as the shrine tree of the Lenape. They went to the Sacred Oak in times of trouble to pray, and legend has it that help was always given to them.
=====
Fun fact
Elders of the Lenni Lenape tribe have certified the tree has been venerated for 480+ years. The current owner, a horticulturist, places the tree’s age at approximately 700 years.
Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge National Park, Valley Forge, PA
Photo credit: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3242/2991692247_80449557f7_o.jpg
(Credit: AP)
Five of Pennsylvania’s state universities — Kutztown, Shippensburg, Edinboro, Slippery Rock and Millersville — will now allow students to carry firearms at school, due to advice from attorneys in the governor’s office and state higher education office claiming that “blanket firearms bans were vulnerable to constitutional challenge and exposed the universities” to lawsuits. Penn State, the largest university in the state, is maintaining its ban on weapons on campus, with exceptions for hunting or other recreational firearms stored with police.