Day-by-Day / August 7, 1803

August 7, 1803

Fort Duquesne

As he waits in Pittsburgh for the military barge to be completed, Lewis leaves little record of his day-to-day activities. Contemporary travelers François André Michaux and Thaddeus Harris describe the ruins of Fort Duquesne.

Fort Pitt, 1776

sketch of star-shaped Fort Pitt between two rivers

Unknown artist. Originally from the Pennsylvania State Archives.

Michaux’s Fort Duquesne

On the summit of the angle the French built Fort Duquesne, which is now entirely destroyed, and nothing more is seen than the vestige of the ditches that surrounded it. This spot affords the most pleasing view, produced by the perspective of the rivers, overshadowed with forests, and especially the Ohio, which flows in a strait line, and, to appearance, loses itself in space.
—François André Michaux[1]François André Michaux, Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains (1805 reprint from London edition), p. 59 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. … Continue reading

Related: Building the Barge

Harris’s 1803 Description

Immediately on the point was erected the old French garrison Du Quesne, built by M. de la Jonquier at the command of the Marquis du Quesne, Governor of Canada, in 1754. General Forbes, who took it Nov. 25, 1758, built a new fort, which he called “Fort Pitt,” in honor of the Earl of Chatham; adjacent to the former, but higher up the Monongahela. It was formerly a place of some consequence in the annals of frontier settlements; but fell into decay upon its being given up by its founders. Being included in one of the manors of the Penn family, it was sold by the proprietaries, and is now laid out in house-lots as a part of the town of Pittsburg, which was built in the year 1765.
—Thaddeus Harris[2]Thaddeus Harris, The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains Made in the Spring of the Year 1803, p. 40 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies … Continue reading

Built by the French in the summer of 1754 by Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecoeur, Fort Duquesne was used to protect French interests in the Ohio Country. Four years later, during the Battle of Fort Duquesne, the French were forced to burn it down and flee. The British then built Fort Pitt next to the old fort’s ruins. Later, the Americans built Fort Fayette a short distance up the Allegheny River. In present-day Pittsburgh, the foundations of Forts Duquesne and Pitt are outlined with brick pavers in Point State Park.[3]Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1904), p. 156n20; “Fort Duquesne,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Duquesne accessed 7 … Continue reading

 

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Notes

Notes
↑1 François André Michaux, Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains (1805 reprint from London edition), p. 59 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1904), p. 156–7.
↑2 Thaddeus Harris, The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains Made in the Spring of the Year 1803, p. 40 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1904), p. 342.
↑3 Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1904), p. 156n20; “Fort Duquesne,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Duquesne accessed 7 December 2022.

Discover More

  • The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
  • The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.

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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).