A Short History of Pittsburgh | Page 3

more particularly and I
think it greatly inferior either for defense or advantages, especially the
latter. For a fort at the fork would be equally well situated on the Ohio
and have the entire command of the Monongahela, which runs up our
settlement and is extremely well designed for water carriage, as it is of
a deep, still nature. Besides, a fort at the fork might be built at much
less expense than at the other place.
Leaving Pittsburgh, Washington and Gist proceeded in a northeasterly
direction, and after a day's journey they came upon an Indian settlement,
and were constrained by the tribe to remain there for three days. A
group of these Indians accompanied the two travelers to the French fort,
and on the journey a large number of bear and deer were killed. At
Leboeuff Washington received from the French commander a very
satisfactory reply. On the trip back the two pioneers encountered almost
insupportable hardships. Lacking proper food, their horses died, so that
they were forced to push forward in canoes, often finding it necessary,
when the creeks were frozen, to carry their craft for long stretches
overland. When Venango was reached, Washington, whose clothes

were now in tatters, procured an Indian costume, and he and Gist
continued their way on foot, accompanied by an Indian guide. At this
point an illustrious career was put in deadly peril, for on the second day
of his escort, the treacherous guide deliberately fired his gun at
Washington when standing only a few feet away from him. Bad
marksmanship saved the intended victim, and Gist started to kill the
Indian on the spot; but Washington, patient then as always, sent the
savage away, giving him provisions to last until he could reach his tribe.
But an apprehension of further trouble from the friends of the
discomfited guide impelled the two men to travel all that night and the
next day, although Washington was suffering acute agony from his
frosted feet. While recrossing the Allegheny River on a rude raft,
Washington fell into the icy waters and was saved by Gist from
drowning only after the greatest efforts had been employed to rescue
him. Reaching Herr's Island (within the present city limits), they built a
fire and camped there for the night, but in the morning Gist's hands
were frozen. The bitter cold had now solidified the river and the two
wanderers passed over it on foot. By noon they had reached the home
of John Frazier, at Turtle Creek, where they were given clothes and
fresh supplies. The journey was completed in three more days, and on
receiving the reply of Contrecoeur, the English began their preparations
for sending troops to Pittsburgh.
IV
As soon as Washington's advice as to the location of the fort was
received, Captain William Trent was despatched to Pittsburgh with a
force of soldiers and workmen, packhorses, and materials, and he began
in all haste to erect a stronghold. The French had already built forts on
the northern lakes, and they now sent Captain Contrecoeur down the
Allegheny with one thousand French, Canadians, and Indians, and
eighteen pieces of cannon, in a flotilla of sixty bateaux and three
hundred canoes. Trent had planted himself in Pittsburgh on February
17, 1754, a date important because it marks the first permanent white
settlement there. But his work had been retarded alike by the small
number of his men and the severity of the winter; and when
Contrecoeur arrived in April, the young subaltern who commanded in

Trent's absence surrendered the unfinished works, and was permitted to
march away with his thirty-three men. The French completed the fort
and named it Duquesne, in honor of the governor of Canada; and they
held possession of it for four years.
Immediately on the loss of this fort, Virginia sent a force under
Washington to retake it. Washington surprised a French detachment
near Great Meadows, and killed their commander, Jumonville. When a
larger expedition came against him, he put up a stockade near the site
of Uniontown, naming it Fort Necessity, which he was compelled to
yield on terms permitting him to march away with the honors of war.
V
The next year (1755) General Edward Braddock came over with two
regiments of British soldiers, and after augmenting his force with
Colonial troops and a few Indians, began his fatal march upon Fort
Duquesne. Braddock's testy disposition, his consuming egotism, his
contempt for the Colonial soldiers, and his stubborn adherence to
military maxims that were inapplicable to the warfare of the wilderness,
alienated the respect and confidence of the American contingent,
robbed him of an easy victory, and cost him his life. Benjamin Franklin
had warned him against the imminent risk of Indian ambuscades, but he
had contemptuously replied: "These savages may