there are multiple accounts, from both primary sources and historical interpretations, regarding the location of fort shirley; and each of these come along with their own specific complications and contradictions. the first account for the location of fort shirley after the colonial period appeared in a newspaper called the standing stone banner (published 1853-1855) that was edited by j. simpson africa and samuel g. whitaker. the banner's description appeared in the pennsylvania archives (hazard 1856, 458) during the first attempt to locate the frontier forts of pennsylvania.