In Pittsburgh, Meriwether Lewis is building the barge prior to departing down the Ohio River. The “local situation of this place” is described by Thaddeus Harris during his 1803 visit as the “key to the Western Territory”.
Fort Pitt Blockhouse
By Kevin Myers. Permission to use given via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
Key to the Western Territory
Friday, April 15
The local situation of this place is so commanding that it has been emphatically called “the key to the Western Territory;” and it has rapidly increased in population, business, and prosperity within a few years past. It contains upwards of four hundred houses, several of them large and handsomely built of brick; forty-nine are occupied as stores and shops. There are three congregations; an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, and a Seceder. The number of inhabitants is about two thousand. (Harris, 342)
—Thaddeus Harris[1]Thaddeus HarrisThe Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains Made in the Spring of the Year 1803, 40–41 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies … Continue reading
Fort Pitt Blockhouse
In 1803, the old Fort Pitt Blockhouse was one of the residences “handsomely built of brick.” It has never been moved and much of its timber, brick, and stone are original to its construction in 1764.[2]“Fort Pitt Block House,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pitt_Block_House accessed 27 November 2022.
Notes
| ↑1 | Thaddeus HarrisThe Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains Made in the Spring of the Year 1803, 40–41 in Reuben G. Thwaites, Travels West of the Alleghanies (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1904), 342. |
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| ↑2 | “Fort Pitt Block House,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pitt_Block_House accessed 27 November 2022. |
Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
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).