Guyasuta
Encyclopedia
Guyasuta probably served as a scout for young George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in 1753, though he played a role in defeating the Braddock Expedition
Braddock expedition
The Braddock expedition, also called Braddock's campaign or, more commonly, Braddock's Defeat, was a failed British military expedition which attempted to capture the French Fort Duquesne in the summer of 1755 during the French and Indian War. It was defeated at the Battle of the Monongahela on...
in 1755, and sided with the French in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. Guyasuta was a major player in Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy, or Pontiac's Rebellion was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the...
—indeed, some historians once referred to that war as the Pontiac-Guyasuta War.
At the outset of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, the American revolutionaries attempted to win Guyasuta to their cause, but like most Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, he sided with the British, taking part in the Battle of Oriskany
Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany, fought on August 6, 1777, was one of the bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign...
. After the war, the aging Guyasuta worked to establish peaceful relations with the new United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Guyasuta was a maternal uncle to Cornplanter
Cornplanter
Gaiänt'wakê was a Seneca war-chief. He was the son of a Seneca mother, Aliquipiso, and a Dutch father, Johannes Abeel. He also carried the name John Abeel after his fur trader father...
and Handsome Lake
Handsome Lake
Handsome Lake was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was also half-brother to Cornplanter....
.
Guyasuta is buried at Custaloga Town Scout Reservation, a Boy Scout camp located along French Creek
French Creek (Allegheny River)
French Creek is a tributary of the Allegheny River in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York in the United States.- Etymology :...
at the former site of Chief Custaloga's
Custaloga
Custaloga or Packanke was a member of the Wolf Clan of the Delaware tribe. Captain Pipe was his nephew.-Biography:Little is known of the early life of Custaloga. He arrived in western Pennsylvania in the mid 18th century and built a sizeable village at the confluence of French Creek and North Deer...
village in French Creek Township, Pennsylvania
French Creek Township, Pennsylvania
French Creek Township is a township in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 764 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:As of the census of...
.
In Pittsburgh, he is honored, along with George Washington, in a large public sculpture called "Point of View"
Point of View (sculpture)
Point of View is a landmark public sculpture in bronze by James A. West; it sits in a parklet named for the work of art, Point of View Park, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
, which overlooks Point State Park
Point State Park
Point State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River....
. Also the Laurel Highlands Council of the Boy Scouts of America has a camp property named in his honor. The Guyasuta Volunteer Fire Department in O'Hara Township, Pennsylvania
O'Hara Township, Pennsylvania
The Township of O'Hara is a Home Rule Municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the United States six miles northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh. The community was long organized as a township, and retains "Township" in its official name, but adopted a home rule charter in 1973 and is no...
is also named after him. A life-sized statue of Guyasuta stands at the intersection of Main and North Canal Streets in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania
Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania
Sharpsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. In the past, it had a rolling mill, foundries, machine shops, and manufacturers of varnish, brick, glass, lumber products, wire, hair, felt, and lubricating oil. In 1900, 6,842 people...
.