Editing Pittsburgh (section)

===18th century===
{{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
[[File:Bouquet blockhouse.JPG|thumb|left|[[Fort Pitt Block House]], built by the British in 1764, is the oldest extant structure in Pittsburgh.]]
The first known European to enter the region was the French explorer [[Robert de La Salle]] from [[Quebec]] during his 1669 expedition down the [[Ohio River]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/new_pages/historical.htm |title=friendsoftheriverfront.org |publisher=Friendsoftheriverfront.org |access-date=January 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111125520/http://www.friendsoftheriverfront.org/new_pages/historical.htm |archive-date=January 11, 2008}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2023}} European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century. Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European [[fur trade]]rs established area posts and settlements.<ref name="chronology">{{cite web |url=http://exhibit.library.pitt.edu/chronology/ |title=Historic Pittsburgh: Chronology |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Library System |access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref>

In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite [[Canada (New France)|Canada]] with [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]] via the rivers.<ref name="chronology" /> During 1753–1754, the British hastily built [[Fort Prince George]] before a larger French force drove them off. The French built [[Fort Duquesne]] based on LaSalle's 1669 claims. The [[French and Indian War]], the North American front of the [[Seven Years' War]], began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General [[Edward Braddock]] was dispatched with Major [[George Washington]] as his aide to take Fort Duquesne.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9580/ |title=The Battle of the Monongahela |website=[[World Digital Library]] |year=1755 |access-date=August 3, 2013}}</ref> The British and colonial force were defeated at [[Braddock's Field]]. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758. He began construction on [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]], named after [[William Pitt the Elder]], while the settlement was named "Pittsborough".<ref name="Lorant">{{cite book |title=Pittsburgh, The Story of an American City |edition=5th |author=Lorant, Stefan |publisher=Esselmont Books, LLC |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-685-92012-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/pittsburghstoryo00lora}}</ref>

During [[Pontiac's War]], a loose confederation of Native American tribes [[Siege of Fort Pitt|laid siege to Fort Pitt]] in 1763; the siege was eventually lifted after Colonel [[Henry Bouquet]] defeated a portion of the besieging force at the [[Battle of Bushy Run]]. Bouquet strengthened the defenses of Fort Pitt the next year.<ref name="EB1911">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/462222/Pittsburgh |title=Pittsburgh |publisher=Encyclopædia |year=2008 |access-date=November 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=American Indian Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic |date=June 2, 2011 |first=Phillip M. |last=White |page=44 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]}}</ref><ref>Ranlet, Phillip (2000). The British, the Indians, and smallpox: what actually happened at Fort Pitt in 1763? Pennsylvania history; 67(3).</ref><ref>Dixon, David (2005). Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac's Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America. University of Oklahoma Press.</ref>

During this period, the powerful nations of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]], based in New York, had maintained control of much of the Ohio Valley as hunting grounds by right of conquest after defeating other tribes. By the terms of the 1768 [[Treaty of Fort Stanwix]], the [[William Penn|Penns]] were allowed to purchase the modern region from the [[Iroquois]]. A 1769 survey referenced the future city as the "Manor of Pittsburgh".<ref name="PCC">{{cite book |title=Pittsburgh First, the Official Organ of The Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh |author=Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh |year=1921}}</ref> Both the [[Colony of Virginia]] and the [[Province of Pennsylvania]] claimed the region under their colonial charters until 1780, when they agreed under a federal initiative to extend the [[Mason–Dixon line]] westward, placing Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. On March 8, 1771, [[Bedford County, Pennsylvania]] was created to govern the frontier.

On April 16, 1771, the city's first civilian local government was created as [[Pitt Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Pitt Township]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/countycourtford00pagoog/countycourtford00pagoog_djvu.txt Full text of "The county court for the district of West Augusta, Virginia, held at Augusta town, near Washington, Pennsylvania, 1776–1777"]. Archive.org. Retrieved on July 17, 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.co.greene.pa.us/secured/gc2/history/Struggle-for-Possession.pdf |title=A brief history of Greene County and its courts: a struggle for possession}}</ref> William Teagarden was the first constable, and William Troop was the first clerk.<ref>{{cite web |last=Christopher |first=Joan |url=http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?46,219527 |title=Constables for 1771 |website=Pa-roots.org |date=December 9, 2005 |access-date=May 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822074611/http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?46,219527 |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following the [[American Revolution]], the village of Pittsburgh continued to grow. One of its earliest industries was boat building for settlers of the [[Ohio Country]]. In 1784, Thomas Vickroy completed a town plan which was approved by the Penn family attorney. Pittsburgh became a possession of Pennsylvania in 1785. The following year, the [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] was started, and in 1787, the [[University of Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh Academy]] was chartered. Unrest during the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] of 1794 resulted in federal troops being sent to the area. By 1797, glass manufacture began, while the population grew to around 1,400. Settlers arrived after crossing the [[Appalachian Mountains]] or through the [[Great Lakes]].<!-- and then what? up the Ohio River? --> [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]] (now Pittsburgh) at the source of the Ohio River became the main base for settlers moving into the [[Northwest Territory]].