Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/53

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��nations became more deeply interested in affairs in the West. The English were determined to secure additional title to the West, and, in 1752, sent Messrs. Fry, Lomax and Patton as commissioners to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and confirm the Lancaster treaty. They met the Indians on the 9th of June, stated their desires, and on the 11th received their answer. At first, the sav- ages were not inclined to recognize the Lancaster treaty, but agreed to aid the English, as the French had already made war on the Twigtees (at Picka- willany), and consented to the establishment of a fort and trading-post at the forks of the Ohio. This was not all the Virginians wanted, however, and taking aside Andrew Montour, now chief of the Six Nations, persuaded him to use his influence with the red men. By such means, they were in- duced to treat, and on the 13th they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement southwest of the Ohio, and covenanting that it should not be disturbed by them. By such means was obtained the treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.

All this time, the home governments were en- deavoring to out-maneuver each other with regard to the lands in the West, though there the outlook only betokened war. The French understood bet- ter than the English how to manage the Indians, and succeeded in attaching them firmly to their cause. The English were not honest in their actions with them, and hence, in after years, the massacres that followed.

At the close of 1752, Grist was at work, in con- formity with the Lancaster and Logstown treaties, laying out a fort and town on Chartier's Creek, about ten miles below the fork. Eleven families had crossed the mountains to settle at Grist's resi- dence west of Laurel Hill, not far from the Yough- iogheny. Goods had come from England for the Ohio Company, which were carried as far West as Will's Creek, where Cumberland now stands ; and where they were taken by the Indians and traders.

On the other hand, the French were gathering cannon and stores on Lake Erie, and, without treaties or deeds of land, were gaining the good will of the inimical tribes, and preparing, when all was ready, to strike the blow. Their fortifications consisted of a chain of forts from Lake Erie to the Ohio, on the border. One was at Presque Isle, on the site of Erie ; one on French Creek, on the site of Waterford, Penn.; one at the mouth of French Creek, in Venango County, Penn.; while opposite it was another, effectually commanding

��that section of country. These forts, it will be observed, were all in the limits of the Pennsyl- vania colony. The Groveruor informed the Assem- bly of their existence, who voted £000 to be used in purchasing presents for the Indians near the forts, and thereby hold their friendship. Virginia, also, took similar measures. Trent was sent, with guns and ammunition and presents, to the friendly tribes, and, while on his mission, learned of the plates of lead planted by the French. In October, 1753, a treaty was consummated with representa- tives of the Iroquois, Delawares, Shawanees, Twig- twees and Wyandots, by commissioners from Pennsylvania, one of whom was the philosopher Franklin. At the conferences held at this time, the Indians complained of the actions of the French in forcibly taking possession of the dis- puted country, and also bitterly denounced them for using rum to intoxicate the red men, when they desired to gain any advantage. Not long after, they had similar grounds of complaint against the English, whose lawless traders cared for nothing but to gain the furs of the savage at as little ex- pense as possible.

The encroachments of the French on what was regarded as English territory, created intense feel- ing in the colonies, especially in Virginia. The purpose of the French to inclose the English on the Atlantic Coast, and thus prevent their extension over the mountains, became more and more ap- parent, and it was thought that this was the open- ing of a scheme already planned by the French Court to reduce all North America under the do- minion of France. Grov. Dinwiddle determined to send an ambassador to the French posts, to as- certain their real intentions and to observe the amount and disposition of their forces. He selected a young Virginian, then in his twenty-first year, a surveyor by trade and one well qualified for the duty. That young man afterward led the Ameri- can Colonies in their struggle for liberty. George Washington and one companion, Mr Gist, suc- cessfully made the trip, in the solitude of a severe winter, received assurance from the French com- mandant that they would by no means abandon their outposts, and would not yield unless com- pelled by force of arms. The commandant was exceedingly polite, but firm, and assured the young American that "we claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discovery of La Salle (in 1699) and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."

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