Looking back: Celebrating survival on the frontier
Courtesy of Washington County Historical Society
Taverns, like the one pictured above at the Washington County Frontier History Center, would be sure to have specialty drinks and appropriate foods for Irish customers on St. Patrick’s Day.
Courtesy of the Washington County Historical Society
Ladies prepare food for a feast at the Frontier History Center tavern.
Courtesy of Washington County Historical Society
Dried vegetables and salted meats would be combined into stews for the St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
In the late 18th century, Western Pennsylvania was the frontier of the United States. It was a harsh land that, for months out of the year, was cut off from the rest of the country. The only roads that connected this area to the east were Braddock’s Road, cut in 1755, and Forbes Road, cut in 1758. These roads were cut for a single purpose – moving an army west to defeat the French. They were not constructed for long-term use.
Once the rainy season hit the Allegheny Mountains in the fall of each year, the settlers here knew that travel to the east would be nearly impossible. That meant that trade routes were basically closed. Any supplies that were needed to make it through the harsh winter months had to be secured before the fall came. It was a stark reality that many would die during the winter months – some from starvation, some from illness. When spring came, and roads became passable again, it was a time for celebration. A large portion of the population in Western Pennsylvania at that time was of Irish descent. They brought their holidays and traditions with them from Ireland. Two such celebrations occurred in the spring of the year and would become an avenue for rejoicing in that fact that another frontier winter was survived.
St. Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of St. Patrick, is a celebration in honor of the Patron Saint of Ireland. It commemorates St. Patrick’s return to Ireland and his conversion of the Irish to Christianity.
According to his own writings, St. Patrick was born in 385 in Roman Britain, but was captured at a young age by raiders and taken to Ireland. It was there that he found God. He escaped and made his way home, but later returned to Ireland.
According to tradition, St. Patrick died March 17 in the year 461. In the early 17th century, St. Patrick’s Day was made an official Christian holiday. The earliest known celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in America took place in 1737.
The Irish Society, made up of prominent Irish Protestants, organized and chartered their organization on March 17 with a small celebration being held. It was also common for an extra ration of grog to be distributed to Irish soldiers in British service March 17.
The earliest known celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in Western Pennsylvania occurred in 1763 at Fort Pitt. In his book, “St. Patrick’s Day: Its Celebration in New York and Other American Places,” John Crimmins writes:
“In 1763 a celebration of the day took place at Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh). Capt. S. Ecuyer, in command at the Fort, wrote Col. Boquet and in the course of his communication said: ‘We had St. Patrick’s fetes in every manner so that Croghan could not write by this express.'”
As the Irish population in Western Pennsylvania grew, March 17 became an annual time of celebration that was combined with another Irish holiday.
Imbolc, or St. Brigid’s Day, is one of the earliest Irish celebrations.
It is thought to have its origins as a pagan celebration of the Goddess of Fertility.
Later, it became Christianized as the celebration of St. Brigid, who is said to be an early Irish Christian nun.
This festival, celebrating the coming of spring, was traditionally held between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. This meant it fell anywhere between Feb. 2 and 7. In “Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for Brigid’s Day,” Carl F. Neal writes:
“At Imbolc, the ground is just starting to thaw, signaling that it’s time to start preparing the fields for the approaching sowing season. We begin to awaken from our months of introspection and start to sort out what we have learned over that time, while also taking the first steps to making plans for our future.”
It was with this idea that the Irish in this region commemorated the coming of spring. They saw it as a celebration of surviving another winter and the beginning of a new season. They also incorporated the feast associated with St. Patrick’s Day.
In preparation for the coming winter, foodstuffs were smoked, dried, or otherwise preserved for the upcoming months. These processes only preserved the food for a few months. By the time spring came and the weather warmed, the food was most likely beginning to turn. If not eaten soon, everything would go to waste.
So the celebrations of Imbolc and St. Patrick’s Day were combined into one large spring feast in which all the food that remained were prepared.
The size of that meal varied from year to year. If it was a meager harvest, or a particularly harsh winter, supplies could be low come spring.
However, none the less, a celebration was held.
This meal, this combined celebration, marked the end of winter and the coming of spring.
It was a time to remember and honor Irish heritage, but also marked another year, another season of planting, and the beginning of preparation for the next winter.
For that really was what life was like for the families on the frontier. It was a constant struggle to survive and ongoing efforts to prepare for what may lie ahead.