Before There Were Wells...
- venangomuseum
- May 6
- 4 min read
Venango County and the French and Indian War
In 1859, Colonel Edwin L. Drake discovered oil in Northwestern Pennsylvania, beginning the history of the Oil Region…right?
Well, not quite.
Before the Oil Boom in the second half of the 19th century, the area was home to iron furnaces, lumber operations, and fur trading.
It was also an important region during the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). During this struggle between European superpowers, the English and French fought over the Ohio River Valley and the right to move westward throughout North America.
The war was not limited only to England and France, however. The Native American tribes living within the battle zone were also involved.
The English settlers, confined to the eastern seaboard, began to spread out towards the west. They trekked across the Appalachian Mountains in search of land and trade. The English colonists believed that all land westward belonged to them.
However, the French also believed the land to be theirs. The French saw the value in the strategic waterways (by which they could travel north into Canada or south towards Louisiana) and the lucrative fur trading network.
The Native Americans who had also joined the conflict were mainly concerned with preserving their traditional way of life. They traded with the Europeans but did not want them to settle on their land.
So, when the French noticed the English moving west into their prized Ohio River Valley, they sent an expedition from Montreal to quell any aggressive English visitors and assert their dominance over the region.
The French Emissary
In June 1749, Captain Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville set out to defend the sovereignty of France’s land with a “show of force.” Leaving Montreal with an escort of officers, Canadians, and indigenous peoples. They beached at Lake Erie and continued their journey along the Allegheny River.
Along their route, the men left six lead plates which reasserted their claim to the Ohio River Valley in King Louis XV’s name. Three of these plates were buried along the Allegheny River, in and around the areas that make up present-day Oil City.
Transcript of lead plate: "In the year 1749, of the reign of Louis the 15th, King of France, we Céloron, commander of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissonière, Governor General of New France, to reestablish tranquility in some Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this Plate of Lead at the con-Huence of the Ohio and the Chatauqua, this 29th day of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise Belle Riviere, as a monument of the renewal of the possession we have taken of the said river Ohio, and of all those which empty into it, and of all the lands on both sides as far as the sources of the said rivers, as enjoyed, or ought to have been enjoyed by the kings of France preceding, as they have there maintained themselves by arms and by treaties, especially those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix la Chapelle."
In addition to leaving the plates, Céloron would attempt to persuade the Native Americans that the English were coming to harm them and drive them away from their ancestral land. Despite these attempts, he noticed that the English had an “increasing influence” over the native people.
One incident Céloron wrote about was in present-day Oil City, near Oil Creek, where a Native American spokesperson asked Céloron and his group to leave the English settlers alone until the following spring. The European whom the Native Americans were defending was John Frasier, the first pioneer settler in Venango County.
After Céloron met with the native people who worked closely with John Frazier, he wrote in his journal: “All I can say is that the Natives of these localities are very badly disposed towards the French and are entirely devoted to the English. I don't know in what way they could be brought back."
Céloron returned to Montreal at the end of his mission, and five years later, the French and Indian War began.
In 1754, the French built Fort Machault in Franklin at the convergence of the Allegheny River and the French Creek. The fort was built to protect the French access to the Ohio Country and connections between its colonies. Towards the war's end, however, the soldiers were ordered to destroy their fort and supplies and retreat to Fort Niagara.
The English then later constructed a fort in the abandoned spot of the French Fort Machault called Fort Venango. The fort, at the “confluence of the French Creek and the Allegheny,” was destroyed three years after its construction during Pontiac’s Rebellion.
We previously featured the destruction of Fort Venango in the fourth episode of our video essay series A Minute In History. Watch it here.
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