Venango Path

Venango Path was a Native American trail between the Forks of the Ohio (present day Pittsburgh) and Presque Isle, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

The trail, a portage between these important water routes, was named after the Lenape (formerly known as Delaware) village of Venango, at the confluence of French Creek and the Allegheny River.

George Washington, a 21-year-old major in the colonial Virginia militia, and explorer Christopher Gist traveled along the trail during December 1753 to deliver a message to the French who had constructed Fort Le Boeuf near Venango, a Lenape village.

During Pontiac's War four years later (1763), hostile warriors from several tribes burned Forts Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango, in an attempt to push the colonists from the region.

After the Battle of Bushy Run, where a British army defeated several combined warrior bands, the Natives relocated into Ohio and westward.