On the 31st of October, 1753, Major Washington, bearing a letter from Dinwiddie to the French commandant of the Western posts, left Williamsburg. At Fredericksburg he engaged Jacob Vanbraam, a Dutchman, to accompany him as French interpreter, and John Davidson as Indian interpreter, and then turned his face toward the wilderness. Before him was a journey of more than five hundred miles. At the junction of Will's Creek with the Potomac (now Cumberland, in Maryland), fourteen days journey from Williamsburg, he was joined by Mr. Gist (mentioned in a note on page 472) and four other a Nov 14, 1753 men, two of them Indian traders. (a) This point, at the mouth of Will's Creek on the Potomac, was on the verge of civilization, and near the lofty Alleghanies, then covered with snow. Over these the little party pushed their way, enduring every hardship incident to a dreary wilderness and the rigors of winter. The streams in the valleys were swollen, and upon frail rafts the travelers crossed them; or, when occasion demanded, they entered the chilling flood, and, by wading or swimming, accomplished a passage. At length they reached the forks of the Ohio, (b) at the present site of Pittsburgh, and, after resting part of a day, they hastened onward twenty miles down the river, to Logstown (now b Nov. 23 in Beaver county), accompanied by Shingias, a chief sachem of the Delawares.
There Washington called the surrounding Indian chiefs together in council, (c) made c Nov. 26
* According to Mr. Gist, who visited them in 1751, the Twightwees, or Tuigtuis, as the Freneh wrote it, were a very numerous people, composed of many tribes. At that time they were in amity with the Six Nations, and were considered the most powerful body of Indians westward of the English settlements. While they resided on the Wabash, they were in the interests of the French, but left them, came eastward, and joined the fortunes of the English. Some assert that the Twightwees and the Ottawas were the same, originally.
** This is ealled Beef River on Bouquet's map.
*** The first successor of Spottswood in the chair of administration was Hugh Drysdale, in 1722, who was succeeded by William Gooch in 1727. In 1749, Thomas Lee, president of the council, was acting governor, and, in 1750, Lewis Burwell held the same responsible office. Robert Dinwiddie was appointed lieutenant governor in 1752. He administered the office for six years, and was succeeded by Francis Fauquier. Ten years later (1768), Lord Botetourt was appointed, and from the period of his death until the arrival of Lord Dunmore, the last of the royal governors. William Nelson, father of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was acting governor.
Friendly Offices of the Indians.—St. Pierre.—His Letter to Dinwiddie.—Washington's Journey.—Preparations for War.
known to them the objects of his visit, and solicited a guide to conduct him to the French encampment, one hundred and twenty miles distant. The request was complied with, and Tanacharison * (Half King), with two other chiefs, ** and a bold hunter, accompanied Washington and his little band. After suffering terrible hardships, they reached the French camp. At Venango, a French outpost, attempts were made to detain the Indians, though
Dec. 5, 1753 Joncaire, the commandant, received Washington with civility. The head-quarters of the French were higher up the stream, at Fort Le Bouf, and there the Dec 12. Virginia commissioner was received with great politeness by M. De St. Pierre. After a perilous journey of forty-one days, Washington had reached his destination.
St. Pierre was an elderly man, a knight of the order of St. Louis. He entertained Washington and his party for four days with cordial hospitality, and then delivered to him a sealed reply to Governor Dinwiddie's letter. *** In the mean while, Washington and his attendants made full observations respecting the fort and garrison, construction of the works, numbers of cannon, &c.; information of much value. After a journey marked by more perils and hardships than the first, **** a large portion of which Major Washington and Mr. Gist per-Jan. 16, 1754 formed alone and on foot, the former reached Williamsburg, having been absent eleven weeks. (v)
Dinwiddie was greatly incensed when he opened the letter of St. Pierre. That officer, writing like a soldier, said it did not belong to him as a subaltern to discuss treaties; that such a message as Washington bore should have been sent to the Marquis Duquesne, governor of Canada, by whose instructions he acted, and whose orders he should obey; and that the summons to retire could not be complied with. There could be no longer a doubt of the hostile designs of the French. (vi) Governor Dinwiddie called his council together, and, without waiting for the Burgesses to convene, took measures for the expulsion of their troublesome neighbors from Virginia soil. The council advised the enlistment of two companies, of one hundred men each, for the service; and the Ohio Company sent out a party of thirty men to erect a fort at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers (Pittsburgh), a spot which Washington strongly recommended as most eligible, and to enlist men among