“In the mean Time a great smoke arose under Tulpenhacon Mountain, with the news following that the Indians had committed a murder on Mill Creek (a false alarm) and set fire to a Barn, most of the People Ran, and those that had Horses Rode off without any Order or Regulation. I then took my Horse and went Home, where I intend to stay and defend my own House as long as I can. The People of Tulpenhacon all fled; till about 6 or 7 miles from me some few remains. Another such attack will lay all the Country waste on the West side of Schuylkill.”
There is undoubted sarcasm in Colonel Weiser’s account of how the people fled upon the first faint rumor of an Indian attack, after they had made mob threats against him, yet the gravity of the situation cannot be questioned.
The principal inhabitants sent a petition to the Governor, November 24, in which they recited their distress and accurately stated the lack of order and discipline among the people. They believed a reward should be offered for Indian scalps.
Indian Shoots at Major Washington While
on Important Mission November
15, 1753
George Washington had several very narrow escapes from tragic death a long time before he led the Continental Army through the eight years of the Revolution, and on one occasion was actually shot at by a treacherous Indian guide.
Late in the year of 1753 Governor Dinwiddie dispatched Major Washington on an important mission to the Ohio River, in Pennsylvania, where he was to convene the Indian chiefs at Logstown, learn from them the designs and strength of the French; then proceed to the principal French post, present his credentials and in the name of his Britannic Majesty demand the object of their invasion.
He departed from Williamsburg, the seat of Government of Virginia, on October 31, 1753. The route he was to pursue was about 560 miles in great part over high and rugged mountains, and more than half of the way through the heart of the wilderness, where no traces of civilization as yet appeared.
He arrived at Wills Creek, November 15, when John Davidson, an Indian interpreter, and Jacob Vanbraam, a Dutchman, but acquainted with the French language, were employed to accompany him. He was also fortunate in securing the services of Christopher Gist, a surveyor and guide, who was always his companion on this mission.