In March, George set out for his first trip into the wilderness. He was just sixteen years old, and it was his first big undertaking. George Fairfax, Anne's brother, went with him. They crossed the mountains into the lovely valley of the Shenandoah River. George's letters home were full of the beauty of the country and the richness of the land. After the first night, they found it more comfortable to sleep out under the sky than in the poor, untidy lodgings of the settlers. They lived on wild turkey and other game. They did their own cooking, roasting the meat on sticks over the fire and eating it on broad, clean chips.
They met a party of war-painted Indians, and for the first time George saw an Indian war dance. He studied the Indians carefully, for he wanted to understand their ways so that he might know how to deal with them. All through his life, he was kind and just in his treatment of these people.
The work of surveying grants of land took them long distances among the mountains and through the valleys. They traveled on horseback over the woodland trails, for there were as yet no roads. Sometimes they found the rivers so high that they crossed in canoes, their horses swimming.
George returned in a month, well pleased with his adventures, and Lord Fairfax, delighted with his success, paid him well.
The cordial, friendly, free life of Virginia pleased Lord Fairfax more than did the life in England. When he heard the account of the fertility and beauty of the Shenandoah Valley, he decided to make his home there. George laid out for him a fine farm of ten thousand acres. The long stone farm-house, surrounded by servants' quarters, stables and kennels, was located on a charming hillside. The place was called "Greenway Court," and visitors always found a warm welcome, whether Indians, woodsmen, or friends from the cities. Here George stayed when on his surveying trips and during the hunting seasons.
Until he was nineteen, George spent his time at his work, or at home with his mother or at Mount Vernon with Lawrence. The society of his home and friends kept him from being spoiled by the roughness of the wilderness. He was now six feet, two inches in height, with a fresh, out-door complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He had attractive manners, he was careful about his dress, and presented a pleasing appearance. Through all his life, George Washington was a true gentleman.
He was so well paid for his work that he was able to buy several pieces of fine land. His noble character gave him a high place among the leading men of his colony. When he was nineteen, he was appointed one of four military officers in the colonies, with the rank and pay of a major, $750 a year—a considerable sum at that time.
Troubles had now arisen between the French and the English about the ownership of lands west of the Alleghany Mountains. The Indians, regarding the lands as theirs, took part in the disturbance. To protect her frontiers, Virginia was divided into four districts, each under a leader, whose duty it was to organize and drill militia. George at once began to study military tactics and the arts of war. This was interrupted by a trip to the West Indies with his beloved brother Lawrence, who was ill of consumption.
They had hardly arrived there when George had a severe attack of smallpox; though he soon got well, his face was scarred for life. He wrote home about the beauty of the island, the wonderful trees and fruits, and his social pleasures—dinners, parties and drives. For the first time in his life, he attended a theater. He visited the courts of justice and the fortifications; studied the laws, the soil and the crops, learning all that could be learned about the island. The trip resulted in no lasting good for Lawrence, however, for he died the following summer, beloved and honored by the colonists.
George was only twenty, but Lawrence left Mount Vernon in his charge, and the care of his wife and little daughter. The farm on the Rappahannock had been given to George by their father. These two fine estates, with the property he had bought for himself, made George a large land owner when still a very young man. The care of all this property and his military duties kept him busy.