TUNKHANNOCK, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — It was a special excursion on Saturday afternoon aboard the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad Company train for Revolution on the Rails, organized by the Lackawanna Historical Society.
Passengers traveled via the train from Wilkes-Barre Scranton Regional Station in Pittston to Riverside Park in Tunkhannock alongside Revolutionary War actors, the Jersey Grays, to learn about Sullivan’s March of 1779 and the historical impact across the Wyoming Valley
“We’re combining a little bit of our early colonial history with our industrial history, which is all part of the 250 years of the country, so Lackawanna Historical Society is very excited to help teach this lesson,” Mary Ann Savakinus, Director of the Lackawanna Historical Society, said.
Sullivan’s March was a significant event in the United States’ history that saw several British-allied tribes attacking settlers on the American frontier, including in the Wyoming Valley, and resulted in George Washington sending General John Sullivan to destroy the enemy tribes.
However, it is also a very controversial event because the response from Washington and Sullivan saw most of the enemy native tribes in the area wiped out, even though some of the natives were on the Americans’ side.
“It’s great history because it’s our story how we got here and you’ve got a melting pot of an army too and you even have other natives in this army fighting against other natives, so it gets very intense and complex,” Paul Tofani, Revolutionary War Reenactor of the Jersey Greys, said.
Despite the complexity, Tofani and the Jersey Greys emphasize the importance of telling the story of America’s past with folks who call this area home today.
“You’d be surprised how many people don’t know what things were like and it’s just such a gift to be able to interpret that to them personally and that’s what we set out to do and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Tofani said.