Was George Washington Here?
By- Kurt Seibel - Pitcairn Historical Society
Did he pass through Pitcairn?
In October of 1770, there was one matter to which Washington felt was his duty as a soldier and a man of honor to devote his time and energies. A grant of two hundred thousand acres of western lands had been promised by the government to those who enlisted for the war against the French and Indians in 1754, but nothing was ever done to fulfill the promise. Washington undertook this act as an agent for his comrades. He, along with chosen friends and scouts, set off on a venture to explore possible sites for the bounty lands, making notes and observations as they journeyed to Fort Pitt, down the Ohio River and to the Great Kanawha River.
The following is documented by George Washington in his journal.
(On his way westward towards the Ohio Country);
October 17th - Dr. Craik and myself, with Captain Crawford and
others, arrived at Fort Pitt, distant from the Crossing forty-three
and a half measured miles, dining at one Widow Miers, at Turtle
Creek. In riding this distance we passed over a great deal of
exceedingly fine land, (chiefly white-oak,) especially from Sewickley
Creek to Turtle Creek, but the whole broken; resembling, (as I think
all the lands in this country do,) the Loudoun lands for hills.
On his return eastward to Virginia 37 days later;
November 23rd - After settling with the Indians and people that
attended me down the river, and defray the sundry expenses
accruing at Pittsburgh, I set off on my return home and after
dining at the Widow Miers' on Turtle Creek reached Mr. John
Stephenson (Scottsdale, PA.) two or three hours in the Night.
The Miers's house was located in the vicinity of the former Turtle Creek High School on Sycamore Street and Monroeville Avenue in Turtle Creek Borough. Several large hills occupy the northern slopes of North Versailles just south of the Mier's house and with no known roads on that slope, which ascends about 450 feet to the ridge, it is unlikely that he traveled over the creek and up the large hill where the present day Greensburg Pike bridge crosses over Turtle Creek. Standing at that location today, one could imagine being there in 1770 with nothing in view but dense forest. Glancing across the creek towards the south at the large hill, you would logically assume that Washington instead traveled through the valley along Turtle Creek, through today's communities of Turtle Creek, Monroeville, Wilmerding, Pitcairn, and Trafford and reaching Brush Creek. With the hills not as steep past Brush Creek, he would have been able to travel with more ease in that area.
In 1770, only two roads existed from the
Allegheny Mountains into Pittsburgh,
Braddock's Road and Forbes Road.
Braddock's Road allowed travel from
the southeast from Virginia, through
Fayette County and crossing over the
Monongahela River twice near
Duquesne, the crossing being just west
of the mouth of Turtle Creek. Forbes
Road permitted travel east through
Ligonier, passing Bushy Run and Plum
Borough to Fort Pitt. Seven years prior
to Washington's visit was the Battle of
Bushy Run. Colonel Henry Bouquet was
forced to take an alternate route from
Forbes Road at Bushy Run to pursue the
Indians he had just defeated enroute to
Fort Pitt. This alternate route went from
Bushy Run to the mouth of Brush Creek
at Turtle Creek (Trafford), through
Pitcairn, then to the Mier's House in
Turtle Creek Borough.
History tells us Bouquet discovered the
Indian encampment at the outflow of
Dirty Camp Run, a stream he named
which flows into Turtle Creek from
North Pitcairn. Being that Bouquet
marched his army through Pitcairn
after the battle, there must have been
some remnants of a road cut through
that area where he marched his troops.
It is also documented in the History of Western PA - By Israel Daniel Rupp that;
Prior to 1769, Aeneas Mackey, by permission of Lieut. Col. John Reid, made improvements at Dirty Camp, on Turtle creek, on the road from Fort Ligonier to Fort Pitt. John Frazier, John Ormsby, Sr & Jr, and Oliver Ormsby, had made improvements to Turtle creek prior to 1762, by permission from the commanding officer at Fort Pitt".
This alternate route would have given Washington an easier access route to and from his destination seven years later. Since Bouquet created (and Mackey made improvements to) an alternate route through present day Pitcairn along the northern side of the Turtle Creek, it is even more likely that George Washington traveled through the Pitcairn Borough limits, likely keeping to the northern side of Turtle Creek, since the Widow Mier's house was already on the northern side.
It is unlikely that George Washington followed Braddock's Road between Braddock, PA and Stewartsville for the following reasons:
1) On his return route, when he was at the Mier's House, he was already northeast about one and a half miles past the Monongahela River where Braddock's Road cut through the Monongahela River.
2) He would have had to cross the Monongahela twice, as did Braddock's Road.
3) On the day after his visit to the Mier's house on his return trip, Washington states in his journal that "When we came to the crossing at Crawfords (Connellsville at the Yough River) the river was too high to ford…" If the Yough river was too high to cross at that time, and was only crossable by canoe, then the Monongehela River would have definitely been too high the day before at Braddock, PA, which means Washington probably avoided the Monongehela River.
4) It would have been easier with an access road already being through the Turtle Creek Valley to Trafford (Bouquet's and Mackey's). He then would have traveled only a few miles along the Brush Creek Valley to Circleville or Stewartsville, most likely in the area of Skellytown Road where he would have linked back onto Braddock's Road at Clay Pike.
5) During Braddock's campaign, it was Braddock's intention to follow either the ridges (the direction of present day Rt. 30) or the valley (Brush and Turtle Creek) towards Fort Duquesne, but he was deterred by the hazards. As history has recorded in 1755:
"The crossing of Brush Creek, which he had now reached, appeared to be attended with so much hazard, that parties were sent to reconnoiter, some of whom advanced so far as to kill a French officer within a half mile of Fort Duquesne. Their examinations induced a great divergence to the left: (southwest) availing himself of the valley of Long Run (Lincoln Way), which he turned into, as is supposed, at Stewartsville (Norwin Towne Square area), passing by the place now known as Samson's mill, the army made one of the best marches of the campaign, and halted for the night at a favorable depression between that stream and Crooked Run, and about two miles from the Monongehela." (White Oak Borough)
6) Washington mentions in the October 17, 1770 entry of his journal, "exceedingly fine land, (chiefly white-oak,) especially from Sewickley Creek to Turtle Creek". Braddock's Road does not come close to Turtle Creek. The only time Turtle Creek is near Braddock's Road is at the northern crossing of the Monongehela, about one quarter mile past the mouth of the Turtle Creek, where it enters the Monongehela River.
This being said, the assumption can be made that George Washington, age 38,
traveled on horseback through the southern portion of what is now Pitcairn, PA
during the afternoons of Wednesday, October 17, 1770 and Friday, November 23, 1770.
It's not certain, but it is most likely that
"Washington Was Here……TWICE!"
