Remember When: A-K Valley landmarks said to be named after soldier from 1700s believed to have used biological weapons

There are many sites in the Alle-Kiski Valley that bear the names of prominent figures from colonial history.

The hill opposite New Kensington that runs between Springdale and Creighton is known as Bouquet Hill. The first bridge constructed in 1900 over the Allegheny River at New Kensington was known as the Bouquet Bridge. The West Penn railroad depot beneath the bridge on the Creighton side of the river was named Bouquet Station.

All three are said to be named for Henry Bouquet, who was born in 1719 in Rolle, Switzerland. He was born into a military family and became a professional soldier and mercenary.

In his early career, Bouquet sold his services to the Dutch Republic and proved himself to be a highly capable soldier. His exploits came to the attention of William IV, the Prince of Orange, and head of the Dutch Republic. The prince promoted Bouquet to the rank of lieutenant colonel and assigned him to the Swiss Guards in the Hague.

In the 1700s, there were a series of small wars in Europe involving the French and English. These hostilities spilled over into North America in disputes over land and trade. The population of British colonies in the Americas at the time was nearly 2 million, whereas the French colonies numbered only 60,000.

The French military allied itself with Native American tribes in an effort to balance the power in the event of conflict.

Of strategic importance was having control of the Ohio River Valley, in particular the junction of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in what we now know as Pittsburgh.

In 1754, the French and Indian War broke out, and in the spring of that year, the British attempted to build a fort at the point in Pittsburgh called Fort Prince George. It was quickly destroyed by the French military and replaced with Fort Duquesne under their control.

Edward Braddock, a British officer, was commander-in-chief of the British forces for the Thirteen Colonies in North America. Under Braddock’s command, a force of 1,300 men marched on Fort Duquesne to return the strategic location to British control.

When he was about 10 miles from the fort, Braddock encountered a small force consisting of Canadians, French and Native Americans.

The English fought using conventional tactics of forming straight lines and shooting volleys at the enemy. The French and their allies adopted guerrilla tactics using the cover of the woods.

The results were devastating for the British. More than 900 soldiers were either killed, captured or wounded. The event was known as the battle of Monongahela and was considered one of the greatest defeats in British military history.

Braddock was badly wounded and died four days later. One of the soldiers, serving under Braddock, who survived the battle was frontiersman Daniel Boone.

Following Braddock’s disastrous defeat, the British military took steps to bolster its forces in North America. They sought experienced solders and mercenaries from Europe.

In 1756, Bouquet joined the British Army and was sent to North America as a lieutenant colonel in the 60th Regiment of Foot. The unit was made up largely of Pennsylvania colonists of German descent. They were known as the Royal American Regiment.

In 1758, the regiment joined with Gen. John Forbes in an expedition against the French at Fort Duquesne. As his men traveled westward from Fort Bedford toward Fort Duquesne, they came under attack by a force of French and Native Americans near the present site of Ligonier but were able to repel the assault.

Fort Duquesne was maned by 200 French soldiers under the command of Col. François-Marie Le Marchand de Lignery. When he received intelligence from his scouts that 1,500 British troops were approaching, he realized he would be unable to defend the fort and gave orders to abandon it and destroy the structures and the stores.

When the British forces arrived, they began to construct a fort near the remains of Fort Duquesne which they named Fort Pitt after William Pitt.

After the French and Indian War, the British broke many of their promises and treated the Native American population as a conquered people.

The British and American settlers had promised to withdraw from the land west of the Allegheny Mountains and south of Lake Erie after the defeat of the French. The tribes came together to rebel against these conditions and began hostilities that became known as Pontiac’s War. In the early part of this war, several forts in the Ohio Valley were captured by native forces.

Many of the settlers fled to the safety of Fort Pitt. About 550 people sought refuge there including 200 women and children. In these crowded conditions, smallpox broke out and quickly spread among the soldiers and refugees. In early summer of 1763, the Native American tribes of the region laid siege to Fort Pitt.

It was protected by a force of 230 soldiers and militia under the command of Capt. Simeon Ecuyer, a Swiss mercenary employed by the British. The British commander-in-chief in North America, Jeffery Amherst, sent Bouquet, who was then stationed in Philadelphia, together with a force of 500 soldiers to break the siege and reinforce the forts in Western Pennsylvania.

Bouquet was under orders to take no Native American prisoners.

As they made their way west, they encountered a large Native American force at Bushy Run. Many of these combatants had been recruited from the siege at Fort Pitt. A two-day battle ensued in which Bouquet and his men were victorious. They were lauded for defeating Native Americans on their own ground. The victory was seen as the turning point in the war.

When Bouquet arrived at Fort Pitt, he and others began negotiations with the Native American forces to lift the siege. It was customary to exchange gifts between the rival factions as part of the negotiations. In letters with his commanding officer, Amherst, Bouquet discussed gifting blankets and linens taken from the fort’s hospital that had been infected with smallpox to the Native American ambassadors.

In Amherst’s reply, he approved the plan and suggested that Bouquet also “try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race.”

In these letters, Bouquet referred to giving the infected blankets and linens as a way of “inoculating the Indians” and showed personal concern “taking care however not to get the disease myself.”

In the fall of 1764, Bouquet was named commander of Fort Pitt. He began strengthening its fortifications. He constructed a series of structures within the walls of the fort called redoubts. The most famous of them is a blockhouse still in existence and often referred to as Bouquet’s Blockhouse. It remains the oldest structure in Pittsburgh.

To bring about a lasting peace, Bouquet marched a contingent of 1,500 men west into Ohio, the heart of the Indian territories. Under the threat of force, he negotiated a peace with the conditions that all captured white settlers held by the Native Americans be released and in return promised not to destroy Native American villages or seize their lands. More than 200 white captives were freed.

Bouquet was promoted to brigadier general in 1765 and placed in command of all British forces in the southern colonies. He died of yellow fever on Sept. 2, 1765, in Pensacola, Fla.

The use of biological weapons against the Native American population has been the subject of much condemnation. An old newspaper clipping in the files of the Alle-Kiski Valley Historical Society, however, states: “The West New Kensington (train) station was originally Bouquet. There was always controversy over whether it was named for the Indian War (soldier) or because of beds of flowers nearby.”