Frontier Forts - Moving West with America

Fort Necessity was built in June 1754 by George Washington with the French marching towards his position for attack.  Just 53 feet across, it was built in five days and burned after two days of battle.  This was  Washington's first command and the only time he ever surrendered.

Not all forts were massive stone, brick and masonry bastions - far from it.  And not all forts were built to defend coasts and waterways.  Forts have been built for centuries in some very unlikely places whenever people needed protection.  Hundreds of years before the U.S. came into existence, settlers, explorers and combatants from many nations built forts here.  Fort building in America started on the coasts and moved inward and westward as the colonies - and then the new nation - grew.

It's hard to envision now, but 250 years ago, the central regions of New York and Pennsylvania were the frontier. They were as rough and lawless as anything the Wild West would see 100 years later.  During the latter half of the 18th century, this eastern frontier fought a brutal back country war that lasted 30 years.  In fact, during the Indian raids of 1778 to 1780, the hills and valleys of central Pennsylvania were some of the most dangerous places on earth. Many people left.  Those who stayed built forts and banded together for common defense.

In this area, which encompasses the counties of Bedford, Blair, Fulton and Huntingdon, at least 22 forts have been found and researched.  Several have been restored.  Others are only a marker.  Some probably remain undiscovered. You can read about them at Mother Bedford.

By 1800, the western migration was in full swing. Along with the  settlers, wagons, river boats and trains, there were always forts.  Not only did they protect, they became centers of commerce, trade, politics and law enforcement.  Many of today's great American cities started as frontier forts.  Pittsburgh, Detroit and Minneapolis are just three examples.

Compare Fort Necessity with this - Fort Ligonier, which is only about 30 miles away. Built by the Forbes Expedition in 1758 on their way to attack Fort Duquesne, Fort Ligonier was a formidable strongpoint.  Several battles were fought here during the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. During those years of conflict, this was the cutting edge of the western frontier.  However, by 1766, the frontier had moved on and Fort Ligonier was abandoned. The nearby town of Ligonier survived and prospers to this day.

Frontier forts came in all shapes and sizes.  Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming could be a set for a John Wayne movie. Some, like Fort Snelling in St. Paul, MN, were made of stone.  Others, like the Alamo, were improvised from scratch. 

Some lasted a long time. Fort Snelling has been in continuous use since 1825.

Some didn't.  Fort Necessity, which was George Washington's first battle, went from start to battle to burning in seven days.

This pattern repeats itself over and over.  Where people and danger collided, somebody built a fort.  The danger passed, the area became civilized, the fort became a sleepy boring post and the frontier moved on.

Regardless of the particulars, forts are never boring.  They all have a story to tell.  For the strange breed of explorers (like me and KidsRN) that are fascinated with forts and history, we have an endless supply of raw material to work with. In terms of sheer numbers, the frontier forts far exceed the massive coastal strong points.  There are more of them than you can imagine.

The pages of this section deal with some of the frontier forts we have explored.  Some of the pages deal with forts that are also found in our "Battlefields" section.  However, in these pages, I write strictly about the fort itself.  I don't rehash the battle although there are links to those pages if you are interested.

If you want to read more about forts, a good place to start is fortwiki.  They are on a mission to catalog every fort in North America and are making a pretty good effort at it.

Semper Fi ... Out Here ... Alpha6