Chapter VIII. A Perilous Journey
Early the very next year news was brought
to Virginia that the French
were building forts along the Ohio, and making friends with
the Indians
there. This of course meant that they intended to keep the
English out
of that country.
The governor of Virginia thought that the time had come to
speak out
about this matter. He would send a messenger with a letter
to these
Frenchmen, telling them that all the land belonged to the English,
and
that no trespassing would be allowed.
The first messenger that he sent became alarmed before he
was within a
hundred miles of a Frenchman, and went back to say that everything
was
as good as lost.
It was very plain that a man with some courage must be chosen
for such
an undertaking.
"I will send Major George Washington," said the
governor. "He is very
young, but he is the bravest man in the colony."
Now, promptness was one of those traits of character which
made George
Washington the great man which he afterward became. And so,
on the very
day that he received his appointment he set out for the Ohio
Country.
He took with him three white hunters, two Indians, and a famous
woodsman, whose name was Christopher Gist. A small tent or
two, and such
few things as they would need on the journey, were strapped
on the backs
of horses.
They pushed through the woods in a northwestwardly direction,
and at
last reached a place called Venango, not very far from where
Pittsburg
now stands. This was the first outpost of the French - and here
Washington met some of the French officers, and heard them
talk about
what they proposed to do.
Then, after a long ride to the north, they came to another
fort. The
French commandant was here, and he welcomed Washington with
a great show
of kindness.
Washington gave him the letter which he had brought from the
governor
of Virginia.
The commandant read it, and two days afterward gave him an
answer.
He said that he would forward the letter to the French governor -
but as
for the Ohio Country, he had been ordered to hold it, and he
meant to do
so.
Of course Washington could do nothing further. But it was
plain to him
that the news ought to be carried back to Virginia without
delay.
It was now mid-winter. As no horse could travel through the
trackless
woods at this time of year, he must make his way on foot.
So, with only the woodsman, Gist, he shouldered his rifle
and knapsack,
and bravely started home.
It was a terrible journey. The ground was covered with snow -
the rivers
were frozen - there was not even a path through the forest.
If Gist had
not been so fine a woodsman they would hardly have seen Virginia
again.
Once an Indian shot at Washington from behind a tree. Once
the brave
young man fell into a river, among floating ice, and would
have been
drowned but for Gist.
At last they reached the house of a trader on the Monongahela
River.
There they were kindly welcomed, and urged to stay until the
weather
should grow milder.
But Washington would not delay.
Sixteen days after that, he was back in Virginia, telling
the governor
all about his adventures, and giving his opinion about the
best way to
deal with the French.
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