Ryerson's Blockhouse
Richhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Near here stood one of three blockhouses erected by Captain James Paul's company in 1792, during the State's last troubles with the Indians. On April 17, 1792, soldiers carrying supplies from the Thomas Ryerson mill clashed with an Indian war party attacking the white settlements.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
By 1792 Pennsylvania was passing through the last of its frontier violence, and settlers in the far western counties still built log blockhouses for refuge. Captain James Paul's company raised three of them in Greene County, and on April 17 that year soldiers hauling supplies from Thomas Ryerson's mill collided with a war party striking at the outlying settlements. The clash marks one of the closing episodes of open conflict between Native people and settlers in the region.
Why it matters
It captures the tense final chapter of the trans-Appalachian frontier, when the new republic's westward-pushing settlements and the region's Native nations were locked in their last armed struggles.
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Related people
- · James Paul
- · Thomas Ryerson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Miller's Blockhouse
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