Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-22
DISCOVERY OF PITTSBURG.
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH. j

WRITTEN fOR THE D1SPATCHi
-ONE of the differences between George
Washington and Christopher Columbus is
that Columbus discovered America, but
Washington discovered Pittsburg. Among
the other patriotic associations which be-
long to this e2d day of February, that ought
| not to be forgotten
In the year l753 when Washington dis
covered Pittsburg, the French and the Eng
| lish were disputIng the possession of this
| continent In the Museum of the Propa-
ganda atRome hangs map of the world
| upon which Pope Alexander VI drew, one
| long-ago day. n dividing line across this
| Western hemisphere alloting half to Por-
! tugal and half to Spain. But in Washing
toms day, both of these nations had lost
| their grip upon this Northern territory, and
the fight had passed to other comhatants.
That contest was being fought which is not
yet finished, between the two great races,
the Latin and the English. Only week or
two ago, there seemed a possibility of
breaking out again of that old race feud
Nor will such a possibility pass into the
regions of the Impossible until that newt
able day arrives when this whole Western
world, from Patagonia to Hudson's Bay,
from one pole to the other, from the Aurora
Bofealls to the Southern cross, has come
into the light of English liberty, and under
the domination of English ideas. That is
the real outcome OF our plans for reciprocity.
You give us markets and we will give you
ideas. Let US exchange our goods and our
opinions Let us bring our ideals into con-
trast and comparison, first of all into con-
TACT and may the best survive. The day
will come when this will be an English
speaking hemisphere.
Wherein the Pioneers Differed.
BUT when Washington discovered
Pittsburg all the future was uncertain. The
French and the English were each aiming at
complete possession. The French held the
two great rivers the st. Lawrence and the
Mississippi the English held the sea. The
French built forts, the English planted
farms. The French settlement was military,
and thus temporary and alien, getting no
close hold upon the country. The English
settlement was civil and agricultural, OF the
kind that lasts The French were soldiers,
the English were the only genuine colonists.
Now along the lines of the two rivers the
French were setting their forts and in from
the seaboard, every year getting farther
into the interior, the English were setting
their farms. 1t was but o question of time
when the two great companies of settlers
should meet. 1t was quite evident that when
they met there would be trouble. 1t was
almost as evident that the place of their
meeting would be in the neighborhood of
Pittsburg.
The French made the first move The
Governor of Canada sent down troops and
supplies into this part of the country and
began the erection of forts. The Governor
of Virginia-whose name, Dinwiddie, is
called out every day by the conductor of the
Fifth avenue gable cars-sent up commits |
sioner with small escort to ask these intrus- |
i've Latins what they meant by encroaching |
upon English territory, and also to ascertain |
by quiet observation how well prepared the |
Frenchmen were to emphasize their claims. |
The commissioner chosen by Dinwiddie for
this important and difficult errand was |
George Washington.
Young but Experienced.
GEORGE WASHINGTON was then only |
q years ofage. But he was a member, as |
heir to his brother, of the Ohio Company |
which had for its object the colonization of |
this valley, and he was, moreover, young |
man of singular good sense and efficiency.
who had already had some sight of the
world, and knew men, and particularly
knew Indians, and was an experienced
In October, 1853, George
Washington set ont to interview these un-
welcome visitors from France, and, on the
way, to make the discovery of Pittsburg
The expedition set out from Willis Creek,
which is now the town of Cumberland, in
Maryland. From Cumberland they started
in November over country which had ir
those days no road whatever, good or bad,
and in the face of unusual storms of rain
and snow-for they ha6 an sold
fashioned winter" in those days
and at last reached Turtle Creek.
Here they found the Monongahela
even with its banks. There was no possibil
itv of getting the pack-horses over with their
loads. They, accordingly. put their baggage
into a canoe. with two men to take it down
the river, while Washington and his escort,
swimming their horses over, were to ride
down over the few miles of land, and meet
the boat at the junction of the rivers at "the
Point"
How Pittsburg Was Discovered.
1T had been determined beforehand that
a fort should be built about ten miles back
from the fork of the Ohio, near the wigwam
Of friendly Indian named Shingles But
when George Washington rode down over
this fair peninsula, down past Braddock's
Field. which he was eventually to see again,
past Swissvale and Edgewood, and
through the East End,
and so along the Indian trail which
was the Fifth avenue or the Penn avenue
Of the eighteenth century, and reined up at
the meeting place of the three rivers, he was
Of another opinion. He had already decided
that the most important place Just then on |
the whole American continent was here at
Pittsburg. Here the English might best |
make their desired interruption in that long
line OF forts which the French were hoping
10 extend from Quebec to New Orleans
was discovered!
Washington went II miles down the Ohio
20 an Indian village, where he held con-
ference with the Indian Chiefs The Indians |
we're on the side of the French Like rnanv |
,ther ignorant folk, they believed that a
sword is stouter than a ploughshare; they
,ould not be persuaded that the people who
ived on farms were stronger than the men |
who lived in forts.
From the banks of the Ohio, the party
went to Franklin, which was then named
Venango. Franklin was then inha bited by |
few Frenchmen, thence their course was
10 the headquarters of the French COM |
nandant at Fort lie Boeuf. Here Washington |
lot an answer to Dinwiddies letter, and I
having looked the situation over with his (
wise eyes, went home with many adyen-
ures by the way, to make his report.
One Hundred and Thirty-Six Years Ago. ,
GOVERNOR DINwIDDIE welcomed i
discovery of Pittsburg Steps S
we're at once taken to raise force of men /
o build and hold a fort here at the junction
# the rivers. And Captain Trent went for ,
ward with a band of frontiersmen to begin i
he building. On the 22d of February, a /
hundred and thirty-six years ago this day. s
rent and his workmen, were getting
ogs together down at "the Point" while
Washington at Alexandria was getting |
nen together-and finding the task hard
nd slow one-for the Pittsburg expedition.
Winter passed before the regiments were
eady. At last, in April, 1754, Washington