The last two known York County Susquehannock Indian sites have recently been safely preserved.
The illustration above is from Herman Moll's 1720 map of North America, in the collection of the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives. It is very similar to, and probably based on, Augustine Herrman's 1670 contemporary illustration of the Oscar Leibhart fort.
The Oscar Leibhart site was purchased from the Grove family by The Farm and Natural Lands Trust of York County with funds provided through both a Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant and from the Archaeological Conservancy. The tract has been transferred to the Archaeological Conservancy, a national nonprofit group, for preservation. (I'm proud to be a member of the FNLT board, and that we could play a role in saving this irreplaceable historical site.)
The nearby Byrd Leibhart site, also in the Long Level area of Windsor Township, was acquired by York County last year from the owners of Lauxmont farms.
These two sites can now continue to yield more information, telling the story of the real first settlers of York County and how their contact with the European immigrants ultimately led to the Native Americans' downfall and near decimation.
In addition, the Oscar Leibhart site is also important because its location was probably supposed to mark the northern boundary of Maryland. Witnesses for Pennsylvania, however, convinced the court in London that the Indian fort referred to was further south. The Mason-Dixon Line survey came out of that case. If Maryland had prevailed, the city of York would now be in Maryland, as would the original part of Philadelphia.
