Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Is Fort Pitt still an active Fort?
Fort Pitt was a fort built by British forces between 1759 and 1761 during the French and Indian War at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where the Ohio River is formed in western Pennsylvania (modern day Pittsburgh). It was near (but not directly on) the site of Fort Duquesne, a French colonial fort built in 1754 as tensions increased between Great Britain and France in both Europe and North America. The French destroyed the fort in 1758 when they retreated under British attack.
After resurrecting Duquesne Beer in 2010, Mark Dudash, a Pittsburgh native and attorney, obtained ownership of the Fort Pitt name. In the spring of 2014, Dudash will launch Fort Pitt Ale under Fort Pitt Brewing Company. In maintaining its traditional roots in the Western Pennsylvania region, Fort Pitt is crafted in the spirit of the first brewery established by the British Army within the confines of Fort Pitt west of the Alleghenies in 1765. Due to the absence of pure spring water for drinking, beer was generally the preferred beverage for the early pioneers. The heat generated from the brewing process and presence of alcohol served to suppress the growth of contamination bacteria. The brewery supported the troops and settlers until the British Army abandoned the complex in 1772.
Fort Pitt is formulated as an ale using two row malt, caramel and English hops, as a recreation of a traditional English ale. Dudash has included the same family of English hops that were transported by the English Army over the mountains of the Allegheny in order to brew the first ale in 1765.
The new Fort Pitt has very few similarities to the beer brewed and packaged in the Jeannette or Sharpsburg plant, but instead recreates the taste which the first settlers of Pittsburgh experienced within the confines of Fort Pitt.
A small brick building called the Blockhouse—actually a type of outbuilding known as a redoubt—remains in Point State Park, the only intact remnant of Fort Pitt. It was erected in 1764, and is believed to be the oldest building, not only in Pittsburgh, but in western Pennsylvania. Used for many years as a home, the blockhouse was purchased and has been preserved for many years by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who make it open to the public. Part of the foundations of Fort Pitt have been excavated and some of the fort has been rebuilt, though, giving visitors to Point State Park a sense of the size of the fort. In this rebuilt section the Monongahela Bastion houses the Fort Pitt Museum.
Fort Pitt’s history stretches back further in time than the site’s present use as a school. A military hospital during the Crimean War, Fort Pitt was also Florence Nightingale’s first teaching hospital, and Queen Victoria visited three times over the course of her reign. The site and school continue to be of national historical significance. The school’s “West Wing” is a listed building, with some of the old hospital ward numbers still visible on its walls. It houses a small display of period artefacts, which is open to students and members of the public.
In a final Native American attempt to drive out the British west of the Appalachians, known as Pontiac's War, the Odawa leader Pontiac began with an assault on British forts in May 1763. Ohio Valley and Great Lakes tribes overran many forts; one of their most important targets was Fort Pitt. Receiving warning of the coming attack, Captain Simeon Ecuyer, the Swiss officer in command of the garrison, prepared for a siege. He leveled the houses outside the ramparts and ordered all settlers into the fort: 330 men, 104 women, and 196 children sought refuge inside its ramparts. Captain Ecuyer also gathered stores, which included hundreds of barrels of pork and beef. Pontiac's forces attacked the fort on June 22, 1763. The siege of Fort Pitt lasted for two months. Pontiac's warriors kept up a continuous, though ineffective, fire on it from July 27 through August 1, 1763. They drew off to confront the relieving party under Colonel Bouquet, which defeated them in the Battle of Bushy Run. This victory sealed British dominion over the forks of the Ohio, if not the entire Ohio valley. In 1764 Colonel Bouquet added a redoubt, the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, which still stands, the sole remaining structure from Fort Pitt and the oldest authenticated building west of the Allegheny Mountains.
The museum is in a recreated bastion of Fort Pitt, which was originally built in 1758 by the British. An outline of Fort Duquesne is nearby. The historical focus of the museum is the role that Fort Pitt played during the French and Indian War. The museum also features detailed information on Fort Pitt's role during the American Revolution, the Whiskey Rebellion and the founding of Pittsburgh. The museum was established and operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission until its closure in August 2009 from state budget cuts. The Heinz Center took over operation of the museum and reopened it in April 2010.
Fort Pitt Grammar School is a selective girls' grammar school with academy status in Chatham, Kent. Built on Fort Pitt Hill, the site of an old Palmerston Fort, it is situated next to the Rochester campus of the University for the Creative Arts,
As a result, in 1763 local Delawares and Shawnees took part in Pontiac's Rebellion, an effort to drive the British out of their territory. The Indians' siege of Fort Pitt began on June 22, 1763, but the fort was too strong to be taken by force. In negotiations during the siege, the commander of Fort Pitt gave two Delaware emissaries blankets that had been exposed to smallpox, in hopes of infecting the surrounding Indians and ending the siege. The effectiveness of this attempt is unclear. Outbreaks of smallpox had plagued Native Americans for years before, during and after the Fort Pitt attempt, killing much of the Native American population. On August 1, 1763, most of the Indians broke off the siege in order to intercept an approaching force under Colonel Henry Bouquet, resulting in the Battle of Bushy Run. Bouquet fought off the attack and relieved Fort Pitt on August 10.
On the June 16, four Shawnee visited Fort Pitt and warned Alexander McKee and Captain Simeon Ecuyer that several Indian nations had accepted Pontiac's war belt and bloody hatchet and were going on the offensive against the British, but that the Delaware were still divided, with the older Delaware chiefs advising against war. The following day, however, the Shawnee returned and reported a more threatening situation, saying that all the nations "had taken up the hatchet" against the British, and were going to attack Fort Pitt. Even the local Shawnee themselves "were afraid to refuse" to join the uprising, a subtle hint that the occupants of Fort Pitt should leave. Ecuyer dismissed the warnings and ignored the requests to leave. On June 22, Fort Pitt was attacked on three sides by Shawnee, western Delaware, Mingo and Seneca, which prompted return fire from Ecuyer's artillery. This initial attack on the fort was repelled. Since the Indians were unfamiliar with siege warfare, they opted to try diplomacy yet again. On June 24, Turtleheart spoke with McKee and Trent outside the fort, informing them that all of the other forts had fallen, and that Fort Pitt "is the only one you have left in our country." He warned McKee that "six different nations of Indians" were ready to attack if the garrison at the fort did not retreat immediately. They thanked Turtleheart and assured him that Fort Pitt could withstand "all nations of Indians", and they presented the Indian dignitaries with two small blankets and a handkerchief from the smallpox hospital. For the next several days it remained relatively quiet, although reports were coming in about fort after fort falling before large bands of attacking warriors. 
During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Pitt served as a headquarters for the western theatre of the war. Fort Pitt fell into disrepair once again in the years following the Revolution. It was abandoned in 1792 when Fort Fayette was built to replace it. Residents of the growing Pittsburgh used the remnants of the fort to build permanent housing for themselves.
The British built Fort Pitt on the ruins of Fort Duquesne, to the consternation of the local Delawares, contributing to the outbreak of Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763. Fort Pitt was besieged by the Delawares; Shingas may have participated in the fighting at this time. He and Tamaqua unsuccessfully tried to convince the British at Fort Pitt to withdraw, but the fort was relieved by an expedition led by Henry Bouquet. Shingas and Tamaqua, who advised accommodation with the British, began to lose influence to more militant Delaware leaders influenced by Neolin, the "Delaware Prophet". Shingas disappears from the historical record around 1764; some have speculated that he may have contracted smallpox from blankets distributed to the Delawares from Fort Pitt during the war that killed much of the Native American population, but there is no clear evidence that he died as a result of the incident.
In 1772, after Pontiac's War, the British commander at Fort Pitt sold the building to two colonists, William Thompson and Alexander Ross.[7] At that time, the Pittsburgh area was claimed by the colonies of both Virginia and Pennsylvania, which struggled for power over the region. After Virginians took control of Fort Pitt, they called it Fort Dunmore, in honour of Virginia's Governor Lord Dunmore. The fort served as a staging ground in Dunmore's War of 1774.
The American Indians wanted a trading post at Fort Duquesne, but they did not want a British army garrison or colonial settlement. The British built a new fort and named it Fort Pitt, after William Pitt the Elder. The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), next to the site of former Fort Duquesne. It was built in the popular pentagram shape, with bastions at the star points, by Captain Harry Gordon, a British Engineer in the 60th Royal American Regiment. [3]
On May the 26th a mounted column would arrive at Fort Pitt to see the remains still smouldering in the aftermath of the cree raid. The members of the column were" "sobered by the discovery of the body of Constable David Cowan, His heart removed and placed on a nearby pole"" Fort Pitts location and the fact that it was situated at the divergence of many trails lead the column to reclaiming it setting up headquarters.
During the North West Rebellion of 1885, Francis Dickens was in charge of the defence of Fort Pitt on the North Saskatchewan River. Francis Dickens' diary written during his charge at Fort Pitt, though very brief, is an important document of the events of the siege that led to the evacuation of the mounted police from the fort. On his website, David J. Carter describes the events at Fort Pitt.
This site [Frog Lake, following Cree attacks on priests and Hudson's Bay Company employees and family members] was 35 miles northwest of Fort Pitt. Dickens sent out three scouts to reconnoitre. When they returned they were attacked by Cree warriors; one escaped unharmed, one was wounded – played dead then crawled to the 'fort', the other Constable Cowan was killed within sight of Fort Pitt. Then the warrior cut out young Cowan's heart and ate a piece of it before the horrified defenders of the fort. 
The NWMP detachment were outnumbered and outgunned 200 to 20. Negotiations led to the civilians agreeing to become prisoners of the Cree and Big Bear. The Chief gave Dickens and his men a short time to abandon the fort. This they did, and travelled amongst the ice pans in a leaky scow. Scouts from Fort Battleford reported that everyone at Fort Pitt had been massacred; however, after six days on the river Dickens and his men arrived at Battleford and received a hero's welcome.
Fort Pitt remained optimistic that the sales would improve at the beginning of 1952 especially with the release of a new Fort Pitt Pilsener beer. Berandino stated that the beer was reformulated in response to a growing demand for beer with pale, dry and less filling characteristics. Berandino also pointed out that Fort Pitt Beer was one of the nation’s largest user of imported hops.
The remains of Fort Pitt are located in Fort Pitt Provincial Park located roughly 5 km Northwest of Hewitt Landing in Western Saskatchewan. The Historical site itself consists of the architectural remains of two of the forts that were located in the area, they have been partially excavated and presented for interpretive purposes. The outlines of the First two forts are also visible, as well as one reconstructed building designed in accordance with the second fort.
After Pontiac's War, Fort Pitt was no longer necessary to the British Crown, and was abandoned to the locals in 1772. At that time, the Pittsburgh area was claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania, and a power struggle for the region commenced. Virginians took control of Fort Pitt, and for a brief while in the 1770s it was called Fort Dunmore, in honour of Virginia's Governor Lord Dunmore. The fort served as a staging ground in Dunmore's War of 1774.
Fort Pitt provided hope to the many infected making the journey to seek aid at the fort. Many Cree set up temporary settlements in the surrounding area in hopes that the fort would be able to provide aid to the ill. The large congregation of Cree surrounding Fort Pitt may have been one of the reasons that accounts of death due to smallpox where so high in the areas surrounding. When it became clear that the fort either could not or, would not provide medicine to the sick Cree ,the Cree changed their approach. There are many accounts of the Cree attempting to "give the illness back" feeling that if they could return the illness to the fort they would be free of its effects.
In May 1885, Fort Pitt would once again be visited by Wandering Spirit and Big Bear’s Cree. By this time, the Cree Camp had grown to an estimated 300 men, 700 women and children, as well as containing hostages, dogs, and horses. The Cree would once again take the recourses form the fort this time departing to Frenchman’s Butte. Upon the departure the Cree would set fire to many of the buildings at Fort Pitt, this would be one of the most aggressive and destructive actions that were directed directly at Fort Pitt itself.
As the relationship between Fort Pitt and the Cree began to grow so did the tension between the Members of Fort Pitt and the Blackfoot. The Blackfoot’s deemed any allies of the Cree to be enemies of the Blackfoot and thus open to exploitation and attack. ""The Blackfoot considered the Hudson Bay Company to be in league with the Cree, so their relationship with the traders became tenuous. In 1863 the Blackfoot began to raid Fort Pitt itself"" The fact that " "Many Cree’s had intermarried with Hudson Bay Company employees and were so friendly with them that the Black foot began to see the traders as their enemies as well"" Increased trading with the woods and Plains Cree created fear amongst the Hudson Bay traders at Fort Pitt. The Hudson Bay Company worried that trading with the Cree would open the Cree as well as Fort Pitt itself up to raids by the Black foot ""The arrival of the Cree caused fear at the post that they would attract Blackfoot raiders and a possible attack on the post. Fort Pitt at the time was understaffed, both staff and the local Metis being away hunting on the plains or with the boat brigade" The Blackfoot made many attempts to intercept trading parties en route to the fort, as well as making raid attempts on the fort itself.
Fort Pitt was built where the territories of the Cree, Assiniboine and Blackfoot converged. It was located on a large bend in the river just east of the present day Alberta-Saskatchewan border and was the major post between Fort Edmonton and Fort Carlton. In 1876, it was one of the locations for signing Treaty 6. It was the scene of the Battle of Fort Pitt during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.
Fort Pitt Brewing Company was a major brewery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1906-1957, which brewed Fort Pitt Beer and other regional brands. Mark Dudash, a Pittsburgh area attorney and owner of Duquesne Brewing Company, revived Fort Pitt Brewing, and introduced a new Fort Pitt Ale in 2014. The new Fort Pitt Ale is crafted in the spirit of the brewery established in Fort Pitt in 1765, and is formulated as an ale using two row malt, caramel, and English hops. The company had manufacturing plants in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania and Jeannette, Pennsylvania.
The Fort Pitt Brewing Company was incorporated in 1906 by Dr. Herman Hechelman with a group of businessmen and local politician, Samuel Grenet. With capital stock of $200,000, the company soon began construction of a five-story brewery located in Sharpsburg, PA. Fort Pitt Brewery opened for business in early 1908 with an annual capacity of 75,000 barrels. Fort Pitt Beer’s distribution network along with other brands, were established throughout Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. 
Prohibition in 1920 caused the vast majority of breweries to close. Fort Pitt Brewing Company, however, remained successfully in business by selling a wide variety of non-alcoholic serial beverages in 27 states from Massachusetts to California.
After the election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 which led to the repeal of prohibition laws, Fort Pitt soon brought alcoholic beer back to Pittsburgh. Management initially found that the brewing industry had changed significantly since 1920 based upon many technological advances in the brewing process. However, the economics of selling beer had also drastically changed especially in light of the fact that Fort Pitt was able to thrive on pre-prohibition saloon sales which were 60% of draft beer in bars. As a result of the introduction of steel cans into the market, a growing portion of Fort Pitt sales had increased. Fort Pitt played an increasingly larger role through point of sales signs in bars, supermarkets and liquor stores, outer billboards, newspapers, and eventually commercials on radio and television. In fact, the 1935 US Open Golf Championship held at Pittsburgh’s Oakmont Country Club, Fort Pitt printed the admission cards including its logo on each ticket.
In the 20th century, the city of Pittsburgh commissioned archeological excavation of the foundations of Fort Pitt. Afterward, some of the fort was reconstructed to give visitors at Point State Park a sense of the size of the fort. In this rebuilt section, the Fort Pitt Museum is housed in the Monongahela Bastion, and excavated portions of the fort were filled in.