Copyright Robert Griffing
By 1763 a town of several hundred civilains had slowly grown up around Fort Pitt. In the spring of that year the bloody conflict known as Ponticac's war swept down the Allegheny. Fort Pitt had sustained heavy damage just a few weeks earlier from spring flooding. The Ohio valley warriors kept a constant fire on the fort and sealed it off from any relief that long hot summer. In this painting we see the warriors of the Ohio valley on the morning of August 1st as a runner brings word of Bouquet's advancing army. Four days later, these same warriors would face Bouquet's forces at the infamous Battle of Bushy Run.