Pittsburgh's French and Indian War
history comes to life in a dramatic four-hour PBS special

WQED Multimedia is producing a four-part documentary that will bring to life the French and Indian War, a fascinating yet little-understood conflict. Produced and filmed locally, the production is an important, regional economic-development project. "The War That Made America" is planned for broadcast on Wednesdays Jan. 18 and 25, 9-11 p.m.

It is a story that starts with a brutal murder in the primeval forest of the Laurel Highlands. When it ends seven years later, the people of the North American continent face a very different future. “The War That Made America” brings to life a vastly important—but often misunderstood—period of American history, a period that set in motion forces that would culminate in the American Revolution. The dramatic documentary tells the story of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), which began in the wilderness of the Pennsylvania frontier and spread throughout the colonies, into Canada, and ultimately around the world.
Narrated and hosted by Graham Greene, the Academy Award nominated actor for Dances With Wolves and an Oneida Indian whose ancestors fought in this war, “The War That Made America” combines a commitment to accuracy with a compelling filmed portrayal of the dangerous world of the 18th-century frontier.

This is Pittsburgh’s colonial story, when the land at the Forks of the Ohio was considered the most strategic real estate on the continent. French traders traveling north up the Mississippi had succeeded in establishing profitable trade with the native Indian population and were forming a corridor of French power from Louisiana to Canada. English colonial settlements, prospering on the Atlantic seaboard, were pushing west, hungry for territory. Indian nations found themselves caught in a vice between two European powers intent on expanding their empires in North America. Many tribes had already been displaced by colonial settlement, and they had their own vital interests to protect.

The tension and the stakes were rising in this contested region when a brash and ambitious young officer, hoping to make his reputation in the military, accidentally triggered the war. His name was George Washington.

“In conjunction with the 250th-anniversary commemoration of the French and Indian War, WQED Multimedia was committed to telling the story of this critical period in our nation’s history,” says George L. Miles Jr., WQED Multimedia president and CEO. “Filming right here, where the actors literally were able to walk in the footsteps of great historical figures like George Washington, British Gen. Edward Braddock and the Delaware Chief Teedyuscung, we have been able to incorporate a rare authenticity into the dramatic documentary while pumping millions into the local economy.”

“The War That Made America” was produced in collaboration with French and Indian War 250 Inc., an initiative of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development that is leveraging the commemoration of the conflict to promote heritage tourism to the many key historical sites in the region.

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