Listing Through Life

We arrived early for a Pirates game and parked by the stadium. We walked across the Allegheny River bridge to Point State Park and wandered around. There was some sort of festival going on, the nature of which we never determined.

This is the site of the British Fort Pitt. Actually it was the site of the French Fort Duquesne first (the fort Braddock was attempting to attack when he was killed). Later, when the British approached, the French destroyed their fort and retreated. The British then built Fort Pitt. The only military action here happened in 1763 during the Pontiac Insurrection when the British held off an Indian attack.

All that remains is a single blockhouse and some zig-zag ditches that were once part of the forts’ Music Bastion. The state maintains a small museum. But when my family found out admission was $3, they decided they’d rather find something to eat. I went in by myself and stayed about 45 minutes. The displays included a lot of dioramas and a model of Fort Pitt (above).

That’s the Music Bastion in the foreground of the next photo.

The Point as seen from Three Rivers Stadium. In the left foreground is the Allegheny River. A sliver of the Monongahela River can be seen behind the fountain. The Ohio River takes up the right side of the photograph.

The Fort Pitt blockhouse

From Fort Necessity we drove to Jumonville Glen. That’s where George Washington started the French and Indian War when he attacked and wiped out a group of French soldiers. His force killed the French commander, Jumonville.

When we visited, the Glen was an isolated spot high on a mountain. There was a gravel parking lot and a short foot trail to the base of the rock formation pictured here. There was nobody else around, and we took a leisurely stroll along the trail. Except for the wooden railing and the stairway up the rocks, it looks much the way it must have looked in 1754 when Washington was here.

The top photo was taken on top of the rocks looking down to where the French encampment was. The other two photographs were taken down in the glen.

As we arrived at the fort itself, it began to rain. We ducked into the visitor center and looked at the few exhibits. A ranger mentioned to us that it had rained hard all during the battle, so we could really get a feeling for what it had been like.

My wife grabbed an umbrella, and we hiked across the Great Meadows to the fort. There wasn’t a whole lot to it, just a tiny circle of logs with a small cabin inside.

During the battle, the rain was flooding the area. The fighting lasted all day, but finally Washington had to surrender his small force. He and his army was allowed to march away. The French destroyed the fort and returned to Fort Duquesne. It was the only surrender of George Washington’s career.

During Jefferson’s administration, the National Road was built past the Great Meadows. Mount Washington Tavern was built around 1827 as a stage stop on the road. We didn’t know it was part of the site, but it was the highlight of the day for us. It included an excellent display about the National Road.

Incidentally, some years after Washington surrendered his forces here, he returned and purchased the property.