Venango Path was aNative Americantrail between the Forks of the Ohio (present dayPittsburgh) andPresque Isle,Pennsylvania,United States of America.[1] The latter was located atLake Erie. The trail, aportage between these important water routes, was named after theLenape (formerly known as Delaware) village of Venango, at the confluence ofFrench Creek and theAllegheny River. The village site was later developed by European Americans as the smallcity ofFranklin, Pennsylvania.
George Washington, a 21-year-old major in the colonial Virginia militia, and explorerChristopher Gist traveled along the trail during December 1753 to deliver a message to the French who had constructedFort Le Boeuf near Venango, aLenape village. The French were ordered to leave the area, as the British claimed control of the region. It had been contested between these powers for some time.
Washington and Gist stopped at the Indian village ofLogstown (near present-dayAmbridge, Pennsylvania) to meet with Iroquois and Lenape leaders. ChiefTanacharison and a warrior (Guyasuta) offered to accompany Washington and Gist.[2] Washington and his men left the village a few days later and proceeded northeast through what is nowCranberry toMurdering Town along theConnoquenessing Creek.[3]
On their return from Fort Le Boeuf, Washington and Gist left the Venango Path at Murdering Town, which was located at or near present-dayEvans City, andHarmony, Pennsylvania, on what Gist termed the "southeast fork ofBeaver creek"[4] (present-dayConnoquenessing Creek).[5] A Native at the village agreed to guide them down a different trail to the Forks. After marching several miles to the northeast of the original path, the Native turned on Washington and Gist, and fired his gun at them.[6][7] The men escaped harm, but Gist wanted to execute the Native man.[6][8] Washington ordered his attempted killer released.[6][9] After this incident, the two men traveled "across country" through the forest, using acompass to reach "the head ofPiney creek."[6] From there, they traveled downstream to the Allegheny River. After spending the night on a small island (Herr's Island, later renamedWashington's Landing), they moved a short distance downriver, just above the Native village ofShannopin's Town.[10] From there, they continued their trek back toWilliamsburg, Virginia, the colony's capital, which they reached on January 16, 1754.
During the early French and Indian War years, when the French occupied western Pennsylvania, the trail was improved and used as a military road connecting a series of French forts from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh that were constructed to defend it against the British colonists. These forts includedFort Presque Isle located onLake Erie,Fort Le Boeuf (present-dayWaterford),Fort Machault at Venango (present-dayFranklin) andFort Duquesne at present-dayPittsburgh.
When the British drove the French from Western Pennsylvania (1758), the French burned and abandoned all four forts. The British rebuilt all four again during 1759, renaming Fort Machault asFort Venango, and Fort Duquesne asFort Pitt. Thus the British continued to use the Venango Path as a military road.
DuringPontiac's War four years later (1763), hostile warriors from several tribes burned Forts Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango, in an attempt to push the colonists from the region. After theBattle of Bushy Run, where a British army defeated several combined warrior bands, the Natives relocated intoOhio and westward. They gave up use of Venango Path. After hostilities ceased in western Pennsylvania, the British also abandoned major military use of the trail.