Great Dismal Swamp, in Virginia and North Carolina, was once thought to be haunted. For generations of escaped slaves, says archaeologist Dan Sayers, the swamp was a haven. <\/p>\n
Most Americans know about the Underground Railroad, the route that allowed Southern slaves to escape North. Some slaves found freedom by hiding closer to home, however in Great Dismal Swamp. <\/p>\n
The swamp is a vast wetland in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. In George Washington's time, it was a million acres of trees, dark water, bears, bobcats, snakes and stinging insects. British settlers, who first arrived in 1607, believed the swamp was haunted. <\/p>\n
By 1620, some of their slaves may have overcome that fear to find freedom there. <\/p>\n
Hidden Islands Of Resistance Communities <\/p>\n
Daniel Sayers has been working for more than a decade in Great Dismal Swamp; here, in 2011, he displays a fire-cracked rock from a dig site. His new book pieces together the stories of those who once lived in settlements scattered on patches of dry land in the swamp. Steve Helber\/AP hide caption <\/p>\n
Daniel Sayers has been working for more than a decade in Great Dismal Swamp; here, in 2011, he displays a fire-cracked rock from a dig site. His new book pieces together the stories of those who once lived in settlements scattered on patches of dry land in the swamp. <\/p>\n
Today, 112,000 acres of swamp remain, and archaeologist Daniel Sayers has explored many of them. He's found large islands where escaped slaves settled. <\/p>\n
\"When you're walking through a thousand feet of the briars and the water, the mosquitoes are eating you alive, sweating bullets, and you're almost exhausted, and then suddenly your foot's no longer squishing in the peat but now it's walking on dry ground and crunchy leaves it blows your mind,\" Sayers says. \"You can't imagine people not living there.\" <\/p>\n
He's now written about life on these islands in a new book, A Desolate Place for a Defiant People. He believes 10 generations of escaped slaves lived here, along with Native Americans who'd been driven off their land and whites who were shunned by mainstream society. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the original post here: <\/p>\n
Fleeing To Dismal Swamp, Slaves And Outcasts Found Freedom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Great Dismal Swamp, in Virginia and North Carolina, was once thought to be haunted. Continue reading