There’s an old adage that in order to understand where you are going, you have to understand from whence you have come. That's particularly true for the Upper Delaware. It’s a significant ecological region with a rich history of innovation and an abundance of natural resources. With that, the more we know about the area’s history, the more we can appreciate the beauty and the abundance of this unique landscape. 

In this edition of Upper Delaware Magazine, we trace the careful stewardship of the original people, the Lenape, and their expulsion from their ancestral lands. We learn about the early Connecticut settlers who forged a subsistence lifestyle. We explore the historic significance of the building of the Roebling Aqueduct and the invention of the Gravity Railroad that moved coal from mines in Carbondale to Honesdale, PA, and then through the D&H Canal to the Hudson River and New York City. 

We learn about the lives of the hoggees, children who were put to work walking with the barge mules, and the network of the rural granges that connected farmers and built community. 

Lastly, we celebrate how bald eagles were brought back from near extinction through thoughtful science and careful stewardship.

It is from these historic roots that we forge a collective and unique sense of place. A place that will serve us as we forge a future in a changing world. 

Laurie Stuart, section editor