George Washington | Page 4

this fork, he marked it as a splendid location for a fort, of which we shall learn more later.
Pushing on a little farther, Washington and his men reached a little settlement on the Ohio River, where Indian chiefs met him in council. He told them he had a letter for the French commandant and asked for their advice and help. Indians are very dignified and slow in their councils. They kept Washington waiting for several days. Then three of the greatest chiefs went with him to the French forts. These were in what is now northwestern Pennsylvania. It was a journey of many miles through snow and mud and took nearly a week.
[Illustration: Starting for the French Camp]
It was almost the middle of December before Washington delivered his message to the French commandant, Saint Pierre. He was politely received by the French officers, with whom he discussed matters very tactfully. It took some days to prepare the reply to the Governor of Virginia. While they waited, the French tried, with presents and liquor, to coax Washington's Indian friends to leave him. At this time, the Indian tribes were in a difficult position. Both the French and the English were trying to get their lands and each seeking to win their alliance against the other. Washington reminded the chiefs that he had their word of honor and so kept them with him.
After receiving the French reply, the party started back home, going as far as possible in canoes. The rivers were swollen and full of ice, making the water-trip extremely dangerous. On Christmas Day, Washington began his long journey home--nearly a thousand miles through almost trackless forests. The horses became so tired that he and Christopher Gist decided to hurry on foot, in advance of the others, to the fork of the Ohio, leaving their horses to be brought later. They tramped several days, camping in the forests at night. An Indian met them and offered to show them a short cut. But he was treacherous and guided them out of their way and tried to shoot them. They escaped, traveling as fast as they could all night and all the next day.
At nightfall they came to the Allegheny River, expecting to find it frozen over, but it was full of floating ice and they had no way to cross. After working a whole day, with only a small hatchet, they made a raft. In trying to pole this across the swift current, Washington was thrown into the water and was nearly drowned, but he managed to get on the raft again and they reached an island, where they spent the night. It was so intensely cold that Gist's hands and feet were frozen. The next morning, they got ashore on the chunks of ice and by suppertime were in the warm house of a trader named Frazier. In a few days, they were rested enough to go on to Gist's home, where the Major bade his companion good-by and went on alone on horseback, through constant snows and bitter cold.
On the sixteenth of January (1754), Major Washington delivered the French reply to Governor Dinwiddie. He had been absent almost three months on his perilous journey, and you can imagine that his mother and friends were glad to see him safe at home again.
The Governor and the colonists were very proud of the way Washington had performed his errand. His wisdom in his dealings with the Indians and the French, his firmness, his courage and daring in the face of peril, had indeed been marked. He had not only done well what he had been sent to do, but he had thoroughly examined the French forts and made notes of the best places for English defenses. From that time, he was trusted with important duties.
As might have been expected, the reply from the French commandant stated that the land belonged to French settlers and that they intended to keep it. It was Washington's opinion that the French intended in the spring to take possession of the whole country. The Governor of Virginia tried to interest other colonies to help fight the French. When they refused, Virginia sent Captain Trent to raise a company of men in the western country and to build a fort at the fork of the Ohio River, where the city of Pittsburgh now stands.
Washington, now Colonel, was ordered to raise three hundred men and build a road to this fort for cannon and supplies. He succeeded in getting together one hundred and fifty men, who were poorly equipped, and without training. They built the road as far as Cumberland. Here, in April, 1754, they met Captain Trent's men in retreat. A French force of three hundred men had surprised them by suddenly paddling down the river in