KUSHKUSHKEE TRAIL CHAPTER, NSDAR
GOD, HOME, COUNTRY
To perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; to promote the development of an enlightened
public; to foster patriotic citizenship - these are the objectives of our Society.
Any woman, 18 years old or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background, who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution, is eligible for membership.
To perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence; to promote the development of an enlightened
public; to foster patriotic citizenship - these are the objectives of our Society.
Any woman, 18 years old or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background, who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution, is eligible for membership.
About Our Chapter Name, Kushkushkee Trail:
"The old Kushkushkee Indian Trail branched off the Venango Trail (Perry Hwy), and followed the approximate route of Ingomar Road into Franklin (now Franklin Park Borough). It followed the present Brandt School Road to the Marshall Township Line and proceeded along the course of Route 856 towards Ogle. The Kushkushkee Trail then continued in a northwesterly direction and thus connected the Indian settlement at Kushkushkee, near New Castle, with those around the present site of Pittsburgh. The trail appears on a Warrant Map made in 1785. Prior to this, it was heavily traveled by centuries of Indians in Western Pennsylvania. Some historians contend that the Kushkushkee Trail was a part of the Venango Trail, which connected Fort Duquesne with Fort Machault at Venango, now called Franklin, PA."
compiled by Elvira Gillespie Benjamin, PhD, Organizing Regent
compiled by Elvira Gillespie Benjamin, PhD, Organizing Regent
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George Washington and Christopher Gist followed the Kushkushkee Trail during their 1753 mission for Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia, who sent Washington to Fort Le Boeuf to deliver a message to the French demanding they leave the Ohio Country. The French ignored the Governor's missive.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has marked the trail with historic markers placed at intervals along the roadways that follow the trail, in both Northbound and Southbound routes. (Material below is derived from the PA Historic Markers website: Likely an animal path worn down by the constant movement of game, the Kuskusky Path connected New Castle and Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, a distance of less than eighty miles. Part of an integral network of trails that opened the colonial backcountry to human settlement, the path provided entry into the primeval forests of the colonial frontier, and helped link the Allegheny River with the Ohio Country to its west. Native peoples and later European-Americans traveled its meandering course across creeks and low hills to an old Indian village that was renamed New Castle. |
Chapter Formation and History:
On September 27, 1980, a preliminary meeting of ladies interested in forming a chapter of the NSDAR in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh met at the Keystone Moose Country Club as guests of Mrs. G. Robert Benjamin, Organizing Regent. After discussion of a name for the proposed chapter, Kushkushkee Trail was chosen, which had been one of the names approved by NSDAR National Headquarters. The organizing meeting was held at Wildwood Country Club on October 18, 1980, with State Vice Regent Mrs. Edgar Weir, presiding over the installation of officers. There were 19 organizing members of the new chapter.