BGuthrie Photos: PA -- Fort Necessity Natl Battlefield -- Visitor Center

PA -- Fort Necessity Natl Battlefield -- Visitor Center:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FTNEV1_130330_017.JPG: As a path through the woods is made not be one traveler, but by many, so history is not made only by great leaders, but by all peoples who have journeyed on the path to the present.
2. FTNEV1_130330_036.JPG: The National Road: "This is the people's highway, and they crowd it from rim to edge... All of America seems to be breaking up and moving westward. Long lines of wagons swarming with children head into the mountains. And going east, we come across vast droves of hogs... on their way to market. The route is in excellent shape, ad [sic] the horses seem to fly, going so fast, we're barely able to keep our seats." Just a few hundred yards from here, traffic bustled along America's busiest road in the early 1800s. It was a key route west for settlers, and a major route east for farmers and merchants. This was the first federally funded highway built by the United States government. It became the road that made America a nation.
3. FTNEV1_130330_042.JPG: The Road Into History: Nemacolin's Path: Named for the Delaware Indian scout who hand-blazed the route from 1751 to 1752, this pack trail ran from Wills Creek to the mouth of Redstone Creek near Brownsville, Pennsylvania.
4. FTNEV1_130330_051.JPG: War For Empire: "Whoever holds these rivers will control access to the western lands. The British claim it, but on what grounds? We, the French, have been traveling through here for decades, trading with the Indians and exploring where the British could never hope to go. We were here before them and we will be here when they leave." In the 1750s, three great cultures collided on the ground where you now stand. The French were pushing south and west from Canada, while British settlers pressed in from the east, and the American Indians were caught in the middle. All laid claim to this land and every group felt that they were in the right.
5. FTNEV1_130330_054.JPG: Remembrance & Commemoration: "I did not let the anniversary of the Fort Necessity battle pass without a grateful remembrance of our escape. The same Providence that protected us... will, I hope, continue his mercies and make us happy instruments in restoring peace and liberty." Almost 30 years after he first faced combat at Fort Necessity, George Washington returned to this site. His experiences here, and in the French and Indian War, defined his life. Washington often revisited his own memories about what took place at Fort Necessity.
6. FTNEV1_130330_065.JPG: Prelude to War: Daybreak, May 28, 1754 -- After slogging all night through a dense, rain-soaked forest, George Washington, his Indian guides, and 33 fellow British colonial fighters arrive at a narrow glen miles from Fort Necessity. There, 35 French soldiers are rising from their camp. The two sides are not at war. But a battle is about to begin.
7. FTNEV1_130330_087.JPG: Jumonville Glen: Battle in the Backwoods: "The volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America set the world on fire." -- Horace Wadpole, English author The fighting began around seven in the morning. George Washington, his Virginia Regiment soldiers, and their American Indian allies quietly crept into position. French soldiers rising out of their bark lean-tos spotted them and shouted an alarm. Shots rang out in an instant. No one knows who fired first. Washington's British colonials blasted two volleys at the French, who returned a few rounds before escaping to the far end of the ravine. English allies, Tanaghrisson and his warriors, circled around and sealed off the glen, preventing the French retreat. When the smoke cleared, 13 French soldiers had died, including their leader Ensign Coulon de Jumonville. From the Virginia regiment, George Washington reported one dead and three wounded. None of the Indians who aided Washington were hurt. In all, the fighting lasted about 15 minutes. In military terms, it was little more than a skirmish. But it set in motion a chain of events that would change America and the world forever.
8. FTNEV1_130330_097.JPG: British: George Washington's military action against the French at Jumonville Glen sparked an international controversy because the two sides were not at war. Immediately after the fighting, the 22-year-old British Colonial officer defended his actions in a letter to his superior, Robert Dinwiddie, the lieutenant governor of Virginia. The battle was the first of Washington's young career. And although France and Britain were at peace at the time, he claimed that his attack on de Jumonville was the just outcome of a military encounter and part of his orders to defend the Ohio Country against the French army.
9. FTNEV1_130330_101.JPG: May 29, 1754: Immediately after the skirmish at Jumonville's Glen, each of the players had a different perspective on what had occurred.
10. FTNEV1_130330_104.JPG: British Defending the Ohio: The English had long considered western Pennsylvania -- an area then known as the Ohio Country -- to be property of the British Crown. In April, lieutenant Governor of Virginia Robert Dinwiddie, ordered a young George Washington and about 160 untrained soldiers to defend the backcountry from French invasion.
11. FTNEV1_130330_111.JPG: American Indian: Representing the powerful Iroquois Confederacy, Tanaghrisson sided with the British in order to protect Iroquois interests in the strategically valuable Ohio Country. Tanaghrisson, an Iroquois viceroy -- or "the Half King" as the English called him -- led Washington to the secluded glen where de Jumonville and his band of French soldiers were camped. During the brief battle that followed, Tanaghrisson and his warriors sealed off the French escape. The the Half King himself, perhaps in a move to generate greater ill will between the British and French, delivered the fatal blow that killed de Jumonville.
12. FTNEV1_130330_116.JPG: American Indian: Siding with the British: The Iroquois Confederacy also claimed control over the Ohio Country and they considered the area an important "buffer zone" between the French and British colonial empires. That is why the increasing French military presence concerned the Iroquois. Tanaghrisson enlisted British help against the French, hoping to preserve the Iroquois advantage.
13. FTNEV1_130330_124.JPG: French: The French were outraged by Washington's attack on de Jumonville, convinced that it was little more than an ambush followed by a massacre. In the midst of building a fort on the forks of the Ohio River, the French sent their soldiers to observe and report on Washington's progress into the Ohio Country. They contended that the small force of 35 soldiers under the command of English Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville had been sent on a peaceful mission to ask the English to leave the Ohio Country, a land they considered to be owned by the French King Louis XV.
14. FTNEV1_130330_131.JPG: French: Staking a Claim: The French aggressively increased their military presence in the Ohio Country in an attempt to solidify their King's claim to the area. In April, French forces swept in and evicted the British who were building a fort on the forks of the Ohio. They built a larger fort in its place and called it Fort Duquesne.
15. FTNEV1_130330_145.JPG: Colliding Cultures: Quest for Empire and the Battle for the Ohio Country: Before the first shot was fired at Jumonville Glen, it seemed inevitable that the French and British would come to blows. The only question was when. At issue was an area of land known as the Ohio Country. It spread west from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River and many considered it the strategic key to controlling the North American Continent. For years, the Ohio Country and the American Indians who lived in it had served as an effective buffer between French possessions to the north and west and British settlements to the east. It allowed the two traditional European rivals to share "control" of eastern North America. But in the early 1750s, trade disputes in the area disrupted the calm. French and British soldiers marched on the Ohio Country and asserted rights of ownership, ignoring long-time Indian claims to the territory. On May 28, 1754, British and French troops opened fire on one another at Jumonville Glen. The battle for the Ohio Country had begun. The French and Indian War would soon follow.
16. FTNEV1_130330_149.JPG: The Road Into History: Washington's Military Road: Following his military orders, George Washington expanded and extended Nemacolin's Path in 1754. His troops chopped a larger road out of the hardwood forests making sure it was wide enough to accommodate wagons and troops for transport as they made their way to the Forks of the Ohio River.
17. FTNEV1_130330_167.JPG: Convergence: A Country Between: For years the land known as the Ohio Country had been the traditional home of the Shawnee, but wars and disease forced them to find other places to live. By the late 1600s, only a few of them remained there. Their homeland became a vast buffer zone that kept the English and French apart. In the early 1700s, the Shawnee began returning. Soon after, the Delaware and Iroquois -- pushed out by the swelling colonial populations to the east -- followed. The moves also brought in English and French traders who began competing for the lucrative Indian trade.
18. FTNEV1_130330_172.JPG: The Business of Trade: In North America, trade between Indians and Europeans was big business. Europeans devoted large parts of their economy to making the pots, muskets, axes, and clothing that Indians consumed in large quantities. In the same way, Indians geared their economies toward hunting animal pelts that they traded in return for European goods. The business of trade sparked fierce competition between the Europeans. For years, the French dominated until the English began catching up in the mid-1700s.
19. FTNEV1_130330_178.JPG: "The English have no sense; they give us twenty knives like this for one Beaver skin." -- A Montagnais Indian, 1634 Touch the Beaver Pelt: Europeans treasured the fur pelts Indians provided in trade, but soon they became more interested in trading for Indian land than for fur pelts.
20. FTNEV1_130330_182.JPG: "Without Wampum Nothing is to be done Amongst the Indians." -- American Colonist The Language of the Beads: Today many people think of wampum as a form of money used by American Indians. In fact, during the mid-1700s in America, it was something much different. Wampum was an important and sacred tool of communication used by many Indian tribes in the Ohio Country. Each belt was specially woven so that each color, bead, and pattern had a meaning. Similar to written European documents, wampum formalized treaties and outlined trade agreements. In elaborate ceremonies, wampum was "read" and its symbolic message revealed.
21. FTNEV1_130330_187.JPG: The Power of Pen and Paper: Just a Europeans used wampum in business deals with American Indians, American Indians often signed European contracts. Here, the Delaware Indian Wiggoneekeenah makes his mark on a 1725 land deed.
22. FTNEV1_130330_192.JPG: The Johnson Dish Belt: This belt, made of new wampum beads, is a reproduction of the ones commissioned by British Indian Agent Sir William Johnson. He had it presented to several Indian nations during the mid-1750s in hopes of gaining their allegiance. Reading the belt: Indians were not the only group to use wampum belts. Europeans frequently used them to communicate with the Indians. This belt represents a promise by Johnson to provide war supplies and food to any group who would fight with the English against the French and their Indian allies. * Purple background emphasizes the importance of the message as the red border calls attention to the "life force" that the British were offering. * White hexagons represent the places (Johnson Hall, Fort Stanwix, Fort Oswego, and Fort Albany) where Indians could go to pick up the promised goods. * White bars at either end reveal that the French and their Indian allies are excluded from this offer.
23. FTNEV1_130330_211.JPG: Conflict: Diplomacy on the Ohio: Although the Shawnee and Delaware lived in the Ohio Country, the Six Nations of the Iroquois held the political power. They claimed that the area belonged to them. They also claimed to rule over the tribes who lived there. Since both Britain and France sought to control the Forks of the Ohio, they openly competed for Iroquois friendship. The Six Nations, in turn, successfully played the two against one another in order to keep the land under Indian authority. But during the mid-1700s, tensions between the British and French ran high. The Iroquois could do little to keep the Ohio Country from becoming a battleground.
24. FTNEV1_130330_218.JPG: "We shall each travel the river together, side-by-side, but in our own boat.... Neither of us will try to steer the other's vessel." -- From Iroquois Two Row Wampum Ceremony Competing for Trade: By 1748, the British traders who had followed the Shawnee and Delaware west across the Appalachian Mountains began dominating trade in the Ohio Valley. The French could not match the cheaper prices that the British offered. As they lost trade business, the French began to feel that they were losing their hold in the area. In 1752, they began planning "to drive the English from our lands" in order to keep them from trading with the Indians. Liquid Highways: This map of New France (Canada) reveals the extensive system of rivers and waterways that allowed the French to easily import and export trade goods during the 1700s.
25. FTNEV1_130330_219.JPG: "Things seem to take another turn, and a high wind is rising." -- Tamaqua, Ohio Delaware Indian A Move Toward War: In 1753, the French began building a string of forts from Lake Erie toward the forks of the Ohio River. That action sparked an immediate reaction from the British, who sent George Washington into the interior to ask the French to leave. American Indians watched with concern as the Europeans geared up for war. Some decided to remain neutral. Others chose sides when it was to their advantage. All knew that the Ohio Country would never be the same.
26. FTNEV1_130330_239.JPG: Search for Allies: A Losing Proposition: "[Washington] lay at one Place from one full Moon to the other and made no Fortifications at all, but that little thing upon the Meadow, where he thought the French would come up to him in an open Field." -- Tanaghrisson As Washington and his men built Fort Necessity, local Indians watched with great interest. They knew that it was only a matter of time before the French returned to avenge Jumonville's death and they began calculating how they would react to the dispute. In early June, Tanaghrisson together with the Seneca matriarch Aliquippa, led 80 to 100 men, women, and children to the Great Meadows. There, Washington greeted and entertained them but he barely had enough food to feed his own troops let along the new mouths. Disappointed by the lack of food and noting the small wood fort, the Indians decided that the British did not stand a chance and they soon left. Desperate for allies, Tanaghrisson asked several Indian nations to meet Washington for a war council at Gist's Plantation, a frontier settlement about 13 miles from Fort Necessity. Once again, Washington does not have enough food or gifts to convince the Indians to join him against the French. Even Tanaghrisson, the man who desperately hated the French, realized that the British were doomed. He, too, left before the battle began, leaving Washington without a single Indian ally.
27. FTNEV1_130330_245.JPG: May 30th, 1754: Preparing for Revenge: British: Immediately after the skirmish at Jumonville's Glen, George Washington expects French retaliation. He gathers his men at the site known as the Great Meadows and begins building a "fort of necessity" from the wood of the surrounding hardwood forest.
28. FTNEV1_130330_250.JPG: June 1st, 1754: Abandoning the British: American Indians: Tanaghrisson and Seneca Indian leader Queen Alliquippa lead almost 100 men, women and children to the British camp at the Great Meadows. Washington asks that warriors stay to fight the French. The Indians decline and leave after determining that the British have little chance of winning.
29. FTNEV1_130330_253.JPG: June 3rd, 1754: Fort Necessity Built: British: Washington's men finish their fort. It is little more than a log storehouse surrounded by a sharpened log stockade. The soldiers fill the storehouse with provisions, ammunition, and kegs of rum. Long promised supplies never arrive at the camp.
30. FTNEV1_130330_256.JPG: June 9th-14th, 1754: New Troops Arrive: British: During a busy week, reinforcements finally arrive at Fort Necessity including additional Virginia companies and 100 soldiers from the South Carolina Independent Company. They bring new weapons and provisions. But it is not enough. Supplies remain critically low.
31. FTNEV1_130330_266.JPG: Battle of Fort Necessity: Preparing for the Worst: "We have just finished a small palisado'd fort in which, with my small numbers, I shall not fear the attack of 500 men." -- George Washington By the time George Washington and his men arrived at Fort Necessity and Gist's Plantation on July 1, 1754, they were hungry, worn out from weeks of cutting road through a hardwood forest, and exhausted from the hasty retreat over mountainous ground. To make matters worse, the expected delivery of food, supplies, and reinforcements were not at the fort when they arrived. Washington rules out further retreat east to Wills Creek almost 50 miles away. The soldiers began to dig in, deepening the trenches that surrounded the fort and mounting their swivel guns. When they were done, fewer than 300 of the available 400 soldiers were fit for battle. In the meantime, de Villiers' French force of 600 soldiers and 100 Indians advanced on the British fort. Rumors in the backcountry alleged that 5,000 English reinforcements were on their way. The French considered delaying their attack until a British deserter walked into the French camp and revealed the desperately poor condition of Washington's troops. Wasting no time, de Villiers brought the full weight of 700 men down on the embattled troops of Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754.
32. FTNEV1_130330_272.JPG: June 16th, 1754: Back on the Road: British: With the fort built, Washington turns his attention to fulfilling his original orders. He leads his six companies out of the camp and continues building his military road west. Washington holds two wagons back at the fort hoping that desperately needed supplies arrive soon.
33. FTNEV1_130330_276.JPG: June 18th-21st, 1754: Failed Council: American Indian: At Washington's invitation, local Indian tribes father at a settlement west of Fort Necessity. They listen as he tries to win Indian support against the French. But he has too few gifts and little food to offer his guests. The Indians are unimpressed. The meeting is a failure.
34. FTNEV1_130330_279.JPG: June 26th-28th, 1754 Avenging Jumonville: French: French Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers, the older brother of the slain Jumonville, volunteers to take 600 soldiers and 100 Indians into the backcountry to punish the British. He leaves Fort Duquesne with orders to attack Washington's troops and avenge his brother's death.
35. FTNEV1_130330_284.JPG: June 29th, 1754: Return to Fort Necessity: British: While building his military road, Washington and his men learn about the large French army advancing on them and begin their retreat to Fort Necessity. The 13-mile trip back over the mountains takes two days and wears out the British soldiers.
36. FTNEV1_130330_289.JPG: The Battle for Fort Necessity: Countdown: Early on July 3, 1754, a scouting party stumbled into Fort Necessity carrying news that French troops and their Indians allies were only four miles away. Caught up in the excitement of the moment, the scouts wrongly reported that the enemy was "a heavy, numerous body, all naked." A few hours later the French forces appeared on the Great Meadows fully clothed and eager to avenge de Jumonville's death. Washington marched out to engage them in the traditional European manner with lines of men standing shoulder-to-shoulder. The French, however, had other plans.
37. FTNEV1_130330_295.JPG: From Bad to Worse: From the start, things did not go well for George Washington and the soldiers of Fort Necessity. The French and Indian forces refused to engage in the open field. Instead, they fired two volleys and scattered into the surrounding woods. The move left the British fatally exposed as they scrambled to their trenches. It also revealed a tactical flaw in Washington's placement of his small fort. The inexperienced colonel had set it too close to the forest's edge. French and Indian sharpshooters took advantage of the mistake and blasted their unprotected rivals with musket fire. Even nature seemed to be against the British as driving rains soaked their weapons and gunpowder, making it nearly impossible to shoot back.
38. FTNEV1_130330_301.JPG: Last Hope: For eight hours, the British fought in a torrential rainstorm against a forest enemy they could barely see or return fire against. Washington counted 30 dead and 70 wounded out of 300 fighting men. Toward evening, some remaining soldiers, not expecting to live till morning, drank the fort's rum supply. All seemed hopeless. The from the dark of night, a French voice called out, "Voulez-vous parlez?" Do you want to talk? At first, Washington thought the invitation to surrender was a trick. But after the third offer, Washington agreed to meet.
39. FTNEV1_130330_324.JPG: The Talks Begin: After receiving French assurances of his officers' safety, George Washington sent one of his captains, Jacob Van Bramm, and another officer into the French camp to begin talks. Van Braam soon returned with an offer. French Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers would allow the English to leave in the morning with honors. In return, Washington had to return the prisoners taken at Jumonville Glen, promise not to return to the Ohio Country for a year, and leave two officers behind to guarantee the deal. After refining the terms, Washington accepted the offer and demanded that the offer be put in writing.
40. FTNEV1_130330_328.JPG: Washington: An Assassin? After midnight Washington's intermediary Captain Van Braam, returned with a surrender document and began translating into English. Handwritten in French, its ink blotted by rain, the papers were barely legible. Van Braam, a Dutchman, struggled to read it by the flickering light of a candle. After listening to the relatively favorable terms, Washington believed that all was in order. He signed the document. But unknown to him at the time, Van Braam had mistranslated a key phrase. By agreeing to the surrender, Washington also unwittingly admitted that he had assassinated the French officer Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville back in May.
41. FTNEV1_130330_337.JPG: "As our intention has never been to trouble the peace... but to only revenge the assassination which has been done on one of our officers..." -- Excerpt from the Fort Necessity Surrender document
42. FTNEV1_130330_338.JPG: The Outcomes of Surrender: On July 4, 1754, Washington and the surviving British soldiers limped out of Fort Necessity as drums played. Captains Van Braam and Robert Stobo stayed behind as guarantees that the surrender terms would be honored. In all, Washington counted 30 dead and 70 wounded out of 300 fighting men. Soon after the English departed, the French burned down the fort. With the Ohio Country securely in French hands, the French officer de Villiers returned to Fort Duquesne a hero for having avenged his brother's death. Washington, on the other hand, had suffered a crushing defeat, one that ensured the British would not return to the Ohio Country for a year. To make matters worse, Washington soon learned about his mistaken admission that he had assassinated de Jumonville. It would haunt him for years. Even so, the battle for the Ohio Country was far from over. Washington would return sooner rather than later.
43. FTNEV1_130330_348.JPG: Burnt Stockade Posts: On July 4, 1754, victorious French troops pulled up most of Fort Necessity's white oak posts and piled them against what was left of the stockade. Then they lit it all on fire. Buried below ground, these post ends survived the blaze and were unearthed by archaeologist JC Harrington almost 200 years later.
44. FTNEV1_130330_361.JPG: Braddock's Campaign: Back to the Ohio: Less than a year after the Battle of Fort Necessity, Great Britain returned to the Forks of the Ohio only to face disaster. After learning about Washington's defeat, Great Britain sent General Edward Braddock to command the largest European military force ever assembled on North American soil. Although the two sides were not officially at war, the King ordered Braddock to drive the French from the Forks of the Ohio River. A loyal British officer, the 60-year-old Braddock had never mounted an expedition into the American wilderness, and it showed. He had trouble getting enough horses and wagons to transport supplies. He angered and lost essential Indian allies. He felt behind schedule. Despite it all, Braddock left Maryland on May 29, 1755, guiding his lumbering army of 2,400 (including George Washington) over the steep, forested Allegheny Mountains. Two months later, his advance column collided with a smaller French force near Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh). Caught off guard, both sides scrambled. The French followed their Indian allies to the high ground and used the advantage to defeat the British, wounding and killing almost 1,000 men including Braddock. The overwhelming victory gave the French firm control of the Ohio Country for the next several years.
45. FTNEV1_130330_366.JPG: War for Empire
46. FTNEV1_130330_372.JPG: War for Empire: The World at War: The French and Indian War soon spread from North America to the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia. While George Washington and his men made their lonely retreat back to Virginia after their defeat at Fort Necessity in 1754, none of them could have imagined that they had just fought the first battle of what would become a world war. After all, the battle had taken place deep in the backwoods of the American colonies and an ocean away from Britain and France. But the two European powers were longtime rivals and each wanted to enrich their empires by solely controlling North America. The Battle of Fort Necessity offered them an excuse to turn up the heat on hostilities that had been brewing for years. In 1756, Great Britain formally declared war on France, bringing the conflict to an already smoldering Europe. Soon the war spread to Africa and Asia. Seven years later, the warring factions finally reached a peace agreement. In the end, the French and Indian War (or the Seven Years War as it was called in Europe) left a new world order in its wake with Great Britain in control of a vast global empire that included North America.
47. FTNEV1_130330_388.JPG: North America: The French and Indian War: George Washington's defeat at Fort Necessity in 1754 marked the first battle of the French and Indian War. In the beginning, France and their Indian allies held the upper hand. But by 1758, Britain turned the tide in their favor after convincing both the American colonies and American Indian nations to take a greater role in the conflict on behalf of the King. Two years later, the British captured Montreal, ending the war in America.
48. FTNEV1_130330_398.JPG: Europe and Africa: The Seven Years War: The hostilities that played out in North America soon spread to Europe on may 15, 1756, when Great Britain formally declared war on French, signaling the beginning of the Seven Years War. Almost every major European nation became involved in the conflict. The British allied with Prussia and Hanover. Austria, Russia, Sweden, Saxony, and later Spain sided with the French. After nearly seven years of bloody battles, the war ended, leaving Britain as Europe's most powerful nation.
49. FTNEV1_130330_409.JPG: Asia: The Colonial Theater: In addition to battling in North America and Europe, Britain and France waged their war for empire across Africa, India, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. In one of their most important victories in the colonial theater, the British succeeded in pushing the French out of India. By the end of the war, Great Britain had become the world's greatest imperial power.
50. FTNEV1_130330_420.JPG: Outcomes: The Price of Peace: Great Britain and France finally declared peace on February 10, 1763, with the Treaty of Paris. Unlike their previous wars over the past century, each of which had ended in a stalemate, this war produced a clear winner with the British earning a decisive victory. France lost both North America and India. Great Britain won control of a sprawling new -- and costly -- empire. No group, however, lost more than the American Indian nations. A major political power before the war, American Indians found themselves nearly powerless after the war ended. Tribes that fought against the British faced harsh reprisals. Those who had fought with the British soon found their land overrun by colonial settlers. Despite Indian resistance, conditions only worsened in the years that followed.
51. FTNEV1_130330_437.JPG: World on Fire
52. FTNEV1_130330_442.JPG: The Road Into History: Braddock's Road: For part of their journey west, General Braddock's soldiers traveled over the same military road that Washington and his men made the year before. Braddock's crew widened the road to allow the very large army and its supplies to pass.
53. FTNEV1_130330_448.JPG: May 10th, 1755: Final Preparations: The British: Artillery guns salute the arrival of General Braddock at Fort Cumberland, Maryland. Over the next few weeks he makes final preparations for this march on the French who are stationed at Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh).
54. FTNEV1_130330_455.JPG: May 29th, 1755: Moving Out: The British: The first of British General Braddock's 2,200 soldiers march west out of Fort Cumberland toward the Forks of the Ohio River traveling along and widening the same mountainous forest route Washington's Virginia Regiment had helped clear a year earlier.
55. FTNEV1_130330_466.JPG: July 9th, 1755: Bloody Defeat: The French: At Fort Duquesne, Captain Claude-Pierre Contrecoeur sends out a party of almost 800 Indian and French colonial soldiers to intercept Braddock's advance guard. That afternoon the two sides collide igniting a bloody forest battle. Among the casualties is General Braddock who dies from his wounds four days later.
56. FTNEV1_130330_476.JPG: July 14th, 1755: Burying Braddock: The British: After a brief ceremony, George Washington and a few other soldiers bury Braddock in the middle of the road in an unmarked grave on their retreat. Then they march over it to remove any traces of it and return to Fort Cumberland. The British will not return to the Ohio Country for almost three years.
57. FTNEV1_130330_479.JPG: Shifting the Balance: Allies and Enemies: Independent and willing to act in their own best interests, American Indians played a crucial role in deciding which side won the French and Indian War. After General Braddock's defeat, one lesson should have been clear to the British: American Indians were essential to military success in North America. Ferocious fighters, Indians also offered expert knowledge of the backcountry and their added numbers to a battle could mean the difference between victory and defeat. But the British were slow to acknowledge that lesson. Instead, they gave little thought to developing Indian alliances, and as a result they continued losing. The French, on the other hand, worked hard to reinforce old Indian friendships and develop new ones. In the three years following Braddock's defeat, French forces teamed with Indian allies to defeat British troops in almost every important military encounter. Toward the end of 1757, the Franco-Indian began to weaken. About that time, the British finally realized that their only hope of winning the war lay in developing alliances with the area tribes. In 1758, they convinced the Delaware to abandon the French side and join the English. The move marked an initial shift in the balance of power that tilted the war in Britain's favor.
58. FTNEV1_130330_484.JPG: 1754: Battle of Fort Necessity: July 3: In retaliation for the attack at Jumonville Glen, the French and their Indian allies defeat the British at Fort Necessity. George Washington surrenders and on the next day leads his surviving troops back to Virginia. 1755: Braddock's Defeat: July 9: British troops return to the Ohio Country and clash with French and Indians near present-day Pittsburgh. Once again, the British are routed in a bloody battle. British Major General Edward Braddock is wounded. He dies four days later.
59. FTNEV1_130330_488.JPG: 1756: It's War: May 17: Great Britain officially declares war on France. Fighting spreads beyond North America to the Caribbean, India, Europe, and Africa, igniting what some have called the first true world war. 1756: Unpopular Command: July 23: British Commander in Chief Lord Loudoun arrives in the American colonies to direct the war effort. He sets in place a number of unpopular policies that cause resentment among the colonies. As a result, the colonists -- for the time being -- do little to help the British defeat the French. 1756: French Victory: August 14: Continuing their early dominance in the war, the French and their Indian allies capture Fort Oswego. It gives them control of Lake Ontario and breaks the British hold on the Great Lakes.
60. FTNEV1_130330_494.JPG: 1757: Ft. William Henry Massacre: August 8: General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm earns another victory for the French when he takes Fort William Henry on Lake George in present-day New York. However, Montcalm offers the British generous terms of surrender without clearing them with his Indian allies. Angered by the slight, the Indians turn on the British killing or capturing hundreds of them. After this event, French and Indian relations will never be the same. 1757: Changing Policy: March 10: British Secretary of State William Pitt removes Lord Loudoun and changes Great Britain's unpopular policies toward the colonies. The changes help rally support. The once reluctant American colonies now lend a more eager hand in helping the British defeat the French. 1758: Making Peace: October 8 to 26: Delegates from Iroquois Confederacy, the Shawnee, and the Lenape meet with the British to negotiate and sign the Treaty of Easton. They agree not to fight with the French in exchange for several British promises including a vow to prevent settlement of lands west of the Allegheny Mountains after the war. 1758: Winning the Forks: November 25: After more than four years of trying, the British finally gain control of the Forks of the Ohio River. British troops capture Fort Duquense and rename it Fort Pitt. The following spring colonial settlers pour over the Allegheny Mountains and begin moving into the region.
61. FTNEV1_130330_500.JPG: 1760: Montreal Surrenders: September 8: After taking Quebec a year earlier, the British capture Montreal ending the fighting in North America. But the two empires continue fighting in other parts of the world. 1763: The War Ends: February 10: The Treaty of Paris brings an official end to the French and Indian War. According to the terms of the treaty, the victorious Great Britain gains control of all of France's North American territory east of the Mississippi River, except for the New Orleans and two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 1763: Pontiac's Rebellion: April 27: Angered by broken promises and fearful that their way of life was in jeopardy, Ottawa War Chief Pontiac unites several Indian nations and makes plans to drive the British from their land. A month later they attack Fort Detroit beginning and uprising against the British. 1764: Taxing the Colonies: April 5: Great Britain begins imposing a series of new taxes on the colonies in part to support the larger empire created by the French and Indian War. The colonists resent the taxes, claiming that only their own colonial legislatures had the right to tax them. They quickly organize protests that grow in intensity as more taxes are levied.
62. FTNEV1_130330_506.JPG: 1775: Lexington and Concord: April 19: Massachusetts militia, called Minutemen, battle with British soldiers who were on their way to Concord to remove the colonists' weapons depot. The first shots were fired at Lexington beginning the American War of Independence. One month later, the Continental Congress appoints George Washington commander in chief of the new Continental Army. 1776: Declaration of Independence: July 4: The American colonies formally break away from Great Britain when members of the Continental Congress adopt the Declaration of Independence. The United States' war with the British will continue for another seven years.
63. FTNEV1_130330_512.JPG: The Battle of Fort Necessity: Into the Woods: Soon after the French troops came within sight of the Great Meadows on the morning of July 3, 1754, their commander Coulon de Villiers ordered them to take up forest-warfare positions. The tactic exploited the poor positioning of Fort Necessity, which stood only 60 yards from the woods. From the safety and relative dryness provided by the trees, the French cut loose with relentless fire. Targeting the English who lay exposed in the open trenches, de Villiers' men fought with such "ardor and zeal" that French officers feared that their men would run out of ammunition. French troops head for the cover of the forest. The men often dressed like their Indian allies, allowing them to travel light and fast.
64. FTNEV1_130330_519.JPG: Strength in Numbers: In addition to gaining a tactical advantage over the British by taking battle positions in the woods, the French also outnumbered the men of Fort Necessity by more than two to one. The French brought more than 700 men to fight at the Great Meadows. Colonial Marines and Canadian militia skilled in the art of forest fighting made up the bulk of the troops. Over 100 Indian allies rounded out the force, giving the French a decided edge over Washington and his depleted troops who had been unable to convince a single Indian to join them.
65. FTNEV1_130330_525.JPG: Pistol Barrel, Lock Mechanism, and Flint: During the Battle of Fort Necessity, both sides relied on flint and steel to ignite the gunpowder that fired their pistols and muskets. Once gunpowder got wet, however, it would not fire a weapon.
66. FTNEV1_130330_528.JPG: Jumonville Avenged: From the beginning, both Washington and de Villiers realized that the battle was an unequal fight. The French seemingly had little reason to offer surrender. Yet as evening fell, de Villiers saw his men exhausted from the daylong firefight in the pouring rain. His Indian allies had threatened leave by morning. Supplies and ammunition were running low and he feared that rumors of advancing English reinforcements might be true. Feeling that he had avenged his brother's death, de Villiers extended an offer of surrender. After pummeling the British for most of the day, French Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers drew up terms of surrender for George Washington. Warriors from the Huron, Huron of Lorette, Ottawa, Nipissing, Algonquin, Abenaki, Shawnee, and Delaware nations joined the French to defeat the British at Fort Necessity.
67. FTNEV1_130330_548.JPG: The Cost of Empire: Paying for the Larger Empire: Thanks to their victory, Great Britain controlled a far-flung global empire that ranged from India to North America and the Caribbean. But the costs of winning and governing that empire soon took their toll. During the French and Indian War, Great Britain spent itself into near bankruptcy. As a result, Parliament began imposing taxes on the American colonists to maintain the larger empire. This and other policies unintentionally provoked unrest in the colonies and helped Britain lose its grip on world power. Proclamation of 1763: This broadside announced how Great Britain would govern the new land it gained in North America after the war. It also prohibited colonists from settling western Indian lands, which angered many seeking to move across the Appalachian Mountains. King George III: After the French and Indian War, King George III supported several policies that rarely served their intended purposes. Instead, the policies fanned discontent among many colonists.
68. FTNEV1_130330_558.JPG: "That this kingdom has the sovereign, the supreme legislative power over America, is granted. It cannot be denied; and taxation is part of that sovereign power..." -- George Grenville, British Prime Minister, 1765 George Grenville: During his term as British Prime Minister, George Grenville initiated a series of taxes on the American colonies. His divisive policies caused opposition both in Great Britain and in America.
69. FTNEV1_130330_564.JPG: Stamp Act: From Great Britain's point of view, the government had every right to enact the Stamp Act of 1765 and impose taxes on the American colonies. Many colonists felt that the taxes imposed on their rights as British citizens. "The People, even to the lowest ranks, have become more attentive to their Liberties, more inquisitive about them, and more determined to defend them, than they were ever before known..." -- John Adams, writing about Americans and the Stamp Act
70. FTNEV1_130330_570.JPG: Colonies to Country
71. FTNEV1_130330_576.JPG: Colonies to Country: The Road to Revolution: The aftermath of the French and Indian War set in motion a series of events that led to America's Revolutionary War. By the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, American colonists unquestionably considered themselves to be loyal subjects of the British Crown. After all, they had fought, bled, and died alongside them in order to sweep the French out of North America. But that feeling of partnership and loyalty slowly began to dissolve as Great Britain started taxing the colonies in order to help pay for its swollen new empire. During the 1760s, disillusionment among the colonists grew. By the 1770s it turned into fear, suspicion, rebellion, and finally war. In 1783, the Revolutionary War ended. The Americans, led by George Washington, defeated the British and gained control of new territories extending from the Alleghenies west to the Mississippi River and from Canada south to Florida. The young United States' government would face many challenges including finding way to build roads the would tie the new nation together.
72. FTNEV1_130330_592.JPG: Welcome Fort Necessity National Battlefield & National Road Heritage Corridor: Here in 1754, George Washington suffered the first defeat of his military career. That battle was a prelude to a war for empire that eventually set the stage for the American Revolution. During the 1800s, the United States' first federally funded highway passed by only a few hundred yards from here. The new route linked the Atlantic Coast with the Ohio River Valley and helped make the country's westward expansion possible. Take a step back into history and witness the events that helped shape this country.
73. FTNEV2_130330_007.JPG: Before the National Road: Miles of Mud and Mire: In the early days of America, traveling west was no easy chore. George Washington sounded one of the earliest calls for a road that linked the nation. For years, the Appalachian Mountains pinned Americans in along the Atlantic Coast. Most knew that the country beyond promised fertile lands and new opportunities. Getting across the Appalachians was another matter. Existing east-west mountain roads were awful. One 1775 traveler called old Braddock's Road -- a route to the Ohio Country left over from the French and Indian War -- "the worst I ever saw." Riddled with tree stumps, rising over steep grades, and frequently washed out by rains, the overgrown pathway slowed travelers to a few miles progress a day. With little other choice, the farmers, merchants, and settlers who traveled the route pushed on. Some used it to move west; others brought goods back east to trade. With increased use, the already-bad road conditions worsened. Easterners and westerners alike complained. In 1784, George Washington journeyed the tedious road to inspect his western Pennsylvania land holdings. Appalled by the experience, he called for a new road that would "open a wide door, and make a smooth way" between America's Atlantic Coast and its western interior.
74. FTNEV2_130330_019.JPG: November 1794: The Whiskey Rebellion: Led by George Washington, more than 12,000 federalized troops put down an uprising of Western Pennsylvania farmers who are protesting a federal tax on whiskey. One of the first tests of the new United States government, the action establishes the national government's supremacy over the individual states.
75. FTNEV2_130330_023.JPG: December 14th, 1799: George Washington Dies: After making rounds at his Mount Vernon home in December, George Washington falls ill. He dies the next day never living to see his vision of a "smooth way" connecting America's east coast with its western interior.
76. FTNEV2_130330_028.JPG: Birth of the National Road: Bringing the Country Together: For a struggling young America, the idea of a national road meant more than just an avenue of commerce. It provided a means of cementing the ties of the Union. By the late 1700s, increasing numbers of settlers began moving into and farming the Ohio Country. They explored ways to ship their produce to eastern markets and quickly found most routes to be too slow and too expensive. Back east, merchants and politicians worried that frustrated Ohio farmers would take their business elsewhere -- perhaps to the British or the Spanish who could be more easily reached by water routes to Canada and Louisiana. Easterners feared that if European interests gained control of western trade, it would threaten the future of the United States. Soon people like Thomas Jefferson, Albert Gallatin, and Henry Clay actively pushed for a "national" road -- a broad east-west thoroughfare that tied the country together by making it easier and cheaper to move goods, ideas, and people. In 1806, Congress passed an act that helped fund the building of a road to the new state of Ohio. But there were details -- what route did it take, who would maintain it, who should pay for it -- that would take years to work out.
77. FTNEV2_130330_035.JPG: Building the National Road: A New Era Dawns: After a long struggle, the United States finally began construction of a national road that stretched from the Atlantic Coast to the Ohio Country. On March 29, 1806, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill establishing the United States' first federally funded highway. The Act called for the road to start in Cumberland, Maryland and wing its way over the Appalachian Mountains toward Ohio. It set aside $30,000 to lay out and build the road. Surveying and planning started later that summer. From the beginning, hamlets, villages and big towns alike all lobbied to have the highway pass by them. Each knew that a favorably placed road could mean prosperity while a near miss could spell economic disaster. After much political wrangling over the final route, construction began in 1811. An army of contractors, ax men, labor crews, and builders began hacking a 66-foot wide path out of the forest. They felled trees, laid down paving, and built bridges -- all by hand. Progress slowed because of the War of 1812 but soon it started up again. After seven years, they finished the 137-mile long road from Cumberland to Wheeling, Virginia, just across the river from Ohio. The National Road was open for business.
78. FTNEV2_130330_041.JPG: The Road Into History: Building the National Road: Construction on the original road began in 1811 and ended in 1818. Measuring 66 feet wide and 137 miles long, the National Road was paved with stone from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, Virginia. It paralleled the route cut by Braddock's Road, Washington's Military Road, and Nemacolin's Path. The new road made travel across the Appalachian Mountains faster than ever before.
79. FTNEV2_130330_054.JPG: Heyday of the National Road 1820-1850
80. FTNEV2_130330_058.JPG: Nemacolin's Path: 1751: Named for the Delaware Indian Scout who hand-blazed the route in 1751-52, this pack trail ran from Wills Creek to the mouth of Redstone Creek, near Brownsville, Pennsylvania.
81. FTNEV2_130330_064.JPG: Washington's Military Road: 1754: Following his military orders, George Washington expanded and extended Nemacolin's Path in 1754. His troops chopped a larger road out of the hardwood forests making sure it was wide enough to accommodate wagons and troops for transport as they made their way to the Forks of the Ohio River.
82. FTNEV2_130330_071.JPG: General Braddock's Road: 1755: For part of their journey west, General Braddock's soldiers traveled over the same military road that Washington and his men made the year before. Braddock's crew widened to the road to allow the very large army and its supplies to pass.
83. FTNEV2_130330_078.JPG: The National Road: 1811: Construction on the original road began in 1811 and ended in 1818. Measuring 66 feet wide and 137 miles long, the National Road was paved with stone from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, Virginia. It paralleled the route cut by Braddock's Road, Washington's Military Road, and Nemacolin's Path. The new road made travel across the Appalachian Mountains faster than ever before.
84. FTNEV2_130330_087.JPG: Hey Day of the National Road: The Crowded Highway: "The National road is a work truly worthy of a great nation, both in its idea and construction; upon it the traveler [sic] will be enabled to pass with comfort, from the eastern coast, westward..." -- Adlard Welby, National Road traveler, 1819 In 1818, workers reached Wheeling, Virginia and packed down the last of a 137-mile section of road that connected the Atlantic seaboard to the Ohio River. After seven years of construction, the nation's first federally planned and funded highway was open and ready for travelers. THe new road was a success from the start. East-west passage was easier than ever before. People, ideas, and commerce flowed easily in both directions. Whole towns and businesses sprang up seemingly overnight to cater to the needs of the thousands of travelers who had crowded onto the highway. The road only got busier. Between 1820 and 1850, it was a blur or color, noise, and motion. By this time, the overland route bad been extended through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, making it a true "national" road that was changing the shape of the country forever.
85. FTNEV2_130330_105.JPG: Moving Along the Road: A Busy Thoroughfare: Thousands flocks to the National Road when it opened in 1818. There were Conestoga wagoners hauling freight; stage drivers sitting atop brightly colored coaches packed with merchants, politicians, and frontier heroes; mud-splattered drovers herding hogs, sheep, and cattle; and emigrant families seeking a better life. The new east-west highway immediately became one of the busiest in the country. Everyone marveled at the new road and how much easier and faster it made inland travel. Crossing the Alleghenies was no longer a miserable chore. Traffic now moved swiftly along the solid, carefully graded thoroughfare in a parade of movement that seemed as if it would never stop. Ships of the Inland Commerce: Easily recognized by their billowing white cloth covers and boat-shaped beds, Conestoga wagons were the long-haul freighters of the day. Fully loaded, they carried up to five tons of flour, tobacco, coffee and other freight along the full length of the highway.
86. FTNEV2_130330_110.JPG: Wild Rides: Few events compared to the thrill of riding the National Road in a stagecoach. Several lines operated on the cross-country route and each advertised itself as the fastest. Passengers packed into carriages and held on as the horse-drawn coaches, determined to meet their impossible schedules, hurtled down the pike. In 1825, a stagecoach ride from Baltimore to Wheeling cost $17 and took three days. "It looked more like a leading avenue of a great city than a road through rural districts." -- Thomas B. Searight, The Old Pike President's Message to the West: As the National Road extended westward, it became an important political link to the West. Presidential hopefuls, recognizing the value of garnering the frontier vote, used the road to cross the Alleghenies and campaign. Once in office, they continued to court western support by sending the annual President's message to the West via stagecoach express on the National Road.
87. FTNEV2_130330_117.JPG: Over the Mountains: For ages, the Allegheny Mountains made east-west travel difficult for all but the most determined travelers. But when the National Road opened in 1818, it cut a clear passable route through the mountains, making it possible for almost everyone to make the journey.
88. FTNEV2_130330_123.JPG: The National Roadside: Boom Times: The National Road brought a steady stream of hungry, thirsty, weary travelers through the small towns and villages that lined its route. Local entrepreneurs quickly recognized the potential for profit and got to work. Valleys and mountainsides rang with the echoes of handsaws and hammers as new businesses sprang up at an astonishing pace. Towns swelled with the additions of general stores, taverns, wagon stands, livery stables, and blacksmith shops. In no time, the mad rush for development gave rise to an extensive roadside economy that was completely dependent on the fortunes of the National Road.
89. FTNEV2_130330_128.JPG: On Main Street: The National Road became the "Main Street" of most of the towns that it passed through. Businesses pressed up to the edge of the road to make sure that travelers did not miss them. The "Public Houses": The National Roadside offered accommodations for almost everyone. Two of the most common types of public houses were taverns and wagon stands. Generally, the more affluent stagecoach riders stayed at the more expensive hotels and taverns often located in the middle of town. Conestoga wagoners stayed at wagon stands located on the outskirts of town.
90. FTNEV2_130330_133.JPG: "In this part of the country a petty tavern and grocery makes a town, and if there be a blacksmith shop and two or three log cabins besides, it is 'a right smart town.' " -- National Road traveler, 1839 Highway Robbery: Taverns, stores and stables were not the only businesses that opened on the National Road. During the highway's heyday years, thieves "set up shop" on certain parts of the road to prey on unsuspecting travelers. One of the most notorious areas, known as "Shades of Death," was located east of Meadow Mountain in Maryland.
91. FTNEV2_130330_139.JPG: Around Town: Many of the towns along the National Road developed in a similar way. Homes, shops, taverns, and other businesses clustered around Main Street. Back streets ran parallel to it and were used to divert freight traffic so that the heavy wagons would not clog up the center of town.
92. FTNEV2_130330_148.JPG: The Tavern: Stopping Along the Road: "I was surprized [sic], in taverns so well kept in other respects, to find bugs in the beds! I am sorry to say I observed (or, rather, felt) this too often. Always good eating and drinking, but not always good sleeping." -- Hulme's Journal, 1818-1819 Taverns were popular stops along the National Road. Travelers looked forward to the home-cooked meals and hard drinks they served. Locals dropped in to socialize and heart the latest news and gossip that made its way up the pike. During meal times, taverns bustled with customers packed elbow-to-elbow at long wood tables. At night, guests laid out their bedrolls and slept on the floors. Others paid for a night's sleep in a bed only to find that they had to share it with as many as four other patrons -- and countless bedbugs. In the morning, bleary-eyed traveled gobbled down a heart breakfast, then eagerly hit the road... scratching. Taverns lined the National Road. Some areas had as many as one tavern for each mile of highway. Tavern owners kept plenty of whiskey on hand. Daily menus included roast chicken, venison, wild turkey, biscuits, johnnycakes, salted bear meat, and even fresh oysters.
93. FTNEV2_130330_159.JPG: Maintaining the Road: Who Will Fix It? From the beginning, the National Road took a pounding from the relentless traffic that swarmed the thoroughfare. By the mid-1820s, the road east of Wheeling needed extensive repairs. But the question arose: Who should pay for them? In Washington, DC, lawmakers argued over the constitutionality of maintaining the road. Some felt the states should finance it. Others claimed it was the federal government's responsibility. After years of debate, Congress allotted enough money to overhaul parts of the highway. Then in the 1830s, it turned the job over to the states and let them figure out a way to pay for fixing the National Road.
94. FTNEV2_130330_175.JPG: The McAdam Method: The National Road's original loose stone paving did not hold up well to heavy traffic. When repairs began, road engineers used a superior new paving system called the McAdam Method. It relied on layers of uniform broken stones to create a smoother, more durable road surface. Workers broke, sized, and sorted stones before using them as highway paving.
95. FTNEV2_130330_184.JPG: The Toll Road: By the 1830s, Congress began shifting care of the National Road to the states. As each state took responsibility, it set up its own system of tolls. Each used the money it collected to pay for highway maintenance and administration. But the costs always exceeded toll receipts, forcing state governments to borrow in order to pay for upkeep.
96. FTNEV2_130330_187.JPG: "At present this road ... is in a state of rapid dilapidation, and unless some remedy be soon applied, total destruction must be the speedy and inevitable result..." -- Pennsylvania Congressional Representative Andrew Stewart, 1826 Extending the Road: As the federal government wrangled over who should pay for maintaining the National Road, Congress continued to fund westward construction of the highway. Beginning in 1825, and lasting more than two decades, construction extended the road through Ohio, Indiana, and into Illinois.
97. FTNEV2_130330_199.JPG: Rules of a Colonial Tavern RULES of THIS TAVERN Four pence a night for Bed Six pence with Supper No more than five to sleep in one bed No Boots to be worn in bed Organ Grinders to sleep in the Wash house No dogs allowed upstairs No Beer allowed in the Kitchen No Razor Grinders or Tinkers taken in
98. FTNEV2_130330_214.JPG: The National Road: Glory Departed
99. FTNEV2_130330_221.JPG: Changing of the Guard: We hear no more the clanging hoof, And the stagecoach rattling by, For the Steam King rules the traveled world And the Old Pike's left to die. -- Excerpt from the poem, The Old Pike For more than 30 years, the National Road fueled the growth of a nation. But by the mid-1800s, the federal highway was beginning to outlive its usefulness. Railroads emerged as major competitors in the transportation business. They hauled goods and people over long distances faster and cheaper than plodding wagons and stagecoaches. In 1842, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad laid down tracks from Baltimore to Cumberland. Eleven years later, the line extended out to Wheeling, taking most of the National Road business with it. Road traffic slowed to a trickle. Businesses closed. Towns withered. But the old highway did not die out completely. The wheels of progress continued to turn with the promise that glory would one day return.
100. FTNEV2_130330_233.JPG: The National Road: Recapturing Glory
101. FTNEV2_130330_239.JPG: 1890s: Good Roads Movement: The National Road fell into disrepair after the railroads rose to prominence. Then Americans fell in love with the bicycle and began campaigning for better roads.
102. FTNEV2_130330_244.JPG: 1900s: The Model T: Henry Ford introduced the popular Model T. Rugged and dependable, it still fell victim to the bumpy dirt portions of the National Road.
103. FTNEV2_130330_249.JPG: 1910s: Better Roads: Congress began appropriating money to improve the nation's highways. Automobiles took to the National Road in increasing numbers, signaling the dawn of a new era.
104. FTNEV2_130330_253.JPG: 1920s: US 40: As part of the new highway number system instituted by the federal government, the National Road became part of US 40 continuing the roadway's revival.
105. FTNEV2_130330_258.JPG: 1930s: On Vacation: Automobiles offered Americans a new freedom of movement. Along the National Road, sprawling resorts opened to give vacationers a chance to get away from it all and enjoy leisure time in the countryside.
106. FTNEV2_130330_268.JPG: 1950s: The Superhighways: In 1956, Congress started the Interstate Highway System. Years later, I-70, built parallel to the National Road, began siphoning traffic and business away from US 40.
107. FTNEV2_130330_272.JPG: Today: Main Street of America: Today, the National Road is experiencing a revival as travelers leave the sameness of superhighways and choose to slow down in order to explore, celebrate, and commemorate the rich heritage of the National Road, America's first interstate highway.
108. FTNEV2_130330_287.JPG: 1854: The Old Great Meadows: Long After the Battle: "Stopped awhile at the Great Meadows and viewed a tenement I have there." -- George Washington, 1784 In 1771, George Washington returned to the site of his first defeat and bought the property where his ill-fated "fort of necessity" once stood. An avid land speculator, he hoped that its value would increase sharply once Americans began pushing westward in large numbers. The investment never panned out. For years he tried to rent it or sell it without success. After Washington died in 1799, the parcel changed hands often. At different times, it served as farm, a grazing pasture, and the setting for an inn. Still, the Great Meadows kept its place in history. One farmer who owned the land boasted that he never plowed the old fort site out of respect. Travelers on the nearby National Road often stopped by to glimpse the former battlefield. In 1854, a local group, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the battle, placed a cornerstone for a well-intentioned memorial that was never built. The land would remain relatively undeveloped and privately owned for the next 77 years.
109. FTNEV2_130330_294.JPG: 1854 Cornerstone: Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Necessity, local Masons placed this cornerstone time capsule -- filled with local newspapers, historic documents, a commemorative coin, and a picture of George Washington -- on the Great Meadows. Further construction on a larger monument never progressed because of lack of funds.
110. FTNEV2_130330_304.JPG: 1932: Celebrating an Icon: The Square Fort: "Here July 3rd 1754 Lieutenant Colonel George Washington fought his first battle which marked the beginning of the French and Indian War in America." -- 1932 Plaque marking Fort Necessity's bicentennial In 1932, America's celebrated George Washington's 200th birthday. As part of the celebration, the Federal Government opened Fort Necessity National Battlefield Site complete with a newly built reproduction of the fort. The large, square fort looked like the forts commonly built in Washington's day. It featured a 12-foot stockade, firing steps, a cabin, a prominent flagpole, and visitor pathways. Bronze plaques mounted to the stockade provided guests with an overview of the events that had taken place there two centuries earlier. The memorial sparked little controversy at the time. Although a few historians questioned the shape of the fort believing that, perhaps, it should be triangular, most accepted the reproduction as accurate. No one suggested that clues to a more complete and accurate story were lurking just below the surface of the battlefield.
111. FTNEV2_130330_309.JPG: The Great Meadows Campaign "Up to this time the colonies have been acting as entirely separate and independent states." -- From message of Governor James Glenn to the South Carolina Assembly, March 5, 1754. The Great Meadows Campaign marked the first active united action on the part of the colonies. Here soldiers from Virginia and South Carolina fought together against a common foe. Troops from New York and North Carolina were marching to reinforce them. Pennsylvania voted 10,000 pounds and Maryland voted 5,000 pounds to aid the expedition, while Massachusetts sent troops north to harass the French. Thus more than half the colonies engaged in this campaign. This tablet dedicated July 3rd, 1932, the Bicentennial Year of the birth of George Washington, by the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the American Revolution.
112. FTNEV2_130330_316.JPG: This site of the Battle of Fort Necessity was always dear to the heart of George Washington. In 1769 He purchased this farm of 234 acres on which the battle took place and held it to the time of his death. He described it in his will as follows: "This land is valuable on account of its local situation and other properties. It affords an exceeding good stand on Braddock's Road from Fort Cumberland to Pittsburg. Beares a fertile soil. Possesses a large quantity of natural meadow fit for the scythe. It is distinguished by the appellation of the great meadows where the first action with the French in the year 1754 was fought."
113. FTNEV2_130330_320.JPG: Here July 3rd 1754, Lieutenant colonel George Washington fought his first battle which marked the beginning of the French and Indian War in America and started the Seven Years War in Europe. "A cannon shot fired in the woods of America." Said Voltaire, "Was the signal that set all Europe in a blaze." This war affected not only England and France but Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden and other Continental powers. It gave Lord Clive the opportunity of winning India from the French, made Canada a British possession, wrested this western territory from the French and the burden of taxes imposed on the colonies to pay for this war had an important part in bringing on the American War For Independence.
114. FTNEV2_130330_325.JPG: 1952: Rediscovering Fort Necessity: New Evidence, New Light: "Reconstruction ... was not a major concern when the work began, as the reproduction constructed in 1932 was believed to be... correct as to details." -- Archaeologist JC Harrington In preparation for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Necessity, the National Park Service brought in Jean Carl Harrington to work on a minor archaeological project. Hoping to unearth a few "relics" or perhaps locate some forgotten trenches, Harrington made a startling -- if not accidental -- new discovery. Fort Necessity had not been square or even triangular as some historians speculatied. It had been road and much smaller than anyone had imagined. Harrington hit on the theory soon after he began digging in 1952. Over the next year, he used a new process that combined historical research with traditional archaeological techniques to prove his point. His discoveries convinced the Park Service to tear down the inaccurate 1932 fort and build a circular one in its place. Harrington's pioneering techniques helped cement his reputation as "the father of historical archaeology" and helped change the way historical sites are interpreted today.
115. FTNEV2_130330_336.JPG: 1953: Washington's Round Fort: In 1953, archaeologist JC Harrington began a comprehensive excavation around Fort Necessity to confirm his theory that the shape of the 1932 reconstructed fort was completely wrong. He soon unearthed traces of a small circular stockade constructed of split white oak logs. Harrington believed the crude structure not only proved his theory, but also revealed the tremendous pressures Washington's men faced. Preparing for battle and burdened by limited manpower and resources, the soldiers had little choice but to take numerous shortcuts and build a small fort. "Saw Colonel Washington's Fort which was called Fort Necessity. It is a small circular stockade with a small house in the center." -- Colonel James Burd, 1759
116. FTNEV2_130330_350.JPG: Today: The National Road: Echoes of Wagon Wheels: "There is no road in the United States equal to this, extending more than 100 miles, in such perfect order." -- Mary Reed Eastman, 1833 In 1818, the first swell of travelers came pouring over the National Road passing within several hundred yards of this site. Some rode, some herded, and more than a few walked. All of them represented a restless nation on the move. Since then the National Road has risen, declined, and seen itself reinvented many times over. In 1994, the state of Pennsylvania officially established the National Road Heritage Corridor to keep the memory of the old thoroughfare alive. It created cultural resource areas and roadside visitor attractions including tollhouses and other historic properties. You have already traveled portions of the "Old Pike" to get to this park and there is plenty more to see in this state. You can continue your journey by touring the nearby Mount Washington Tavern where -- almost 200 years ago -- road weary travelers stopped to eat, drink, socialize, and sleep before they woke to start on the next leg of their journey.
117. FTNEV2_130330_360.JPG: Today: Fort Necessity National Battlefield: The Continuing Story: "About 9 o'clock on the 3rd of July the Enemy advanced with Shouts, and dismal Indian yells to our Entrenchments..." -- George Washington, recalling the Battle of Fort Necessity, 1786 The story of Fort Necessity and the events that took place here more than 250 years ago are not frozen in time. In fact, our understanding of these events changes as each new generation adds a fresh layer of interpretations to the historical record. Today we believe that Fort Necessity was round, not square. Scholars focus on expanding the story [???] the heroes to include the lesser known people who also shaped history. The French and Indian War rises from the shadows to take its place as setting the stage for the American Revolution. Of course, what we understand today could all change tomorrow as new tools that allow us to better understand our past emerge. What remains is this place. Take your own journey into history. Visit the battle site just outside these doors and let yur mind wander back to 1754 when British, French, and Indian cultures first collided in a fateful battle for empire.
118. FTNEV2_130330_376.JPG: Welcome to the Fort Necessity/National Road Playground!
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