Forbes Road
Col. James Burd did most of the initial work from Fort Loudon to Raystown (Bedford), Pennsylvania, in preparation for a major supply route southwest to connect with Braddock's Road in 1755.
From Ligonier, a rough trail was blazed through the Pennsylvania wilderness to the smoldering remnants of Fort Duquesne, with a more substantial, slightly southern route to follow later.
Forbes, who suffered severe intestinal illness, directed most of the proceedings from a position well in the rear, though he was on hand to take possession of Fort Duquesne in 1758.
To many, particularly from Virginia and the southern colonies, a continuation of Braddock's Road seemed a far more sensible solution than breaking a new path across the largely unknown Pennsylvania wilderness.
A political element to the debate existed: a good deal of business and potential fortune was to fall upon the colony through which post-war traffic would flow.
Like General Edward Braddock, Forbes had the daunting task of establishing a road suitable for thousands of troops, supply wagons, and cannons across a largely unbroken wilderness.
In contrast to Braddock's ill-fated expedition, Forbes proceeded with great deliberation, constructing forts and redoubts about every 40 miles, with smaller garrisons between.
Forbes explained in a letter to Pitt, "It was absolutely necessary, ... that I should take precautions by having posts along my route, which I have done from a project that I took from Turpin's Essay, Sur la Guerre.
Construction of the Forbes Road made transportation of supplies, soldiers, messages, and trade easier between the eastern farms and cities and western portions of Pennsylvania and provided an important route west for settlers for many years after.
A slightly more accurate rendition of Forbes's Road may be achieved by following US 30 from Chambersburg to the junction of SR 66 west of Greensburg, then north on the latter to US 22 east of Murrysville.
A yet closer reconstruction of the earliest road—subject to correction—is as follows: The section of Forbes' Road initially cut by Burd in 1755 begins at Fort Loudon, at the foot of Tuscarora Mountain.
Still heading west, the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River is crossed, and this was followed through two narrow passes (Tussey and Evitts Mountains) to Bedford, Pennsylvania.
[11] The new westward track of Forbes' original route (constructed under the immediate supervision of Bouquet) seems to have also trended south before following low ground through what is now Shawnee State Park.
An alternate route carved shortly after by Lt. Col. Sir John St. Clair, Forbes' quartermaster, follows the current US 30 west.
The landscape through this region has been substantially altered by strip mining, so there is a scant likelihood of finding an original trace; US 30 west parallels Forbes' Road a few miles to the south.
It seems likely that the earliest Forbes' Road ran up the nose of the mountain near this point, crossing the highest elevations of the entire route.
This trended north and west on Gravel Hill Road, then south down a lost path directly to Fort Ligonier.
West of Ligonier, US 30 parallels Loyalhanna Creek through the water gap in Chestnut Ridge—the last major obstacle on the road to Fort Duquesne.
Possibly fear of ambush through the steep terrain was a concern, or the gap may have been impassable due to heavy rains, mud, and water-bourne detritus.
As noted above, US 22 eventually meets Penn Avenue, which tracks west to Point Park and the remnants of Forts Duquesne and Pitt.
"The roads, at that day," wrote Dr. Hildreth, "across the mountains were the worst we can imagine—cut into deep gullies on one side by mountain rains, while the other was filled with blocks of sand stone.... As few of the emigrant wagons were provided with lock-chains for the wheels, the downward impetus was checked by a large log, or broken tree top, tied with a rope to the back of the wagon and dragged along on the ground.
During this period they had crossed "Sideling Hill," forded some of the main branches of the Juniata, and threaded the narrow valleys along its borders.
Every few miles long strings of pack-horses met them on the road, bearing heavy burthens of peltry and ginseng, the two main articles of export from the regions west of the mountains.
.... '... Morris Birkbeck, founder of the English settlement in Illinois, journeyed from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburg, in 1817, by way of Frederickstown and Hagerstown and the Pennsylvania Road.
At "McConnell's Town," under the date of May 23, he wrote in his journal: "The road we have been travelling [from Washington, D. C.] terminates at this place, where it strikes the great turnpike from Philadelphia to Pittsburg."
We are seldom out of sight, as we travel on this grand track, towards the Ohio, of family groups.... To give an idea of the internal movements of this vast hive, about 12,000 wagons passed between Baltimore and Philadelphia, in the last year, with from four to six [horses], carrying from thirty-five to forty cwt.
The cost of carriage is about seven dollars per cwt., from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, and the money paid for the conveyance of goods on this road, exceeds £300,000 sterling.
Add to these the numerous stages loaded to the utmost, and the innumerable travellers, on horseback, on foot, and in light waggons, and you have before you a scene of bustle and business, extending over a space of three hundred miles, which is truly wonderful."
