Venango Path was a Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 trail

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

 that ran from the Forks of the Ohio (present day Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

) to Presque Isle

Presque Isle Bay

Presque Isle Bay is a natural bay located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about . The bay is bounded on the north and west by a recurved peninsula that makes up Presque Isle State Park...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, United States of America. The trail was named after the Native American village of Venango where 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 :...

 empties into the Allegheny River

Allegheny River

The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

. The village is now the site of the small city

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of Franklin, Pennsylvania.

Washington's mission to Fort Le Boeuf

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...

 and Christopher Gist

Christopher Gist

Christopher Gist was an accomplished American explorer, surveyor and frontiersman. He was one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country . He is credited with providing the first detailed description of the Ohio Country to Great Britain and her colonists...

 travelled along the trail in December of 1753 to deliver a message to the French near Venango village. Due to inclement weather, Washington and Gist left the trail at the Forks of the Ohio, and found shelter in the Indian village of Logstown

Logstown

The riverside village of Logstown was a significant Native American settlement in Western Pennsylvania and the site of the 1752 signing of the treaty of friendship between the Ohio Company and the Amerindians occupying the region in the years leading up to the...

 (near present day Ambridge

Ambridge, Pennsylvania

Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County in Western Pennsylvania, incorporated in 1905 and named after the American Bridge Company. Ambridge is located 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, alongside the Ohio River. In 1910, 5,205 people lived in Ambridge; in 1920, 12,730 people lived there, and in...

, Pennsylvania). Washington and his men left the village a few days later and proceeded northeast through what is now Cranberry

Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania

Cranberry Township is a township in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is classified as a Second Class Township and follows the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code. The population was 28,098 as of the 2010 census....

 to Murdering Town

Murdering Town

Murdering Town, was a Lenni Lenape community that comprised several smaller villages along the Connoquenessing Creek and Breakneck Creek near present-day Harmony, and Evans City, Pennsylvania, United States. The village was located along the Venango Path which ran through what was then the Ohio...

 along the Connoquenessing Creek

Connoquenessing Creek

Connoquenessing Creek is a tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 50 mi long, in Western Pennsylvania in the United States.-Course:...

.On their return from Fort Le Boeuf

Fort Le Boeuf

Fort Le Boeuf, , was a fort established by the French in 1753 on a fork of French Creek, in present-day Waterford, in northwest Pennsylvania...

, Washington and Gist left the Venango Path at Murdering Town which was located at or near present day Evans City

Evans City, Pennsylvania

Evans City is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,009 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Evans City is located at ....

, and Harmony

Harmony, Pennsylvania

Harmony is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 937 at the 2000 census. It is located about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...

, Pennsylvania on what Gist called the "southeast fork of Beaver creek

Beaver River (Pennsylvania)

The Beaver River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Western Pennsylvania in the United States with a length of approximately 21 mi . It flows through a historically important coal-producing region north of Pittsburgh...

" (present-day Connoquenessing Creek

Connoquenessing Creek

Connoquenessing Creek is a tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 50 mi long, in Western Pennsylvania in the United States.-Course:...

). 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 a shot from his gun. The men escaped harm, but Gist wanted the captured Native executed. However, Washington ordered his attempted assassin released. After the attempted assassination

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

, the two men traveled "across country" through the forest with the use of a compass

Compass

A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...

 to "the head of Piney creek

Pine Creek (Allegheny River)

Pine Creek is a tributary of the Allegheny River located in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.-Course:Pine Creek joins the Allegheny River at the borough of Etna.-Tributaries:*Little Pine Creek...

." From there, they travelled down-stream to the Allegheny River. After spending the night on a small island, they moved a short distance down the river, just above the Native village of Shannopin's Town. From there, they continued their trek back to Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg, Virginia

Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...

 which they arrived at on January 16th, 1754.

French and Indian War

During the early French and Indian War years, when the French occupied Western Pennsylvania, the trail became a military road connecting together a string of French Forts from Lake Erie to Pittsburgh. These forts included Fort Presque Isle

Fort Presque Isle

Fort Presque Isle was a fort built by French soldiers in 1753 along Presque Isle Bay at present-day Erie, Pennsylvania...

 located on Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

, Fort Le Boeuf

Fort Le Boeuf

Fort Le Boeuf, , was a fort established by the French in 1753 on a fork of French Creek, in present-day Waterford, in northwest Pennsylvania...

 (present day Waterford

Waterford, Pennsylvania

Waterford is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,449 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Waterford is located at ....

), Fort Machault

Fort Machault

Fort Machault was a fort built by the French in 1754 near the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River, at present-day Franklin, in northwest Pennsylvania. The fort was part of a line that included Fort Presque Isle, Fort Le Boeuf, and Fort Duquesne.- Description:The fort was built on a...

 at Venango (present day Franklin) and Fort Duquesne

Fort Duquesne

Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....

 at present day Pittsburgh.

When the British drove the French from Western Pennsylvania (1758) the French burned and abandoned all four forts. The British promptly rebuilt all four again in 1759, changing the name Fort Machault to Fort Venango

Fort Venango

Fort Venango was a small British fort built in 1760 near the site of present Franklin, Pennsylvania. The fort replaced Fort Machault, a French fort burned by the French in 1759 after they left the area near the end of the French and Indian War. On June 16, 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion, the fort...

, and Fort Duquesne to Fort Pitt

Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)

Fort Pitt was a fort built at the location of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.-French and Indian War:The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War , next to the site of former Fort Duquesne, at the confluence the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River...

. Thus the British continued to use the Venango Path as a military road.

During Chief Pontiac

Chief Pontiac

Pontiac or Obwandiyag , was an Ottawa leader who became famous for his role in Pontiac's Rebellion , an American Indian struggle against the British military occupation of the Great Lakes region following the British victory in the French and Indian War. Historians disagree about Pontiac's...

'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...

 four years later (1763) hostile Natives burned Forts Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango. Following the Battle of Bushy Run

Battle of Bushy Run

The Battle of Bushy Run was fought on August 5-6, 1763, in western Pennsylvania, between a British column under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet and a combined force of Delaware, Shawnee, Mingo, and Huron warriors. This action occurred during Pontiac's Rebellion...

, where a British army defeated several hostile tribes, the Natives moved into Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

and westward. The Venango Path was no longer used as a Native American trail. After hostilities ceased in Western Pennsylvania, there was no further major military uses of the trail.

Sources

• The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania 1753-1763, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania., 1996, ISBN 0-89271-057-8.
• The Journals of George Washington and Christopher Gist: Mission to Fort Le Boeuf 1753-1754, Slippery Rock University, 2003.
• Novak, Michael, and Jana Novak, Washington's God, Basic Books, 2006, ISBN 0-465-05126-X.