his birth family. He is also an interpreter who speaks Lenape. Like True Son, Del spent part of his youth living among the Lenape. While he is distrustful of Indians as a group, he is empathetic toward True Son. He allows his Lenape companions to accompany the youth on part of the journey to his white family. Half Arrow Half Arrow is True Son's favorite Lenape cousin. He accompanies him to Fort Pitt. He later travels to Paxton in search of True Son. Together they return to the Lenape village in Ohio. Uncle Wilse Uncle Wilse (Wilson Owens) is True Son's maternal White uncle. He is well known as a member of the Paxton Boys, a group notorious for having massacred a band of friendly Susquehannock Indians, also known as Conestoga or Conestogo, during frontier conflicts after settlers had been attacked by other Indians. True Son hates Wilse for having taken part in the massacre. Wilse believes that True Son has been brainwashed by the Lenape and can no longer be trusted as a white man. Historical context While The Light in the Forest is historical fiction, it is based on several historical persons, places, situations and events. The Tuscarawas River, where True Son's Lenape village was located, runs through northeastern Ohio. It meets the Walhonding River to form the Muskingum River near Coshocton. (“The Forks of the Muskingum” are mentioned frequently in the novel.) The Muskingum in turn meets the Ohio River near Marietta, Ohio. Fort Pitt, later developed as Pittsburgh, stood at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. A British post, it replaced the French Fort Duquesne in 1758 during the French and Indian War, which the British won in 1763. Harris’ Ferry was located in the area where True Son and his party crossed the Susquehanna. The city of Harrisburg developed at this site. Fort Hunter is now operated as a period museum north of the city. At one point, a Black slave tells True Son and Gordie about Kittatinny, Second, and Stony (or Short) mountains. These are modelled after Blue, Second and Third mountains north of present-day Harrisburg. The narrative provides an accurate description of the craggy crest of Third Mountain. The Lenape place name, Peshtank or Paxton, is referred to in Dauphin County's Upper, Middle, and Lower Paxton townships, as well as the borough of Paxtang. However, the “Paxton Township” referred to in