George 5: The Dangerous Mission to the French

When George Washington arrived at the French fort he met the Chevalier Legerdeur de St. Pierre who accepted the letter and spent two days with his staff preparing a negative reply. The French were continuing to lay claim to the lands along the Ohio River and had no intention of leaving.
While waiting for the answer George studied the fort, taking notes and drawing diagrams that might be militarily useful if war broke out. He had one of his companions count how many canoes the French had and how many more were being constructed to get some idea how many soldiers they were planning to transport.
When the French answer was ready George and his party left the fort traveling by canoe down freezing streams where floating blocks and sheets of ice threatened to crush or poke holes through the boats. When they arrived back in Venango the Half-king and his companions decided to stay there with the French. George was very worried about this, worried that the French speeches, presents, and alcohol would eventually draw the Native Americans away from the English and make them allies with the French if war broke out. The only thing he could do was get the French answer, and his own report, back to Governor Dinwiddie in Virginia as quickly as possible.
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George Washington led his little expedition out of Venango on Christmas Day 1753 – headed home to Virginia. They plowed through deep and freezing snow that exhausted the horses. George dismounted to lighten the load on his horse and had the other men who were able, do the same. After three days the slow pace was too much for George to bear so he decided to press ahead of the group taking only his guide Christopher Gist with him.
George and Gist camped one night before reaching the ominously named Murdering Town. Here they found a group of Indians who seemed to be waiting for them and asked many questions about where the rest of their party was and when it would arrive. The Virginians gave evasive answers since they feared these Indians might be allies of the French and planning to prevent the completion of George's mission.
As the two travelers pressed on with their journey one Indian insisted on joining them. He offered to carry George's pack and then later offered to cary George's gun. George decided to keep the gun. Suddenly, in a broad meadow the Indian turned and fired his rifle from 15 paces away and then ran to a tree and began reloading. Neither George nor Gist were injured and they quickly captured the Indian.
Gist wanted to kill their assailant on the spot but George refused. Instead they pretended to believe that the shot might have been an accident, or maybe a signal to the Indian's friends. They told hm to go on ahead and they would follow his tracks and catch up with him the next day. As soon as he left George and Gist built a large campfire to make it look like they were staying put and then they set out to trudge through the snow all night long to make their escape.
After hiking through deep snow for more than 24 hours George Washington and Christopher Gist reached the Allegheney River. Both sides of the river were frozen but the middle was still flowing. The travelers used their one hatchet to chop logs and build a raft. They used poles to try to push the raft across the river. At one point George's pole got jammed in the ice and he was thrown into ten feet of water. After Gist helped George back onto the raft they found themselves unable to reach either shore. Fortunately they were able to land on an island in the middle of the river. That night was bitterly cold and Gist got frostbite on his hands and feet.
By morning the great cold had frozen the river hard enough that they could walk across. Soon they arrived at the cabin of an Indian trader named Frazier. While they rested and recuperated there George met an Indian queen named Aliquippa. She was offended that he had not visited her on his way into the wilderness. He was able to console her with a gift of a watch-coat and a bottle rum.
George and Gist left Frazier's cabin on horses on New Year's Day. They reached Gist's home the next day and from there George traveled alone back into the more settled parts of Virginia. He met with Governor Dinwiddie on 16 January 1754 to deliver the letter from the French and his own report, thus completing his mission into the wilderness.
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Note:
My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:
First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.
Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.
Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.
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Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway