Fort Lafayette (Pennsylvania)

Fort Lafayette, sometimes called Fort Fayette, (1792—1814) was an American fort in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

It was sited near present-day Penn Avenue and Ninth Street in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh.

History

Following the American Revolutionary War, hostilities continued between the Indians and Americans in Western Pennsylvania. In 1784 the new federal government mounted a failed expedition against the Ohio Indians. Again in 1790 and 1791 two successive campaigns also failed.

This perceived threat prompted the government in 1792 to build Fort Lafayette in Pittsburgh, to replace Fort Pitt, as a supply center for Fort McIntosh, located down stream on the Ohio River. An army led by General Anthony Wayne eventually defeated in 1794 the Ohio Indians near modern Toledo, Ohio at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, thus ending tensions in the region.

In 1803 Fort Lafayette was a staging ground for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The fort later served as Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's supply base during the War of 1812. The army abandoned the fort in 1814.

External links

* [http://www.explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=875 Fort Lafayette's Pennsylvania Historical Marker]

References

*cite book | author=Richter, Daniel K. | title=Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America | location=Cambridge | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=2001 | id=ISBN 0-6740-1117-1