Pittsburgh Point - Publisher's Page How Pittsburgh got its Name by Bryan A. Scott Pittsburgh as we know it today had its beginnings as a fur-trading post in the 17th century. The first written accounts of the area came from the French, English, and Dutch explorers who made contact with the Delaware, Shawnee, Seneca, and Iroquois Indian tribes who lived here. These explorers, and later George Washington, could not have explored Western Pennsylvania without the sophisticated network of trails left by the Indians, which are the basis for many of the important highways in the district today. In 1754 a Virginia based Ohio Company attempted to establish Fort Prince George at The Point. Four months later, the French drove out the settlers, demolished the stockade, and replaced it with Fort Duquesne. The French intended to make its settlement the center of a territory which extended from Montreal in Canada to New Orleans on the Gulf. The dreams vanished when the English captured the fort in 1758 and rebuilt it, as well as renamed it Fort Pitt. This was the largest fortress constructed by the English in the New World.

The fort and surrounding area was named in honor of England’s Prime Minister, William Pitt, and designated the garrison town of Pitts-borough, or Pittsburgh. However, the name of Pittsburgh was not always spelled Pittsburgh. Over 100 years ago, Pittsburgh was divided into two hostile camps: those who wanted to spell Pittsburgh with an “h” — as it has been from the beginning — and those who wanted to drop the “h” and conform to a more uniform and common spelling. In 1890, when industrial America was in love with conformity, the United States Board of Geographic Names was created to standardize spellings across the land. The board ruled that all American cities and towns pronounced “berg” would officially be spelled “burg.” The following year Pittsburgh was officially Pittsburg minus the “h.” Pittsburghers, who found the “h” needless were happy and found pride in saying “at least we have a name that’s 100 percent American.” The h-ers, who were in the majority, claimed their argument to be a matter of pride also.

They reasoned, “without the h, how will our great city be distinguished from the 12 other Pittsburgs in the country in places such as Kansas, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, and Arkansas?” The proponents of the “h” had history on their side. The fact is that Pittsburgh has officially had the “h” since its very birth. A letter, during the French and Indian War, from General John Forbes to the Prime Minister of England, William Pitt, is dated “Pittsbourgh, 27th November, 1758.” Also, in 1769 a survey by the Penn family referred to it as their “Manor of Pittsburgh.” With more and more evidence, the h-ers, led by William H. Davis who was the real catalyst, arranged a special meeting with the U.S. Geographical Board. After hearing the wealth of evidence the h-ers had presented, on July 19, 1911, the board relented: Pittsburg would again be Pittsburgh. But 20 year habits can be hard to break.

In 1921, the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce published a pamphlet, “How to Spell Pittsburgh,” that was sent to all major newspapers and institutions on the continent. Maybe they should have directed their efforts a little closer to home. Across town, the recently now defunct Pittsburgh Press remained staunchly non-h in its policy for nearly 20 years after the official restoration. Yes, Pittsburgh lost the “h” in its spelling in 1891. Twenty years later, bowing to popular pressure, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved restoration of the “h”. French and Indian War « 1600s | 1700s | 1800’s Battle at Fort Niagara The French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years War, began in the Spring on 1754. The dispute arose over the presence of British and French settlers in the Ohio River Valley (in and around present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), but resulted in battles that were fought far from there. Both the French and English wanted exclusive rights to the area because of its economic potential and plethora of fur-bearing wildlife. Despite attempts in Europe to solve the territory battle diplomatically, no compromise could be made.

French settlers began building forts along the Ohio River to protect the land from the British. Meanwhile, Robert Dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of Virginia (British), had begun issuing land-grants in the region for members of his colony. French and British military forces were both authorized by their respective governments to take the necessary measures to remove the other. Upon hearing news of the French forts, Dinwiddie sent 21 year-old George Washington to deliver a British ultimatum to French colonists. The French refused to leave and built a fort at the source of the Ohio River which they named Fort Duquesne. The following May, Washington, now promoted to lieutenant colonel, returned to the area with 160 armed Virginians. Washington then ambushed a French reconnaissance party at what came to be known as The Battle of Jumonville Glen. In preparation for a French counterattack, Washington ordered the construction of a makeshift stockade which he named Fort Necessity, south of present day Pittsburgh. Less than a month later, the French ambushed the fort, which resulted in Washington’s surrender, and the capture of Fort Necessity. The French promptly burned the fort to the ground and gained control of the region.

For two years, the French controlled the region. When British Commander Edward Braddock and forces attacked Fort Duquesne in 1755, his army was routed and he was killed. While the French successfully defended their interests in the Ohio Valley, they were losing the battles elsewhere in North America especially in points along the shores of Lake Ontario. In 1756, British Prime Minister William Pitt devised a comprehensive military plan to defeat the French, not only in the Ohio River Valley and North America, but in other regions of contention such as India, Africa, and the oceans. Pitt committed large numbers of troops to North America who had permission to garner supplies at will from civilians. Citizens were also forced to serve in the military. While his tactics were successful in driving back the French, he was forced to relent when a 1757 uprising concerning his laws nearly tore New York City apart. Nevertheless, the British had the upper hand in North America. In 1758, they captured Lake Ontario and Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. The capture of Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario effectively severed communications between the French headquarters in Montreal and their forces in the Ohio Valley. Louisbourg gave the British control of the Bay of St.

Lawrence. That same year, British forces teamed up with local Indians to take Fort Duquesne from the French. It was renamed Fort Pitt. The turning point in the war occurred on September 13, 1759, when British General James Wolfe defeated French forces at Quebec in a siege that lasted almost two months. Montreal and Detroit, the other two French strongholds would fall soon after. In 1760, the battered French Army surrendered at Montreal. The entire nation of Canada was relinquished to the British. As part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, The French lost not only Canada but also all lands in America east of the Mississippi River. Pittsburgh: History Early History The first humans to live in what is now southwestern Pennsylvania were descendants of Asians who had crossed the Bering Straight and spread down through North America, hunting, gathering, and migrating, around 12 to 18 thousand years ago. About six thousand years ago, these Native Americans developed canoes and better tools for hunting and fishing; three thousand years ago, they learned to cultivate maize (corn), an agricultural revolution which led from a nomadic life to permanent villages.

In another thousand years, agriculture was thriving and so was trade between villages and even tribes. Trade was carried out via either individuals carrying goods over a complex system of footpaths throughout densely forested Pennsylvania, or by canoes up and down rivers. The coming of Europeans is what is likely to have wiped out the original native tribe of the Pittsburgh region, the Monongahela. Spread of European diseases to which the natives had no resistance, plus the fur trade resulting in depleted game supply, are theorized to have contributed to the disappearance of all humans from vast sections of western Pennsylvania in the 1600s. Soon, however, other displaced tribes from the south and east of Iroquois and Algonquian origins, especially the Shawnee, Seneca, Susquehannock, and the Lenni Lenape (Delaware), moved in to take their place. French And British Vie For Strategic Location Even in these early days, both British and French realized the strategic value of the wilderness location at the forks of the Ohio, a meeting place to trade for furs with the Indians. The French saw the Ohio River Valley as the only way to connect New France (Canada) with their Louisiana Territory.

They claimed the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and any river that flowed into it. The British had colonized the East Coast and were now hungry to push westward. A young Colonel George Washington, sent on a surveying mission to the area in 1755, observed that it was "extremely well situated for a fort, having command of both rivers." Wash-ington's party left a tiny group of men to build Fort Prince George for the British, which the French easily outnumbered and captured without bloodshed later that same year. The French troops built a stronger Fort Duquesne there at "the Point," and held it for three years. Again without bloodshed, the English took back control in 1758 as the treaty ending the French and Indian War was signed in Europe. The French simply burnt down the fort and vacated the region. The English then built Fort Pitt, in honor of William Pitt, their Prime Minister; Fort Pitt was the largest and most elaborate fort in the colonies at that time. A small village that was first known as "Pittsborough" sprouted up around the fort. A 1763 addition, the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, still stands as the oldest building in Pittsburgh today.

The Whiskey Rebellion The Pittsburgh region's economy was largely agricultural through most of the 1700s, growing from mere subsistence to having a surplus, especially in grains. Farmers found they could make better profits, especially in shipping, by turning their surplus grain into alcohol and bartering it. President George Washington, who had at age 23 noted the importance of Pittsburgh, had to face his first real challenge as President and the first challenge to the new country's Constitution, in a conflict over that alcohol that became known as the Whiskey Rebellion. The fledgling Federal government had decided to levy its first tax against whiskey, but the farmers argued they didn't have cash to pay taxes on bartered goods, and marched in protest. Washington had to send troops to squelch the protest and enforce the tax laws. Gateway to the West Because travel was quite difficult over the Allegheny Mountains, Pittsburghers learned it was better to produce goods themselves rather than pay and wait for items to be shipped from the east.

The city's population was only about 300 by the 1790s, but many were skilled craftsmen such as blacksmiths, weavers, shoemakers, saddlers, tanners, brewers, cabinet makers, tinsmiths, and other artisans who could transform the region's agricultural products into goods that could be used or easily shipped and sold downriver. The first and largest industry emerging in the 1800s was boat building—both flatboats to transport waves of pioneers and goods downriver, and keelboats, which a strong crew could propel upstream as well. In 1795 James O'Hara and Isaac Craig started a glass factory, an important development since glass was the hardest material to transport. Its success prompted other glass factories to crop up around the area, becoming its second biggest industry. Pittsburgh increasingly became known as the "Gateway to the West," a jumping-off point for people to more easily continue down the river after the arduous crossing of the mountains. Travel both ways on the rivers became easier in 1811 when Robert Fulton, with Nicholas Roosevelt, launched his first steamboat on western waters, the Pittsburgh-built New Orleans.

The 116-foot vessel reached its self-named destination safely, then continued to run regularly between New Orleans and Natchez. The amazing Pennsylvania Mainline Canal reached its terminus in Pittsburgh in 1830, further facilitating migration from Philadelphia westward by offering an easier alternative to crossing the daunting Allegheny Ridge. Plentiful natural resources of the region were constantly shipped in to the city, including enormous lumber rafts from northern forests, and barge after barge of coal pushed by steamboats up and down the Monongahela. In addition to being situated on one of the world's biggest coal deposits, Pittsburgh was also surrounded with oil, clay, limestone, natural gas, and sand suitable for glass. To supply iron needs for the War of 1812, foundries, rolling mills, machine shops, and forges sprang up on flat land along the rivers. With the growth of these factories and improved transportation, the population grew to allow Pittsburgh to incorporate as a city in 1816. Although Brownsville, Pennsylvania and Wheeling, West Virginia were early rivals to Pittsburgh's "Gateway to the West" title, Pittsburgh clinched it with the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1852.

"Hell With The Lid Off" As the 1800s wore on, Pittsburgh became known as the "Smoky City" due to manufacturing, steamboats, and household heating, all fueled with coal. The continued growth of the railroads plus demands of the Civil War increased the need for manufacturing. Earlier, iron furnaces had been run by charcoal, and thus were mostly located in rural places where wood was plentiful. However, when the coke-fueled blast furnace was invented, factory owners could consolidate and move their operations right to the riversides where coal, of which coke is a purified byproduct, could be conveniently delivered. This consolidation allowed them to keep prices down and remain competetive, even though iron making was still a small business of master craftsmen and not yet the huge operations of later years. Near the end of the 1800s, Birmingham, now Pittsburgh's South Side, had about 70 glass factories and was the world's largest supplier of glass. With railroad and river transportation boosting industry, other types of factories flourished as well, including five large and several small textile mills which employed about 3,000 workers in the late 1850s.

In the 1860's, Pittsburgh was the world's largest refiner of petroleum products. The oil lamp, which in pre-electricity days was standard wherever gas lighting was unavailable, had been powered by increasingly rare and expensive whale oil, until it was found that the petroleum in the ground in western Pennsylvania could be put to similar uses. The refinery boom was brief, ending when John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil attracted the business to Cleveland. Steel City With the invention of the Bessemer Converter, the making of steel changed from an expensive, high quality metal worked by a skilled artisan to being mass produced by relatively unskilled labor. Andrew Carnegie opened the Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock in 1875 and brought inexpensive, mass-produced steel to the Pittsburgh area. Carnegie had been an executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad, but quit to take the opportunity to manufacture the stronger Bessemer steel rails he knew the railroad intended to use. He hired engineers to further streamline and mechanize the steel making process so as to maximize the profits of mass production. Carnegie's meeting and dealing with another major entrepreneur of the day, Henry Clay Frick, etched an important page in history.

Frick was a self-made millionaire before he turned 30; he had formed a company to buy land rich in coal, which he processed into industrial coke, an essential steel making ingredient. Frick managed to buy out many of his competitors and became a major supplier to the burgeoning steel industry. The two formed a union that soured, ending in what is called the Homestead Strike, a lockout that ended in 10 deaths and many injuries, even necessitating intervention by the Pennsylvania National Guard. Carnegie and Frick became bitter enemies over the episode, a feud they took to their graves. Still, the Carnegie and Frick names are nearly synonymous with philanthropic causes in Pittsburgh today; their legacies bestowed priceless gifts to the city in the form of libraries, schools, parks, and museums, in addition to bridges, railroads, and factories. Somewhat less prominent but equally important, other local employers such as Westinghouse, Alcoa, and Heinz were also on the forefront of improving working conditions and of supporting cultural life in the community.

A Modern Pittsburgh Emerges From the late 1800s, Pittsburgh's population more than doubled to more than a million people in the metropolitan area by 1910, and the character of its downtown began to change from factories and residences to more office buildings. Banking activity increased so much to keep up with the booming economy that a section along Fourth Avenue became known as Pittsburgh's Wall Street. This period also saw great progress in public works, as water filtration and sewer systems were completed and electric lines and pipes for natural gas installed. Because commuting was still a luxury most mill workers could not afford, people continued to live, shop, and worship in the same self-sufficient communities where they worked. Pittsburgh today remains a city of neighborhoods, many of which still strongly reflect varied ethnic roots. The coming of the trolleys in the late 1890s and of the automobile soon after helped to connect neighborhoods a bit more, and allowed some of the white collar manager's families to begin to populate the city's first middle class suburbs such as Shadyside, Dormont, and West View. Some were concerned about this city that held such great wealth for some, yet squalid conditions for many others.

A boom in social programs, instituting hospitals and other services and general cleaning up of the city began, but was hindered by local events such as a devastating flood in 1936, and national events including the Great Depression and World Wars I and II. After World War II, Pittsburgh began to concentrate on giving itself a make-over, including river clean-up and air pollution controls, and new building projects under the umbrella heading Renaissance I. Democrats and Republicans, led by Mayor David Lawrence and banker Richard King Mellon, actually worked together on the face-lift. Some of the Renaissance projects were successful, such as Gateway Center, an office tower complex completed in the 1950s; and Point State Park at the end of Downtown's "Golden Triangle," officially opened in 1974, with a fountain foaming high into the air at the very point where the rivers join. Others were considered less successful, such as the razing of the Lower Hill District in order to build the Civic Arena, which was highly criticized for breaking up a tightly knit and artistically thriving African American community and leaving the neighborhood far worse off than it had been.

Throughout the 1960s many major construction projects continued to revamp the city in East Liberty and Allegheny Center neighborhoods as well as downtown. In 1970, the last game was played at the Pittsburgh Pirate's Forbes Field, and Three Rivers Stadium, along with the U.S. Steel Building, (later changed to USX Tower) were the last buildings to be completed under Renaissance I. By the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Pittsburgh's reign as one of the titans in the world of Big Steel had neared its end. The number of steel workers in the Pittsburgh area dropped from 90,000 in 1980 to 44,000 in just four years. U.S. Steel, formed when Elbert Gary and J.P. Morgan bought Carnegie Steel, lost $561 million in only one quarter in 1980. The city's population, which had peaked in 1950 at over 676,000, dropped to about 423,000 by 1980.

Unemployment rates soared as the city's leaders scrambled to reinvent the local economy on a new base of service, health, and education fields; high tech industries; riverfront development; and regional tourism. Despite fluctuations in the economy, Renaissance II forged ahead through the 1980s, giving the city many of its signature skyline buildings such as Mellon Bank Center, One Oxford Center, PPG Plaza, Fifth Avenue Place, and the USX (U.S. Steel) Building. Through the 1990s, the transition from heavy manufacturing to new, mostly high tech industries took place, as Pittsburgh today stands at the forefront of medical research and computer and robotics technologies, as well as a center for arts and culture. Historical Information: Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 1212 Smallman St., Pittsburgh, PA 15222; telephone (412)454-6000 Ten Facts About George Washington and the French & Indian War · George Washington's Mount Vernon George Washington was a raw and ambitious 21-year old when he was first sent to the Ohio Valley to confront the growing French presence in the region. His actions sparked the French & Indian War. 1.

Virginia's governor sent 21-year old Maj. George Washington to deliver an ultimatum to the French Control of the expansive Ohio Valley region, especially near the joining of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers (modern day Pittsburgh), was of great interest to both the British and their French rivals. Rivers like the Ohio, which connected to the Mississippi, were essential transit corridors for goods produced in this fertile region. Concerned by reports of French expansion into the Ohio Valley, Virginia Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old Major George Washington of the Virginia Regiment on a mission to confront the French forces. Washington was to deliver a message from the governor demanding that the French leave the region and halt their harassment of English traders. Washington departed Williamsburg, Virginia in October 1753 and made his way into the rugged trans- Appalachian region with Jacob Van Braam, a family friend and French speaker, and Christopher Gist, an Ohio company trader and guide. On December 11, 1753, amidst a raging snowstorm, Washington arrived and was politely received by Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre at Fort LeBoeuf.

After reviewing Dinwiddie's letter, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre calmly wrote a reply stating that the French king's claim to the Ohio Valley was "incontestable." Washington's return to Virginia during the winter of 1753 was a perilous one, but the group safely returned to Williamsburg after traveling almost 900 miles in two and a half winter months. Learn More: Washington's 1753 Allegheny Expedition 2. Washington's family along with many of his political allies had strong economic interests in the Ohio Valley Royal Governor Robert Dinwiddie, George William Fairfax, George Mason, and George's half-brothers Lawrence and Augustine Washington were all shareholders in the Ohio Company. Founded in 1749, the Ohio Company was created to help encourage settlement and development of the vast Ohio Valley. Granted 200,000 acres (with the potential for an additional 300,000 acres) between the Kanawha and Monongahela Rivers, the Ohio Company shareholders were economically threatened by the French incursion into these granted lands.

In addition to the larger geopolitical issues at stake, the principal shareholders of the Ohio Company, George Washington included, were also personally motivated to push the French out of the region. Map: Washington in the French & Indian War 3. Washington's account of his actions in the Ohio Valley made him a celebrity in North America and Britain Shortly after his return to Williamsburg in January 1754, George Washington sat down and wrote a detailed account of his journey to the Ohio Valley and a description of all that he had seen. This account was so well received by Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie that he had Maj. Washington's journal published in both Williamsburg and in London. The Journal of Major George Washington included not only Washington's careful account of his experiences in the Ohio country, but also Dinwiddie's letter to the French and the French reply. The Journal of Major George Washington appeared in monograph form and was published in various newspapers in both Britain and America. The account not only helped to inform the American and British populations of the perceived growing French threat in the Ohio Valley, but also made young George Washington a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic. Read More: The Journal of Major George Washington 4.

Washington's very first battle ignited a world war Responding to the defiant French, Lt. Governor Dinwiddie ordered the newly promoted Lt. Col. George Washington and approximately 160 Virginia militia to return to the Ohio country in March of 1754. Dinwiddie wanted Washington to "act on the defensive," but also clearly empowered Washington to "make Prisoners of or kill & destroy…" all those who resisted British control of the region. Eager to send their own diplomatic directive demanding an English withdrawal from the region, a French force of 35 soldiers commanded by Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville camped in a rocky ravine not far from Washington's encampment at the Great Meadows (now in Fayette County, Pennsylvania). Accompanied by Tanacharison, a Seneca chief (also known as the Half-King) and 12 native warriors, Washington led a party of 40 militiamen on an all night march towards the French position. On May 28, 1754, Washington's party stealthily approached the French camp at dawn.

Finally spotted at close range by the French, shots rang out and a vigorous firefight erupted in the wooded wilderness. Washington's forces quickly overwhelmed the surprised French force and killed 13 soldiers and captured another 21. Washington later wrote of his first military engagement with a certain amount of martial enthusiasm. "I fortunately escaped without any wound, for the right wing, where I stood, was exposed to and received all the enemy's fire, and it was the part where the man was killed, and the rest wounded. I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me there is something charming in the sound." Both sides claimed that the other fired first, but what neither side disputed was that this event deep in the American wilderness helped spark a war that would ultimately spread to places as far away as Europe, Africa, and India. Learn More: Skirmish at Jumonville Glen 5. Washington surrendered to the French at Fort Necessity After learning of the attack at Jumonville Glen, Claude-Pierre Pecaudy de Contrecoeur, the veteran French commander at Fort Duquesne, ordered Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, Ensign Jumonville's brother, to assail Washington and his force near Great Meadows.

De Villiers left Fort Duquesne with nearly 600 French soldiers and Canadian militiamen, accompanied by 100 native allies. Aware of the onset of a powerful French column, Washington busily fortified his position at Great Meadows. Despite receiving additional reinforcements, Washington's bedraggled force of around 400 men remained outnumbered by the approaching French. Even more concerning, the small circular wooden fort – named Fort Necessity - built in the center of the meadow was poorly situated and vulnerable to fire from the nearby wooded hills that circled the position. On July 1, 1754, the large combined French and native forces reached the Great Meadows. Washington gathered his troops and retreated into Fort Necessity where on a rainy July 3rd the French began firing on the surrounded English. Sensing the hopelessness of his situation, Washington agreed to surrender to the French. The surrender terms, written in French, poorly translated, and soaking wet allowed Washington and his troops to return to Virginia in peace, but one clause in the document had Washington admitting that he had "assassinated" Ensign Jumonville – something that Washington hotly contested despite his signature on the document.

The Battle of Great Meadows proved to be the only time that Washington surrendered to an enemy in battle. Read More: The Articles of Capitulation, Fort Necessity 6. Washington chafed at not being able to secure a royal commission in the British army The young, ambitious George Washington was keenly aware that his Virginia militia rank was looked down upon by those in the British military. British regular officers, with their royal commissions, regularly dismissed provincial militia officers and sought to have even their most junior officers placed above more senior ranking militia officers. During the 1755 Braddock expedition, Washington became an unpaid, volunteer aide-de-camp to Braddock rather than assume his militia rank and be subjected to the embarrassment of being subordinate to junior officers. Washington's interest in obtaining a royal commission became so strong that he traveled to Boston to meet with Governor William Shirley, who was the acting commander in chief after Gen. Braddock's death. Washington was unsuccessful in obtaining a royal commission, but Shirley did issue a decree that officers in the Virginia militia would outrank British officers of lower rank. 7.

Washington's leadership at the Battle of Monongahela helped save the remnants of Braddock's army In the spring of 1755, a column of 2,100 British Regulars and 500 colonial militia commanded by Major General Edward Braddock, set out from Virginia to advance upon and take the French stronghold at Fort Duquesne. Braddock's column faced the daunting challenge of moving their men and material over the rough, densely wooded Allegheny Mountains. George Washington accompanied Braddock's column as an aide-de-camp to the general. Washington, who knew the terrain well, was recovering from a terrible case of dysentery as Braddock's force reached the Monongahela River ten miles from Fort Duquesne. In a wooded ravine on the far side of the river, Braddock's leading force of 1,300 men was suddenly attacked and defeated by a smaller French and native force on July 9, 1755 at the Battle of Monongahela. During the attack, most of the senior British officers, including Gen. Edward Braddock were killed or severely wounded.

With panic in the air, George Washington quickly rode into the fray and helped to reestablish some amount of order. During the savage fight, Washington had two horses shot out from underneath him and his coat was pierced by four musket balls. Washington's cool leadership helped many of the surviving soldiers to effectively escape the onslaught. Despite the British loss of 977 killed or wounded, Washington was lauded as the "hero of Monongahela" by Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie and was given the rank of colonel in command of the 1,200 man Virginia Regiment. Learn More: Braddock's Defeat 8. Gen. Edward Braddock's red commander sash is in the Mount Vernon collection In the aftermath of the British defeat at the Battle of Monongahela, George Washington helped to lead the defeated remnants of Braddock's army back towards Colonel Thomas Dunbar's camp and the army's reserve. Braddock who had been severely wounded in the battle, succumbed to his wounds on July 13, 1755 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the middle of the narrow road that his troops were using.

According to Washington family legend, Edward Braddock presented his red commander's sash to Washington, as the only uninjured aide on Braddock's staff and the leader who helped to save the army from further catastrophe. This sash – Braddock's Sash – was a symbol of command and the gift represented a powerful gesture to the young Virginian. In 1846, this same sash was presented to another war hero, Zachary Taylor, and later returned to Mount Vernon in 1918. Video: How the Braddock Sash was made 9. Washington led the Virginia Regiment in Forbes' successful advance that captured Fort Duquesne George Washington, who had been a part of two failed efforts to take Fort Duquesne, commanded the Virginia militia forces attached to Brig. Gen. John Forbes's expedition against the French stronghold at the Forks of the Ohio from 1757-1758. Commanding a strong force of almost 2,000 British Regulars and 5,000 colonial militia, Forbes chose to drive westwards along the southern border of Pennsylvania instead of along the more southerly Braddock road – the path that Washington has strongly recommended.

Operating from the recently established Fort Ligonier, Colonel Washington's Virginians participated in a number of operations in the area east of the French position. On November 24, 1758, Washington led his troops on an advance that occupied the smoking ruins of the abandoned Fort Duquesne. After almost five years of hard marching, combat, and countless setbacks, Washington was finally able to stand at the British controlled forks of the Ohio. 10. Washington learned many important lessons from his French & Indian War experiences The French & Indian War provided George Washington with many important experiences and examples that helped to shape this future Founding Father. As a young, ambitious 21-year old, Washington had been exposed to the realities of life at the edges of British North America, and been asked to lead and negotiate with experienced native and French commanders. As part of Braddock's command, Washington took the opportunity to read military manuals, treatises, and military histories. He practiced the art of creating clear and effective orders by transcribing orders issued by more experienced British officers around him.

In more practical military terms, Washington's French & Indian War experience taught the young officer much about how to organize supply, how to dispense military justice, how to command, how to build forts, and how to manage subordinates. Even though he was denied a royal commission, Washington did all he could to emulate the habits, manners, and actions of the regular officers around him. As historian Fred Anderson states, "Washington at age twenty-seven, was not yet the man he would be at age forty or fifty, but he had come an immense distance in five years' time. And the hard road he had traveled from Jumonville's Glen, in ways he would not comprehend for years to come, had done much to prepare him for the harder road that lay ahead." The French and Indian War, Fort Necessity, Fort Pitt, and Fort Ligonier | Living US History The French and Indian War, Fort Necessity, Fort Pitt, and Fort Ligonier Posted on September 29, 2014 by Ms. Andi Maples Our studies have recently covered the French and Indian War. There are many sites of interest related to this conflict in the Maryland and Pennsylvania region that I wish to share with you.

First, some background on the war in this area. The war, fought between 1756 and 1763, was a contest between England and France. The early battles centered on the need for control of the Ohio River Valley. Many British colonists from Virginia and Pennsylvania had settled in this wilderness territory setting up trading posts starting in the 1740’s. The French, who had long claimed this region, began to build forts to strengthen that claim and at the same time, curtail the ability of the British to expand into the Ohio Valley. In an attempt to determine the intentions of the French in the Ohio Valley, the governor of Virginia sent then 21 year old George Washington to deliver a formal protest and learn of future plans and movements of the French. As he traveled as a embracery to meet with French leaders north of what is today Pittsburgh, he came upon the location where the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers joined to form the Ohio River (which today is the site of the city of Pittsburgh) and determined this would be an excellent site for a British fort. At Washington’s recommendation to the governor, the fort was started with a force of 40 men.

Washington realizing the need for more men to finish and defend the fort, returned to Virginia. On his return to the fort with an additional 120 men, he learned the news that Fort Necessity Photo Credit: Wikipedia the fort had surrendered to the French (The French renamed the fort Duquesne). Washington, with the rank of colonel in the Virginia militia, quickly built a makeshift fort they called Fort Necessity in an area known as Great Meadows an hour southeast of Fort Duquesne. Knowing the French were coming, Washington and his men left Fort Necessity in an attempt to take Fort Duquesne. Hearing from his scouts that they were badly outnumbered, he returned to Fort Necessity and prepared for the coming assault. On July 3, 1754, The French with their Indian allies attacked the fort. After a day’s exchange of fire, and a downpour that flooded the marshy land and destroyed Washington’s gunpowder, Washington surrendered. After a brief negotiation, the French allowed Washington and his forces to return to Virginia. This encounter is viewed by many historians as the first shots of the French and Indian War.

Now the British were even more determined to take Fort Duquesne and stop the French. In order to accomplish this, the British Government sent General Edward Braddock to the colonies. With 2,400 men made up of regulars of the British army, a Virginia militia headed by George Washington, artillery experts, and engineers to cut roads and build bridges, Braddock set out in the spring of 1755 to take Fort Duquesne. The slow, labored pace crossing mountains and streams began to frustrate the general. Being within 9 miles of the fort, he agreed with Washington’s idea to take 1,500 of his men and proceed onward, leaving his supplies behind. On July 7, 1755, as they neared the location of Fort Duquesne and without warning, 300 French and their 600 Indian allies attacked from behind trees from all sides causing mass confusion for the British forces. Braddock continued to order his men to stay in formation against Washington’s pleas to have the men disburse. The British suffered huge casualties. General Braddock was shot in the fighting and a few days later died of his wounds.

He was buried on July 14th near Fort Necessity, on the side of the road his men built. This road would eventually be called the National Road (Route 40). In the end, George Washington and only 450 men returned to Virginia. Fort Ligonier Photo Credit: Wikipedia The French continued their success against the British until 1758 when the newPrimeMinister of Britain, William Pitt, assumed leadership of the war efforts. One of these campaigns was a full scale attempt to take Fort Duquesne in October of 1758. The British built a number of forts including Fort Ligonier, 60 miles from the Fort Duquesne, as staging forts to attack the French. The French and their Indian allies decide to attack Fort Ligonier before the British could reach the French fortress. After a day of fighting, the French suffered heavy losses and retreated. The British followed (yes, George Washington was here as well) only to find Fort Duquesne set on fire and abandoned by the French. The British soon rebuilt the fort and named it Fort Pitt after the British Prime Minister, hence, the name Pittsburgh today.

Over the next few years, the French eventually lost most of their forts to the British in the land they called New France. With the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, the Ohio Valley was now officially in British hands. Places to Visit: What was the French and Indian War? The Seven Years War Summary/Facts Photo by: Pinpin Creative Commons Whose War Is It? There are so many interesting topics in American history and one of these fascinating stories is that of the French and Indian War. This occurred towards the end of the colonial period. This part of history has been given several names. The traditional name is the “French-Indian War” and it was named so because in British America, wars were named depending on who was the King or Queen at the time of the war. When this war happened, King George was the current king but there was already a war named after him (“King George’s War”) in the 1740s, thus the name the “French and Indian War” was adopted instead.

This war is also sometimes referred to as the Seven Years’ War, making reference to the seven years between the official declaration of war and the signing of the treaty, although the battles had already begun even before the official declaration of war. Britain and France During this time, France and Britain had colonies all over the Americas and Canada. Between and around these colonies were the American-Indian tribes. They were the real natives of North America and Canada. The reason for all the colonizing that was happening was that of trade. They wanted to establish trade routes so that they could easily move around and across the country. And essentially, that is where everything began. What does Britain have to do with anything? It’s called the French and Indian War! Well, the name is really just misleading. The Indians referred to are the American-Indian natives who fought with the British during the war (but this is also quite misleading since some of them also fought with the French). The piece of land they were fighting over was the Ohio River Valley (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania today). At that time, the Ohio River Valley had a lot of wildlife that could be hunted and skinned for their fur.

Fur was what the British and French wanted to trade, so to have control and monopoly over that area would give them a very big advantage in trading. The Ohio River Valley also had a lot of economic potential because so it really was worth fighting over. Free Trade & Alliances It all started when a Frenchman, Celoron, led an expedition to Ohio. His main objective was to ensure French ownership over the land. They knew that it was owned by the Native American Indians and that the British were around the area. Celoron was to find out how much influence the British may have had, and also to impress the American Indians with their power. Throughout this expedition, when Celoron encountered the British traders or merchants, he would tell them that the French owned the territory and that they should leave. When he finally encountered some American Indians, they told him that they, and not the French nor the British, owned Ohio and regardless of what the French said or did, they would continue trading with the British. Celoron even told their chief that they must cease trading with the British but the chief simply ignored him. The British saw what was happening and they decided that as long as there was French presence in the area, they would not be safe.

So some of the British colonists set up Ohio Company in order to strengthen their control and to develop settlements and trade over the Ohio region. They were even able to set up a fort, with the cooperation of the American Indians. The previously mentioned King George’s War ended with a treaty, an agreement between States. This treaty contained some focus on the land disputes between the British and the French. Thus they decided to hold negotiations so that they could see if they could agree and compromise as to who would own what land. The problem with the negotiations was that the representatives of Britain and France were not flexible in their positions. They all wanted to have everything go their way so of course they could not agree on anything. The negotiations were a failure. Business & Politics During this time, there were some small encounters between the French and the British resulting in a few deaths. Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia at that time, was an investor in the Ohio Company and he knew that if the French stayed, he and his business would be in jeopardy. He sent a young George Washington, a 21-year-old major, and a small party to a French Fort. Washington delivered a letter to the commander there demanding that the French immediately leave Ohio Country.

The commander politely declined, saying “As to the Summons you send me to retire, I do not think myself to obey it.” That really was a correct response since the British did not have power over the French to be able to compel any of them to leave. But Dinwiddie nevertheless sent the letter first before immediately sending troops as a protocol. He needed to first ask the French commander to leave and to settle the controversy civilly before he used force to oust the French from Ohio. Skirmishes The French built Fort Duquesne at the source of the Ohio River. At first it was Washington who tried to build a fort there but the French attacked him and built their own fort. Washington then made his way again to Fort Duquesne. On his way, he learned of a French scouting or reconnaissance party and decided to ambush them. That ambush is now known as the Battle of the Jumonville Glen. Jumonville was the name of the commanding officer of the French scouting party and it was the American-Indian Tanaghrisson who split open Jumonville’s head.

This was symbolic since Tanaghrisson’s people were more inclined to support the French and to show them and the British that he wanted the British as allies, he killed Jumonville in such a gruesome way. Later, Tanaghrisson would see that certain American-Indian tribes, precisely the people he wanted to influence, were already on the French side. Washington knew that their ambush would not be taken lightly by the French, and that they should not just sit idly by while waiting for the French to attack them, so he built a fort called Fort Necessity, south of Fort Duquesne. It was not really a fort, but rather it was merely a makeshift stockade so that they could put up a defense at the very least. The French attacked them, resulting in Washington’s surrender, the burning of Fort Necessity, and most importantly it resulted in the French’s wielding control over the region. Planned Invasion The British devised a comprehensive plan to oust the French. Braddock, Shirley, Johnson and Monckton were tasked to attack different parts of America and Canada that were controlled by the French. Braddock was the one who attacked Fort Duquesne but it ended in a disaster.

Braddock was killed and the French successfully controlled Ohio. The worst part of it was that the French were able to find the British attack plans! They found out about what Shirley and Johnson were going to do. Shirley’s attack also ended in disaster as it was unorganized and it showed how inexperienced he was in leading a large expedition. Johnson was seen as more of a threat so the French bigwig commanders focused on him. In the end of it all though, the battle was “inconclusive” since both sides withdrew. The only successful attack was that of Monckton, who was able to successfully take over a French fort. After all this, it was quite obvious that the advantage of the French was that their commanders were all veterans having participated in the King George’s War, while the British leaders were new in the field of battle, like Shirley. For awhile, the French, along with their American-Indian allies, were able to attack the British and win very conclusively in many forts and areas that the British controlled. During this time, there was a bit of tension between the French and their American-Indian allies since the French did not allow them to loot the defeated British camps.

They said that the battles in Europe were not fought that way, and the American-Indians grew angry. A New Plan The British were in a bind at that time. British Prime Minister Pitt, created a new plan against the French, not only in the Americas but also in the other places they were fighting over, such as Africa and India. He sent a lot of troops to North America. They took supplies at will from the civilians with permission from the government. The civilians were also forced to fight with the military. The British started to gain momentum and have the upper hand. In order to cut off the supplies to the French-controlled regions, the British set up a blockade along the French coastline. The French thus had few supplies, and to top it all, they did not have a very successful harvest, and they had harsh winters. The British set up the Forbes Expedition, where Forbes, along with their American-Indian allies, was successfully able to regain the Ohio. The French were forced to leave Fort Duquesne, giving the British full control over the Ohio River Valley. The fort was then renamed Fort Pitt. They were also able to take over the great French fort called Louisbourg. The takeover of these two forts was deemed victories for the British.

Retaliate or Negotiate The French, however, did not give up the fight. When the British invaded Carillon, a French fort, they lost. There were only 3,600 Frenchmen that defeated the 18,000-strong British military force, including their American-Indian allies. This victory has become very famous because of that. Victory for the British was decided when British General Wolfe was able to take control of Quebec, one of France’s main headquarters in North America. The siege took about two months and the battle was brutal. The commanders of both France and Britain were killed in battle, but it was the British that came out victorious. The British were able to stop French relief ships from docking, and at the same time, it attacked Montreal from three sides. Almost automatically, Montreal and Detroit, the rest of France’s headquarters, fell as well. After taking quite a beating, the French army finally surrendered in Montreal in 1760. The French Governor Vaudreuil was able to negotiate with the British General Amherst. They agreed that any Frenchman who wanted to stay in America can do so with the freedom to practice their Roman Catholic tradition. They could also keep their property without being bothered.

The British gave the wounded and sick French troops treatment and they were all returned to France on British ships with a promise that they will not participate in the war forthwith. Treaty of Paris Everything the French colonized in North America was turned over to the British. After so much war and bloodshed, the French and British were finally able to reach an agreement through the Treaty of Paris. The British offered either North America (only the parts east of the Mississippi) or the Caribbean islands to the French. The French chose the Caribbean islands because it was rich with sugar and spices and it was easier to defend. Apparently, the British did not need this because they had their own sources of sugar. Spain was also part of the Treaty of Paris since they also owned a few parts of North America. They were given Cuba by the British (which was really taken from them), and they gave up Florida. Under the Treaty of Paris, all States were allowed to navigate the Mississippi. This signaled the end of the French and Indian War. What happened to the American-Indians?

Those who were allied with the French were very dissatisfied by the British rule because the British refused to give their leaders gifts, like the French did, and also because of the massive influx of British into their land, they became displaced. This gave rise to the Pontiac Rebellion, but that is another story altogether. 8 responses to “French and Indian War” Pittsburgh was once part of Washington County, but there are stranger stories.... | Washington County News | Observer-Reporter Pittsburgh was once part of Washington County, but there are stranger stories.... July 9, 2016 Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter “Point of View,” a bronze sculpture by James A. West, has stood along Grandview Avenue in Pittsburgh since 2006. It depicts Seneca leader Guyasuta meeting George Washington in 1770. Order a Print Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter On a recent Sunday, pleasure boats dotted the rivers around Pittsburgh’s scenic Point State Park. The French Fort Duquesne, later known as the British and American Fort Pitt, was a superb strategic location during a time when rivers served as superhighways. Order a Print Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter Why are Pittsburgh professional sports teams’ colors black and gold?

British Prime Minister William Pitt chose the combination. A translation of the Latin motto is “By Divine Providence.” Order a Print Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter Benjamin Franklin advocated settling disputed ownership of land in Southwestern Pennsylvania by forming a 14th colony. Order a Print Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter The 252-year-old Fort Pitt Block House stands in contrast with the 49-story PPG Building’s spires. Order a Print Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter If Lord Dunmore had his way, the city wouldn’t be Pittsburgh, and it would be in Virginia, not Pennsylvania. Order a Print Imagine a world without Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates or Penguins. What if, instead, we were rooting for the Dunmore Mule Deer? Or the Dunmore Dragons? Never heard of Dunmore? He was poised to take Pittsburgh by force back in the 1700s. And not on behalf of a European power, but for Virginia. Yes, Virginia.

And Dunmore was one of at least two Virginians who set their sights on the the triangle long before it was known as “golden.” As Pittsburgh takes note of its bicentennial as a city this weekend, the Fort Pitt Museum, across from its namesake Block House in Point State Park, is a treasure trove of the city’s earliest history, including the period when Pittsburgh was part of Washington County. When European monarchs granted land to subjects establishing New World colonies, as King Charles II had granted Pennsylvania to William Penn, they were working with only the most rudimentary – and often inaccurate – maps. Neither did they regard the status of North America’s original inhabitants. It’s little wonder that territorial disputes arose. One way to resolve boundary disputes, even today, is to conduct a survey. A famous surveyor who passed through the area as part of a diplomatic mission at the behest of Virginia officials was George Washington, who reported on a French threat at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers in about 1753. France and Britain were wangling over supremacy in what they called the New World, a conflict that erupted in the French and Indian War from 1756 to 1763.

Robert Dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of Virginia, decided to build a fort on what’s now known as the point, said Darren Toth, a volunteer concierge at the Fort Pitt Museum. The French kicked out the Virginians and responded by constructing Fort Duquesne, naming it for the governor of New France. During the French and Indian War, the British took Fort Duquesne in 1758 and named it for William Pitt, a Londoner also known as the first Earl of Chatham. Pitt, Britain’s prime minister, gets credit for Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War because of his strategic decisions. George Washington left British military service in 1758, but a plaque the Daughters of the American Revolution placed at the Block House states that he visited the site of Fort Pitt that year and in 1770, when, according to historian Boyd Crumrine, Washington “made a journey by way of Braddock’s road and Fort Pitt and down the Ohio River to the Kanawha and kept a diary of his observations.” The tiny town around the fort was named Pittsburgh.

Rhyming with Edinburgh, Scotland, Pittsburgh, with an “h” at the end would have been pronounced by its founders as “Pitts-boro.” The end of hostilities between the English and French didn’t end the coveting of the forks of the Ohio. An effort to remove the Fort Pitt vicinity from Pennsylvania was championed by none other than Philadelphia’s famous Benjamin Franklin while he was in Britain. According to the VirginiaPlaces.org website, Franklin and Samuel Wharton, a representative of Ohio Company traders who lost assets during Pontiac’s War, sought land as compensation. Wharton and Franklin wanted a charter for a new colony named “Vandalia.” It would have contained Pittsburgh, a majority of what is now known as West Virginia; eastern Kentucky; and what is now Washington County and western Greene County in Pennsylvania. Franklin wasn’t the only person with influence in London. “The (heirs of William Penn) were not going to let us go,” Toth said. “The Monongahela River was very valuable flowing north through all that coal country.” Pennsylvania and Virginia were extremely large colonies compared with the square miles of Delaware, Rhode Island and Connecticut and several others in the original British 13.

As a display in the Fort Pitt Museum points out, “Boundaries outlined in William Penn’s 1681 charter for Pennsylvania conflicted with those of Maryland, Connecticut and Virginia. These boundaries were not seriously contested until the colonies began to grow.” John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore, was a native of Scotland who became Virginia’s governor. He sent an emissary in 1774 to enforce Virginia’s claim to an area “west of Laurel Hill” known as West Augusta. Virginia’s charter, revised in 1609, said the colony’s border extended “from sea to sea, west and northwest.” Lord Dunmore used a liberal interpretation of this to justify Virginia’s claims to Southwestern Pennsylvania. In 1774, Fort Pitt was known as Fort Dunmore. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, considered the place where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers met to form the Ohio part of Westmoreland County. Virginia preferred to call the area West Augusta County or Yohogania. Because of the Penns were Quakers and violence was against their religious beliefs, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania lacked a militia to muster against the Virginians, but some locals came to the rescue. Arthur St.

Clair – namesake of modern-day Upper St. Clair Township – was the justice of Westmoreland County, established in 1773, and he resisted the unfriendly takeover attempt. Were it not for St. Clair, “Washington County would’ve been in Virginia,” Toth said. “The two parties nearly caused a civil war until the revolution against Britain became their primary focus,” the museum points out. In the 1780s, the two states agreed to settle their conflicting claims. Washington County was formed from Westmoreland County in 1781, when it was a massive chunk of Western Pennsylvania wilderness that included modern-day Greene and Allegheny counties and part of Beaver County. Washington was the county seat, not Pittsburgh, although Pittsburgh was an important trading post during the seven years that Pittsburgh was part of Washington County. In 1780, Pittsburgh’s population was 150. It had grown to 4,800 by 1810, the third-largest town in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and Lancaster. Washington incorporated as a borough in 1810, but it did not become a thrid-class city until 1924.

A Fort Pitt Museum display tells visitors, “a great migration of people poured through Pittsburgh on their way west in the late 18th century. The Ohio River carried 18,000 settlers in the year 1788 alone. Craftsmen, sutlers, tradesmen, riverboat men, farmers, teachers, lawyers, traders, preachers, bankers, industrialists, free blacks and runaway slaves all found opportunities to forge a new life in the rough-and-ready village. With coal mining, glassmaking and boat building fueling expansion, Pittsburgh incorporated in 1816.” Steel wasn’t yet part of the mix; that would take a few more decades. Alas, Allegheny and Washington counties parted ways Sept. 24, 1788, by an act of the Legislature, and Pittsburgh joined Washington as a county seat for the newly-formed county, which would have its own courthouse in Pittsburgh. And, in the words of a beer slogan which still rings true when locals want to wrap something up: “That’s it, Fort Pitt.” Barbara Miller Staff Writer Barbara S. Miller covers politics, Washington County government and a variety of other topics for the Observer-Reporter.

She is a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College, majoring in English and history. Follow her on Twitter @reporterbarb. Pennsylvania: Ligonier Highland Games (Local Legacies: Celebrating Community Roots - Library of Congress) "Heavy" athletes prepare to compete in the caber toss Courtesy Ligonier Highland Games Ligonier Highland Games The first Scottish tartan kilt was first seen in the Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania in the year 1758 when soldiers of the famous 42nd Highland Regiment (Black Watch), under the command of General John Forbes, marched westward from Philadelphia to wrest control of the fort at the forks of the Ohio from the French. At Ligonier, which lay some 20 leagues west of Fort Duquesne, Forbes had a wooden fort constructed that would serve as a staging area for the final assault. The fort was named after Lord Ligonier, who was the Commander in Chief of the British Army at that time. The town of Ligonier, scene of the Ligonier Highland Games, takes its name from that fort. General Forbes led his troops to a victory that saw the French fleeing the area never to return.

Fort Duquesne was burned to the ground, and over its ashes rose a settlement named "Pittsburgh" by Forbes in honor of William Pitt, the British Prime Minister, who had proven to be a friend to the Scots. Following that conflict, known today as the French and Indian War, many of the Scottish soldiers were offered land in the newly won territory in lieu of being returned to their homeland. Many took advantage of the offer and began setting up homesteads in this heavily wooded wilderness. The Black Watch soldiers then saw further military action in Pontiac's Rebellion, in which Indians who were slaughtering white settlers west of the Alleghenies were defeated. It was then that the Scots, who formed the vast majority of settlers in the Ligonier area, started to create homes and to build a new nation. By the time of the Revolutionary War, it is estimated that one in three persons living in Western Pennsylvania was of Scottish descent. The Ulster Scots (Scotch Irish, whose families had been living in Northern Ireland prior to emigrating to America) enlisted as soldiers in the Continental Army and became the dependable backbone of Washington's army during the days of Valley Forge.

After the Revolutionary War, the Scots worked the land, worked the rivers moving people and goods westward, and mined rich veins of coal. A Scottish immigrant named Andrew Carnegie started a company that was to become the major steel producer in the world. It is this long and deep Scottish heritage that the Ligonier Highland Games in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania celebrates. Heavily treed and traversed by a swift mountain stream, the beautiful Laurel Highlands began to draw well-to-do Pittsburghers for summer recreation and family outings. In 1959, thanks to the encouragement of some prominent Pittsburghers, a modest Scottish fall festival to acknowledge the Highlands' Scottish heritage was begun. A charitable foundation, the Clan Donald Educational and Charitable Trust, was organized to operate the event. The Clan Donald Scottish Games, later called the Ligonier Highland Games, gathered some support and attendance grew modestly. In 1969, the Ligonier Highland Games drew a total attendance of about 1500. Operating at a loss each year, the Games faced a questionable future. An active public relations program, devised by David Peet, who took over the directorship of the Games in 1969, saved the Games.

Attendance showed a 50% increase in his first year of Peet's tenure, and continued to grow rapidly. Attendance now reaches an average of 10,000 people annually. Peet determined to offer a quality of competition that would draw top bands, dancers and athletes to the Games. The Games have continually expanded to include many aspects of Scottish culture. Military re-enactment groups demonstrate the life lived by those Scottish soldiers who first came to Fort Ligonier. Celtic harpers bring the ancient melodies of the Hebrides to life; Scottish fiddlers play lively jigs, reels and strathspeys. Scottish "heavy" athletes compete in events used by chieftains of old to select their most proficient men for battle. Showing the skills the go into creating colorful kilts and plaids, weaving and dyeing demonstrations are staged. Sixteen breeds of Scottish dogs are on display at the games. Rugby players compete for the Ligonier Cup. And at the Highland Games takes place the U.S. National Gaelic Mod, a competition of singing, poetry, and drama, all performed in the historic language of the Celtic people.

At the weekend portion of the festival, a piobaireachd competition hosts top pipers in a classical bagpipe open. On Saturday, the highlight of the festival occurs when 400 pipers and drummers, comprising a huge field of massed bands, march forward toward the assembled crowd. There are also track and field events, with an emphasis on the "heavy" events - weight throws of every sort: the hammer throw, the stone putt, the sheaf toss, and the caber toss, in which a 14'- to 17'-long tree trunk is flipped end over end. An informal Tug-of-War engages competitors of all ages and both sexes. Children's games take place for two hours in the morning and later in the afternoon, they are regaled with Scottish folk tales by Barra the Bard. Entertainers are on hand to sing, dance, and pipe both during the day and at the evening dinner party, which serves as a climax to the fall festival. On Sunday morning, there is a Presbyterian church service, and a short parade to Fort Ligonier, followed by free band concert in the town's band shell.

All during the Games, merchants sell authentic Scottish wares, such as woolens, bagpipes, handmade Celtic jewelry, recordings of Scottish music, pots of flowering heather, and edible treats such as shortbreads and Scottish meat pies. Proceeds from the Ligonier Highland Games fund awards for study in any approved workshop clinic in piping, drumming, or Highland dancing. A major scholarship grant of $7,500 is given for graduate study at a Scottish university of the applicants' choice. The project is documented with an 8-page report, a program from the 40th and 41st Annual Ligonier Highland Games (1998 and 1999), brochures, a newspaper coverage, and twenty-one 8 x 10 color photographs. Originally submitted by: John P. Murtha, Representative (12th District). More Local Legacies... The French and Indian War "The Seven Years War" The French and Indian War "The Seven Years War" miércoles, 26 de enero de 2011 A long and brutal battle between two European superpowers, France and England, for control of the upper Ohio River valley.

Fort Duquesne, guardian of the gateway to the west, was renamed Fort Pitt and within two years would become England's mightiest fortification in America. Although the bloody struggle for domination in the New World would not come to an end until the British victory on Quebec's Plains of Abraham and the total defeat of New France, the wheels had been set in motion for the colonies' fight for independence. The French and Indian War was precipitated through a series of altercations over rights to land in the Upper Ohio Valley. In April 1754, a force of French and Indians traveling down the Allegheny River, with orders from the governor-general of New France to claim this prized territory for France, encountered a small garrison at the forks of the Ohio. This was a strategic location for both the French, who sought unfettered access between their North American settlements on the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, and the British who craved fresh territory for their colonies' expansion. Both coveted the lucrative fur trade with the Indians beyond the Allegheny Mountains. The garrison in question was Fort Prince George, established some months earlier by the young Colonel George Washington while scouting for Virginia's Ohio Land Company.

Declaring the area "extremely well-situated for a fort, having command of both rivers," Washington established a British settlement that would eventually develop into the city of Pittsburgh. Fort Prince George was an unimposing trading post surrounded by a stockade, but it undoubtedly served as an obstacle to the French. Overpowered, the occupants surrendered and were permitted to vacate the fort with their tools and arms intact. The French then set about building their own massive fortification that they named Fort DuQuesne in honor of their governor-general. From this vantage point, they held sway over the Ohio Valley. However, their supremacy would be short-lived. Tensions escalated as the British returned time and again trying to reclaim the site. Under George Washington's command, a small force engaged and defeated a scouting party of French and Indians near Fort Duquesne. Unable to proceed against the superior French forces in the fort, Washington erected Fort Necessity at nearby Great Meadows. Within a few months, the French countered and the assault forced Washington to surrender Fort Necessity and return to Virginia. This was the first major battle in the French and Indian War.

Washington would return the following year, in July 1755, as a volunteer aide-de-camp for General Braddock to again attempt to rouse the French from Fort Duquesne. The battle proved a disaster for the British troops who were unaccustomed to the terrain, the weather, and the guerilla tactics of the Indians. General Braddock was killed in the melee but gave his name to the road his soldiers carved out of the western Pennsylvania wilderness. On May 15, 1756, with official declaration of hostilities that extended far beyond Pennsylvania, the Seven Years' War began between France and England. Involving all the major European powers, it was the first global conflagration that engulfed all the territories colonized by the French and English from North America to Europe, the West Indies, Africa and India. But the principle struggle remained in North America, where events would not bode well for the English until the elder William Pitt came to power as British Prime Minister in 1756. By the end of 1757, with increased British resources, greater demands on the colonists, and the French facing national bankruptcy, the tide began to turn.

In the summer of 1758, General John Forbes commanded an expedition of nearly 7,000 men over the Alleghenies, carving out a highway that would later be known as Forbes Road. An advance column under Major James Grant made an unsuccessful attempt to take over Fort Duquesne. Aware that Grant's troops were closing in, the French and Indians rushed out from the fort to prevent their advance from the area that is now known as Grant Street in Pittsburgh. Discovering that the French were now in a much weaker position, General Forbes' immense force descended on the fort in mid-November. They met no resistance, as the French had already burned and abandoned Fort Duquesne, and fled on the rivers. The years 1758-1759 also brought British victories in New France that culminated with the defeat of Quebec. On February 10, 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed by Great Britain, France and Spain, ending hostilities abroad and signaling British domination in North America. By terms of the treaty, France ceded Canada and all its territory east of the Mississippi River to England, and Spain yielded Florida to England.

The treaty signified the colonial and maritime supremacy of Great Britain. But that success would prove costly. The British Parliament's attempt to cover its overwhelming war debts and to pay for a continuing military presence in America by direct taxation of the colonists soon caused strained relations with the colonies and presaged the War of Independence.

Question: Which US city, originally named Fort Duquesne, is now named after a British Prime Minister?
Answer: Pittsburgh