In 1746, David Brainerd visited an Indian on the shores of the Susquehanna River where Williamsport, Pennsylvania now stands. It was his most westward visit and at the time he suffered greatly from tuberculosis of which he died just fourteen months later. We will never know the eternal effects of his preaching but the question is the stuff of which fiction is made of. Ahanu, one of the last of the Susquehannock tribe, is disillusioned, deeply bitter, and on his own until he reaches the Great Island. On his way to the Island, he joins three other young braves who seek revenge for the changes forced upon them by the White man. But Ahanu finds that murdering innocent settlers will not satisfy his need for revenge. He has also discovered other feelings when he first lays eyes on Siskia, the chief's daughter. She wants nothing to do with him for her heart was promised to another--Pontiac, a young man full of ambition. But Pontiac's profession as a Praying Indian presses her father into action. They have lost enough of their heritage. He will not lose his daughter to the White man's God Spirit Rock follows the lives of Ahanu and Siskia as they find themselves in the throes of the French and Indian War, the western migration of Pennsylvania's tribes, and the horrors of the Gnadenhutten Massacre. But through it all, the faith which they have found proves to be the anchor that will keep them safely secured on the True Rock, Jesus Christ.
