A Short History of Pittsburgh | Page 6

possession of the place, and Colonel Armstrong, in the
presence of Forbes and Washington, hauled up the puissant banner of
Great Britain, while cannons boomed and the exulting victors cheered.
On the next day, General Forbes wrote to Governor Denny from "Fort
Duquesne, now Pittsburgh,[A] the 26th of November, 1758," and this
was the first use of that name. On this same Sunday the Rev. Mr.
Beatty, a Presbyterian chaplain, preached a sermon in thanksgiving for
the superiority of British arms,--the first Protestant service in Pittsburgh.

The French had had a Roman Catholic chaplain, Father Baron, during
their occupancy. On the next day Forbes wrote to Pitt with a vision of
prophecy as follows:
PITTSBOURGH, 27th Novem'r, 1758.
Sir,
I do myself the Honour of acquainting you that it has pleased God to
crown His Majesty's Arms with Success over all His Enemies upon the
Ohio, by my having obliged the enemy to burn and abandon Fort Du
Quesne, which they effectuated on the 25th:, and of which I took
possession next day, the Enemy having made their Escape down the
River towards the Missisippi in their Boats, being abandoned by their
Indians, whom I had previously engaged to leave them, and who now
seem all willing and ready to implore His Majesty's most Gracious
Protection. So give me leave to congratulate you upon this great Event,
of having totally expelled the French from this prodigious tract of
Country, and of having reconciled the various tribes of Indians
inhabiting it to His Majesty's Government.
* * * * *
I have used the freedom of giving your name to Fort Du Quesne, as I
hope it was in some measure the being actuated by your spirits that
now makes us Masters of the place.... These dreary deserts will soon be
the richest and most fertile of any possest by the British in No. America.
I have the honour to be with great regard and Esteem Sir,
Your most obed't. & most hum'le. serv't.
JO: FORBES.
[Footnote A: Local controversialists should note that the man who
named the city spelt it with the final h.]
VIII

As a place of urgent shelter the English proceeded to build a new fort
about two hundred yards from the site of Fort Duquesne, which is
traditionally known as the first Fort Pitt, and was probably so called by
the garrison, although the letters written from there during the next few
months refer to it as "the camp at Pittsburgh." This stronghold cut off
French transportation to the Mississippi by way of the Ohio River, and
the only remaining route, by way of the Great Lakes, was soon
afterward closed by the fall of Fort Niagara. The fall of Quebec, with
the death of the two opposing generals, Montcalm and Wolfe, and the
capture of Montreal, ended the claims of France to sovereignty in the
new world.
[Illustration: Plan of Fort Pitt]
The new fort being found too small, General Stanwix built a second
Fort Pitt, much larger and stronger, designed for a garrison of one
thousand men. The Indians viewed the new-comers with suspicion, but
Colonel Henry Bouquet assured them, with diplomatic tergiversation,
that, "We have not come here to take possession of your country in a
hostile manner, as the French did when they came among you, but to
open a large and extensive trade with you and all other nations of
Indians to the westward." A redoubt (the "Blockhouse"), built by
Colonel Bouquet in 1764, still stands, in a very good state of
preservation, being cared for by the Daughters of the American
Revolution. The protection of the garrison naturally attracted a few
traders, merchants, and pioneers to Pittsburgh, and a permanent
population began to grow.
[Illustration: Henry Bouquet]
[Illustration: Block House of Fort Pitt. Built in 1764]
But the indigenous race continued to resent the extension of white
encroachment; and they formed a secret confederacy under Pontiac, the
renowned Ottawa chief, who planned a simultaneous attack on all the
white frontier posts. This uprising was attended by atrocious cruelties
at many of the points attacked, but we may take note here of the
movement only as it affected Pittsburgh. At the grand council held by

the tribes, a bundle of sticks had been given to every tribe, each bundle
containing as many sticks as there were days intervening before the
deadly assault should begin. One stick was to be drawn from the bundle
every day until but one remained, which was to signal the outbreak for
that day. This was the best calendar the barbarian mind could devise.
At Pittsburgh, a Delaware squaw who was friendly to the whites had
stealthily taken out three of the sticks, thus precipitating the attack on
Fort Pitt three days in advance of the time appointed.
The last