Returning from the western forts in 1753, Saint-Pierre was assigned to the Ohio Country, where the French and Canadians were building a strong presence in order to deal with the economic threat posed by British fur traders. Paul Marin de la Malgue constructed two forts, the main one being Fort Le Boeuf. After Marin's death, Legardeur took over Marin's command. The French occupation drew attention from the Virginia Colony, and its lieutenant governor, Robert Dinwiddie, sent a young George Washington with a written demand that the French leave the disputed territory. Much has been made of this event because of the later fame of the messenger; history records that Washington was impressed by Saint-Pierre in this encounter. After Washington in 1754 led an expedition that ambushed a Canadian party, Saint-Pierre was in the party sent from Fort Duquesne that defeated Washington at Fort Necessity. In 1755 Jacques led a large contingent of militia and Indians from Montreal into a battle at Lac du Saint-Sacrement (as Lake George, New York was then known) and was immediately killed. These actions contributed to beginning of the French and Indian War with the eventual formal declarations of war in spring 1756.