Ward and I spent the last three days in the Laurel Highlands of western Pennsylvania. It was another one of those "We need a change of scenery trips."
We started Friday morning armed with ample snacks and a GPS. We had a few things we thought we might want to visit but planned to do whatever caught our eye along the way. However, we were discouraged by the smoke that covered the area from the Canadian wildfires. I already had developed a cough from it and didn't want to venture out too much into the smoke, which was thick enough at times to cause visibility problems.
But the smoke was moving east, and we were going west, so by the end of the day, with help from a rain shower, it had cleared enough that I felt okay about getting out of the car. We checked into our hotel and then went exploring.
We stopped at Friendship Hill National Historic Site. This is where Albert Gallatin built his country estate overlooking the Monongahela River. And who is Albert Gallatin, you may wonder. Or at least I did. Among other things, he was Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison and formed the purchase of the Louisana Territory, funded the Lewis and Clark expedition, and reduced the national debt. He also helped negotiate an end to the War of 1812 and served as minister to France. In his retirement years, he studied the languages of Native Americans.
 |
| Mr. Gallatin was a surveyor's apprentice in his younger years. |
However, he was not as successful with Friendship Hill. He didn't make a go of it as a farm, and his wife didn't like being isolated in the country because she was from New York and wanted city life. He eventually sold the estate, much to his disappointment.
 |
| The house was added onto several times. The building of the stone part of the house was overseen by Gallatin's son while Gallatin was serving in France. However, the son could have done a better job. The house is facing 90 degrees from where it should have been and was not connected to the rest of the house until Gallitan installed a walkway between the two. |
 |
| We had the grounds to ourselves and took a pleasant walk to the grave of Gallatin's first wife, Sophia. She was the love of his life and died after only five months of marriage. |
 |
| We were curious about these holes we saw on most of the oak trees on the grounds. Our resident park manager, Uncle Billy, said it looked like they were treating the trees against a disease. |
