“I thought very ill of the fellow, but did not care to let the Major know I mistrusted him. But he soon mistrusted him as much as I did. The Indian said he could hear a gun from his cabin and steered up more northwardly. We grew uneasy and then he said two whoops might be heard from his cabin. We went two miles farther. Then the Major said he would stay at the next water.
“We desired the Indian to stop at the next water, but before we came to water, we came to a clear meadow. It was very light and snow was on the ground.
“The Indian made a stop and turned about. The Major saw him point his gun towards us and he fired. Said the Major, ‘Are you shot?’ ‘No,’ said I; upon which the Indian ran forward to a big standing light oak and began loading his gun, but we were soon with him. I would have killed him, but the Major would not suffer me. We let him charge his gun. We found he put in a ball; then we took care of him. Either the Major or I always stood by the guns. We made him make a fire for us by a little run, as if we intended to sleep there.”
The Indian was sent ahead to his cabin and Washington and Gist traveled all night, reaching Piny Creek in the morning.
Whether it was the intention of the Indian to kill either of them can only be conjectured. The circumstances were extremely suspicious. Major Washington hints at this incident in his journal.
The next night, at dusk, the travelers came to the Allegheny River, a little above Shannopino, where they expected to cross over on the ice. In that they were disappointed, the river being frozen only a few yards on each side, and a great body of broken ice driving rapidly down the current.
There was no way of getting over the river but on a raft, which they set about to build with the aid of but one poor hatchet. They worked hard all day and finished the raft just after sundown. They launched their raft, got aboard and pushed off. But before they got to midstream they got caught in an ice jam. Washington set his pole in an effort to stop the raft, but the current threw the raft against his pole with much violence and he was hurled out into ten feet of water. He fortunately saved himself by grabbing hold of a raft log, and was assisted aboard by his companions, but in spite of all their efforts they could not get the raft to either shore, but were obliged to land on a small island and encamp for the night.
Mr. Gist’s hands and feet were frozen and their sufferings through the night were extreme. The ice had formed during the night of sufficient thickness to bear their weight, and they crossed over without accident, and the same day traveled about ten miles, reaching a trading post[trading post] established by John Frazier, at Turtle Creek, near the spot where eighteen months afterward was fought the memorable battle of the Monongahela.
Anxious to hasten back and report to Governor Dinwiddie the result of his mission, Major Washington and Mr. Gist recrossed the Allegheny Mountains to Gist’s house on Wills Creek and thence Washington proceeded with dispatch to Williamsburg, where he arrived on January 16, 1754, having been absent eleven weeks.