Lewis is in Pittsburgh preparing for departure down the Ohio. He left no written record of this specific day, but the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers were described by Thaddeus Harris during his 1803 visit.
Above: The Allegheny comes from the left and the Monongahela from right at the apex of Pittsburgh’s “golden triangle.” For the article accompanying this photo, see Pittsburgh by Air.
Thursday, April 14 [1803]
Eight miles farther [from Elizabethtown] is McKeesport, situated just below the junction of the Yohiogany with the Monongahela. Many boats are built here for transportation and the use of those who emigrate to the western country. The place is growing in business, and most probably will rise into considerable importance.
Having received the Yohiogany, and waters from several creeks, the river winds its course, with replenished stream, till it unites with the Alleghany below Pittsburg, where it is about four hundred yards wide.
Braddock’s Field is at the head of Turtle Creek, seven miles from Pittsburg. Here that brave, but unfortunate General engaged a party of Indians, was repulsed, himself mortally wounded, and his army put to flight, July 9, 1755.
The Alleghany River, by the Delaware Indians called “Alligewisipo,”[1]Perhaps from Delaware <Alligewi Hanna> which refers to the people living there. See William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), … Continue readingrises on the western side of the mountain from which it derives its name.
—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, 34–5 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | Perhaps from Delaware <Alligewi Hanna> which refers to the people living there. See William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004), 33. |
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| ↑2 | Thaddeus Harris, The Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains Made in the Spring of the Year 1803, 34–5 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1904), 338. |
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The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
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).