after all be a portage path between Atlantic waters and the Mississippi system. He found the Youghiogheny useless.[1] The English route to the Ohio was practically an all-land route; Braddock received a little help from the Potomac but did not even attempt to use any western river, nor did Forbes in 1758 or Bouquet in 1763. The Monongahela, downward from Redstone Old Fort (Brownsville, Pennsylvania), at the end of Burd's road, began to be used in the Revolutionary period, and in pioneer days was a famous point of embarcation for western travelers.
On the other hand, the French portage at Presque Isle was the key to their position in the Ohio Valley, for over it came every ounce of ammunition and stores for Fort Duquesne. It was Braddock's purpose in 1755 to ascend the Allegheny after the capture of Fort Duquesne, raze the forts that guarded this portage path, and then meet Governor Shirley who was marching upon Niagara.[2] With Fort Duquesne captured,
- ↑ Sparks's Writings of Washington, vol. ii, p. 21.
- ↑ Royal Orders to Braddock, Historic Highways of America, vol. iv, pp. 47, 48.
