A funny thing happened to The War That Made America when it crossed our northern border. It became The War That Made Canada, and some say up there, they're still fighting it.

	Courtesy of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons Benjamin West painted "American Indian and Family," a scene of Eastern American Indians during the Seven Years' War that depicts a father leaving his family to go to war. This painting is part of "Clash of Empires." Click photo for larger image.

The dense, multilayered, artifact-laden exhibit about the conflict -- "Clash of Empires: The British, French & Indian War, 1754-1763," which enjoyed a strong year-long run at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center -- became "Clash of Empires: The War That Made Canada, 1754-1763" when it opened May 30 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. The French speakers, of course, have it their own way: "Le Choc des empires, la guerre qui fonda le Canada."

"There can be no greater minefield for a Canadian museum to negotiate than an exhibit about the Seven Years' War, the 18th-century global conflict that still seems to simmer, and sometimes rage, between English and French in this country," writes Paul Gessell in his review of the exhibit in the Ottawa Citizen.

Better to let les Americains do it, but with help from the partnering Canadians, who supported the History Center's $2 million exhibit financially, worked on translations for its trilingual text (English, French and occasionally Seneca) and loaned paintings and documents, including George Washington's signed confession of the "assassination" of Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville during the bloody encounter that triggered the war -- even though the murderous act was the work of the Seneca Half-King, Tanaghrisson. The document is owned by the Royal Ontario Museum.

The war that ended with the British conquest of America and Canada over the French eventually led to the American Revolution, but that is downplayed in the exhibit's Canadian incarnation.

"The United States connection isn't quite as strong as it was here, where we had a giant panel of the surrender of Yorktown at the end of the exhibit, making the point that the American Revolution is a continuation of the French and Indian War," said Andy Masich, Heinz History Center president.

John Beale, Post-Gazette An original Jeep, believed to be the only one remaining from the first 70 produced at American Bantam Car Co. in Butler County, sits in the Great Hall of the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. The center is planning an exhibit on the Jeep for 2009. Click photo for larger image.

At the Canadian War Museum, the exhibit is more open in design, with fewer interior walls, although it flows much the same way, said David Halaas, director of the History Center's Library and Archives and its publications.

"The major change was the addition of 'The Death of General Wolfe' by Benjamin West, which is pretty much the iconic image from the Seven Years' War in Canada and came from their National Gallery. We attempted to get it but we couldn't."

Painted in 1770 and measuring 5 by 7 feet, it depicts on a heroic scale the fall of British Gen. James Wolfe, who commanded the British forces at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec in 1759. It was, as the Canadian War Museum puts it on its Web site (www.warmuseum.ca), a 30-minute battle that changed Canada and the world. Wolfe lost his life, but the British and American troops won the battle against the French and Canadians.

"It's their national exhibit," Halaas said. "I expect Canadians will really take to the show and get a buzz there like what was created here.

"The experience of working with the Canadians has been tremendous," he said, adding that about 1,400 people came to the May 30 opening event. The exhibit continues through Nov. 12 in Canada, then opens Dec. 14 at the Smithsonian Institution's Ripley Center in Washington, D.C.

"It's been a great thing for us. It's an international show that puts Pittsburgh in a positive light and shows off our expertise."

The History Center has seen its annual attendance increase from 100,000 to 130,000 since the opening of its Smithsonian wing in 2004. In the past year, according to front desk surveys, about 25 percent of visitors came for "Clash of Empires" and another 25 percent came for the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, Masich said, but it was not uncommon to see people in Steelers jerseys winding their way through "Clash." The other 50 percent came for everything the History Center has to offer.

"Our demographic has shifted to more families with children, and we're getting more fathers and children on the weekends. It may be because of the sports museum, but it may also be events and programming," Masich said.

The History Center now is preparing the new wing's changing exhibits gallery for "First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image," a downsized version of the Smithsonian's popular permanent exhibit, which opens Sept. 22. Among its more than 150 objects are campaign and personal memorabilia, inaugural and evening gowns and White House furnishings and china.

Heinz History Center curators also are working on several other upcoming shows. For the exhibit "Soul Soldiers: African Americans and the Vietnam Era," curator Samuel Black is looking for Vietnam veterans and their families who would be interested in contributing photographs, letters, artifacts, uniforms, medals, works of art and personal stories for inclusion in the exhibition, which opens Nov. 11. He can be reached at 412-454-6391 or swblack@hswp.org.

An exhibit focusing on Pittsburgh's industrial inventions and innovations is being planned for a July 2008 opening. It will examine the individuals, institutions and events that affected the creation of inventions over time, and break down the invention process into its component parts as an exercise in problem-solving.

An exhibit on the Jeep, first manufactured by American Bantam Car Co. in Butler County, is slated to open in 2009. "Our curators are scouring the globe for the iconic Jeeps," Masich said. "The first Jeep in the world -- actually No. 7 -- is in the [history center's] Great Hall. It was given to the Smithsonian by the War Department before D-Day."

"Jeep: An American Original" will show how the Jeep was devised in 40 days during World War II and became one of the Allies' most valuable weapons.