The Wild Child

In the late spring or early summer of 1830, ten-year-old Lydia Shultz was living with her family on the slopes of Negro Mountain. Sent into the woods, as was the custom, to gather the cows, she did not return, and neighbors searched for her. Months passed before she was eventually found. During that time, she had been living off the land, eating berries and other foods nature provides, and had become quite wild, at times hiding from the searchers.

Pennsylvania · United States