Warriors Weekend at Fort Necessity National Battlefield

Date: July 30, 2008
Contact: Brian Reedy, 724-329-5512

FARMINGTON, Pa  The National Park Service will host an “Indian War Party” encampment at Fort Necessity National Battlefield on Saturday, August 9, and Sunday, August 10.  The camp will be open to visitors from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days. 

Re-enactment groups will represent a Lenape war party allied with the French and a Cherokee war party allied with the British.  The military goal of the French and Indian War parties was to harass the colonists to such a degree as to make them want to move back east and no longer try to establish communities of British colonies west of the Alleghenies.  These parties conducted raids along the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia frontiers during the 1750’s.  Native woodland fighting tactics, weapons, trail cooking, and items carried by warriors will be demonstrated.  The involvement of different native groups in the French and Indian War will be discussed.  Re-enactors welcome inquiries concerning those early years.

Educational programs are scheduled each day at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.  These programs will focus on the tools of the warriors, including demonstrations of musket, bow and swivel guns, weapons used by the combatants at Fort Necessity.

“British and Cherokee Alliance in the French and Indian War” is a special presentation at 4:00 p.m.  Saturday, August 9.  Husband and wife living history interpreters Dianne Anestis and Doug Wood explore how women influenced war decisions in the matrilineal, gender-balanced cultures of eastern North American Indians.  Find out particularly how Indian women influenced the outcome of the French and Indian War in the Ohio Valley and Potomac regions.

General admission for the park is $5.00 per adult.  Children 15 and under are free of charge.  Annual passes are available for $15.00.  The fee is collected at the park’s Visitor Center and is valid for seven days.  For more information on this and other programs at Fort Necessity, please call [phone] or visit the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/fone.