Fort Pitt Museum

10/12/2026

Every year on the second Monday in October, we come together to honor the rich histories and cultures of Indigenous peoples across the nation.

Today, the History Center, Meadowcroft, and Fort Pitt pay tribute to all American Indian and Canadian First Nations communities, particularly the Delaware (Lenape), Seneca, Seneca-Cayuga, and Shawnee tribes, whose historical homelands encompass Western Pennsylvania. These communities continue to preserve their vibrant cultures and histories to this day.

We invite visitors to learn more about the Indigenous peoples who have shaped, and continue to shape, our region through the history shared at our family of museums.

📸 American Indian tribal members speak with visitors at Meadowcroft during a living history program.

📸 Fort Pitt Museum staff join members of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, Seneca Nation of Indians, Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, and Delaware Tribe of Indians, on the Allegheny River at Kittanning, PA, a Lenape (Delaware) village settled in 1724.

📸 Fort Pitt and Meadowcroft staff at the First Nations Museum with William Tarrant, Kathy Haney, and Dolly Haney.

📸 Camryn Pack (Absentee Shawnee) with a recently completed bison horn spoon she made at a workshop co-sponsored by the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and the Fort Pitt Museum in 2023.

📸 William Tarrant, Cultural/Historic Preservation Director for the Seneca-Cayuga Nation.

10/10/2026

in 1774, Lord Dunmore's War came to an end after Lord Dunmore’s British forces defeated the Shawnee tribe at the Battle of Point Pleasant. This battle was a key moment in the struggle for control over the land and shaped the future of relations between the colonists and American Indians.

Discover the complexities of Dunmore's War and its lasting impact on American history in our blog post.

📸 Battle of Point Pleasant, Robert Dafford

  What is Lord Dunmore’s War? It’s the war everyone would know if there had not been an American Revolution. Occurring at the same time as the Intolerable Acts and…

10/07/2026

This Saturday, Oct. 10, dig into the grisly past of Braddock’s Defeat at the Fort Pitt Museum. 💀

Long after the fighting ended at the 1755 Battle of the Monongahela, curious locals and travelers continued to visit the battlefield, where the remains of Braddock’s soldiers lay improperly buried for decades.

Join Fort Pitt Museum Living History Coordinator Lukas Smith for a spooky season edition of Speaker Saturday exploring how the battlefield became an early destination for “macabre tourism” and why visitors were drawn to its grim past.

Access to the Speaker Saturday program is included with regular museum admission.

Explore the peculiar phenomenon of battlefield macabre tourism through the story of Braddock’s Defeat.

10/01/2026

Join us this weekend (Oct. 3-4) on the Fort Pitt Museum lawn and experience the sights and stories of 18th-century Fort Pitt!

In October 1776, Continental Congress representatives gathered at Fort Pitt with representatives of Native nations in the Ohio Country as American officials sought neutrality during the growing conflict.

This weekend, Fort Pitt will revisit this pivotal gathering with living history demonstrations on the museum lawn. See history unfold with special vignettes and musket and r***e demonstrations at 1, 2, and 3 p.m., weather permitting.

Outdoor activities are free, and regular admission applies to explore the Fort Pitt Museum. Kids 17 and under receive free admission, thanks to the Kamin “Free for Kids” Initiative!

09/28/2026

Fort Pitt and Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village once had their own soundtrack? 🎶

Pictured is the Fort Pitt Royal American Regiment album, recorded at Meadowcroft in 1976 and formerly sold in the gift shops at both the Fort Pitt Museum and Meadowcroft.

The two-sided record featured popular 18th-century martial music tunes, bringing the sounds of the era straight to your turntable! 💿

09/25/2026

Spooky season is approaching, and we’re digging into a darker side of history at the Fort Pitt Museum.

On Oct. 10, join Living History Coordinator Lukas Smith for a fascinating look at the aftermath of Braddock’s Defeat and the curious visitors who were drawn to the battlefield long after the fighting ended.

For decades, the remains of Braddock’s soldiers lay improperly buried at the site, attracting locals and travelers and turning the battlefield into an early destination for “macabre tourism.”

Explore this peculiar chapter of Western Pa. history during a spooky edition of Speaker Saturday.

Explore the peculiar phenomenon of battlefield macabre tourism through the story of Braddock’s Defeat.

09/22/2026

Revolutionary history is waiting at the Fort Pitt Museum! 🇺🇸

Step inside Pittsburgh’s Revolution and discover what life was like at the Forks of the Ohio during the American Revolution. Explore fascinating artifacts, uncover stories from the western frontier, and learn how Pittsburgh played a role in the fight for independence.

And with free admission for kids 17 and under, it’s the perfect time to bring the whole family to Point State Park and experience history where it happened!

09/17/2026

in 1778, the Treaty of Fort Pitt was signed right here in Western Pa.

The agreement between the newly formed United States and the Delaware (Lenape) Nation became the first formal treaty between the U.S. government and an American Indian nation.

Signed at Fort Pitt during the American Revolution, the treaty established an alliance at a pivotal moment in the fight for independence.

Learn more about the American Indian history of the region at the Fort Pitt Museum.

📸 Detail of a certificate distributed by Sir William Johnson, c. 1770, showing a treaty negotiation. The symbolic “Chain of Friendship” is shown in the background.

09/12/2026

in 1748, Pennsylvania interpreter Conrad Weiser arrived at Logstown to meet with American Indian leaders and begin negotiations between Ohio Valley nations and the British government.

During the meeting, Tanaghrisson, a Seneca leader, presented Weiser with a string of wampum and offered these words:

“Brethren, you came a great way to visit us and many sorts of evils might have befallen you by the way which might have been hurtful to your eyes and your inward parts, for the woods are full of evil spirits. We give you this string of wampum to clear up your eyes and minds and to remove all bitterness of your spirit, that you may hear us speak in good cheer.”

Wampum played an important role in diplomacy among American Indian nations. Made from white and purple shell beads, wampum could be woven into belts and used to record histories, preserve traditions, and give meaning to important agreements and treaty negotiations.

The 1748 gathering at Logstown was one of many diplomatic meetings that shaped relationships among American Indian nations and European powers in the Ohio Valley in the years leading up to the French & Indian War.

09/09/2026

Before there was a United States, what did it mean to be “American”? 🇺🇸

Join the Fort Pitt Museum for Speaker Saturday on Sept. 12 as historian Jay Donis explores how a shared American identity began to take shape on the frontier before the American Revolution.

Drawing on the writings of John Adams and events in the Trans-Appalachian west, discover how colonists with strong local identities began to develop a growing sense of unity and shared purpose.

The Speaker Saturday program is included with regular admission and will take place in the museum’s first floor auditorium.

Join the Fort Pitt Museum for an exploration of how American identity took shape before the Revolutionary War.