The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1904-09-22
oAowrH or AN INDUSTRY.
A Bit Of the History Of American steel
Making.

Making.
Upon a certain summer day in tho
year l755, there might have been wit
messed the advance Of small detach-
ment Of British and colonial troops,
not much over a thousand strong.
through the dense forests that lined
the banks of the Monongahssa river
few miles above the point where Il
merges with the Allegheny. The OBJ
iective Of the point 1f the expedition
was a small fort at the confluence q
these. rivers, which formed one o. the
most important links in that chain of
military posts and trading stations.
which the Nstless and far seeing en-
ergy Of the French colonial govern.
ment had strung out between the
mouths of the st. Lawrence and the
Mississippi. by way of the great lakes.
the Ohio. and the Mississippi valley.
In the van Of this little army, bearing
himself with a confidence born Of
much successful warfare In other
lands under less difficult conditions,
and needless of the. warning of his
young colonial aide de camp, George
Washington, Yho had command Of the
rear guard. Sas General Braddock.
Advancing in a close formation, which
was far better suited to the open space
of continental battle grounds than to
the all but iIupenetrable forest OF rhe
American frontier, the devoted band
marched right into an ambush OF the
French regulars and their Indian al
lies, and we're quickly cut to pieces.
Braddock was killed, and C)lonel
Washington, his military coat 2 ierced
more than once by the bullets Of uuv
French sharpshooters, barely succeed
ed in carrying the shattered remnants
of the force hack over the Alleghenies
into colonial territory The political
and military considerations that
prompted that disastrous expedition
were worthy OF better fate; and. in
deed subsequent history has proved
that in endeavoring to capture Fort
Du Quesne and Break the bounds
which the French were endeavoring to
set to the westward development OF
the British colonies, our forfathers
had taken a Just view Of the situation.
Today the objective point of the -expe-
dition forms the site of Pittsburg, one
Of the greatest centers Of Industrial
activity in the world; while hidden
among the back streets OF the city,
rescued from destruction and preserv'
ed through the care and munihcence
OF a local historical society, may still
be found Fort Du Quesne, or rather
It's immediate successor. Fort Pitt. A
few miles up the river, az the town OF
Braddoek and on the identical spot
where the battle occurred is TO be
found one of the greatest steel
works in the world; while for many
a mile along the banks Of the Mcnon-
gahelia where Braddock laboriously
cut his way through the woods. is to
be found the most wonderful aggre-
CATION Of coking ovens, blast furnaces,
and rolling mills In the world. AL
though now we are concerned merely
with the history OF the development Of
these industries, we may be pardoned
reference to the fact that in St.
Louis. 500 miles to the westward OF
the Braddock battlefield, the great re-
public which has sprung from that
strip OF colonies shat fringed the Allan
tic seacoast in 1855, is Just now ceie-
brating the Tooth anniversary OF its
acquisition from France Of the vast
territories from which that country
sought to bar the early colonials out
--Scientific American