The Monongahela of old

Front matter

Gopyriglit}^^

COFJKIGHT DEPOSIT.

vj

Preface

James Veech, the author of this work, was born in Menallen township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, September i8, 1808.

He was graduated at Jefferson college, Cannonsburg, in 1827, and read law in Uniontown with James Todd who was appointed Attorney General of the State, i835-'38. He was admitted to the bar of Fayette county in 183 1, and was married to Maria Ewing, a sister of* Hon. Nathaniel Ewing, in 1832, and practiced his profession in Uniontown until 1834, when he moved to Pittsburg, where in the same year he was appointed Assistant District Attorney for Alle^ glieny county by Governor Ritner, which position he filled until 1838, when he returned to Uniontown and resumed his practice there.

In 1861 he accepted the appointment of paymaster in the army, and left Uniontown. Taking up his residence again in Pittsburg, in 1862, he opened a law ofBce and became associated with D. T. Watson in the law firm of Veech and Watson.

He was for years a director in the Monongahela Navigation Company, and also in the Bank of Pittsburg. In 1855 he was a candidate for United States Senator, and in 1857 he was nominated for supreme judge, but was defeated by Justice William Strong. During this carapaig-n the title of ''judge" was popularly given to him, by which title he was ever afterwards known.

Judge Veech w as a high minded gentleman of the old school ; his dignified manner and profound legal ability commanded the respect of all. He retired from active life in 1872, and spent his later years in the congenial pursuits of history and literature in which he acquired fame.

In later years he made his home at Emsworth, on the Ohio river, six miles below Pittsburgh, on the Ft. Wayne road, where he died December 11, 1879, ^.nd his death was the occasion of marked sorrow and respect of the bar and public of Pittsburg as well as his many friends in Uniontown. He was buried in Union cemetery at Uniontown. He was survived by his wife and five daughters. His only son, David Henry Veech, having died in 1874, leaving a son, James Veech. This last named was an only son back through five generations, viz : James, of David Henry, of James, of David, of James.

The inception of this book dates from 1850, when Freeman Lewis, a competent surveyor of Uniontown, projected a history of Fayette county, and had already gathered some material for the purpose. The work soon grew to such proportions that Mr. Lewis was unable to handle it and proposed to transfer the undertaking to Mr. Veech, who immediately applied himself to collecting the necessary data, and in 1859, it was placed in the hands of the printer. The book was then printed, but was left in sheet form for several years, the manuscript having not all been furnished to the printer. In the middle of the chapter on the famous Mason and Dixon Line the history stopped short, and in this unfinished form a few copies were bound and furnished to a few of his personal friends as the work was originally intended for private distribution only.

In 1892, Mr. Veech's daughter, Mrs. E. V. Blaine, completed the chapter on Mason and Dixon's Line, and a supplement thereto and published a few copies of the still incomplete work.

It is ever to be regretted that Mr. Veech did not finish the work he had so ably begun and for which he was so amply fitted. The appointment as paymaster of the army, the duties of which compelled him to relinquish work on the history for the time, after which failing health compelled him to abandon it entirely.

The book as published, contains eight chapters and a supplement, which is not half of what the volume was originally intended to be. It will remain the standard history of Fayette county and will be referred to as such by all future histories of Western Pennsylvania.

THE MONONGAHELA OF OLD.

Chapter I. Antiquities

Ante-Indian Inhabitants— Old Forts; their forms; sites; localities— Mounds- Indian Towns — Indians Graves — Curious chain.

Of the original human inhabitants of the territory, of which Fayette county is a part, we know but little. When Anglo-Saxon traders and hunters first penetrated its wilds, it was the hunting^round of the Mingo Indians, or Six Nations ; (a) the seat of whose power and chief population was Western New York. Delawares, whose original home was the western shore of the river of that name, and Shawnese, who, came from the Cumberland river, were also found. But that these were the successors of a race more intelligent, or of a people of different habits of life, seems clearly deducible from the remains of fortifications scattered all over the territory, and which are very distinct from those known to have been constructed by the tribes of Indians named, or any of their modern compeers.

These remains of embankments, or ''old forts," are numerous in Fayette county. That they are very ancient is shown by many facts. The Indians, known to us, could give no satisfactory account of when, how, or by whom they were erected; or for what purpose, except for defense. While the trees of the surrounding forests were chiefly oak, the growths upon, and within the lines of the old forts, were generally of large black walnut,

(a)Called also the Iroquois. They were a Confederacy of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscaroras. The Delawares and Shawnese were in league with them, but rather as conquered dependents.

wild cherry, and sometimes locust. We have examined some which indicated an age of from three to five hundred years, and they evidently of a second or third generation, as the}^ were standing amid the decayed remains of their ancestors. How they got there, whether by transplanting, by deposits of floods, or of birds, or otherwise, is a speculation into which we will not go.

These embankments may have been originally composed of wood, as their debris is generally a vegetable mould. No stone was used in their construction ; and among their ruins are always found some remains of old pottery, composed of clay, mixed with crushed muscle shells, even Avhen far off from a river. This composite was not burnt, but only baked in the sunshine. These vessels were generally circular: and, judging from those we have seen, they were made to hold from one to three quarts.

These old forts were of various forms, square, oblong, triangular, circular and semi-circular. Their superficial areas range from one-fourth of an acre to ten acres.

Their sites were generally well chosen, in reference to defense and observation. And what is a very singular fact, they were very often, generally in Fayette county, located on the highest and richest hills, and at a distance from any spring or stream of water. In a few instances this was otherwise, whether being enclosed or contiguous, as they are generally in Ohio, and other more western parts of the Mississippi valley.

Having seen and examined many of these "old forts" in Fayette, and also those at Marietta, Newark, and elscAvhere, in Ohio, we believe they are all the work of the same race of Jwople ; as are also the famous Grave Greek Mounds near ElizabetlJPsvn, Virginia ; and if this belief be correct, then the conclusion follows irresistibly, that that race of people was much superior, and existed long anterior to the modern Indian. But who they were, and what became of them, must perhaps forever be unknown.

We will briefly indicate the localities of some of these ''old forts" in Fayette county. To enumerate all, or, to describe them separately, would weary the reader and waste our space. The curious in such matters may yet trace their remains.

A very noted one, and of most commanding location, was at Brownsville, on the site of ''Fort Burd," but covering a much larger area. Even after Col. Eurd built his fort there, in 1759, it retained the names of the "Old Fort," — Redstone Old Fort, or. Fort Redstone.

There was one on land formerly of William Goe, near the Mon-

ANTIQUITIES. ]^9

ongahela River, and just above the mouth of Little Redstone; where afterward was a Settler's Fort, called Cassel's or Castle Fort. And an old map which we have seen has another of these old forts noted at the mouth of Speers' run, where Bellevernon now is.

Two or three are found on a high ridge southwardly of Perryopolis, on the State road, and on land late of John F. Martin.

Another noted one is on the western bank of the Youghiogheny river, nearly opposite the Broad ford, on land lately held by James Collins.

There are several on the high ridge of land, leading from the Collin's fort above referred to, south westwardly toward Plumpsock, on lands of James Paull, John M. Austin, John Bute and others ; a remarkable one being on land lately owned b}^ James Gilchrist and the Byers ; Avhere some very large human bones have been found.

There is one on the north side of Mountz's creek, above Irishman's run.

A very large one, containing six or eight acres, is on the summit of Laurel Hill, where the Mud pike crosses it ; covered w4th a large growth of black walnut.

One specially noted, as containing a great quantity of broken shells and pottery, existed on the high land between Laurel run and the Yough river, on a tract formerly ovvned by Judge Young.

There are yet distinct traces of one on land of Gen. Henry A\ Beeson, formerly Col. M'Clean, about two miles east of Union town.

There was one north-east of New Geneva, at the locality known as the "Flint Hill," on land now of John Franks.

About two miles north-east of New Geneva, on the road to Uniontown, and on land late of William Morris, now Nicholas E. Johnson, was one celebrated for its great abundance of muscle shells.

On the high ridge southwardly of the head waters of Middle run, several existed ; of which m.ay be named — one on the Bixler land — one on the high knob eastwardly of Clark Breading's — one on the Alexander Wilson tract — and one on the land of Dennis Riley, deceased, formerly Andrew C. Johnson.

These comprise the most prominent of the ''Old Forts," in Fayette.

Of their cognates, Mounds, erected as monuments of conquest, or like the Pyramids of EgA^pt, as the tombs of kings, we have none.

Those that we have seen were of diminutive size, and may have been thrown up to commemorate some minor events, or to cover the remains of a warrior.

Our territory, having been an Indian huntings ground, had within it but few Indian towns or villages, and these of no great magnitude or celebrity. There was one on the farm of James Ewing, near the southern corner of Redstone, and the line between German and Luzerne townships, close to a fine limestone spring. Near it, on a ridge, were many Indian graves. Another was near where Abram Brown lived, about four miles west of Uniontown. There was also one on land of John M. Austin, Esq., formerly Samuel Stevens, near 'Sock. The only one we know of north of the Yough, was on the Strickler land, eastward of the Broad ford.

Piles of stones, called Indian graves, were numerous in many places in Fayette, generally near the sites of Indian villages. They were generally on stony ridges, often twenty or thirty of them in a row. In many of them have been found human bones indicating a stature of from six to seven feet. They also contained arrow heads, spear points and hatchets, of stone and flint, nicely and regularly shaped — but how done, is the wonder. On a commanding eminence, overlooking the Yough river, upon land now of Col. A. M. Hill, formerly Wm. Dickerson, there are great numbers of these Indian graves ; among which, underneath a large stone, Mr. John Cottom, a few years ago found a very curious chain, consisting of a central ring, and five chains of about two feet in length, each branching off from it, having at their end, clamps, somewhat after the manner of hand-cufifs, large enough to enclose a man's neck — indicating that its use was to confine prisoners — perhaps to fasten them to the burning stake. The chains were of an antique character, but well made, and seemed to have gone through fire.

There are many other localities within our county limits, which may be justly ranked as antiquities ; but we reserve them to be interspersed in our subsequent sketches of events, and localities of distinct classes, with which they are intimately connected. They will lose none of their interest by their associations.

Chapter II. Settlers' Forts

Fayette territory exempt from Indian cruelties — Description of Settlers' Forts; their names and localities — An all-smoke incident.

We might refer these to our sketch of "Early Settlements ;" but, as localities, we prefer introducing them immediately after the old forts, with which they are often confounded.

For reasons which will be unfolded in the sequel, the territory of Fayette County was, after the end of the old French war, in 1763, and during all the period of its early settlement, remarkably exempt from those terrific incursions of the savages which made forting so common and necessary in the surrounding country. Hence we had but few Settlers' Forts, and those few of but little note.

These forts were erected by the associated effort of settlers in particular neighborhoods, upon the land of some one, whose name was thereupon given to the fort, as Ashcraft's, Morris', &c. They consisted of a greater or less space of land, enclosed on all sides by high log parapets, or stockades, and cabins adapted to the abode of families. The only external openings Avere a large puncheon gate and small port-holes among the logs, through which the unerring rifle of the settler could be pointed against the assailants. Sometimes, as at Lindley's, and many of the other forts in the adjacent country west of the Monongahela, additional cabins Avere erected outside the fort, for temporary abode in times of danger, from which the sojourners could, in case of attack, retreat within the fort. All these erections were of rough logs, covered with clap-boards and weight poles, the roofs sloping inwards. A regular-built fort, of the first class, had, at its angles, block-houses, and sometimes a ditch protected a vulnerable part. These block-houses projected a little past the line of the cabins, and the upper half was made to extend some two feet further, like the over jet of a barn, so as to leave an overhanging space, secured against entrance by heavy log floors, with small port holes for repelling close attacks, or attempts to dig down, or fire the forts. These rude defenses were very secure, were seldom attacked, and seldom, if ever, cap-

THE MONONGAHELA OF OLD.

tured. They were always located upon open, commanding eminences, sufficiently remote from coverts and wooded heights to prevent surprise.

The sites of the "old forts" already desribed were sometimes chosen for settlers' forts. This was the case with the site on the Goe land, just above the mouth of Little Redstone, where, as already stated, was a settler's fort, called Cassel's, or Castle Fort. How far Redstone Old Fort was so used cannot certainly be known, as, while it existed as a place of defense, after settlements began, it was a kind of government fort, for the storage of ammunition and supplies, guarded by soldiers. Its proper name, after 1759, though seldom given to it, was Fort Burd. And there is evidence that, besides its governmental purposes, it was often resorted to by the early settlers, with their families, for protection, though for that object it was less adapted than many of the private forts — a few of which, within our county limits, we will now notice.

One of the earliest erected forts of this kind was by John Minter, the Stevensons, Crawfords and others, on land of the former, since Blackiston, now Ebenezer Moore, about a mile and a half westwardly of Pennsville.

There was one on the old Thomas Gaddis farm, where Bazil Brownfield now lives, about two miles south of Uniontown ; but what was its name we cannot certainly learn, or by whom or when erected, — probably, however, by Col. Gaddis, as he was an early settler, and a man of large public spirit.

Another, called Pearse's Fort, was on the Catawba Indian trail, about four miles north-east of Uniontown, near the residences of William and John Jones. Some old Lombardy poplars, recently fallen, denoted its jsite.

About one mile ^north-west of Merrittstown there was one, on land now of John Craft. Its name is forgotten.

Swearingen's Fort was in Springhill township, near the crossroad from Cheat river towards Brownsville. It derived its name from John Swearingen, who owned the land on which it stood, or from his son, Van Swearingen, afterward Sheriff of Washington County, a Captain in the Revolution and in the frontier wars, and whose nephew of the same name fell at St. Clair's defeat.

One of considerable capacity, called Lucas' Fort, was on the old Richard Brown farm, now Fordyce, near the frame meeting-house in Nicholson township.

M'Coy's Fort, on land of James M'Coy, stood where now stands the barn of the late Eli Baily, in South Union township.

SETTLERS' FORTS. 23

Morris' Fort, which was one of the first grade, was much resorted to by the early settlers on the upper Monongahela and Cheat, and from Ten Mile. It stood on Sandy Creek, just beyond the Virginia line, outside our county limits. It was to this fort that the family of the father of the late Dr. Joseph Doddridge resorted, in 1774, as mentioned in his Notes. The late Col. Andrew Moore, who resided long near its site, said that he had frequently seen the ruins of the fort and its cabins, which may yet be traced.

Ashcraft's Fort stood on land of the late Jesse Evans, Esq., where Phineas Sturgis lived, in Georges township. Tradition tells of a great alarm and resort to this fort, on one occasion, caused thus : On land lately owned by Robert Britt, in that vicinity, there is a very high knob called Prospect Hill, or Point Look-Out. To this eminence the early settlers were wont, in time of danger, daily to resort, to reconnoitre the country, sometimes climbing trees, to see whether any Indians had crossed the borders, of w^hich they judged by the smoke of their camps. This hill commanded a view from the mountains to the Monongahela, and from Cheat hills far to the northward. On the occasion referred to, the scouts reported that Indians had crossed the Monongahela, judging from some smoke ''v/hich so gracefully curled." The alarm w^as given. The settlers flocked to Ashcraft's Fort, with wives and children, guns and provisions, and prepared to meet the foe — wdien lo ! much to the vexation of some and the joy of others, the alarm soon proved to be "all smoke."

CHAPTER III. INDIAN TRAILS, TRADERS' PATHS, ARMY ROADS, &c

Indians had roads — Their nlg-ht compasses — Catawba or Cherokee trail — Nemacolin's — Dunlap's path — Burd's road to Redstone — Fort Burd — Cresap — Mouth of Redstone — Turkey-foot roads — James Smith — Bullock pens — M'Culloch's path — M'Culloch caught — Sandy Creek road — Froman's road — Old County roads — Pack-horse business and travel — Prices.

At the risk of some infractions of chronological order, before we go into the eventfu-l portion of these sketches, we prefer now to trace these old highways; and, to avoid repetitions, we must occasionally encroach upon subsequent narratives.

An erroneous impression obtains among many of the present day, that the Indian, in traversing the interminable forests which once covered our towns and fields, roamed at random, like a modern afternoon hunter, by no fixed paths, or that he was guided, in his long journeys, solely by the sun, moon and stars, or by the courses of streams and mountains. And true it is that these untutored sons of the woods were considerable astronomers and geographers, and relied much upon these unerring guide-marks of nature. Even in the most starless night they could determine their course by feeling the bark of the oak-trees, which is always smoothest on the south side and roughest on the north. But still they had their trails or paths, as distinctly marked as are our County and State roads, and often better located. The white traders adopted them, and often stole their names, to be in turn surrendered to the leader of some Anglo-Saxon arniy, and finally obliterated by some costly highway of travel and commerce. They are now almost wholly effaced and forgotten. Hundreds travel along, and plough across them, unconscious that they are in the footsteps of the red men, as they were wont to hasten, in single file, to the lick, after the deer and buffalo, or to the wigwams of their enemy, in quest of scalps.

The most prominent, and perhaps the most ancient of these old pathways across our county, was the old Catawba or Cherokee Trail, leading from the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, &c., through Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, on to Western New York

INDIAN TRAILS, TRADERS' PATHS, &c. 25

and Canada. We will trace it within our limits as well as we can. After crossing and uniting with numerous other trails, the principal one entered Fayette territory, at the State line, ^t the mouth of Grassy run. A tributary trail, called the Warrior Branch, coming from Tennessee, through Kentucky and Southern Ohio, came up Fish creek and down Dunkard, crossing Cheat river at M'Farland's. It run out a junction with the chief trail, intersecting it in William Cans' sugar camp, but it kept on by Crow's mill, James Robinson's, and the old gun factory, (a) and thence towards the mouth of Redstone, intersecting the old Redstone trail from the top of Laurel Hill, afterward Burd's road, near Jackson's, or Grace Church, on the National road. The main Catawba trail pursued ''the even tenor of its way," regardless of minor points, which, like a modern grand rail road, it served by branches and turn-outs. After receiving the Warrior Branch junction, it kept on through land late of Charles Griffin, by Long's Mill, Ashcraft's Fort, Philip Rogers' (now Alfred Stewart's), the Diamond Spring, (now William James') ; thence nearly on the route of the present Morgantown road, until it came to the Misses Hadden's ; then across Hellen's fields, passing near the Rev. William Brownfield's mansion, and about five rods west of the old Henry Beeson brick house; thence through Uniontown, over the old Bank house lot, crossing the creek where the bridge now is, back of the Sheriff's house; thence along the northern side of the public grave-yard on the hill, through the eastern edge of John Gallagher's land, about six rods south of John F. Foster's (formerly Samuel Clarke's) house, it crossed Shute's run where the fording now is, between the two meadows, keeping the high land through Col. Evans' plantation, and passed between William and John Jones' to the site of Pearse's Fort; thence by the Murphy school-house, and bearing about thirty rods westward of the Mount Braddock mansion, it passed a few rods to the east of the old Conrad Strickler house, where it is still visible. Keeping on through land formerly of John Hamilton, (now Freeman,) it crossed the old Connellsville road immediately on the summit of the Limestone hill, a few rods west of the old Strickler distillery; thence throu.cfh the old Lawrence Harrison land (James Blackiston's) to Robinson's falls of Mill run, and thence down it to the Yough river, crossing it just below the run's mouth, where Braddock's army crossed at Stewart's

(a)See memoir of Albert Gallatin, in "Early Settlers" — postea, Chap. VII.

Crossings. The trail thence kept through the Narrows, by Rist's, near the Baptist meeting-house, beyond Pennsville, passing by the old Saltwell on Green Lick run, to the mouth of Bushy run, at Tinsman's or Welshonse's mill. Thence it bore across Westmoreland county, up the Allegheny, to the heads of the Susquehanna, and into Western New York, then the empire of the Iroquois. A branch left the main trail at Robinson's mill, on Mill or Opossum run, which crossed the Yough at the Broad ford, bearing down across Jacob's creek, Sewickley and Turtle creeks, to the forks of the Ohio, at Pittsburg, by the highland route. This branch, and the northern part within our county, of the main route, will be found to possess much interest in connection with Braddock's line of march to his disastrous destiny.

This Cherokee or Catawba Indian trail, including its Warrior branch, is the only one of note which traversed our county northward and southward. Generally, they passed eastward and westward, from the river, to and across the mountains. To trace all these would be uninteresting. We will therefore confine our sketchings to those which have had their importance enhanced by having been adopted as traders' paths and as army or emigrants' roads.

Decidedly the most prominent of all these is Nemacolin's trail, afterwards adopted and improved by Washington and Braddock, the latter of whom, by a not unusual freak of fame, has given to the road its name, while its shrewd old Indian engineer, like him who traced for Napoleon the great road across the Simplon, has been buried in forgetfulness.

Nemacolin's path led from the mouth of Wills' creek (Cumberland, Md.) to the "Forks of the Ohio" (Pittsburgh). It doubtless existed as a purely Indian trail before Nemacolin's time. For when the Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania traders with the Indians on the Ohio, began their operations, perhaps as early as I740,(b) they procured Indians to show them the best and easiest route, and this was the one they adopted. So says Washington. And when the ''Ohio Company," hereafter to be noticed, was formed, in 1748, and preparing to go into the Ohio Indian trade on a large scale, they procured Col. Thomas Cresap, of Old Town, Md., to engage some trusty Indians to mark and clear the pathway. For this purpose he engaged Nemacolin, a well known Delaware Indian, who resided at the mouth of Dunlap's creek, which,

(b)There is some evidence that Indian traders, both English and French, were in this country much earlier.

INDIAN TRAILS, TRADERS' PATHS, &c. 27

in early times was called NemacoHn's creek.(c) The commissioner lTZnZ\ith the aid of other Indians, executed the work, m '"en b'; bll ilo- the trees, and cutting away and removmg the bushes and fU^n timber, so as to make it a good pack-horse path. Wash n" on says that "the Oh.o Company, in 1753. at a consider ^ble exp^ense opened the road. In I7S4, the troops whom I had the able expenbc, up^ • ^j :+ ^c -fjir as Gists plantation

honor to command, ^^.f ^ Jf;;tom; eted by G^en Braddock to and in .75S, "t -^V^X'qZLI^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^-^ history of

r ::i:braT: irdtcS ^r U wm hereafter take the re d over it more leisurely. It was. until near jts fatal termmaon identical with Nemacolin's path, which, also from Gist s :r\ward, with a few variations, was identical with the od Ca b trail or with its westward branch to the head of the Oh o. And ^^e will see what Braddock lost by not following U ^mpUcxtly to the end.

Dunlap's path, or road,, was a very early -% J* .""^J;;? Winchester, by way of W^ills' creek, to the mouth o Dunlap s creek Dunlap was a trader, and, as Braddock did w.th the road, o he succeeded in wresting from Nemacolin the name of the creek so he succeeueu ■■ & Wills' creek to the top of

which now bears his name. From Wilis crecK ^ ■„,„„

Laurel hill near the Great Rock, the route of Dunlap s road was ^;^ al with that of Nemacolin or Braddock.(e) ^^0" that pom Nemacolin's path bore north-east, along the crest of the moun fa n ^^°lile Dunlap's bore westwardly, descenxiing the mountain a ttle tl of theVesent National road, taking to Lick run abou mile from the foot of the hill. Thence it passed th-ug^h southern part of Monroe, by Isaac Brownfield s, past James mSov's fort, near Samuel Hatfield's brick barn, crossing the Che. ^keet^ail; thence to Coal lick or Jacob's run, on land now of N.

(e>ln Gen. Richard Butler's Journal »' "j^^ -"^^l^'-^/rtrla: wiih WZ'- in company with Colonel, ^"-^'''-f ^ ■^"^'^^"^.'/^l-n.r'between the mouths of r StrL-raXTnrrcr.-VouMfesfr^Le.ient a.o.e ot the same

Indian.

(a)n. Sparl^s. Washington, 302. in an eloquent letter to Co,. Bou.uet, ur.- ini this route to be taken by Gen. Forbes, in 1758.

(e)Col. Bura. in the Journal of his -^^I'^-^^f ^'itTMl]"we Tounil 'the thl foot of the hill [meaning the eastern ''^f "J^ ^.X^Xoordon traveled path that went to Dunlap's place, f '''* ^°'- ^^^''.'^"^ ^-e saw the Bis Roclc. so last winter; and about a «""';'.'•;' t-^s where Wm! Stone now resides, on the caUed." Dunlap's place, we believe, was where Burnt Cabin fork of Dunlap's creek.

Brownfield (where a branch led off to Provance's bottom, or mouth of Big Whitley) ; thence passing by David Jennings', on Jennings' run, near Samuel Harris', and through the old John AVoods' land, towards Jackson's or Grace church, near to which, in the head of Vail's sugar camp hollow, it united with the Redstone trail, or Burd's road, presently to be sketched. And were it not that a Virginia statute, hereafter to be cited, calls for this road as starting at Redstone Old Fort, Ave would make its western terminus at Crawford's ferry, to which it is certain a branch led. Perhaps the main path originally went from the fort up the river to the ferry or ford there, to connect with the road to Catfish's camp, (Washington, Pa.) which took to the river there to avoid the steep and rugged bluff opposite Brownsville.