The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-08-08
i.iaIs 3 ND MD4AN. WAR

II year so1; s11sb3 M Gne reign
IA 711 GborEe ~, of En- land. and
n 116t XIV, Of France, mat ers had
q k6&d1 i ertsib Between the colonies
qk these two nations as to the pos
seaslon Of the valley ~ the Ohio
TIE French mad occupied the st.
IaTFeice and established military
stations On ahe wIat1t OF the Ohio
and Mississippi apd hid outlined the
b6id policy Or 8tendihg a chain Of
forts from the great lakes to New
GfiSanS connected by canoe navigA-
Hon The English settlements occu-
pfed the Atlantic coast& and sweze
treAstnk forward With ytsys Of
cfoSethe the mounta ms and EPosseae
Ing theq6s elves Of tie d,antEy vest
y s At Nj 4Efsfiihe Robert plnwidals
was the royal governor OF the coaQdy
of Virginia residing at Williamsburg
the capitol, and the Marquis Du
! Guesne was the governor general of
CanadG with neaddharterA at Que
fndfan traders had for seSerA1
years crossed the Allegheny nfouns
fGtns WITH their string Of pack horses
to the banks Of the Ohio and its
tributaries. and exchangfng hlan-
kets. 9atidy c0fored cloths, powder
faaEd AID rum for valuable furs and
skins with ffe several tribes Of In
diahB VINO had their villages In the
Olsa valley.
Complaints we're made to Cover
nor Robert Dinwtddfe that English
traders while plying their traffic
vest Of the rnountains were robbed
Of their goods and driven out of the
country ~ the Indians ihstfgated by
the French.
The oncers Of the Ohio company
also complafh4d of the hostile con-
duct OF the French and their Indian
Gdlfes As preventing 1t from getting
ana occupying the country In com.
pliance with its charter
The governor resolved to send a
written message to the French com
mander on the Ohio that the English
claimed the Ohio valley and warn
ginE him to withdraw his forces from
the disputed territory OF he would
be expelled by troops. He conffded
this message to George Washington
then twenty-five years OF age and
h6s set out on his mission on the
thirtieth day of October, 1853.
After toils0me journey adad
by swollen streams and storms.
Washington reached Fort La Boeuf
situated fifteen miles from Lake
Erie on French creek. at the head
4 of q canoe navigation, q tributary
of the. Allegheny river, on the eley-
6nth of December.
The letter having been delivered
to the. Gheyalier Legarden De st.
Pierre the commandant, Washing.
ton started on his return on the
f1fteenth of December with the reply
to the governors letter, and reached
Williamsburg, the capital, on Janu-
ary 49, 1754, and delivered the com
munication to the governor having
been about seventy eight days on the
trip.
The replysof the French comman-
der to Governor Dinwtddie.s demand
for his Withdrawal & from his posi-
ton was to the effect that his letter
would be forwarded to the Marquis
Du Quesne, governor general of
Canada at Quebec for his considers
ton. This was deemed evasive and
together with the information OBJ
tanned by Washin gton as to the in
tenttons of the French convinced the
governor that they were prepared to
descend the Ohio in the spring and
take military possession of the
country.
Captain Trent was given authority
to recruit a company OF one hun
dred men and march with all speed
to the forks of tia Ohio, now Pitts
burg, with. instructions 80 build a
fort OF suitable strength to resist
any ordinary attack.
Th ecaptan reahced the forks on
the sexenteenth of February. 1854.
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