Braddock Road (Rock Fort Camp)
North Union Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
General Braddock's tenth camp, June 26, 1755, on the march to Fort Duquesne, was at the Half King's Rock, one mile NE of here. The Rock was named for Washington's friend Tanacharisson, the Iroquois viceroy (half king) of the Ohio Indians. Washington met him here in 1754.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On June 26, 1755, General Braddock's army pitched its tenth camp near a landmark called the Half King's Rock as it pushed toward Fort Duquesne. The rock honored Tanacharisson, the Iroquois "half king" who spoke for the Ohio nations and had allied himself with the British. A young George Washington had met Tanacharisson at this very spot in 1754, on the eve of the frontier clashes that helped ignite the French and Indian War.
Why it matters
The site ties together Braddock's doomed march, the young Washington, and Tanacharisson — a reminder that the war for the Ohio Country turned on Native alliances as much as European armies.
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Related people
- · Edward Braddock
- · George Washington
- · Tanacharisson
Related events
- · Braddock Expedition
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bushy Run
Hempfield Township, PA · est. 1946
Four miles north, on the wooded ground at Bushy Run, Colonel Henry Bouquet's column won a hard two-day fight against Native warriors on August 5 and 6, 1763. The victory broke the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's War, the sweeping Indigenous uprising against British rule in the aftermath of the French and Indian War. Bouquet's success reopened the frontier passage west, and the battlefield is preserved today as a state park.
Queen Aliquippa
McKeesport, PA · est. 2003
In the years before the French & Indian War, the forks of the Ohio were contested ground where the Seneca and other nations navigated the rivalry between Britain and France. Queen Aliquippa was a respected leader whose favor the British colonies actively courted — so much so that a young George Washington detoured to pay his respects to her in 1753 during his mission to the Ohio Country. Her death the following year came just as the frontier war she had aligned with was erupting.
Bushy Run
Delmont, PA · est. 1946
Three miles south of this marker lies Bushy Run, where Colonel Henry Bouquet's soldiers defeated Native warriors in a grueling battle on August 5 and 6, 1763. Fought during Pontiac's War in the wake of the French and Indian War, the clash lifted the siege of Fort Pitt and cleared the road for settlers pushing into the Ohio country. The ground is now protected as a state park.
Braddock Road (Dunbar's Camp)
North Union Township, PA · est. 1952
In the summer of 1755, General Edward Braddock cut a military road westward through the Pennsylvania mountains toward the French stronghold of Fort Duquesne, and Colonel Thomas Dunbar's detachment made its last camp near this point while hauling the army's heavy baggage. When Braddock's main column was shattered in ambush near the Monongahela, the survivors streamed back to Dunbar's position. Rather than regroup, Dunbar destroyed his supplies and retreated, abandoning the frontier to the French and their allies.