A Short History of Pittsburgh | Page 2

tradition,
none the less popular because it cannot be proved, which ascribes to
Washington the credit of having suggested the name of Pittsburgh to
General Forbes when the place was captured from the French. However
this may be, we do know that Washington was certainly present when
the English flag was hoisted and the city named Pittsburgh, on Sunday,
November 26, 1758. And at that moment Pittsburgh became a chief
bulwark of the British Empire in America.
II
As early as 1728, a daring hunter or trader found the Indians at the head
waters of the Ohio,--among them the Delawares, Shawanese, Mohicans,
and Iroquois,--whither they tracked the bear from their village of
Logstown, seventeen miles down the river. They also employed the
country roundabout as a highway for their march to battle against other
tribes, and against each other. At that time France and England were
disputing for the new continent. France, by right of her discovery of the
Mississippi, claimed all lands drained by that river and its tributaries, a
contention which would naturally plant her banner upon the summit of
the Alleghany Mountains. England, on the other hand, claimed
everything from ocean shore to ocean shore. This situation produced
war, and Pittsburgh became the strategic key of the great Middle West.

The French made early endeavors to win the allegiance of the Indians,
and felt encouraged to press their friendly overtures because they
usually came among the red men for trading or exploration, while the
English invariably seized and occupied their lands. In 1731 some
French settlers did attempt to build a group of houses at Pittsburgh, but
the Indians compelled them to go away. The next year the governor of
Pennsylvania summoned two Indian chiefs from Pittsburgh to say why
they had been going to see the French governor at Montreal; and they
gave answer that he had sent for them only to express the hope that
both English and French traders might meet at Pittsburgh and carry on
trade amicably. The governor of Pennsylvania sought to induce the
tribes to draw themselves farther east, where they might be made to feel
the hand of authority, but Sassoonan, their chief, forbade them to stir.
An Iroquois chief who joined his entreaties to those of the governor
was soon afterward killed by some Shawanese braves, but they were
forced to flee into Virginia to escape the vengeance of his tribe.
Louis Celeron, a French officer, made an exploration of the country
contiguous to Pittsburgh in 1747, and formally enjoined the governor
of Pennsylvania not to occupy the ground, as France claimed its
sovereignty. A year later the Ohio Company was formed, with a charter
ceding an immense tract of land for sale and development, including
Pittsburgh. This corporation built some storehouses at Logstown to
facilitate their trade with the Indians, which were captured by the
French, together with skins and commodities valued at 20,000 francs;
and the purposes of the company were never accomplished.
III
Washington's first visit to Pittsburgh occurred in November, 1753,
while he was on his way to the French fort at Leboeuff. He was
carrying a letter from the Ohio Company to Contrecoeur, protesting
against the plans of the French commander in undertaking to establish a
line of forts to reach from Lake Erie to the mouth of the Ohio River.
The winter season was becoming very severe, in despite of which
Washington and Gist were forced to swim with their horses across the
Allegheny River. On the way they fell in with a friendly Indian,

Keyashuta, a Seneca chief, who showed them much kindness, and for
whom a suburban town, Guyasuta, is named.
Washington, in writing of his first sight of the forks of the river, says:
As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing the rivers
and the land at the fork, which I think extremely well situated for a fort,
as it has the absolute command of both rivers. The land at the point is
twenty-five feet above the common surface of the water, and a
considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land all around it very
convenient for building. The rivers are each a quarter of a mile across
and run here very nearly at right angles, the Allegheny being northeast
and the Monongahela southeast. The former of these two is a very rapid
and swift-running water, the other deep and still without any
perceptible fall. About two miles from this on the southeast side of the
river at a place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a fort, lives
Shingiss, King of the Delawares. We called upon him to invite him to a
council at Logstown. As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday at
the fork, my curiosity led me to examine this