It’s good to be back at Historic Fort Steuben. I love spending time with our local history and helping to make it accessible to the public through our programs and events. I am constantly reminded, however, that the longer I interact with local history, there is so much more out there I don’t know. There are stories and history in every building, under every rock and around every corner. And very much buried in the ground.

I remember fondly when we added more lights to the Berkman Amphitheater at Fort Steuben Park, long trenches needed to be dug in the ground. When I was tired of working at my desk in my office, I spent time rooting through the dirt picking up lots of broken glass, pottery, bits of bricks, freshwater clam shells from the river and a large bit of marble — probably from a building that was once on the block. I love to think about who once interacted with these objects and when they were last seen or touched.

It’s true that every object collected has a history, too. It’s not often that we will know that history unfortunately, because the stories with these objects are often the first things to be lost. Sometimes the objects are very personal. For example, when I was the director of Craik-Patton House in Charleston, we had a donation of a wonderful, early 19th-century needlepoint sampler. This object was carefully made with the name of the individual embroidered in the piece, as well as examples of stitches the maker mastered, etc. Although we had a name of the person who made it, no other information could be found to connect it with a story or where it came from, despite much research. We had other objects that had rich histories, such as an ax that was used by Union Gen. William Rosencrans when he was in Southern West Virginia before the Civil War.

Another important piece that the Craik-Patton House has in its collection, was what we called, the Washington Desk. It was a replica of the desk George Washington used at Mount Vernon after he was president in 1797. According to the website at Mount Vernon, in 1796, Washington disposed of his presidential desk that he bought shortly after his inauguration and purchased a tambour, or rolltop, secretary desk from Thomas Aitken, a Philadelphia cabinetmaker. Washington then brought the desk home with him to Mount Vernon for use in his study. Upon his death in December 1799, he bequeathed the desk and a chair to his doctor, comrade in arms and friend, Dr. James Craik. Craik passed the desk on to his grandson, the Rev. James Craik, and it stayed in the family until it returned to Mount Vernon as a museum purchase in 1905. While the Craik family was in residence at the Craik-Patton House, the original desk was there, too.

Washington’s association with James Craik goes back to the French and Indian War. According to Mount Vernon’s digital library page on James Craik, both served under Edward Braddock and were present at Braddock’s Defeat, or the Battle of the Monongahela, that took place in Braddock Pa., across the river from Kennywood Park in 1755. Craik treated the mortal wounds of Gen. Braddock as he was the chief surgeon of the Virginia Provincial Regiment. Later, Craik served with Washington as the chief medical officer of the unit until 1762. Because they closely fought together in the French and Indian War, Craik and Washington became good friends.

In the fall of 1770, Washington and James Craik, along with a few servants, traveled back to the Ohio River Valley to inspect land that he was granted as a veteran of the French and Indian War. According to the page detailing their trip on the website of Mount Vernon, the trip took nine weeks and one day. Certainly, Washington would have been reminded of the battles waged in this area only 15 years earlier. They were still fresh for some of the Native Americans he met along the way, too.

According to Washington’s journal of the expedition, they left Mount Vernon on Oct. 8 on horseback and made several stops along the way, inspecting land, meeting with officials and even visiting a coal mine. They reached Fort Pitt at Pittsburgh on Oct. 17 and stayed at an inn in the settlement along the Monongahela River.

After visiting with officials at the fort, Washington was invited to speak with some Native American from the six nations who remembered him from his time in the previous war.

On Oct. 20, Washington left Pittsburgh in a large canoe with about nine travelers all together, including a group of Native Americans. That night, they camped on the northern side of the Ohio River at Old Economy. The next day, the party pushed on and camped about a mile above East Liverpool along the river. On Oct. 22, they traveled from their camp down the river, eventually arriving at Mingo Town. This section of his journal is especially interesting to me because Washington describes our area specifically. He remarked about passing Yellow Creek, and went on to describe the land on the West Virginia side of the river just opposite the tributary.

Further down the river he writes, “About 11 or 12 miles from this, and just above what is called the long island (Brown’s Island) (which tho so distinguished is not very remarkable for length, breadth or goodness) comes in on the East side of the River, a small creek or run the name of which I could not learn.” Washington is likely referring to Kings Creek here. That afternoon, Washington reaches Mingo Town, a place he described as containing 20 cabins and 70 inhabitants of the six nations.

After leaving Mingo, Washington traveled down the Ohio River all the way to the mouth of the Kanawha River. He inspected the lands there and finally started the return trip back up the Ohio on Nov. 3. By Nov. 17, they had returned to Mingo but had to wait for their horses to arrive to continue to Fort Pitt. On Nov. 20, they were on their way back to Pittsburgh, overland this time, and reached the settlement on Nov. 21. On Nov. 23, Washington left Pittsburgh and finally arrived home on the first day of December.

Craik and Washington remained close for the rest of their lives. Craik fought in the Revolution, first as assistant director general of the Middle Department of the Continental Army in 1774, and eventually, rose to the second-highest medical rank in the army by war’s end. In 1784, Washington asked Craik, again, to travel to the Ohio country with him, but the group didn’t make it to the Ohio River, returning after about a month into the trip. When Washington died in December 1799, Craik was at his bedside, closing a friendship of more than 40 years.

This Presidents Day, let us remember that not only was Washington our first president, but he was an explorer who traveled down the Ohio River into our area right as settlement began here. He laid eyes on Yellow Creek, Brown’s Island, Kings Creek and camped at Mingo Junction for several days. He is an important part of our early history connecting us to a larger national story.

And that is a local history that we work to keep alive through programs, events, collections and exhibits at Historic Fort Steuben.

(Zuros is the executive director of Historic Fort Steuben)