Four Great Americans: Washington, Franklin, Webster, Lincoln | Page 6

roomy and comfortable,
he still lived in it and put off beginning another house.
Washington was now seventeen years old. Through the influence of Sir
Thomas Fairfax he was appointed public surveyor; and nothing would
do but that he must spend the most of his time at Greenway Court and
keep on with the work that he had begun.
For the greater part of three years he worked in the woods and among

the mountains, surveying Sir Thomas's lands. And Sir Thomas paid him
well--a doubloon ($8.24) for each day, and more than that if the work
was very hard.
But there were times when the young surveyor did not go out to work,
but stayed at Greenway Court with his good friend, Sir Thomas. The
old gentleman had something of a library, and on days when they could
neither work nor hunt, George spent the time in reading. He read the
Spectator and a history of England, and possibly some other works.
And so it came about that the three years which young Washington
spent in surveying were of much profit to him.
The work in the open air gave him health and strength. He gained
courage and self-reliance. He became acquainted with the ways of the
backwoodsmen and of the savage Indians. And from Sir Thomas
Fairfax he learned a great deal about the history, the laws, and the
military affairs of old England.
And in whatever he undertook to do or to learn, he was careful and
systematic and thorough. He did nothing by guess; he never left
anything half done. And therein, let me say to you, lie the secrets of
success in any calling.
* * * * *
VI.--THE OHIO COUNTRY.
You have already learned how the English people had control of all that
part of our country which borders upon the Atlantic Ocean. You have
learned, also, that they had made thirteen great settlements along the
coast, while all the vast region west of the mountains remained a wild
and unknown land.
Now, because Englishmen had been the first white men to see the line
of shore that stretches from Maine to Georgia, they set up a claim to all
the land west of that line.
They had no idea how far the land extended. They knew almost nothing
about its great rivers, its vasts forests, its lofty mountains, its rich
prairies. They cared nothing for the claims of the Indians whose homes
were there.
"All the land from ocean to ocean," they said, "belongs to the King of
England."
But there were other people who also had something to say about this
matter.

The French had explored the Mississippi River. They had sailed on the
Great Lakes. Their hunters and trappers were roaming through the
western forests. They had made treaties with the Indians; and they had
built trading posts, here and there, along the watercourses.
They said, "The English people may keep their strip of land between
the mountains and the sea. But these great river valleys and this country
around the Lakes are ours, because we have been the first to explore
and make use of them."
Now, about the time that George Washington was thinking of
becoming a sailor, some of the rich planters in Virginia began to hear
wonderful stories about a fertile region west of the Alleghanies,
watered by a noble river, and rich in game and fur-bearing animals.
This region was called the Ohio Country, from the name of the river;
and those who took pains to learn the most about it were satisfied that it
would, at some time, be of very great importance to the people who
should control it.
And so these Virginian planters and certain Englishmen formed a
company called the Ohio Company, the object of which was to explore
the country, and make money by establishing trading posts and
settlements there. And of this company, Lawrence Washington was one
of the chief managers.
Lawrence Washington and his brother George had often talked about
this enterprise.
"We shall have trouble with the French," said Lawrence. "They have
already sent men into the Ohio Country; and they are trying in every
way to prove that the land belongs to them."
"It looks as if we should have to drive them out by force," said George.
"Yes, and there will probably be some hard fighting," said Lawrence;
"and you, as a young man, must get yourself ready to have a hand in
it."
And Lawrence followed this up by persuading the governor of the
colony to appoint George as one of the adjutants-general of Virginia.
George was only nineteen years old, but he was now Major
Washington, and one of the most promising soldiers in America.
* * * * *
VII.--A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
Although