“Fine as any I ever see,” and Sam Barringford examined it with a critical eye. “Dave, I’m proud of ye.”
“I am sorry to hear Mr. Washington’s brother is so ill.”
“Yes, everybody up to Greenway Court was blue over it. They were expecting great things from him and from George, who was appointed an adjutant-general of the militia some time before he sailed.”
“Is the militia reorganizing?” asked Joseph Morris, who was standing by, having met the hunter before Dave came up.
“Yes, and there’s a reg’lar war spirit in the air,” answered Barrington. “There will be a big row over the Ohio valley before the matter is settled.”
“Have the Frenchmen done anything yet?”
“Not in the way of fighting, but they are working hard to prove they own the valley. The governor of Canada sent a man named Celeron with about three hundred men down the Ohio to make peace with the Indians. He’s been nailing up lead plates all along the stream, to testify that the land is claimed by the French.”
“Did he have any trouble with our traders?” questioned Dave.
“He ordered them away, and sent a letter to Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, saying he was surprised to find ’em on French territory. This woke Hamilton up and he sent old George Croghan, the trader, to the Indians with presents, and to treat with ’em. I heard Croghan had fallen in with a man named Gist, sent out by that new Ohio Company, but I don’t know the particulars.”
The news which Sam Barringford brought was true. Following the expedition of Celeron de Bienville into the Ohio Valley there was a great stir in the Pennsylvania Assembly and the outcome was the expedition under George Croghan, who was accompanied by a Canadian half-breed named Montour, who spoke the Indian dialects perfectly.