Under Three Flags

French, British, and American claims all touched this corner of northwestern Pennsylvania. Captain Celoron de Blainville brought the Fleur-de-lis here in 1749 and buried a lead plate near here at the start of his journey down the Allegheny River to claim the land for France. The British Union Jack was probably flown at Buckaloons, a trading post downriver. It is believed that Colonel Daniel Brodhead's 1779 expedition brought the first American flag to the area. Celoron's plate has not been found here, but two others from the journey were discovered, one at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers at what is now Marietta, and the other on the Great Kanawha River at what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Warren, Pennsylvania · United States