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A CENTURY AND A HALF
OF
PITTSBURG AND HER PEOPLE
BY
JOHN NEWTON BOUCHER
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1908
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151
V. I.
COPYEIGHT, 1908, BY
LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY.
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PREFACE
The purpose of this work is to present a history of Pittsburg from its earliest days down to the present time, when the city is ready to cele- brate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its birth as an English settlement. Though the French from Canada had laid claim to the Fork of the Ohio, the dominion of the English speaking people began properly with the successful expedition of General John Forbes to capture Fort Duquesne from the French in 1758. For a third of a century after that the story of Pittsburg is made up of a strange mingling of tragedy and romance on the one hand, and of privations and exertions on the other. Though the reader of these pages is sometimes taken away from the immediate locality of which they treat, he will always find that the subject under consideration is one in which Pittsburg and her people were deeply concerned. The narrative as told here is made as nearly chronological as is possible with a local history, and the publishers feel confident that the author, Mr. John Newton Boucher, has not only laid before the readers in a pleasing and forceful manner the salient facts of the long and interesting story, but that he has included much of that purely antiquarian lore which is to many the most instructive and delightful feature of history.
The associate editors, as named in the prospectus of the work, were Mrs. James R. Mellon, Judge Samuel A. McClung, Father A. A. Lambing, LL. I)., and Chancellor Samuel B. McCormick, LL. D. of Pittsburg, and Mr. James M. Swank and John W. Jordan, LL. D., of Philadelphia, all of whom liave been potent either directly or indirectly in the preparation of the work. The editor drew largely from Mr. Swank^s writings in the chapters on iron, from Father Lambing's writings in the preparation of the earlier history and of a part of the church history as here given. Dr. McCormick has contributed the chapter on the University, while, the material for the chapters on charitable institutions, the work performed by women and the sketches of the noted women of the city, has been largely furnished by Mrs. Mellon. Mr. W. L. Clark performed most of the search work in the cities, spending many months in the libraries, newspaper offices, etc., and reporting regularly the result of his researches to the editor.
In preparing the work the author has consulted the wTitings of all who iiave, to any considerable degree, contributed 'to Pittsburg's history. He
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PREFACE
wishes us to particularly express the indebtedness of this work to the Standard History of Pittsburg, by Mr. Erasmus Wilson. From it he has, by special permission from its author, drawn copiously in the preparation of the chapters on banking, the early political history, slavery, etc. It is to be regretted, writes he, "that the Standard History is now out of print and that the pub- lishers of a work so replete in most interesting material concerning the city, should have given it to the world without a suitable index."
Mr. Boucher desires us to state further that he has been untrammelled in the preparation of the work, freely treating of events and men as he thought they deserved. If he has given too great a prominence to any subject, or has withheld from some true hero an encomium justly due him, it is a mistake in the judgment of the author, and is not due to any obligation on his part to eulogize or censure any person or event treated in these pages.
In view of the foregoing the publishers with great confidence submit A CENTURY AND A HALF OF PITTSBURG AND HER PEOPLE to the intelligent and public spirited citizens of the Iron City and of Western Pennsylvania, asking in return a careful consideration of the work.
THE PUBLISHERS.
New York, 1908.
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CONTENTS
VOLUME I.
PAGE
CHAPTER I. The Braddook Canipaigu 1
CHAPTER II. The Forbes Campaign 27
CHAPTER III. The Bouquet Campaign 43
CHAPTER IV. Titles to Lands In and Around Pittsburg 73
CHAPTER V. Formation of Westmoreland County 85
CHAPTER VI. Dunmore's War. — Disputed Boundary Between Virginia and Pennsylvania \H
CHAPTER VII. Early Courts of the County. — Severe Sentences. — Species of Slavery 110
CHAPTER VIII. The Indians of Southwestern Pennsylvania 119
CHAPTER IX. The Beginning of the Revolution. — The Hannastown Resolutions. — The New Con- stitution 130
CHAPTER X. The Revolution Continued. — The Various Regiments, Companies, etc. — Their Work,
Privations, etc 1-45
CHAPTER XI. The Revolution Continued. — Morgan ^s Rifles. — Difficulties Around .Fort Pitt 163
CHAPTER XII. The Close of the Revolution ' 182
CHAPTER XIII. Major-General Arthur St. Clair 202
CHAPTER XIV. Tories. — Early Forts and Block Houses 215
CHAPTER XV. Permanent Location of ('ounty Seat. — Attempts to Form a New County with
Pittsburg as Its Seat of Justice 224
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CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER XVI. The Burning of Hannastown 230
CHAPTER XVII. Formation of Allegheny County. — Copy of Old Petition Urging Passage of the Bill
Erecting It 239
CHAPTER XVlll. Pioneers of Pittsburg. — Their Habits, Customs and Hardships 252
CHAPTER XIX. The Beginning of the Town of Pittsburg, Its Streets, etc. — Washington's Last
Visit. — The Founding of Allegheny town 269
CHAPTER XX. The Early Thrift in Pittsburg.— -Sale of Fort Pitt. — Ordinance of 1787.— -Indian
Troubles. — ^Fort Lafayette. — Wayne 's Victory 279
CHAPTER XXI.
Early Census and Description of Pittsburg. — Predominating Nationality 292
CHAPTER XXIL Whiskey Insurrection 298
CHAPTER XXIII. Manufacturing. — Early Industries in Pittsburg 319
CHAPTER XXIV. The State Road.~The Philadelphia and Pittsburg Turnpike. — Plank Roads. — The
National Road • 329
CHAPTER XXV. Early Descriptions of Pittsburg. — ^Brackenridge, Royal, Gumming, Pope, etc 344
' CHAPTER XXVI. The War of 1812 360
CHAPTER XXVIL Navigation on the Ohio River. — Early Boat Building. — The First Steamboat; Slack- water Improvements on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers 370
CHAPTER XXVin. The Constitution. — Hamilton's American System. — Henry Baldwin. — Henry Clay... 376
CHAPTER XXIX. Politics of Early Pittsburg 383
CHAPTER XXX. Canals; Their Effect on the Commerce of Pittsburg 394
CHAPTER XXXI. Pittsburg's Prominent Visitors:* LaFayette, Dickens, Kossuth, The Prince of
Wales, Lincoln, Grant - 404
CHAPTER XXXn. Pittsburg Politics 1832-1856. — Formation of the Republican Party 422
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CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER XXXni. The Turnpike. — Stage Coach Days. — Taverns, etc 435
CHAPTER XXXIV. The Fire of 1845 : 446
CHAPTER XXXV. The Mexican War 450
CHAPTER XXXVI. The Allegheny County Bench 459
CHAPTER XXXVII. The Bar 489
CHAPTER XXXVin. Cotton Manufacture. — Lost Industries. — ^^Cotton, Oil Refining 506
CHAPTER XXXIX. Stephen C. Foster.— Richard Realf 512
CHAPTER XL. Temperance Movements in Pittsbnrg ' 525
CHAPTER XLI. The Anti-Slavery Movements in Pittsburg 532
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CHAPTER 1.
The Braddock Campaign.
There were two causes, differing widely from each other, which led to the first settlement of the region now embraced within the limits of Pittsburg. The one was the settlement of the French on the St. Lawrence river in the early years of the seventeenth century ; the other was the formation of the Ohio Com- pany by Virginia capitalists. The French in coming to America mainly entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence and sailed up the river, and in the seventeenth century had effected a colony which grew rapidly, and was afterwards called New France. They were tenacious of their rights, prompt in asserting themselves, and zealous in the exploration of the new country. In 1669 and 1670 Robert Chevalier de la Salle, one of the most noted explorers in American history, had penetrated the wilderness between the St. Lawrence and Allegheny rivers and sailing down the latter river and down the Ohio had discovered the falls where the city of Louisville, Kentucky, now stands. Later he explored the Mississ- ippi river and claimed for France all the region drained by these rivers and their tributaries. In this extravagant claim he was sustained, in a. measure by the international law of his day, and the claim was no more preposterous than that of England which claimed the entire continent "from sea to sea," because forsooth John Cabot had sailed up and down the Atlantic without perhaps even touching or penetrating the shore. This claim was strengthened from year to year by increased settlements and by new explorations on the part of the peo- ple of New France ; it was furthermore practically uncontested by any one until about the middle of the eighteenth century. By this time the French-Canadian settlements had greatly increased in numbers and in wealth. They had built cities and fortresses, and had sent explorers and missionaries to found settle- ments on almost every navigable stream and lake in the Northwest. They were also strongly entrenched for that time in Louisiana, for it must be remembered that many French vessels bearing emigrants for America and knowing that the middle Atlantic coast was being settled largely by the Britons, the emigrants had entered the Gulf of Mexico and founded the Louisiana settlements. Their object was to occupy and hold this vast region of territory for the French gov-
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2 A CENTURY AND A HALF OF
ernment, and to procure furs and skins which abounded in the new country, and which were purchased largely from the Indians.
The London Company was chartered by the English government in 1607 and in 1609. To it was granted all the land lying between a point two hundred miles south and a point two hundred miles north of Point Comfort, and this grant extended **into the land throughout from sea to sea." This vast domain, fronting four hundred miles on the Atlantic ocean, was called Virginia in honor of the Maiden Queen so noted in English history. By the middle of the seven- teenth century, A^irginia had likewise become strong, and while the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia had not been definitely determined, the A^irginians laid a general claim to the region surrounding the head waters of the Ohio river, but did little else to sustain the claim than to gradually extend their settlements westward. Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had in 17 16 organized an expedition, the object of which was to march westward and lay claim to it. They came as far west as the Shenandoah, where with due cere- mony the Governor assumed possession of all this fair country in the name of King George I.
In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized under a royal charter. Its chief officers were Robert Dinwiddie, the Governor, Lawrence and Augustine Washington, and John Hanbury, a London merchant. This Company was granted 500,000 acres of land west of the Allegheny mountains, to be located chiefly south of the Ohio river and between the Monongahela and Kanawha rivers. They had the privilege, however, of surveying a portion of these lands north of the Ohio river. Two hundred thousand acres were to be selected at once. By the terms of their charter the land was to be free from tax for ten years, but in return they were to settle one hundred families on it within seven years, and to build and maintain a fort for the protection of the settlers. The chief object of the Company was to divert the fur trade with the Indians from the French in the north and from Pennsylvania. This trade the Company thought they could carry on with great advantage over the northern traders by the waters of the Potomac, whose head waters were near those of the Mononga- hela and Youghiogheny rivers. A further object was to assert their right to this section and thus hold it for Virginia, for their claim had been heretofore merely a constructive one. If the reader will remember that this entire section was covered by a dense forest, inhabited only by Indians and wild animals, he will better understand the struggle between the French and the English for this prolific field, inviting alike to the dealer in furs and skins, and to the pioneer who sought to conquer the unbroken wilderness and carve for himself a home among its hills.
Great Britain and France had been at war. Though the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, signed October i, 1748, closed the war, it failed to establish the boundaries between the colonies of these two countries in America. The claim of neither of these two contesting colonies to the land around the head waters of the Ohio was perfect but each had a show of title which, by even a nomi-
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PITTSBURG AND HER PEOPLE 3
nal possession in the absence of opposition from the rightful claimant, might have ripened into a perfect title. The attempts of each colony for four or five years after the formation of the Ohio Company to substantiate its claims to this territory, though small in themseh es, had a great bearing on the country in th^ end, and must not be passed over slightingly by the careful student of Pittsburg history.
The explorer sent out by the French Canadians whose travels are most deeply fraught with interest to the student of Pittsburg history, was M. Celoron. In 1749 he was sent south to assert the claims of New France to the entire Ohio Valley. He came down the Allegheny river, which was then called the Upper Ohio, though sometimes it was calle'd La Belle Riviere, or Beautiful River. He was a captain of the troops of New France, and was a Chevalier of St. Louis. The second in his command was a Captain M. de Contrecoeur. There were also with him Father Bonnecamp, a Jesuit priest, eight subaltern officers, six cadets, twenty French soldiers, one hundred and eighty Canadians and thirty Indians. They started from La Chine near Montreal, on June isth, and were borne on their journey by twenty-three canoes. They came up the water of the St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario, and reached Niagara on July 6th. From there they journeyed by land, carrying their canoes, baggage and supplies through the forests to Lake Erie. They had an easy passage on Lake Erie to a point opposite Lake Chautauqua, where they again carried their outfit over the land some eight miles to the northern shores of the since famous lake. Thence by Conewango creek, they finally reached the Allegheny river on July 29th. On a tree standing on its banks Celoron nailed a plate bearing the arms of the King of France, and buried in the ground at the foot of a tree a leaden plate the inscription of which set forth that he had on the part of the King of France taken possession of the Ohio river, "and all of those which flow into it, and all of the tributaries on both sides as far as the source of said rivers as the preceding Kings of France have possessed or should possess them." On August 3rd, at a point eight miles below the mouth of French Creek they "passed a naked mountain, and near an immense stone upon which certain figures are rudely carved" he nailed another plate to a tree and buried a leaden plate similar to the first one. The immense stone now called the "Indian God," is yet lying on the left bank of the Allegheny river. So far as his journal indicates, these were the only plates used in the valley, and neither of them have ever been found.
Celoron at all times tried in every way to make friends with the Indians, and to enlist them in the cause of the French as against the English. He came upon several parties of Indian traders, one in particular consisting of six men and fifty horses carrying one hundred and fifty packages of furs. These he met at Chartiers Town, built by the Shawanese Indians, and near where the town of Tarentum now stands. By these traders he sent a letter to the governor of Pennsylvania which is still on file among the archives of the state. He also ordered the men to withdraw at once from the territory of the French King. In the letter he manifested his surprise to find English merchants in the terri-
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4 A CENTURY AND A HALF OF
tory to which England had never even a pretended title. He says he treated them mildly, though he had a right to regard them as "intruders and mere vagrants." He found another party of six traders at an Indian town ruled by an old Iroquois woman who "looks upon herself as Queen." This is undoubt- edly the first definite reference to the site now covered by Pittsburg. The In- dian village was called Shannopinstown, and was on the bank of the Allegheny river, now in the Twelfth ward of Pittsburg, and near the foot of Thirty-second street. The old woman and pretended Queen was a widow when Celoron found her here, and was the famous Queen Aliquippa. Celoron refers to a "written rock." This he found some miles below the Indian village, and was named by him because of certain writings on the face of the rock by the side of the river. This is what is now known as McKee's Rocks. The writings, upon examina- tion, were found to be "nothing more than some English names written with charcoal." He journeyed farther to Logstown, another Indian town on the Ohio, built where Sewickley now stands. A year before this Conrad Weiser, an Indian agent, of great tact and shrewdness, from eastern Pennsylvania, had visited this section and had distributed many presents among the Indians; so Celoron found the Indians at Logstown hostile to him and the French, but very friendly to the English, doubtless as a result of Weiser*s visit. But Celoron's fleet was too formidable for them to oppose, and they made a show of friend- ship by hoisting three French flags and one English flag; they also fired a salute when his fleet approached. His journal says he had "no confidence in their good intentions," and ordered them to take down the English flag and stop all display, which was immediately done. On August 12th Celoron journeyed on down the Ohio, passing from the region in which we are particularly inter- ested. He kept a careful journal of his expedition from which we have quoted the above. We are indebted to Rev. Father A. A. Lambing, LL.D., for his translation of the journal.
The next explorer in whom the student of early Pittsburg history is inter- ested was the renowned Christopher Gist, who was the first English speaking explorer to traverse this section. He was sent to explore and report on this region by the Ohio Company. He was instructed to equip himself and to take as many men as were necessary "to search out and discover the lands upon the River Ohio, and other adjoining branches of the Mississippi, down as low as the great falls thereof." He was a surveyor, and was instructed to learn and report the passes through the mountains, to observe the nature of the soil^ its character and possible products, the rivers and the Indian tribes which in- habited the region over which he traveled. This in order "that the Company may the better judge where it will be most convenient for them to take their land," for it will be remembered in this connection that part of their land was to be located north of the Ohio. Christopher Gist w^as an Englishman by birth, and was living on the banks of the Yadkin, in North Carolina. He set out on this expedition on October 31, 1750, and on November 14th reached Loyal- hanna, which in his journal he styles "an old Indian town on a creek of the
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PITTSBURG AND HER PEOPLE 5
Ohio called Kiscominetas." This town was built where Ligonier now stands, and the location is yet one of the most historic spots in Western Pennsylvania. The chief of the Indians at Loyalhanna could speak English, and directed Gist to Shannopinstown. This town he reached on November 19th, and remained there until November 23rd. His journal says there were about twenty families at Shannopinstown. He says nothing about the place near the junction of the rivers in his journal. From Shannopinstown he crossed the river, and then went down to Logstown, going by an Indian path which was afterwards fol- lowed closely by East and West Ohio streets to Beaver avenue, in Allegheny, and thence down along the river bank. In his journal he notes that at Logs- town he "found scarcely anybody but a parcel of Reprobate Indian traders." The Indians were perhaps then out on their regular fall hunting expedition. He remained over Sunday in Logstown, and then resumed his journey Monday morning, noting in his journal that "he preferred the woods to such company."
The governorship of Canada for some years had been in weak hands, but in March, 1752, Marquis Duquesne was appointed to that position and he at once began a most vigorous administration. His first act seemed to be to make the French Canadian ownership of the Ohio valley something more than a con- structive ownership. He therefore attempted to perfect a line of military posts from the French strongholds on the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississ- ippi river. In furtherance of this scheme they had erected Presq' Isle, on Lake Erie, near the present site of Erie; Fort Le Boeuf, now Waterford, in Crawford county; they had projected Fort Venango where Franklin is built, and another on French creek, in Venango county. Had the English suffered them to execute these plans, French domination in the Ohio Valley would have been indeed a reality, and the English would have been hemmed in between the Ohio river and the Atlantic ocean. To complete the construction of this line of forts, Admiral Duquesne early in 1753, sent out a force of about a thousand men under the command of M. Marin. They came by a less difficult route than that which had been taken by Celeron. They landed in the ba}'- at Erie — Presq' Isle, they named it because of the long encircling arm of land which ex- tends out into the lake and gathers in the waters of the harbor. From the fortress at Presq' Isle, which they completed, they opened a road south fifteen miles to a tributary of French creek, where the town of Waterford now stands. There they built a large fort called Fort Le Boeuf. They were interrupted in the erection of a fort at Venango, at the mouth of French creek, by the Indians, and it was not finished until later. Joncaire, a French soldier of great courage, was permitted by the Indians to remain at Venango with a small company of soldiers. In October the French army, after leaving a small force at each of the forts they had established, being well worn with the arduous duties of the summer campaign, returned to Montreal.
The reader cannot but have noticed that the entire territory around the head waters of the Ohio was overrun with fur traders. They were usually un- scrupulous men, with but little more character than the average Indian. Many
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6 A CENTURY AND A HALF OF
of them hailed from Virginia, and they were not slow to carry the news of these hostile military movements on the part of the French to their people at home. The somewhat lethargic spirit of the Virginians was at once aroused by these reports. Governor Dinwiddie was a shrewd Scotchman, well advanced in years, and had fully his share of the proverbial obstinacy of his race. Himself a member of the Ohio Company he was unusually watchful of the rights of those whom he apparently represented. He accordingly prepared a message to the French commandant, reiterating the rights of the English to this disputed territory and in genteel but positive terms asked the French to withdraw from the Ohio Valley. This message he sent by Major George Washington, of the Virginia militia, who had barely attained his majority. Washington's bio- graphers have given the Governor great credit for the wisdom of this selection, and have probably magnified the whole affair because of the distinguished serv- ices which the messenger afterwards rendered to his country, and to the world. But for his eminent career in after life we would probably hear much less of this journey which proved to be a very important One. Washington was a young man of good judgment, great physical strength and endurance, and being a surveyor was accustomed to the outdoor life and to finding his way through the trackless forest. These qualities fitted him for the position to which Dinwiddie appointed him. But, in addition to this, two of his half brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, were members of the Ohio Company, and it. was doubtless this which in a great degree induced the Governor to select him.
Washington set out at once upon his journey, taking with him Jacob Van- braam, a French interpreter ; John Davison, an Indian interpreter, and four hired men as servants, named respectively : — Barnaby Currin, John McQuire, Henry Stewart and William Jenkins. Part of the way he had Indian guides and one of these is called a hunter who afterwards became known in the Indian war- fare as the famous Guyasuta, of whom the reader will hear much more as we progress. Christopher Gist was then living at Wills creek, now Cumberland, in th^ employ of the Ohio Company. In his journal dated Wednesday, No- vember 14, 1753, is this entry: "Came this day to my house at Wills Creek, Major George Washington with a letter from the Virginia Council requesting me to accompany him to the Commandant of the French Forts on the Ohio."
In 1748 and 1749 the Ohio Company desired to build a road from Cumber- land to the Ohio Valley and selected Colonel Cresap to superintend the build- ing of it. He employed an Indian named Nemacolin, a prominent hunter of the Delaware tribe, to point out the way. This the Indian did by following a path which the Indian had used time out of memory in going to and from the head waters of the Ohio ; thereafter it was known as Nemacolin's Path, and it was by this road or path that W^ashington journeyed westward.
On November 22nd they reached the house of John Frazer, a gunsmith, who lived at the mouth of Turtle creek. Frazer received Washington and his company very kindly, kept them over night, and the next day lent them a canoe to carry their baggage to the junction of the two rivers. Two of the servants
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PITTSBURG AND HER PEOPLE 7
took the canoe down the river, while Washington and the rest of his party pushed forward on their horses. They first rode over to Shannopinstown, and then down the banks of the Allegheny to the Junction ; they reached the place
WASHINGTON AT AGE OF TWENTY-FIVE
before the canoe had reached it, and Washington began an examination of the point and was favorably impressed by it as the proper place for the erection of the fort, as provided for in the charter of the Company. A former recom- mendation had been that the intended fort should be built and a town laid out at McKee's Rocks. Washington, no doubt, considered this and other localities, for he urged the point at the junction as *1ess expensive than the other place." "A fort at the fork," his report reads, "would be equally well situated on the Ohio, and have the entire command of the Monongahela, which runs by our settlement, and is extremely w^ell designed for water carriage as it is of a deep,
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8 A CENTURY AND A HALF OF
still nature. Besides, a fort at the fork might be built at much less expense than at the other place." The Company heeded his advice as to its location. It will be noticed that Washingon called it "fork," as it is here written. His was the first use of the term so aptly applied to this section. The word is now almost invariably used in the plural form. There is but one fork, with two prongs, at this place; Washington, therefore, used the term correctly when he used the singular form of the noun.
On the evening of the 23rd his Company crossed the Allegheny river and encamped for the night near the foot of what is now known as Monument Hill. On the 24th they went down the river to Logstown. We shall not follow him through all his delays because of inclement weather, intemperate guides, etc., for the instances of his journey have been written of many times, and need not be repeated here except such as bear directly on Pittsburg. On December 5th he reached Venango, where he was kindly received but informed that the Coni- mandant St. Pierre, was at Fort Le Boeuf, about forty miles further north. They left Venango on December 7th, but so bad were the roads that they did not reach Fort Le Boeuf until December nth, when he presented the letter of Governor Dinwiddie to the Commandant. Francis Parkman, the eminent his- torian, says that "St. Pierre and the officer next in rank, who knew a little English, took it to another room to study at their ease; and in it all uncon- sciously they read a name designed to one day become one of the noblest in the annals of mankind, for it introduced Major George Washington, Adjutant Gen- eral of the Virginia Militia." St. Pierre treated the Major with great urbanity, but delayed his return by various causes until December 14th before he gave him an answer to Governor Dinwiddie's letter or message. Their horses were then sent by land while Washington and the remainder of the party left Le Boeuf on December i6th in canoes, but so difficult was the navigation that they did not reach Venango until December 22nd. On the way from Venango to the Ohio, Washington and Gist, on December 26th, entrusted their jaded horses to Van- braam and started on foot by the shortest route through the woods to Shannop- instown. For this journey they engaged an Indian as guide, but soon had rea- son to suspect him of treachery. Finally, at the edge of a cleared strip of. ground, the Indian, who was ahead, leveled his gun and fired at them ; neither of them was hit, and they made haste to capture and disarm the Indian. He had taken refuge behind a large tree and was reloading his gun. Accustomed to dealing with the Indians by summary methods. Gist wanted to kill the guide at once, but Washington interposed, and after some delay sent him on his way home with the impression that they, being, weary, would rest uniil morning and then follow his footsteps. As soon as they were sure that the Indian had actually left the community, they resumed their journey and traveled all night and the day following until nightfall, when they reached the Allegheny river opposite Shannopinstown. Unfortunately, though it was bitter cold weather, the river was only partly frozen over. They encamped on its banks until morn- ing, when they began to construct a raft. To do this they had but one hatchet,
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PITTSBURG AND HER PEOPLE 9
and though they worked all day, the sun went down before they had it com- pleted. When the raft was finished it was launched, but before it was halfway over it was jammed by floating cakes of ice, and Washington was thrown into the stream where the water was at least ten feet deep. He saved himself by clinging to one of the raft logs, and finally, unable to land on either shore, both he and Gist drifted to an island, where they passed the night. Gist's hands and feet were frozen, though nothing is said about how Washington recovered or survived the bitter cold night in wet clothing.
The next day, by means of the drift ice, which was wedged together and partly frozen during the night, they succeeded in gaining the eastern shore, and before night were comfortably lodged in John Frazer's house at the mouth of Turtle creek. The island upon which Washington and Gist passed the bitter cold night was afterwards known as Wainwright's Island, and was about three miles above the Fork and near Herr's Island. It was little more than a sand bar and has long since been washed away. They were detained at Frazer's three or four days in endeavoring to procure horses. While there Washington visited the Indian Queen Aliquippa, as she was called by the English, for he at all times endeavored to enlist the friendship of the redskins. She lived at the mouth of the Youghiogheny river, where the city of McKeesport now stands. Leaving Frazer's on January ist, he reached home on January i6th, and delivered his message from the French commandant to Governor Dinwiddie, and furthermore made a full report of his entire trip. St. Pierre's reply to Dinwiddie's letter or message was a courteous but extremely punctilious and positive declination to retire from the Ohio Valley. He said among other things, that it belonged to the General in Canada, not to him, to demonstrate the French claim on the lands, and that he was there by the general's orders and must obey by remaining, etc. Dinwiddie's letter, and the reply and Washington's account of the trip, were published in a pamphlet and sent broadcast throughout the country. It was also republished in England and in the London newspapers. It opened the eyes of the English, both in England and America, to the true situation on the Ohio. Dinwiddie appealed to the Governors of the American Colonies for aid in ex- pelling the French from the Ohio Valley. Governor Hamilton, of Pennsyl- vania laid the matter before the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1754 in a very able paper, asking them to furnish men and supplies to banish the French from their territory. In the paper he says : "You will undoubtedly agree with me that so alarming an occasion has not occurred since the settling of the provinces, nor any one thing happened that so much demands your serious attention." But the legislature did nothing; indeed, no colony outside of Virginia, save North Carolina, lent any material aid. They were yet entirely isolated from and in- dependent of each other ; too much so indeed to unite their strength in a common cause. The House of Burgesses in Virginia voted i©,ooo pounds to be ex- pended in the cause. Governor Dinwiddie also called out two hundred militia, and placed them under the command of Washington and Trent, the latter of whom, with about forty men, repaired to the Fork of the Ohio in February.
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With these men he at once began to build a fort. The day of his arrival at the Fork was February 17, 1754, and it is a memorable one in Pittsburg's history, for it was the beginning of a permanent occupation of the place. Trent was captain, and John Frazer was lieutenant of the forces. The entire militia in Virginia was increased to three hundred men, with Joshua Fry as colonel, and Washington as lieutenant colonel, or second in command. Trent and Frazer's men had worked but a few days at the fort when Trent went to Wills creek (Cumberland) to communicate with the advancing militia. Frazer was also ab- sent much of his time at his home at Turtle creek.
Early in April, Captain Contrecoeur had embarked at Venango with about one thousand men for the Fork of the Ohio. He had several field pieces, about sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes, and, sailing down the Allegheny river, suddenly made his appearance before the astonished workmen on the fort. The fort was not half completed ; indeed, it was scarcely begun. Both officers were absent. Contrecoeur drew up his canoes, planted his artillery, and summoned the forces on the fort to surrender. The only officer to answer' was an ensign named Ward. He plead his want of authority, hoping thus to gain time, but the French commandant would grant him but one hour, after which, he said, he would take the fort by force. The ensign obtained permission to depart with his men and take with them their tools. Thus the fort was surrendered. The French commander, with the urbanity for which his race is noted, invited the ensign to dine with him, and wished him, as well as his men a pleasant journey. Laden with their working tools they set out for the East. Both Cap- tain Trent and Lieutenant Frazer were severely censured for being absent from the fort when the French arrived. "Trent's behaviour," said Washington in a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, "has been very tardy, and has convinced the world of what they before supposed his great timidity. Lifctitenant Frazer, though not altogether blameless, is much more excusable, for he would not ac- cept the commission until he had a promise from the captain that he should not reside at the fort, nor visit it above once a week or as he saw necessity." Trent was utfdoubtedly inefficient, but Frazer was a man of courage, ability and in- tegrity. Yet, after all, it can scarcely be imagined that their presence would have changed the course of events in any material degree.
As soon as Ward and his workmen had gone, the French began to build a larger and more formidable structure, which they named Fort Duquesne, in honor of the governor-general of Canada. But the French forces at the Fork of the Ohio were cognizant through spies of the approach of the Virginia militia under Colonels Fry and Washington, and almost immediately sent out an army under the command of Jumonville to drive them back or capture them. It was Washington's intention to march with his little army to the Fork, but when he learned of the Trent-Frazer fiasco, he directed his army toward the mouth of the Redstone, where Brownsville is now built, and where the Ohio Company had already built a store house. Before reaching that place he learned that a small company of French were watching his movements, and were hiding in a
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ravine nearby. On May 28th, taking about forty men, he set out to meet them. The French sprang to their arms and the fight began at once on the approach of Washington and his men. Jumonville and nine of his soldiers were killed, twenty-two were taken prisoners, and one escaped who ran back and finally reached Fort Duquesne. Washington now expected a stronger force from