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# Welcome Brownie Girl Scout, Brownie Girl Scout Leaders, Parents, and Friends to Fort Necessity National Battlefield. We are happy you chose to visit our park as you earn your "Listening to the Past" Try-It.

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# With this book you will be able to complete four activities and earn your Try-It. So come and have fun and enjoy the park!

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# Dear Brownie Girl Scout Leader;

# We are happy to help your girls earn their "Listening to the Past" Try-It. What a great way to learn about our history.

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# Using this booklet the girls should be able to complete the Try-It. With the program offered by the park rangers the girls will finish Activity #5 *Acting Out* and Activity #6 *Games of the Past*. While at the park the girls can also complete Activity #2 *If These Buildings Could Talk*.

After visiting Fort Necessity the girls may read the two stories in the
booklet to complete Activity #4 *Tell Stories of the Past*. The booklet
also gives suggestions for Activity #1 and Activity #3. It should be
easy and fun to complete the "Listening to the Past" Try-It.

Try-Its can be purchased from the **Girl Scout Council Office**.

You should allow about 2 hours to complete the program. If you would
like you may picnic in the park's picnic area or in the grassy area near
the parking lot.

We are glad you chose to visit us with your Brownie Girls Scouts and
that we can help them learn and grow. We would like to know how you like
the program. Please give us your feedback.

Sincerely,

The Education Department

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

724-329-8124

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Activity #1 Community Stories

If you choose to do this activity after visiting Fort Necessity you may
want to find someone who remembers the big celebration at Fort Necessity
in 1954 or even someone who remembers the celebration in 1932! Ask her
or him what they remember and what their favorite part was. You may also
look for someone who remembered what Route 40 looked like when they were
young and how people travel on it. When the National Road was paved it
was given the name Route 40.

Try it and have fun!

![](media/image3.png){width="3.0131944444444443in"
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Park Ranger Ruth Martin at

Fort Necessity about 1950

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# Route 40 near Fort Necessity, 1932 

# Activity #2 If These Buildings could Talk

All right! By coming here you are on your way to completing your Try-It.

Here are some things we suggest you do. Do as many as you want to.

-   Read about the British soldier, French soldier, and American Indian
    in the visitor center

-   Read about finding the fort logs 1953

-   See the 10 minute slide show

-   Walk to the fort and read the signs along the way

Write down some interesting fact you learned.

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# Activity #3 Visit the Oldest Cemetery

This is another great activity you can do right after visiting Fort
Necessity. Just past Fort Necessity is the MOUNT WASHINGTON PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH. It has a very old cemetery.

Some of the people who worked at the Mount Washington Tavern are buried
here. Try to find the graves of:

-   Rebecca Sampey

-   James Sampey

To complete your Try-It:

1.  Find the oldest dates on the gravestones. Write them down. How old
    were the people when they died?

2.  Write down some of the most unusual names. What is the most common
    name?

3.  Take photographs, make rubbings or draw pictures of the most unusual
    gravestones. (Please note: The church has asked that Girl Scouts get
    permission before making a rubbing)

Use the space below to draw either Rebecca or James Sampey's Gravestone

# Activity #4 Tell Stories of the Past

You can read these stories after you leave Fort Necessity to help you
complete your Try-It, or you can find other stories about the past.

Both these stories are true! Look up the words in bold in the terms
section.

## **Queen Alliquippa**

Women who lived in the **British Colonies of America** could not do many
things women can do today. They were not allowed to vote or to be
elected to an office. So all the leaders were men.

But, this was not true for all of America. Queen Alliquippa was the
leader of a large group of Indians who lived near what is today
Pittsburgh. She was the main leader of her village and was very
powerful. As a leader she also talked to other Indian leaders, both men
and women.

Queen Alliquippa was a member of the Seneca tribe, one of the **Iroquois
Indian nations**. She and all of her people probably lived in
longhouses. These were long bark houses where several families would
live. Although she was old she still helped with the chores. The women
and girls tended the crops and took care of the children. The men and
the older boys hunted and were the warriors. Queen Alliquippa's village
was right near the **Ohio River**.![](media/image5.png){width="2.1875in"
height="2.613888888888889in"}

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The 1740s and 1750s were upsetting times for the Indians living near the
Ohio River. Many had only recently moved to the area. Most of them had
lived further east and had been pushed off their land by Pennsylvania
settlers. They liked their village, but now both the **French
Colonists** and the British Colonists wanted to control the Ohio River.
It looked like the two countries were about to fight over it! Queen
Alliquippa and all the Indians were worried. They tried to see whether
the French or the English would treat them the fairest. Which side would
give them the best deal when trading? Which side would let them stay on
their land?

Queen Alliquippa felt sure that the British would treat her village
better than the French. She strongly supported the British. Then in the
spring of 1754 the French captured the land near her village and she was
forced to leave.

She traveled south with her entire village. In June of 1754 she met with
George Washington. She and all her village camped in the meadow where
Fort Necessity stood. George Washington had a special favor to ask,
would her warriors help him in the fight against the French? The Indians
had a meeting to talk about George Washington's favor. Although Queen
Alliquippa supported the British, she and the other leaders thought
George Washington's army was too small and that this would not be the
best choice for her people. She moved with her village east, away from
the French to safety.

Do you think she made the right choice? Did George Washington and his
army do well at the Battle of Fort Necessity?

Later that same year Queen Alliquippa died. She was probably about 75
years old. She had been a very good leader of her village. She had also
been a good example for all the Indian girls.

**Terms:**

**British Colonies of America:** These are the 13 colonies that were
under the King of England. About 20 years after this battle these 13
colonies would fight against Britain for their freedom.

**Iroquois Indian nation:** There were many Indian tribes in America.
The Iroquois were one of the most powerful in Pennsylvania and New York.
They were made up of 6 different nations: the Seneca, the Mohawk, the
Onondaga, the Oneida, the Cayuga and the Tuscarora.

**Ohio River:** This river starts right in Pittsburgh! Two rivers come
together to form the Ohio River. Rivers were very important for
transportation.

**French Colonists:** The French colonists lived in Canada and had
trading posts throughout what is now the mid-western part of the United
States.

#### Rebecca Sampey

Rebecca and James Sampey became the owners of the Mount Washington
Tavern in 1840. They had operated **taverns** before and knew what to
do. Both Rebecca and James would have been very busy. The Mount
Washington Tavern stood on a very busy road, the **National Road**.

Thomas Searight lived on the National Road and wrote a book about it. He
wrote that the National Road was more like a busy city street than the
country road it really was. He also wrote that 24 horse **drawn**
coaches were counted at one time on the road, and you could always see
at least one large covered wagon drawn by six horses. His book also said
the herds of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep were so large that
they could not be counted. That was a busy road!

![](media/image7.png){width="2.5479166666666666in"
height="2.8097222222222222in"} All those people and all those animals
needed places to eat, drink and rest. The tavern provided these things
for travelers. Rebecca Sampey would have been in charge of the cooking
the food and setting up the rooms where travelers slept. James would
have taken care of the stables and the bar room. Everyday Rebecca would
make sure the food was cooked, the dishes were washed and the travelers
at the tavern served their meals. She would also make sure that the bed
sheets were washed each week; and each day fresh water, soap and towels
was taken to the traveler who were sleeping overnight. Rebecca also had
another big job; she had eight kids she had to take care of! Luckily
Rebecca had lots of people to help her do all the work, including her
older children.

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In 1844, only four years after getting the Mount Washington Tavern,
James Sampey died. Rebecca hired a manager to help her run the tavern.
That next year the tavern made \$4,000. That was a lot of money back
then.

In 1846 two of Rebecca's daughters and their husbands probably did a lot
of Rebecca's work at the tavern. Her daughters were Eliza, 24 years old
and Louisa, 20 years old. Rebecca lived on a nearby farm with her small
children. One of her daughters, Ellen, was only 2 years old!

The Mount Washington Tavern continued to make money until the railroads
made it across the Pennsylvania mountains. Passenger and **goods**
started to take the trains because they were faster and cheaper than
going on the National Road. Almost no one used the National Road. The
Mount Washington Tavern didn't have any traveler to help and closed. It
was sold in 1856.

Rebecca lived on her farm until 1862. She died 13 years later when she
was 74 years old. She was buried in the Mount Washington Presbyterian
Church Cemetery where you can still see her grave today. She had had a
very busy life.

**Terms:**

**Taverns:** A place where people and animals could eat, drink and rest
while traveling.

**National Road:** This is the first road built by the United States
government. It was a very good road, so many people traveled on it.

**Drawn:** A wagon or coach being pulled by an animal. Usually horses or
oxen were used.

**Goods:** Things that were to be sold. They were usually carried in
wagons on the National Road.

# Activity #5 Acting Out

Surprise! The park has something just for Brownie scouts. The chance to
dress up and act like a girl living at the Mount Washington Tavern!

You can pretend you are one of the five Sampey girls (there were also
three boys). The girls' names were Eliza, Louisa, Margaret, Mary Ann,
and Ellen.

After visiting the Mount Washington Tavern you may like to try "acting
out" butter making, one of the Sampey girls chores, at home or at one of
your scout meeting. The Sampey girls would have used a butter churn,
but, here is how to make butter at home.

### Making Butter

Supplies:

-   Heavy cream. It MUST be heavy cream, also called whipping cream.

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-   Several watertight containers, preferably small glass baby food jars

Put the heavy cream in the jars. Shake vigorously for about 5 minutes.
Stop when it starts to become solid. Pour off the water. Taste your
butter!

Try it!

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# Activity #6 Games of the Past

While visiting the Mount Washington Tavern you will learn some games
from the past and have an opportunity to teach them to other girls in
you troop.

If you would like to learn some more games here are two that would have
been played by children at the Mount Washington Tavern.

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# **Hop, Step and Jump**

Make a mark on the ground for the "starting point." About 30 feet away
make another mark, called the "spring." Line up behind the starting
point. Taking turns running to the spring. At the spring make first a
hop on one leg, then a long step, and finally a long jump with both feet
together. The girl who goes the furthest wins!

# **Word Charades**

Divide into groups of 4 or 5. Each group thinks of a word or chooses one
from a bunch that has been put in a hat. The groups then take several
minutes to make up a skit or charade they can use to act out the word
WITHOUT TALKING, POINTING OR WRITING. Then each group presents their
skit to the other groups, who try to guess the word. See how well you
can act and how well you can guess. Try it!