Tom ‘Tank’ Baird is an avocational archaeologist and local historian with Northcentral Chapter 8,of the Society for PA Archaeology. He’s introduced a lot of people to archaeology during the past ten years, as he became an avocational archaeologist, himself. He’s self-taught and spends much of his free time reading about prehistoric cultures in the Northeast, visiting museums and archaeology sites, and absorbing everything. That’s the difference between passion and interest. Tank doesn’t wait for an invitation. He seizes opportunities to learn with both hands and relishes everything.

Surface Collecting in the Montoursville

Archaeology Finds: Miscellaneous Points, Adze, Etc. The shared artifacts were found locally by Hunter Duffield. Hunter has been surface collecting in the Montoursville area and Dick Snyder called me and asked that I give him a hand. So let's look at the pictures. Picture 1 is a couple of Archaic points the [...]

2020-12-03T12:01:47-05:00By |Archaeology, News of Yesteryear, Tom 'Tank' Baird|
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‘Lost’ History of Andrew Montour in Perry County

“They were driven from the lands on which they had settled and on April 18, 1752, Andrew Montour was commissioned by the governor to settle and reside upon these Indian lands, the Indians on July 2, 1750, having petitioned for such occupation, and arrangements having been made with them for such occupation at a place [...]

2021-03-11T10:56:32-05:00By |Tom 'Tank' Baird|
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Plum Tree Massacre and Iroquois War on Colonial Expansion

The date was June 10th, 1778. In the east, the Revolutionary War raged and colonial forces under General George Washington were seeing key victories producing a turning point in the conflict. People living here in what would become Lycoming County PA were also part of that war. They were fighting for their lives against an [...]

2021-03-11T10:56:17-05:00By |Tom 'Tank' Baird|
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The Widaagh Monument in Antes Fort

So, what does a forty-five-foot tall, forty-one-ton monument on private land, the Susquehannock Indians, an ex-bank president in Indian dress-up, and a magical place called Lockabar have in common? Well, historian Carl Becker once said it best, "history is an imaginative creation" and that tongue-in-cheek remark never bore more truth than the story of the [...]

2021-03-11T11:02:56-05:00By |Tom 'Tank' Baird|
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