What is it Wednesday: February 21, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

the day after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on February 20, 2019. 

And the answer is....

This photo of a trail in Lutherlyn’s forest shows something special: a portion of the historic Venango trail where it passes through Lutherlyn’s property, and where George Washington traveled in 1753.

The purple trail marker indicates Lutherlyn’s Venango Trail, which loops around Upper Lake, and part of which overlaps with the historic Venango Trail. The Venango Trail was a much-used Native American trail long before European colonists arrived and began using it.

The blue and white trail marker indicates that this section of trail is also part of the Washington Trail that marks the route George Washington took on a mission in 1753 in the lead-up to the French and Indian War. 

Washington and a guide named Christopher Gist traveled from what is now Pittsburgh north to negotiate at French forts near present-day Franklin and Erie, and then back again.

We know from Washington’s journals of the trip that he and Gist traveled south through Lutherlyn’s section of the Venango Trail on the day after Christmas, 1753. (Just a little ways south of here is where Washington had a gun pulled on him by an enemy Native American man, but the gun didn’t fire so Washington was unharmed.) 

As we celebrate Presidents Day (this past Monday) and Washington’s Birthday (this Friday), we at Lutherlyn enjoy also celebrating the fact that Washington traveled here!

Getting to know our land also means getting to know its human history, which is fascinating! 

LEEP's Saturday Safari in November 2019 will visit the historic Venango Trail and the nearby archaeology site, and dig deeper into the story of Washington's journey and other history of the area. To find out more about this or any of the many other ways you can learn more about Lutherlyn's local history with LEEP, check out www.lutherlyn.com/ee .

Find out how you can learn more about our local history with LEEP at www.lutherlyn.com/ee . 

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!