Show rort ik W a tv THE STORY OY THE BY THE installment 3 an english lieutenant at oswego hid had described the ceet fleet of canoes upon ontario carrying this I 1 levy evv to its place of landing in the lake beyond and a vagrant french man had told him plainly what hat it was it was an army 0 at elz six hundred men be he boasted going to the ohio to cause all the to 1 quit thoe those aarts it was plain to every eng fish governor in the colonie 11 w who ho bad had hie his eyes open oren that the fro french ch would not atop stop with planting a fort upon an obscure branch of tha the allegheny alleghany Alleg hany haur but that they would indeed press forward tk U take possession 0 of the ohio drive every trader forth draw all the native tribes to their In interest by force or favor and close alike the western lands and the trade in very earnest against all tho the king s sub subjects Jets governor governors see the danger governor dinwiddle was among the tl t to seo see the danger and the need for action as la in truth was wast very nat ural in office and out bis his study bad had been the colonial trade and ard he had been merchant and official cow now a long time lie was as of the twenty stockholders of at the ohio company and had come to hta his governorship in virginia with his eye upon tue the western country lie bad but to look about him to perceive that virginia would ver likely be obliged to meet the crisis unaided if indeed ho he could induce even her to meet it governor hamilton of pennsylvania also saw bow low critically affair affairs stool it Is true rue and ahat hat ought to bo be done ial agents bad had met and acted Y ith the agents of at the ohio company already in seeking indian alliances all lancea and fixing upon points of at vantage be ond and the out but the penn calvinia cyl vinia assembly could by no argument or device be induced to voto vote money or measures in the business the placid quaker trader traders were wera aa as stubborn aa as the stolid german farm ere they opposed it because they could not for the life of them seo see the necessity 0 of parting with their money to send troops lupov so remote an errand denwiddie does not hesitate DInwId dinwiddie dIa did not wait or parley lie acted first and consulted hta his legle legis lature afterwards it was in bis his scots blood to take the business very strenuous ly and in hie his traders blood to take it very anxiously he lie had kept advised from train the drat first of the movements moTe ments of tha the french their vanguard had bad scarcely reached presque isle ere are lie he dispatched let tere to england apprising the govern ment of 0 the danger answer had come very promptly too authorizing author liing him to build tort upon the ohio it he could got the money from the bur gesses anil and meantime french trespass trea pae further to require of them peaceably to depart it if they would not desist for IL warning pito P ito a messenger Meu enger eald sald his majesty maj eaty we do hereby strictly charge and command you to drive them off hy by force ot of arm arms even to end send a warning to the french wa was no easy matter when the kinge letter came cam e and the chill autumn ralus were at band hand the streams tre ami already aar ady swollen presently to be full of ice would be very dangerous dan geroue for men and horses and the forests wert likely enough t to teem kith ath hostile savages now tle french ere there A proper messenger wae was found and dispatched never neTer young george washington of the northern district dia trici the errand lay in his quarter hit his three teats of surveying aurre ying at the heart of the wilderness bad nade him an exper lenad woodsman nian and hardy tm veler 1 bad tested hie his and made pr prot prof of of 0 hie his character he be was a veil well known upon tha th front lor and his hi friends wet were a tery very influential and recommending him tor for very ery cordial in this or any other manly mantl service trice that cabled for steadiness hardihood and resource reio know knows his HI mar dinwiddle bid been a correspondent of lawrence wahington tons over jaee the presidency of the ohio cOmPs company itly had bad fallen to the young Virg virginian lulan upon be the death of bis his neighbor thomae thomas lee writing to him upon terms of intimacy lie knew the stock of which george the younger brother came and the interests in which be he might be expected to embark with ardor he could feel that ho he took small risk in electing selecting euch such an agent knowing him too thus through his family and like a friend he did not hesitate in writing to governor hamilton of at ienn penn sylvania syl vanla to speak of this youth of twenty one as a person of at distine alon washington performed hia his errand aa as dinwiddle must have expected he would he lie received hie his commission and the governors gov governor ernoes letter to the french commandant on the lut day of october and set out the same day for the mountains jacob lacob u the dutch soldier of fortune who had been beer his fencing master at munt vernon accompanied him as interpreter and christopher gist the hardy belt mel frell reliant frontier trader whom the ohio company had employed to make inter later cat est for them among the indians indiana of the far region upon the western rivera rivers which he knew know so well was engaged to act ai as his gulda guide and counselor and with a few servants and pack bones horses he struck straight into the tor for eats tn in the middle of bleak november reaches the french fort it was thi eleventh of december before the jaded party rode in the cold dusk into the drenched and miry clearing where the dreary little fort stood that held tho the drenth command er through two hundred and nd fifty miles and more of forest they hey hail had dragged themselves rca over sw swollen riv ers amlet an almost ce aselee a fall of rain or snow i ith not always an in dan trail trall pr or the beaten track of the tile bison to aen open the forest growth tor for the r flagging horses and on the watch always against abase treachery it had become plain enough before they reached their destination what answer they should get from the french sixty miles nearer home obrn these lonely headquarters of the french commander at fart li lq doeuf they had come upon an outpost where the french color colors wen to be le been seen fly ing from a house from which an eug lish trader had been driven out the french frinch officers there bad had brutally frank avowal of their pur pass in that wilderness aa as they eat sat at wino wine with the alft alt al ft t and temperate oung virginian it wae was theli their absolute deitan they aid said to tau possession po of tha the obo and by 0 G they would do it they were sensible en elble the english could ralee raise two aion men for their one yet they krew their trat lons were too low slow and dilatory dl atory to prevent any tiny undertaking of their the commandant courteous Courte oui the commandant lom mandant at fort le U doeuf received the ambassador very end and even graciously gra cloudy a thou elderly man washing Wu bing ton noted him with much the air ot of a soldier but would make no do pro PM enlon even that be he would consider nilder co the english summons to in withdraw and the hide party of englishmen presently turned back amid the winters storm stormi i to tarry through the frozen a letter which boasted the french lawful maiten masters of all ali the continent beyond the when reached wll wit liams ll amburg burg in a he middle ot of january 1764 untouched by even the fearful fati fatigued guen and anxieties ot of that daring journey he had accomplished but the establishment of hie his orn own char acter deter in the eyes of the men who were to met meet the crisis now at hand handl he ile had been at infinite aine at every tao of the th irea breary adventure adren ture tb win and hell pie pe confidence of the indians who were accounted friends of the english and bad had displayed die played an older finans man patience address and fortitude la in meeting all their subtle biff shifts and he to had borne bome hardship hardships that tried even the doughty gilt gist when the horses gave oat out he bad had left them to coma come by easier stages while be he made his hi way afoot with only a m angla companion across the weary leagues that lay upon his honi homo ward way gist his comrado comrade in the hazard bad been uncil ling he be rould undertake under tak euch such a travel 1 who had been used to walking before thie this time but the imperative young commander would not be stayed and the bormey vas was made spite of iro feet and frosts and ex hauet InK weariness lie at l tt knew chott t le ts s brench were about with what strongholds and force forces and afford to wait order orders what to do a 0 it the had been busy dinwiddle had bad not been idle while white washington went bit erl lous errand he ile hid bd gotten the tc by the tint of november before washington bad had left the back eule settle 1 menta ments to cross the wilde mess and would have gotten a liberal grant rant of money from them had bad they not fallen in cleir debate debates upon the question of the new fee chard d since his coning coming for overy 1 grant cut of the public laud lauds of at the colony and instated ln that it hould should be done away iab ith 80 ceaf they aid said very stubbornly cannot be deprived of ho least part of their party without their coo can sent and cuch such a fee they thought was too like a tax to be endured they would withhold the grant they declared unless the fee wa was abolished notwithstanding they saw plainly PI enough in how bow critical a case thing things tood stood in the acet est and the testy say arnor very indignantly sent ent them home again he lie ordered a draft of men from the militia nevertheless with ibe the purpose of assigning the command to washington and see ing what might be dona done upon the ohio without tota vote of the assembly ar embly delles the burgesses A hard bardhe beaded adeA scotchman past laty sixty could not ba b expected to wait upon A body of wrangling and factious provincial vinci vin cial als for leave to perform bli his duty in a crale and inasmuch Inae much ai an the ob oc oct wae was to alq save their own lands and perhaps their own persons pe riona from the french could hardly be blamed for proposing in his angor that they be taxed for the purpose by act of par lla meat A governor be exclaimed I 1 I 1 Is rexill to be pitied pitted in the dis charge of of hi his duty to his king and country I 1 IA A having to do with such self people I 1 some money he be advanced out of his own pocket when washington came back from his big fruitier fruitless mission mt silon dinwiddle DInwId dIo or ragged regiment dered his journal printed and cople copies sent ta let all the colonial give luvernon gu vernon mors As A it wae was thought advisable adv liable b by hai li honor the governor to hare have tho the account of it ii proceeding ta 6 and from the fl anch on olio olto committed to print laid said tha tbs modest young major I 1 I 1 think I 1 can do no lena lems than apolo gise giss in boma measure for the number leu less imperfection imperfections in it but it wae was a v very ery marly recital of noteworthy things and touched the imagination and fears care of every thoughtful man who read it quite ae as near the quick ae as the urgent and 1 letter letters otibe of the troubled dinwidde DIn wIdle virginia it turned out wa was after all more forward than tian all her neighbors whon whim it came to action the assembly very coolly declared they doubted his hi ma jettye claim f the ands on the ohio and the bembi in new now york followed fallowed cult suit liars they aid said in high judicial tot e that ltha the french hare have built a fort at the place called french creek at a considerable die dis anee from the river ohio which may but doc does not by any evidence oTi dence or in ill formation appear to no n to be an in caslon of any of his colo tiles the governors goT ernon of the other colonies whose abety safety wa was mist 1 directly men aced by the movements mor emente of the french in tho the west were thuc thus even lct less able to act than dinwiddle for the virginia burgesses burge itea though they wadid not yield the point of the fee upon land grants did not mean to leare leave major in tha lurch and betori an expedition could he be got a afoot toot bad had come together again to rota a sum ua u a of money A regiment rated it would be possible ble with the sum they appropriated to put or men into the field and ai as spring drew on raw volunteers began to gath er or in coma some nuan number bers at alexandria Alexandri aa a ragged regiment made up for the moat most p rt of idle and men abo bo did not alway always bare shoes hoe or eren even shirts a 0 their own to wear anxious to get their eight pence a kr der but not anxious to work or submit to d dl c astonishing b bow ow teady steady and bow how slit thov the shoved themselves themi elve when once they had hadanak ha shak dabak en their lethargy off and wei e on the march or tace ae to face wili vita the enemy enem A body of woodsmen woo dameo had been hurried forward in february ere spring hia opened to can a cle clearing a ring and wa to work upon a fort at the forks of the ohio but it waa was the thia ad of april before war men man voigh could be collected t alexandria Alexa adria to begin the main movement toward towards the frontier and by that time it wa via too late to checkmate the french the tittle little force tome ent not forward to begin fort lacs eions had tot et about their tuk task very sluggishly and without kill and their commander bad had turned back again with ioa some of at his men to re join the force forces behind him be beare aro the petty works he hould should bave stayed t to finish were well begun compelled to surrender when therefore on the of april the river suddenly ailed with canoes bearing an army of more than frenchmen who put cannon ashore and summoned the 40 men who held the place to surrenders sur rendert or be blown into the water there was DO no choice but to comply the young en on ign sign who commanded the little gar risen urged a truce till tilt he could communicate munt muni cate with hie his lu qu perlor but the french commander would brook no delay the boy might either take hf his men off free and unhurt or else fight and face sheer destruction aad the nearest succor wae was a little foro for ct of men under colonel washington who had not yet topped the Alleg baules in their painful work of e cutting a way through the forests tor for their held field pieces and wagon second in command the governors plans had been altered by the vote of money and the additional lavy 1 of at men which it made possible col john fry whom dinwidde dinwiddle do deemed domed med a wa of good ene sense and one of our beat math had been kiren given ejot t camman corn mani in chief and washington bad had been named hia his la in wal walland mand with alth the rank of lieutenant colonel dear george wrote mr corbin of the governors Gor Gov ernora ernoes council counell it 1 I enclose you your commission god prosper you with and the brunt of tbt work in fact fell upon the younger man dut but volunteer volunteers could be got ten together and all too late halt of at the raw levy 1 were vere ent sent forward under to find or matte malts a wry ury for wagon and ordnance to the ohio the lait last day days of at may were almost at band hand before they had bad trussed the main ridge of the Alleg henlee so 0 o inexperienced were they in the rough labor of cutting a road through the cloie close set growth and over the harp sharp of the munt alne and lad to III equipped and by that time it was aa already too late by a full month and more to forestall tho the french |