Along The Braddock Road begins with the history of the western Maryland
region in the early 1700's, beginning with the white man's first
penetration into this vast wilderness. The earliest written or oral
history of the indigenous people begins in 1728 at the Indian town
of Caiuctucuc near what was to become Cumberland, Maryland.
The inhabitants of this region were a portion of the Shawnee tribe.
The earliest permanent white man's activity begins with the surveying
of a 915 acre track at the mouth of Jenning's Run by Colonel Thomas
Cresap. Later Jenning's Run would become Will's Creek, in honor
of Indian Will, the town's namesake, and would appear on the official
1751 map as Caiuctucuc Creek.
The first official government venture into the region and westward
into the Pennsylvania frontier came at the request of Governor Dinwiddie
to reconnoiter French intentions and activity. To carry out this
order, he chose 21-year-old George Washington who would then hire
Christopher Gist who lived on Will's Creek, as his guide. That winter's
journey into western Pennsylvania to confront the French would conclude
with Washington's capitulation at Fort Necessity in 1754. Washington's
Journal of this expedition is an important part of this book.
The subsequent building of Fort Cumberland, the build-up of British
forces and activity that culminated with Braddock's defeat on July
9, 1755, are the subject of the remainder of the book. Many lesser
known, but important facts about the preparation and commencement
of the Braddock Expedition fill the remainder pages of this book.
A truly fascinating and fact-filled book for your F&I library.
320 pages, hardback, the printing is limited to 1,000 copies
OUT OF PRINT