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II.

1753.

CHAPTER formed a barrier against the French in Canada; and, as they had no good will towards their Indian neighbors on the other side of the Lakes, who adhered to the French, it was found practicable, by repeated presents and a good deal of management, to retain their friendship. These tribes pretended, that at some remote period they had conquered all the region west of the mountains, as far as the Mississippi River. On the strength of this assumption, they made treaties with the English, ceding to them the lands within that space, and confirming the title by such forms as were prescribed to them. This was the basis of the English claim. But the Indians dwelling on the lands, and whose ancestors from time immemorial had dwelt there, neither participated in these treaties nor assented to them. On the contrary, they declared themselves the only rightful owners, and denied the authority of the Six Nations to meddle in the matter.

French claim.

The French insisted on the right of discovery and occupancy. Father Marquette, La Salle, and others, they said, had descended the Mississippi, and settlements had been made south of Lake Michigan and on the Illinois River, years before any Englishman had set his foot westward of the great mountains; and European treaties, in which England was a party, had repeatedly recognised the title of France to all her actual possessions in America. So far the ground was tenable. But a position was assumed, as a concomitant or consequence, of a more dubious character. The French maintained it to be an axiom in the law of nations, that the discovery of a river gave the discoverer a right to all the country watered by the streams flowing into it. Hence the passing of Father Marquette down the Mississippi in a canoe, invested his sovereign with a title to the immense valley bounded by the Appalachian Mountains on one side, and the Rocky Mountains on the other. However gravely such a hypothesis may be advanced, however ingeniously defended, its fallacy is too obvious to be pointed out.

11.

The native occupants

sessors of

the soil.

From these hints it is clear, that neither of the contend- CHAPTER ing parties had any just claim to the lands, about which they were beginning to kindle the flames of war. They 1753. were both intruders upon the soil of the native occupants. Of these proprietors, it was not pretended, that any purchase the just pos had been made or attempted. It was not strange, that they should look with astonishment upon so singular a transaction, as that of two nations, in distant parts of the world unknown to them, entering into a quarrel about the right of seizing their property. When Mr. Gist went into that country, on a tour of observation for the Ohio Company, two sachems sent a messenger to ask him "where the Indians' lands lay, for the French claimed all the land on one side of the Ohio River, and the English on the other. This pertinent inquiry contains a forcible statement of the whole merits of the case, far outweighing all the treaties referred to, whether made in Europe or America.

grounds of

the war.

Such were some of the original grounds of the contest, in Original which nearly all Europe was involved, and which terminated in severing from France the larger portion of her possessions on the western continent. The result is well known. The terms of the peace, so humiliating to the national pride of France, were endured no longer than till an opportunity offered of retaliation and recompense. This presented itself much sooner than could have been foreseen, in the war of the American revolution; and it may safely be said, that the first blow struck on the Ohio was the beginning of the series of events, which ended thirty years afterwards in establishing the independence of the English Colonies. We shall hence find Washington acting a prominent part in this great drama from its very commencement to its close, gaining strength and rising higher and higher at every stage, the defender of his country's cause, equal to all occasions, successful, and triumphant.

As a first step towards executing the orders of the ministers, Governor Dinwiddie resolved to send a commissioner in due form, and invested with suitable powers, to confer with the officer commanding the French forces, and in

Washington commissionFrench.

sent as a

er to the

11.

1753.

CHAPTER quire by what authority he presumed to invade the King's dominions, and what were his designs. The commission was delicate and hazardous, requiring discretion, ability, experience in the modes of travelling in the woods, and a knowledge of Indian manners. These requisites were believed to be combined in Major Washington, and the important service was intrusted to him, although as yet but twenty-one years old.

His instructions.

Ilis departure.

He was instructed to proceed without delay to the Ohio River, convene some of the Indian chiefs at a place called Logstown, make known to them the objects of his visit, and, after having ascertained where the French were stationed, to request an escort of warriors to be his guides. and safeguard the rest of the journey. When arrived at the principal French post, he was to present his credentials and a letter from the governor of Virginia to the commandant, and in the name of his Britannic Majesty to demand an answer. He was furthermore to inquire diligently, and by cautious means, into the number of the French troops that had crossed the Lakes, the reinforcements expected from Canada, how many forts they had erected and at what places, how they were garrisoned and appointed, and their distances from each other; and, in short, to procure all the intelligence possible respecting the condition and objects of the intruders.

Fortified with written instructions to this effect, with credentials and a passport to which the great seal of the colony was affixed, he departed from Williamsburg, the seat of government in Virginia, on the 31st of October, 1753. The distance before him to the extreme point of his destination, by the route he would pursue, was about five hundred and sixty miles, in great part over lofty and rugged mountains, and more than half of the way through the heart of a wilderness, where no traces of civilization as yet appeared.

Passing through the towns of Fredericksburg, Alexandria, and Winchester, he arrived at Will's Creek in fourteen days. John Davidson had joined him as Indian interpre

II.

1753.

ter; and Jacob Vanbraam, a Dutchman by birth, and for- CHAPTER merly an officer in the army, was employed to assist in his intercourse with the French, being acquainted with their language. At Will's Creek he found Mr. Gist, a person long accustomed to the woods, having several times penetrated far into the interior, and lately begun a settlement in the valley between the last ridge of the Alleganies and the Monongahela River. Mr. Gist consented to go with him as a guide. Four other men, two of them Indian traders, were added as attendants.

Allegany

The party was now increased to eight persons. With Crosses the horses, tents, baggage, and provisions, suited to the expe- Mountains. dition, they left the extreme verge of civilization at Will's Creek, and entered the forests. The inclemency of the season, the Alleganies covered with snow and the valleys flooded by the swelling waters, the rough passages over the mountains and the difficulties in crossing the streams by frail rafts, fording, or swimming, were obstacles that could be overcome but slowly and with patience. They at length reached the Fork of the Ohio, where the Monongahela and Allegany unite to form that river. The place was critically examined by Major Washington, and he was impressed with the advantages it afforded as a military post, both for defence and a depository of supplies, in case of hostilities in that quarter; and it was by his advice, that a fortification was shortly afterwards begun there, which became celebrated in two wars.

Hastening onward to Logstown, about twenty miles below the Fork, he called together some of the Indian chiefs, and delivered to them the governor's message, soliciting a guard to the French encampments. The principal sachem was Tanacharison, otherwise called the Half-King. He was friendly to the English, or rather he was unfriendly to the French; not that he loved one more than the other, but he valued his rights and independence. In the simplicity of his heart, he supposed the English sought only an intercourse of trade, an exchange of arms, powder, and goods, for skins and furs, which would be beneficial to

Meets the
Logstown.

Indians at

Nov. 24.

CHAPTER the Indians. When the French came with arms in their II. hands, took possession of the country, and built forts, his 1753. suspicions were awakened, and he saw no other method

Indian speech.

of defeating their designs, than by adhering to the English. Tanacharison, as a deputy from several tribes, had been to the head-quarters of the French commandant, and made a speech to him, the substance of which he related to Major Washington.

"Fathers," said he, "I am come to tell you your own speeches; what your own mouths have declared. Fathers, you in former days set a silver basin before us, wherein there was the leg of a beaver, and desired all the nations to come and eat of it, to eat in peace and plenty, and not to be churlish to one another; and that if any such person should be found to be a disturber, I here lay down. by the edge of the dish a rod, which you must scourge them with; and if your father should get foolish, in my old days, I desire you may use it upon me as well as others.

Now, fathers, it is you who are the disturbers in this land, by coming and building your towns, and taking it away unknown to us, and by force.

"Fathers, we kindled a fire a long time ago, at a place called Montreal, where we desired you to stay, and not I now desire you

to come and intrude upon our land.
may despatch to that place; for be it known to you, fath-
ers, that this is our land and not yours.

"Fathers, I desire you may hear me in civilness; if not, we must handle that rod which was laid down for the use of the obstreperous. If you had come in a peaceable manner, like our brothers the English, we would not have been against your trading with us as they do; but to come, fathers, and build houses upon our land, and to take it by force, is what we cannot submit to.

"Fathers, both you and the English are white; we live in a country between; therefore, the land belongs to neither one nor the other. But the Great Being above allowed it to be a place of residence for us; so, fathers,

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