CHAPTER XXV. Fort Pitt, 1764-1774. Events during this period have been well epitomized by Craig, in his "History of Pittsburgh" (Chapter V). Two must receive mention here at the very beginning of this chapter. In the summer of 1764 Colonel Bouquet erected the little block house, in history known as Bouquet's Redoubt, which Craig, writing in 1851, said was still standing between Penn street and Duquesne way. Originally it stood within the outer walls of Fort Pitt, with the inscription on a stone tablet in the wall, with the words: "Coll. Bouquet A. D. 1764." Craig observes that "There is one fact in relation to General Bouquet which would seem to connect his memory more closely with the history of our city than that of either Forbes or Stanwix. Fort Pitt has entirely disappeared; scarcely a vestige even of the wall of its ramparts is now visible; but a redoubt built by General (then Colonel) Bouquet, with the inscription on a stone tablet, is an existing monument of his presence and command here." The redoubt originally faced a short alley called Brewery Alley, vacated in 1903 with the other streets and alleys in the triangle between Penn avenue and Duquesne way as far as Third street, formerly Marbury. The preservation of the redoubt has been told of in the chapter preceding. The vacation of this historic section of Pittsburgh for railroad yards and the immense storage buildings now on the ground was in accordance with an agreement made by the city with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, whereby the latter in compensation removed their tracks on Liberty street, which had been laid down the middle of that great thoroughfare when the railroad entered the city in 1854, and which had grown to be an intolerable nuisance and a great menace with the long freight trains that were slowly backed down to the Duquesne freight station at the foot of Liberty street. An additional grant was made to the railroad corporation of the right of way along Duquesne way upon which the elevated tracks were erected that now line that historic thoroughfare along the Allegheny river from Eleventh street to Barbeau, formerly Marbury and later, from 1868-1910, Third street. The raising of the streets and the railroad yards above the flood level in this section has left the little redoubt on its original site, many feet below the level of the tracks above it and several feet below the grade of Penn avenue, so that the historic pile is in a hole, so to speak. The widening of Ferry street and Second avenue during the summer of 1921 broke the lines of the first survey of Pittsburgh made in 1764. The entrance of the Wabash & Pittsburgh Terminal railroad in 1902 caused the demolition of all the houses on the west side of Ferry street, including many that had escaped the great fire of April 10, 1845, among 1"History of Pittsburgh;" Edition 1917, p. 79. "Olden Time;" Vol. I, p. 200. "Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt;" Daughters of the American Revolution, Pittsburgh Chapter. them two built of brick taken from the revetments of Fort Pitt. Standing solitary, quaint and curious, Bouquet's little redoubt is the sole reminder of that fort and the Colonial town of Pittsburgh that arose again when Bouquet relieved the beleagured fort in 1763, and this was the town as the Rev. Charles Beatty saw it in 1766; Washington in 1770; and Arthur Lee in 1784, when he recorded in his journal that "Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry loghouses and are as dirty as in the North of Ireland, or even Scotland."2 It is of this reborn Colonial hamlet and the events that took place between 1764 and 1774 that this chapter pertains. The plan of Colonel John Campbell in accordance with his surveys comes next in importance in the events of the memorable year 1764. This plan laid out the town between what was subsequently that part of Pittsburgh between Second avenue and Water street and between Ferry and Market streets, the plot bisected by Chancery lane. Craig says: "We have never been able to learn what authority Campbell had to act in this case. But when the Penns afterwards authorized the laying out of the town of Pittsburgh in 1784, their agent recognized Campbell's act, at least so far as not to change his plan of lots. We know not precisely at what time of the year Colonel Bouquet's redoubt was built, nor when Campbell's lots were laid out, but certainly the last step in perfecting this place as a military post and the first step in building up a town here were taken in the same year." As Craig states, there are no records of the exact dates, but one may rightly presume that the block house was erected in good weather and that it was before Bouquet left for the Muskingum, which we know was October 3, 1764; it is as strong a presumption that Campbell surveyed under favorable weather conditions. Campbell's plan is well known to title searchers and is referred to as the "Old Military Plan" in the deeds of all lots within its area. In laying out his plan, Campbell builded better than he knew. Campbell figures largely in the history of Pittsburgh. Some reference to him will be found in the account of Braddock's defeat (Chapter XVI) as the bearer of a dispatch to the provincial authorities of Pennsylvania on July 23d, fourteen days after the battle.3 Croghan, in his will, refers to him as "my friend, (formerly my clerk) John Campbell of Pittsburgh." Campbell was not only an Indian trader, but a landowner at Fort Pitt. He was allied with Croghan, Crawford and other ardent supporters of John Connolly, Lord Dunmore's lieutenant and the head of the Virginia party in opposition to St. Clair, Devereux Smith, Æneas Mackay and the Pennsylvania adherents in the contention of Virginia jurisdiction. over Western Pennsylvania. Campbell proved a patriot and was a colonel in the Virginia service. He is described as an "Irish gentleman of fine personal appearance, a large man of strong mind and rough manners." He was for a long while a prisoner at Fort Chambly, at the outlet 2"Journal of Arthur Lee," Dec. 17, 1784; quoted by Craig, "History of Pittsburgh;" Edition 1917, p. 173. "Olden Time;" Vol. II, p. 339. 3"Colonial Records;" Vol. VI, p. 481. |