Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt; Early Names of Pittsburgh Streets — John Shaqi
Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt; Early Names of Pittsburgh StreetsDaughters of the American Revolution. Pittsburgh Chapter (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
History
Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt; Early Names of Pittsburgh Streets
Daughters of the American Revolution. Pittsburgh Chapter (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Fort Duquesne (Pa.) -- History; Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- History
Washington and his party, numbering nine or ten persons, with three
Indians, continued their journey down the Ohio in a large canoe. On
November 2nd, we find that the party "encamped and went a-hunting,
killed five buffalos and wounded some others, three deer, etc. This
country abounds in Buffaloes and wild game of all kinds, as also in all
kinds of wild fowl, there being in the bottoms a great many small,
grassy ponds or lakes, which are full of swan, geese and ducks of
different kinds." The party returned to Pittsburgh November 21st, were
again hospitably entertained, and on the 23rd mounted their horses on
their return journey to Virginia. This was Washington's last visit to
Fort Pitt.
Now, after the season of rest and quiet, there comes another contest,
this time between the Provinces of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The
British Government, as the trouble with the colonies increased, deemed
it advisable to abandon Fort Pitt and withdraw the troops. Maj.
Edmonstone, then in command, sold the buildings and material October 10,
1772, to Alexander Ross and William Thompson, for fifty pounds New York
currency. The fort was evacuated by the British forces in October, 1772,
and in January, 1774, troops from Virginia sent by the Governor, Lord
Dunmore, under command of Dr. James Connelly, took possession and
changed the name to Fort Dunmore. Dr. Connelly was arrested by Arthur
St. Clair, then a magistrate of Westmoreland County, of which Allegheny
County was at that time a part, and put in jail, but was soon released
on bail. He went back to Virginia, but shortly returned with civil and
military authority to enforce the laws of Virginia. This contest
continued for several years, until a prominent citizen wrote to Governor
Penn: "The deplorable state of affairs in this part of your government
is truly distressing. We are robbed, insulted and dragooned by Connelly
and his militia in this place and its environs." Maryland, too, had
contended, sometimes with the shedding of blood, for the possession of
this important point. It was not until 1785 that commissioners were
appointed, the boundary of the western part of the State finally run,
and Pennsylvania established in the possession of her territory.
Revolutionary Period.
During the struggle for independence the settlements west of the
Alleghanies had little to fear from the invading armies of Great
Britain; but, influenced by the English, the Indians again began their
ravages.
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