No known plan of Fort McIntosh exists, and any official details of its construction and field sketches which may have been sent to the Board of War probably were destroyed when the British burned Washington in the War of 1812. As a result, the archaeologists had to rely on brief references in contemporary journals, diaries, letters and military orders.
Of most interest to the archaeologists were any references which indicated the fort's capacity, size, shape of the bastions, and number of buildings. Some of these clues support, and are supported by the finds of the archaeologists.
The first clue was found in General McIntosh's memo to himself of September 13, 1778, one week after he had arrived at Fort Pitt, and read "fort and stores for Beaver Creek, 25 miles for 400 men."
November 3, McIntosh to Campbell: "You are to get the Fort finished as soon as you possibly can. The gates are to be hung and secured, the underpinning finished and the bastions put in a proper State of Defense in the first place, with the tower in the front; the barracks may be finished at the last."
December 22, 1778, General Orders: "Captain Ferrel and Captain Rusk's Independent Companies are to get ready to march to Fort Pitt tomorrow morning when Col. Brodhead's regiment shall take possession of the garrison and no soldier allowed to encamp outside it hereafter." (This would indicate the fort could hold a regiment of about 350 men plus staff and officers).
December 29, 1778, McIntosh to Vice President Bryan of the Council of Pennsylvania: "built a strong fort for the reception of prisoners and stores and barracks for a regiment."
The only firm clues as to the exact location of the fort was the article and engraving in the Columbian Magazine in 1790, which gave the latitude and longitude. Commissioner Arthur Lee had noted that its longest side faced the river, and the sketch by Judge Daniel Agnew - who first saw the site in 1829 before the cut had been made for the railroad and its access road - showed it to be about 30 feet from the head of Market Street.
As only the Agnew sketch provided a point of reference in the late summer of 1974, the archaeologists opened a line of 3 x 5 test squares beginning at a point four feet inside and parallel to the curb, and 25 feet from the Market Street right of way. No sifting and screening was scheduled, since no searcher at that moment envisioned the large number of artifacts eventually uncovered were beneath their feet. it should be noted here that the use of the term "artifacts" throughout this documentation is interpreted to include any fragment of any manmade object, however small.
The objective was only to locate traces of the trenches which would have been dug by fatigue parties erecting stockade walls of the fort. In the first two Sundays, no traces were found, but on the third day the first indication of early habitation by white men was uncovered in the form of burned areas containing ash, fired sandstone, fragments of glass and ceramics, lead, and cooked bone. (See diagram - Feature #5).
On the fourth work day came the first important discovery: a section that appeared to be a footer composed of a double row of boulders averaging 10 to 12 inches in diameter (feature #2). These were 22 inches below the surface and covered by a mixture of trash and late fill, and they intersected the line of test squares at an angle of 61 *. Beside this wall was found the first major artifact, a colonial axehead.
It was possible to follow the line of these stones for about 25 feet with a gap where the earth had been disturbed by a small tree. Beyond 25 f"t the stones were scattered, possibly part of a footer, but in a definite alignment. What was more interesting was the kind of artifacts found along it: parts of bottles, rifle balls, and cannister, the first evidence that the occupation had been military.
Feature #3 was a large fireplace, a term which will be used throughout to describe a chimney base and hearth. It was built of large worked sandstone set in the form of an "11", with larger blocks supporting the common backwall of a double hearth and the jambs. This was found below a mixed rubble of loose and caked ash, broken pieces of fired sandstone, and a concentration of artifacts. Below the stones the earth was bright red for a depth of two to four inches, the result of hot fires over a long period of years. This evidence was to be repeated throughout the dig as more fireplaces were located.
Not all fireplaces found were intact and some had single hearths main supporting stones set in the form of a "U". In some the stones were scattered and in others whole sections remained in place. In some cases the load bearing stones were large boulders taking two men to handle, rather than easily worked sandstone.
Feature #2 had been found 25 feet from the curb and three feet inside the line of Feature #1. Twenty-five feet beyond it was Feature #4, a drainage ditch 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep. Beginning at a point about 25 feet south east of the fireplace it ran nearly parallel to the curb until it reached the extension of the line of the footer, then followed that line to the edge of the slope. In the ditch was a heavy concentration of artifacts; broken pieces of knives, rifle parts, pottery shards, musket balls, and grapeshot. Opposite the fireplace on the northwestern side was a deep trash pit which extended 30 inches below the surface, (feature #5).
This completed the excavation in 1974, and certain assumptions could be made. The major one was that Col. Cambray, the French engineer, faced with rocky terrain and the approach of winter, made no effort to plant stockades but built his fort of logs laid up horizontally as had been done by the French at Fort Presque Isle in 1753. Another theory was that the stone footers had been used to compensate for low places in the site, and thus escaped being disturbed when the grading was done about 1900 to prepare the park for the town's centennial.
An 1895 photograph of the site before it was landscaped furnished another reason for the stone footers, for the site was crossed by gullies, some of which had been dammed at the edge of the slopes to halt further erosion. Footers of some sort would have been necessary in some areas to provide a level base for the sills of the cabins. It accounted also for the areas where the archaeologists found only late fill consisting for the most part of cobbles and trash.
In 1975 Miss Matilda McCreery joined the archaeological team, volunteering the use of her nearby garage and cellar as headquarters and storage place for tools and artifacts.
Because of the success of the 1974 dig, the Pennsylvania Bicentennial Commission made two matching grants in 1975 and 1976 totaling $12,252 which made it possible to place the exploration under the overview of the Carnegie Museum and extend the work into weekdays as well as Sundays. In the spring of 1975, the team of Pitt students laid out the standard 5' x 5' grid system and completed the study of the stratigraphy. Its major find was the line of stones which formed the footer for the inner of two tiers of logs forming the wall of the flank of the southwest bastion. This, Feature #6, was found 50 feet from the curb and intersected the line of Feature #2 at a 118' angle.
The Pitt team had to return to its work at the Meadowcroft excavation early in June, and Gerald Lang replaced Mr. Carlisle as associate site director. In July, Feature #7 was uncovered; a section of a fireplace 30 feet east of the projection on the line of Feature #2, and five feet from the edge of the slope. The first cannon ball, a six pounder, was found a few feet away.
The perseverance of the archaeologists paid off in 1975, when they by-passed the historical researchers' theory that the eastern terminus of the fort was between 130 and 160 feet from the first footer uncovered, moved upstream several hundred yards and found unquestioned evidence of four more fireplaces, all in line with Feature #7, and easily identified by the broken pieces of fired sandstone, loose and caked ash, a variety of artifacts, and soil burned red to a depth of several inches. These were labelled Features #8, #9, #10, and #11. The artifacts near Feature # 11 indicated it might have been associated with the officers' mess and Feature #8 with the artillery company.
In late fall of 1975 came by far the most important find of the exploration: Feature #12 which was seventy feet of the footer for the back wall of the building, or buildings on the southern or river side of the fort. It was at the very edge of the slope, three feet from the line of the five fireplaces uncovered that summer. It was a fortunate find, for had the cut for the railroad in 1852 extended one more foot into the hillside, the entire footer would have been lost. As it was, the diggers used the earth from the excavation to form a working platform on the river side of the wall. The evidence was strengthened that Arthur Lee's description of the fort, as being built in the shape of an irregular square, was accurate, for an extension of this wall intersected that of Feature #1 at an angle of 63'.
In 1976, buoyed by the success of the previous year which had been recognized by an extension of the grant by the Pennsylvania Bicentennial Commission, and by the inclusion of the site in the National Register of Historic Places, search began for the traces of buildings which presumably formed the eastern wall of the fort.
Before such evidence was found Feature #13 was uncovered. This was a section of crude wall of cobbles, broken sandstone and bits of field fired brick. It was laid to compensate for a broad low-lying area at this end of the fort. On top of it was a four to five inch layer of black humus containing artifacts of the 19th century, and above this a layer of pure clay.
Final proof that Lee had been correct in his description was found late in the summer with the discovery of two sections of footer on the eastern end. An extension of the line of these stones intersected the line of the southern wall at the same angle, but in reverse, as did the footer on the western side. There was no question but that the fort had been built in an irregular square with the longest face to the river. A less distinct line of this wall was found extending to the curb. Together these composed Features #14 and #15.
With these boundaries of the fort established, covetous eyes began to be cast on the green front lawns of the residences across River Road from the site, for somewhere in those grounds or under the houses behind them had to be the evidence locating the north wall of the fort.
Before such an extension of the site could begin, however, Feature #16 was uncovered, the most complete fireplace found to date. It butted against the curb at the extension of the line of the east wall, only one small corner having been disturbed when the curb was set. The soldiers or artificers who built this fireplace could have been stone masons before the war, for the stones were exceptionally well cut and tightly fitted together. In addition, three stones of the second course remained in place. The concentration of artifacts was one of the heaviest, particularly the number of hand-forged wrought iron nails.
In July, Dan and Patsy Reibel, then the owners of the house almost directly across from the center line of the fort, very graciously permitted the test squares to be dug in their side and front yards. There is a well verified story that when this house was built, about 1900, what was thought to be a tunnel or underground chamber of some sort was found. This may well have been the area for storing powder and ammunition. The first test square, or in this case a trench, was dug along the eastern side of the house, but this produced no artifacts for the entire area had been disturbed when the excavation was dug for the cellar.
In a test square six feet from the front of the house, however, artifacts similar in character and quantity to those taken from squares near the fireplaces in the park itself were found. In two squares on the western side of the house additional, but not as heavily concentrated artifacts were uncovered, as well as a number of pieces of worked sandstone. The three test squares are combined as Feature #17.
While these excavations were being conducted other workers found what may have been a very small section of the footer of the flank of the SE bastion, Feature # 18. It extended upstream from the line of the east wall and was directly opposite the footer of the SW bastion.
The last find in 1976, was actually a re-interpretation of the large collection of fired sandstone at the northwest corner of the site, between the curb and the first wall foundation (Feature #2). This now is identified as a fireplace (Feature # 19), which had backwalls and jambs of sandstone but a hearth of large cobbles. An explanation of the difference may be that Lt. Col. Campbell was running out of time and that his horses were so weak they no longer could haul the heavy sandstone blocks from the hillside.
The year 1976 had been a good one. In addition to the archaeological finds, the grant from the Pennsylvania Bicentennial Commission and the inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the project won the Merit Award of the Pennsylvania Association of Historical Societies, the Freedom Foundation Award, and received a $10,000 grant from the Buhl Foundation.
In 1976, work began on stabilizing and preserving the irreplaceable structural remains which had been uncovered. The invaluable relics of the past lay in a site which could not be secured and was subject to deliberate vandalism, theft, or merely unwitting disturbance by casual visitors. The preservation method varied according to the degree of which the feature had been disturbed in the 200 years since the fort was built.
In 1977, the search began along the edge of the slope between the center line and the fireplace at the western end. In the center of the fort the washout must have been extensive, for there were no traces of any occupation. Test squares further toward the western side uncovered evidence of two more fireplaces, Features #20 and #21. The cut for the railroad had been too deep to make it possible to reconstruct either of these.
Feature #22 was the confirmation of the location of a very large fireplace with two hearths, with one small section intact. It was at the eastern wall and directly opposite and in line with the first fireplace found, Feature #1.
By mid summer of 1977, only the buildings of the northern wall of the fort had to be located. The archaeologists knew they were very near, possibly inside one of them when they finished the test square in front of the Reibel house but further confirmation was needed. Thanks to the cooperation of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Mengon, owners of the house directly across from the western wall of the fort, this was solved and most satisfactorily.
The Mengons gave enthusiastic permission to open test squares at the side and in the front of their home. A projection of the line of the western wall intersected the western side of the house, 17 feet from the SW corner. Two test squares between this line and the house produced some artifacts, but no evidence of a structure. One interesting find was the buried butt end of a post, similar to the repair post found at Fort Ligonier.
The important find, however, was Feature #23, a fireplace built of the largest blocks of sandstone found up to that time, one of them weighing 200 pounds. This was located eight feet from the SW corner and three feet inside the projected line. Over 3,000 artifacts were recovered at this spot alone. This and the two test squares at the side of the house are combined as Feature #23.
In 1979, workmen waterproofing the cellar of the Mengon residence uncovered several large blocks of cut and fired sandstone, obviously the remains of a hearth, against the cellar window about ten feet from the SW corner. That would appear to be definite proof that the location of the structures forming the north side of the fort occupied the space now taken by the front rooms of the Reibel and Mengon houses. The excavation for the cellar precluded all opportunities to recover any artifacts.
Another major find in 1977 was the discovery of the remains of two courses of boulders which had formed the end wall of the building on the eastern side of the fort. The stones had been disturbed, but the line of both courses was sufficiently clear to permit their reassembly in approximately their original positions. This was Feature #24.
In 1978, a major discovery was that what appeared to be a breech in the two sections of the eastern wall (Feature #25) was the result of a cave-in of the middle part of that section into a trash pit close to the intersection of the end and side walls. The original walls of the pit were nearly vertical at the base of the wall, but sloped outward from there at about a 30 * angle to the surface.
Several test squares were dug in various
areas in the center of the site, but all were negative indicating
that no buildings had been erected in that part of the parade.