Without a moment's delay he decided to take possession of the forks of the Ohio, and raised two companies of militia of 100 men each.

A trader named William Trent was in command of one of the companies, and that no time should be lost, he, with forty men, hurried forward, and, February 17, 1754, drove the first stake of a stockade that was to surround a fort on the site of the city of Pittsburg.

While the English were still at work on their fort, April 17, 1754, a body of French and Indians came down from Le Boeuf, and bade them leave the valley.

Trent was away, and the working party was in command of an ensign named Ward, who, as resistance was useless, surrendered, and was allowed to march off with his men.

The French then finished the fort Trent had begun, and called it Fort Duquesne, after the governor of Canada.
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