| Redstone Old Fort | |
|---|---|
| Fayette County,Pennsylvania, USA | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Fort |
| Controlled by | City ofBrownsville, Pennsylvania |
| Location | |
  Redstone Old Fort Approximate location of Redstone Old Fort in Pennsylvania | |
| Coordinates | 40°1′12″N79°53′22″W / 40.02000°N 79.88944°W /40.02000; -79.88944 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1759 |
| In use | 1759-1778 |
| Battles/wars | French and Indian War,Lord Dunmore's War |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders | Captain Michael Cresap |
Redstone Old Fort — written asRedstone or Red-Stone Fort[1] or (for a short time when built)Fort Burd[1] — onthe Nemacolin Trail, was the name of theFrench and Indian War-era woodenfort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania militia colonelJames Burd to guard the ancient Indian trail'sriver ford on a mound overlooking the eastern shore of theMonongahela River (colloquially, just "the Mon") in what is nowFayette County, Pennsylvania, near, or (more likely) on the banks ofDunlap's Creek at the confluence. The site is unlikely to be the same as an earlier fort the French document asHangard dated to 1754 and which was confusedly, likely located on the nearby stream calledRedstone Creek.[notes 1] Red sandstones predominate the deposited rock column of the entire region.
Geopolitically, Redstone was a frequent point of embarkation to cross the Monongahela River for travelers who had crossed theAlleghenies or were heading west via the Monongahela andOhio Rivers by boat. Its strategic importance had long been recognized and used by the Indians, and it was a target terminus ofBraddock's Road during theFrench and Indian War. Redstone Old Fort was the terminus of an Indian trail which settlers improved around the 1750. They afterward called itNemacolin's Trail, named after the Indianchief who assisted the improvement through themountain pass.[2] From this area, travelers could travel by water downstream on the Monongahela river to what is now Pittsburgh, or overland, by trails that later becameBrownsville Road to the same destination.
The fortress site was chosen to guard and command thecrossing point[notes 2] of the formidable east–west obstacle of theMonongahela River along the route of an Indian trail from thePotomac River—along one of the few mountain passes allowing traffic between theOhio Country and the eastern seaboard cities. During 1749 and 1750, theDelaware Indian chiefNemacolin andMaryland frontiersmanThomas Cresap supervised improving the trail from the east to Redstone Creek, but Chief Nemacolin was a continuing presence in the war against the Mingo and Shawnee, and anecdotes place him atNemacolin Castle waiting for Colonel Burd.[3]
Col.James Burd ordered construction of the fort in 1759 on anearthworkmound left behind by prehistoricIndians, known as theMound Builders. The American colonists called these mounds "old forts", and this one had large red sandstone blocks that had been placed at the top, suggesting the site may once have been part of a fortification of some kind. It was also, after the area was settled, the site of the local settlement of theReligious Society of Friends (Quakers) and the place they called "Redstone Meeting". Around this time (1750s–1760s) a far sighted businessman-farmer, anticipating that any settlements west of the Alleghenies had to funnel down Nemacolin's Trail to theriver crossing acted to acquire ownership of the lands, which ultimately gave the area its later historic and current name:Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Brown himself did not move to the lands but acted as landlord and real estate magnate, selling much of the land piecemeal, and large plots toJacob Bowman, who became a prime mover in the tremendous industrial development of the town.
Redstone Old Fort proved significant in the Colony of Virginia's war against theMingo andShawnee tribes, known asLord Dunmore's War (1774–75). It was occupied by Capt.Michael Cresap, owner of a trading post, to prevent the local Shawnee from controlling it. Under authority of the colonial government of Virginia, Cresap had taken up extensive tracts of land at and below the mouth ofMiddle Island Creek (nowSistersville, West Virginia). He had gone there in the early spring of 1774 with a party of men to settle his holdings.
Ebenezer Zane, afterward a famed Indian fighter and guide, was engaged at the same time and in the same way with a small party of men on lands which he had taken up at or near the mouth ofSandy Creek. A group under the command of James Harrod left the fort 25 May 1774 going down river to settle lands inKentucky, but returned to the fort due to the threat from the Shawnee.[4] A third and larger group that includedGeorge Rogers Clark, had gathered at the mouth of theLittle Kanawha River (the present site ofParkersburg, West Virginia). They were waiting there for the arrival of other Virginians who were expected to join them at that point before moving downriver to settle lands inKentucky.
In 1789, historicNemacolin Castle, trading post, and tavern was built up on the bluff about 0.75 miles to the east along Burd's Road (the western stretch of The Nemacolin Trail through Brownsville and acrossWashington County toWheeling, West Virginia, eastwards to the junction with Braddock's Road inUniontown by Bowman near Redstone Old Fort and thiscrossing, at what became a major link in the firstNational Road at what is today the towns ofWest Brownsville andBrownsville. The early settlement around the fort also came to be called Redstone, but eventually became known asBrownsville, Pennsylvania, after its farsighted developerThomas Brown. The use of "Redstone" devolved to apply to just one of its neighborhoods.
Redstone Old Fort is mentioned in C. M. Ewing'sThe Causes of That So Called Whiskey Insurrection of 1794 (1930) as being the site of a July 27, 1791, meeting in "Opposition to the Whiskey Excise Tax," during theWhiskey Rebellion. It was by some considered the first meeting of that insurrection.[5]
In 1803Meriwether Lewis mentioned Redstone Old Fort in a letter toPresidentThomas Jefferson, in which he detailed his route fromHarper's Ferry toPittsburgh.[6]
William Trent established the Hangard in January–February 1754 before moving on to join the construction crew working to build a fort on the Forks of the Ohio[notes 3]
A company of militia was authorized by Virginia early in January, 1754, to co-operate with the Ohio Company in their occupancy. William Trent was commissioned, by Governor Dinwiddie, Captain; John Frazer, who had his trading house at Turtle creek on the Monongahela, after being driven from Venango was appointed Lieutenant, and Edward Ward was appointed Ensign. (17.)
Trent was then engaged in building a strong log storehouse, loop-holed, at Redstone. He was ordered to raise one hundred men. Returning he left Virginia with about forty men, intending to have his force recruited by the way. His objective point was the Forks; and he was instructed to aid in finishing the fort, already supposed to have been begun by the Ohio Company. He proceeded to Gist's and thence by the Redstone trail to the mouth of Redstone creek; where after having built the store-house called the Hangard, (18)
he proceeded to the Forks of the Ohio, where he arrived on the 17th of February. Here he, with Gist, George Croghan, and others, proceeded shortly to lay out the ground and to have some logs squared and laid. Their tenure, however, was of short duration. The Captain having been obliged to go back to Wills creek, across the mountains for provisions, Lieutenant Frazer being absent at Turtle creek at the time, and Ensign Edward Ward in command, the French, under Contrecoeur, April 16th, 1754, suddenly appearing in great force demanded the surrender of the post. (19.) Resistance was out of the question; and on the day following, having surrendered the post, Ward, with his party ascended the Monongahela to Redstone, now Brownsville, where the store-house had been previously erected.
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40°01′16″N79°53′17″W / 40.0212°N 79.8880°W /40.0212; -79.8880
