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
Shinghiss, who bore a name that suggests a subject of Queen Wilhelmina
rather than a North American Indian was a mighty warrior in his day, and
a king of the Delawares. Some of the chroniclers give him a very bad
name and tell us that his exploits in war would "form an interesting
though shocking document"; others, among them Christian Post, give him a
much better character. Nevertheless, it is true that the colony of
Pennsylvania offered a thousand dollars for his scalp. Washington met
him on his first visit to Ohio, and speaks of him in his Journal. This
brave and much-feared chief was small in stature for an Indian and lived
near the Ohio on Chartiers Creek.
[Illustration: BRONZE TABLET AT ENTRANCE TO BLOCK HOUSE GROUNDS
THE BLOCK HOUSE OF FORT PITT
A REDOUBT BUILT BY
COLONEL HENRY BOUQUET
OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN 1764,
PURCHASED WITH THE SITE OF FORT PITT BY
GENERAL JAMES O'HARA
SEPTEMBER 4th 1805.
INHERITED THROUGH HER MOTHER
MARY O'HARA CROGHAN
BY HIS GRANDDAUGHTER
MARY ELIZABETH SCHENLEY
AND BY HER PRESENTED TO
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
JUNE 10th 1892]
A chieftain as renowned as Shinghiss, and more frequently mentioned in
the histories of the olden time, was Guyasuta, or Kiashuta, a Seneca,
who first appears on the scene as one of the three Indians who
accompanied Washington to Fort Le Boeuf. He was a conspicuous figure in
all the Indian wars and treaties which followed that event, and was
present at the treaty Col. Bouquet held with the Shawnees, Delawares
and Senecas on the Muskingum. We hear of him again in Lord Dunmore's
war. He was frequently at or in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt, and had
unbounded influence with his people, an influence he generally exerted
for good and in the interest of the colonies, though finally won over to
the British during the Revolution. His speeches at the various councils
he attended were eloquent, and his language that of an autocrat who had
unquestioning confidence in the power of his people and in his own
might. He was deeply concerned in the conspiracy of Pontiac, and is
believed to have inspired the attack on Hannahstown. Guyasuta found his
last resting place near the banks of the Allegheny on Gen. O'Hara's
farm, which is still called by his name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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