first western newspaper, the Pittsburgh Gazette, in 1786. He was elected in 1786 to the Pennsylvania state assembly, where he fought for the adoption of the federal Constitution, and obtained state endowments in 1787 for the establishment of the Pittsburgh Academy (University of Pittsburgh), modeled on Benjamin Franklin's Academy of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania). He also played a role in the little-known Westsylvania dispute, siding with Pennsylvania that the western lands should not become a 14th state. He lost a bid for re-election because he opposed popular sentiment in supporting federal controls. At a dinner hosted by Chief Justice Thomas McKean, Brackenridge stated that "the people are fools; if they would let Mr. Morris alone, he would make Pennsylvania a great people, but they will not suffer him to do it." Another legislator at the party, William Findley, published an account of the remarks, and the subsequent controversy led to Brackenridge's electoral defeat. Brackenridge also nearly lost his life when he attempted to mediate the Whiskey Rebellion. He ran for the United States Congress, but was soundly defeated by Albert Gallatin. The formation of Allegheny County is largely due to Brackenridge's efforts. In December 1799 Governor Thomas McKean appointed him a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He corresponded with other politically active men such as Alexander Addison, a major figure in the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1815 he completed Modern Chivalry, his rambling satirical novel. Widely considered the first important fictional work about the American frontier and called "to the West what Don Quixote was to Europe," the third and fourth sections of the book appeared in 1793 and 1797, and a revision in 1805, with a final addition in 1815. Henry Adams called it "a more thoroughly American book than any written before 1833." Brackenridge died June 25, 1816 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The Allegheny County borough of Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, is named for his son, the lawyer, judge, and writer Henry Marie Brackenridge (1786–1871). Works 1776. The Battle of Bunker Hill. A blank-verse tragedy for performance by his students at the Somerset Academy in Maryland, where he was a master. It features contrasting views by Revolutionary leaders and the British. 1777. The Death of General Montgomery at the Siege of Quebec. A second patriotic drama for production at Maryland's Somerset Academy, where he was a master, is about the ill-fated attack on Quebec. 1783. *Brackenridge, H. H., ed. Indian Atrocities: