Bushy Run free museum day 2018

Sunday was a free museum day for Bushy Run battlefield and the perfect setting for a hands-on history class for my three home-schooled grandsons.  We took Chrissy along, too, and the four of them had a good time looking at the artifacts, watching the mini-movie, and eating the free cookies!  We spent about 20 minutes exploring the museum, then went outside with a tour guide and got a little more detail about the battle and its impact on our history.

My favorite ‘new fact’ was that the strategic moves make by Colonel Bouquet to defeat the Native Americans (called Pontiac’s War) saved Ft. Pitt from being taken over and lost to the enemy.  We were told that the maneuvers made by Bouquet’s forces were so impressive that they are still being studied by the military today.  In the worse of the battle, we lost about 60 men out of close to 400.  They had to have somewhere to protect the wounded, so they took the flour sacks (on route to Ft. Pitt to feed the troops there) and built a ‘fort’.  After the lecture we walked down to the monument then up to the meadow where the flour sack fort had been built.  The kids climbed the trees and we tramped back the paths through the woods. 

Kelly was reading the little booklet, and we discovered that a Penn Trafford high school senior planned and organized the entire event for her senior project.  Emily Liska had been volunteering at Bushy Run since she was twelve, and now it’s the place where she spends most of her free time – tour guide, fundraiser, all-around general volunteer.  She’s very passionate about history, about the Bushy Run site, and about making a difference.  It’s great to see dedication and passion in someone so young. 

We had a great time, and stopped at the little homestead house across the road.  A friend had painted a picture of the house for me about 10 years ago and I have it framed and hanging in my bedroom.  It was fun to see the real thing!  I advise anyone interested in history, in hiking paths, or being outdoors to check it out.  The site opens for the season the end of April.