USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. I > Part 9
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ARTICLE II.
It shall be permitted him to go out, and carry with him all that belongs to them; except the Artillery, which we reserve.
ARTICLE III.
That we will allow them' the honors of war, that they march out with drums beating, and one swivel gun, being willing thereby to convince them, that we treat them as friends.
ARTICLE IV.
That as soon as the articles are signed by both parties, the English colors shall be struck.
Article V.
That to-morrow, at break of day, a detachment of French shall go, and make the Garrison file off, and take possession of the fort.
ARTICLE VI.
As the English have but few oxen or horses left, they are at liberty to hide their effects, and come again and search for them, when they have a number of horses sufficient to carry them off, and that for this end they may have what guards they please; on condition that they give their word of honor, to work no more on any building in this place, or any part on this side of mountains.
ARTICLE VII.
And as the English have in their power one officer, two cadets, and most of the prisoners made at their assassination of M. de Jumonville, and promise to send them back, with a safe guard, to Fort Du Quesne, situate on the Ohio; for surety of performing this article as well as this treaty, M. Jacob Vanbraam and Robert Stobo, both Captains, shall be delivered to us as hostages, till the arrival of our French and Canadians above mentioned. We oblige ourselves on our side, to give an escort to return these two officers in safety; and expect to have our French in two months and a half at farthest. A duplicate of this being fixed upon one of the posts of our blockhouse, the day and year above mentioned.
Signed, Messrs.
JAMES MACKAYE, G. WASHINGTON. COULON VILLIERS.
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Peace Proposals.
On the 4th of July succeeding, 1754, another conven- tion was called at Albany, and commissioners, from each of the thirteen colonies, agreed among themselves on a general plan of defence, the Connecticut colony alone dissenting. Benjamin Franklin was the moving spirit of this convention, and proposed to carry the war into the interior with a vigorous hand. But nothing could be done to rescue the country, occupied by the French, till the mother country had declared her policy, by sub- stantial aid to help beat back the French.
Conscious that this would be done in season for the next year's campaign, Gov. Dinwiddie took no immedi- ate steps to recover the lost ground on the Ohio, and, as a prudential measure to prevent rivalry, as to rank, among the officers already commissioned, when new volunteers should enlist, he reorganized the companies. in service, so as to leave no officer in command of a. higher rank than captain. Washington now sent in his resignation and returned to his home at Mount Vernon.
The Ohio frontier was now quiet. The Assembly of Pennsylvania were still firm in their policy of peace, but in the New England and New York colonies, a plan was. proposed to seize upon Crown Point, but not attempted; but the line of Kennebec, east of which was the French. settlement of Acadia, was fortified.
No declaration of war had yet been made. On the contrary, the English and French courts were, to all outward appearances, on the most friendly terms; but both countries were preparing for war.
January, 1755, opened with peace proposals from France, by which she offered, as an ultimatum, that the French should retire west of the Ohio, and the English east of the Alleghenies.
This offer was considered by England till the 7th of March, when she agreed to accept it on condition that the French would destroy all their forts on the Ohio and its branches. The French, after twenty days, refused to do this .* But while the fruitless negotiations were. pending, both sides were sending soldiers to America.
*Plain facts, p. 52.
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Washington's Journal.
WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE OHIO, IN 1753.
WITH NOTES BY JOHN G. SHEA.
The following diary of young Washington, on his tour to the head- waters of the Ohio, has never before been published in a form available to the book-buyers of the West, and is here inserted as an interesting historical document, well worthy a place in Northwestern History, all the more valuable for Mr. Shea's Notes and Introduction accompanying it.
INTRODUCTION.
The earliest of Washington's diaries, printed almost as soon as its last page was written, possesses uncommon interest, from the fullness with which he describes the events of his journey, a fullness for which we are indebted to the instructions of Governor Dinwiddie.
Washington was then twenty-one, but already a "person of distinction." Adjutant General of the colonial troops, with the rank of Major, to him was committed the northern division of the colony. His earlier exploration as surveyor had brought him into contact with the Indians, and none seemed better to know and understand them; while his early maturity, dignity and judgment fitted him for any important undertaking that did not require the experience of years.
Affairs had reached a crisis. France had colonized Canada, Illinois and Louisiana, and connected them by detached posts, but the possession of the Ohio, so necessary to the safety of her wide provincial power, was soon to fall into the hands of her rival by the rapid progress of English colonization. To set a barrier to its westward progress, France determined to run a line of forts from Niagara to the fork of the Ohio, and down that river.
The Indians first took the alarm. When the tidings reached the Ohio that a French force was on its way to erect this line of forts, a council of" the wandering tribes, Mingoes, Shawnees and Delawares, met at Logstown, and in April, 1753, dispatched an envoy to Niagara to protest against the action of the French. The protest was unheeded. Tanacharisson then went to Fort Presque Isle to meet Marin, and reported to Washington, as , we shall see, the result of his fruitless mission.
Pennsylvania then took the alarm, and Governor Hamilton in vain urged his assembly to check the French invasion of their frontiers, yet they appointed Norris, their speaker, and Franklin, to meet at Carlisle a deputa- tion from the tribes. There the Indian declared his will. The land was theirs. They wished neither English nor French to intrude. Yet, as danger from the latter seemed more imminent, they were willing to help the English to expel the French. They did not see that it was but a change of masters, and if, in the event, English garrisons replaced the French, the power of the latter was scarcely prostrated, when, in 1763, the long- smothered wrath of the baffled red man swept the English from Forts Erie, Le Bœuf and Nenango, and burst in its might on Fort Pitt.
Virginia, too moved, and Washington, from his official position and his knowledge of the Indians, was selected by Governor Dinwiddie to proceed to the Ohio, demand the withdrawal of the French and examine the condi- tion of their forces. The following letter, recently come to light, and one
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Washington's Journal.
of the few of that period of his career known, shows how he was engaged when chosen for the mission to the Ohio :
WINCHESTER, Oct, 17, 1753.
HONORABLE SIR :- Last night, by return of the express who went to Captain Montour, I received the inclosed from Mr. Harris, at Susquehanna. I think no means should be neglected to preserve what few Indians still remain in our interest, for which reason I shall send Mr. Gist, as soon as he arrives, which I expect will be to-day, to Harris' Ferry, in hopes of engaging and bringing with him the Belt of Wampum and other Indians at that place; and I shall further desire him to send an Indian express to Andrew Montour, to try if he can be brought along with him. In however trifling light the French attempting to alienate the affections of our southern Indians, may at first sight appear, I must look upon it as a thing of the utmost conse- quence, that requires our greatest and most immediate attention. I have often wondered at not hearing that this was attempted before, and had it noted, among other memoranda, to acquaint your honor of when I should come down. The French policy in treating with Indians is so prevalent that I should not be in the least surprised were they to engage the Chero- kees, Cuttabas, &c., unless timely and vigorous measures are taken to. prevent it. A pusillanimous behavior would ill suit the times, and trusting for traders and common interpreters (who will sell their integrity to the highest bidder) may prove the destruction of these affairs. I therefore think that if a person of distinction, acquainted with their language, is to. be found, his price should be come to at any rate; if no such can be had, a man of sense and character, to conduct the Indians to any council that may be had, or to superintend any other matters, will be extremely necessary.
It is impertinent, I own, in me to offer my opinions on these matters- when better judges may direct; but my steady and hearty zeal in the causa and the great impositions I have known practiced by the traders, &c., upon these occasions, would not suffer me to be quite silent. I have heard, from undoubted authority, that some of the Cherokees that have been introduced as sachems and princes by the interpreters (who share their presents and profits), have been no others than common hunters and blood-thirsty villains. We have no accounts yet of the militia from Fairfax, &c. This day I march with about one hundred men to Fort Cumberland. Yesterday, by an express,. I was informed of the arrival of eighty odd recruits to Fredericksburg, which I have ordered to proceed to this place, but for want of the regularity being observed by which I should know where every officer, &c., ought to be, my orders are only conditional and always confused. Whatever neces- saries your honor gets below, I should be glad to have them sent to Alexandria, from whence they come much more handy than from Fred- ericksburg; besides, as provisions are lodged there, and none at the other place, it will be best for the men to be all sent there that is in any ways convenient, for we have met with insuperable difficulty at Fredericksburg in our march from here, by the neglect of the Com., who is at this time greatly wanted here. Therefore I hope your honor will order him up im- mediately.
I am, honorable sir, your most ebedient servant,
G. WASHINGTON.
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Washington's Journal.
But before this could have reached the governor and been acted upon, came his commission, with these
INSTRUCTIONS FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON.
Whereas I have received information of a body of French forces being assembled in a hostile manner on the River Ohio, intending by force of arms to erect certain forts on the said river, within this territory, and contrary to the dignity and peace of our sovereign, the king of Great Britain; these are therefore to require and direct you, the said George Washington, forthwith to repair to Logstown, on the said River Ohio, and having there informed yourself where the said French forces have posted themselves, thereupon to proceed to such place, and being there arrived, to present your credentials, together with my letter to the chief commanding officer, and in the name of his Britannic Majesty, to demand an answer thereto.
On your arrival at Logstown, you are to address yourself to the Half- King to Monacatoocha, and to the other sachems of the Six Nations, acquainting them with your orders to visit and deliver my letter to the French commanding officer, and desiring the said chiefs to appoint you a sufficient number of their warriors to be your safeguard, as near the French as you may desire, and to wait your further direction.
You are deligently to inquire into the numbers and force of the French on the Ohio and the adjacent country, how they are likely to be assisted from Canada, and what are the difficulties and conveniences of that com- munication and the time required for it.
You are to take care to be truly informed what forts the French have erected, and where; how they are garrisoned and appointed, and what is their distance from each other and from Logstown; and from the best intel- ligence you can procure, you are to learn what gave occassion to this expedition of the French, how they are likely to be supported, and what their pretensions are.
When the French commandant has given you the required and neces- sary dispatches, you are to desire of him a proper guard to protect you as far on your return as you may judge for your safety, against any straggling Indians or hunters that may be ignorant of your character and molest you.
Wishing you success in your negotiation and a safe and speedy return, I am, &c.,
WILLIAMSBURG, October 30, 1753
ROBERT DINWIDDIE.
With these instructions Washington proceeded to the Ohio, to demand the withdrawal of the French from the soil claimed as English territory. This act opened a series of struggles, in the course of which English, French and Americans changed their relative positions, and which closed thirty years after, with the gaze of mankind riveted on the august form of him whom we here behold the stripling.
By that series of Struggles America alone profited. The mighty Genius directing her destiny seems to have used the power of England to drive France from the north and west and south, and then used baffled France to drive the English power within that line of lakes which Dongan, a century before, marked as our boundary; used France, too, at a later day, to add to the American limits that Louisiana which she could not hold herself, so that ere the century succeeding the events here described had reached its close, a mighty republic, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, reveres, perpetuates and exalts the name of Washington.
J. G. S.
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Washington's Journal.
OCTOBER 31, 1753.
I was commissioned and appointed by the Hon. Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., Governor of Virginia,1 to visit and deliver a letter to the commandant of the French forces on the Ohio, and set out on the intended journey on the same day (October 31, 1753); the next I arrived at Fredericksburg and engaged Mr. Jacob Van Braam2 to be my French interpreter, and proceeded with him to Alexandria, where we provided necessaries. From thence we went to Winchester and got baggage, horses, &c., and from thence we pursued the new road to Will's Creek, where we arrived on the 14th of November.
Here I engaged Mr. Gist3 to pilot us out, and also hired four others as servitors, Barnaby Curran and John M'Quire, Indian traders; Henry Steward and William Jenkins; and in company with those persons left the inhabitants the next day.
NOVEMBER 22.
The excessive rains and vast quantity of snow which had fallen pre- vented our reaching Mr. Frasier's, an Indian trader, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, on Monongahela River, until Thursday, the 22nd. We were in- formed here that expresses had been sent a few days before, to the traders down the river, to acquaint them with the French general's death,4 and the return of the major part of the French army into winter quarters.
1 Robert Dinwiddie, a native of Scotland, had been a clerk to a col- lector in a West India custom-house, and gained the favor of government by exposing the frauds of that officer. For this he was, in 1741, made surveyor of the customs of the colonies, and having, in that capacity, been obnoxious to the Virginia aristocracy, was made Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia in 1752. His administration was like that of most colonial governors. Campbell thus describes its close in his "History of Virginia," p. 497: "In January, 1758, Robert Dinwiddie, after an arduous and disturbed administration of five years, worn out with vexation and age, sailed from Virginia, not much regretted except by his particular friends."
2 Jacob Van Braam had served under Lawrence Washington, in Vernon's expedition against Carthagena, and had been fencing master, as he was now interpreter, to George Washington. In the subsequent cam- paign, when Washington capitulated at Fort Necessity, Van Braam, acting as translator, made Washington admit that he had assassinated De Jumon- ville. After that affair, he was left, with Stobo, as hostage, in the hands of the French.
3 Christopher Gist was an early settler in those parts, and Washington, in recommending his appointment as Indian agent, thus writes to John Robinson, speaker of the House of Burgesses, May 30, 1757: "I know of no person so well qualified for an undertaking of this sort as the bearer, Captain Gist. He has had extensive dealings with the Indians, is in great esteem among them, well acquainted with their manners and customs, indefatigable and patient -most excellent qualities where Indians are concerned. As to his capacity, honesty and zeal, I dare venture to engage .- Writings, vol. ii, p. 236.
4 This French general was Pierre Paul, Sieur de Marin, a brave and intelligent officer, one of the best in Du Quesne's force, and high in the esteem of that reformer of discipline. Du Quesne had dispatched him to the Ohio, to found the fort at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monon- gahela. The register of Fort Duquesne has the following entry: "In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty three, the 29th of October, died, at half past four o'clock in the afternoon, in the fort of Riviere aux Bœufs, under the title of St. Peter, Monsieur Pierre Paul, Esq., Sieur de Marin,
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Washington's Journal.
The waters were quite impassable without swimming our horses, which obliged us to get the loan of a canoe from Frazier, and to send Barnaby Currin and Henry Steward down the Monongahela with our baggage, to meet us at the fork of the Ohio, about ten miles, there to cross the Alleghany.
As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing the rivers and the land in the fork, which I think extremely well situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of both rivers.5 The land at the point is twenty or twenty-five feet above the common surface of the water, and a « considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land all around it, very convenient for building. The rivers are each a quarter of a mile or more across, and run here very nearly at right angles. Alleghany bearing northeast and Monongahela southeast. The former of these two is a very rapid and swift- :running water, the other deep and still, without any perceptible fall.
About two miles from this, on the southeast side of the river, at the place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a fort, lives Shingiss, King of the Delawares.6 We called upon him, to invite him to counsel at the Logstown.
As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday of the situation at the fork, my curiosity led me to examine this more particularly, and I think it greatly inferior, either for defense or advantages, especially the latter; for a fort at the fork would be equally well situated on the Ohio, and have the entire command of the Monongahela, which runs up our settlement, and is · extremely well designed for water carriage, and it is of a deep, still nature. Besides, a fort at the fork might be built at much less expense than at the . other places.
Knight of the Military and Royal Order of St. Louis, Captain of Infantry and Commandant General of the Army of the Ohio, after having received the sacraments of penance, extreme unction, and the viaticum, aged sixty- three years. His body was interred in the cemetery of said fort by us, Recollect priest, Chaplain of said fort, and, during the campaign, of the River Ohio. Were present at his interment, Monsieur de Repentigny, Commandant of said army and Captain of Infantry; Messieurs du Muys, Lieutenant of Infantry; Benois, Lieutenant of Infantry; de Simblin, Major at said fort; Laforce, Commissary of the Stores: who have signed with us. "LE GARDEUR DE REPENTIGNY, "LAFORCE-BENOIS-DU MUYS,
"J. DEPERE SIMBLIN, "FRIAR DENIS BARON, Recollect priest, Chaplain."
Marin had just erected Forts Presque Isle and Le Bœuf. Du Quesne, in his letter to M. De Rouille, August 20, 1753, says: "Sieur Marin writes me on the 3d inst., that the fort at Presque Isle is entirely finished; that the Portage Road, which is six leagues in length, is also ready for carriages; that the store, which was necessary to be built halfway across the portage, is in a condition to receive the supplies, and that the second fort, which is located at the mouth of the Riviere au Bœuf, will soon be completed."- N. Y. Col. Doc., x., 256.
5 This choice, says Dussieux, proves the accurate glance and excellent judgment of the young major. But at the moment of his making the report, the French were already erecting Fort Duquesne on the spot .- Le Canada sous la Domination Francaise, p. 61.
6 Shingiss had been the terror of the English frontiers, but had now wwarmly espoused the cause of the English.
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Washington's Journal.
Nature has well contrived this lower place for water defense; but the hill whereon it must stand, being about a quarter of a mile in length, and then descending gradually on the land side, will render it difficult and very expensive to make a sufficient fortification there. The whole flat upon the hill must be taken in, the side next the descent made extremely high, or else the hill itself cut away; otherwise the enemy may raise batteries within that distance without being exposed to a single shot from the fort.
Shingiss attended us to the Logstown, where we arrived between sun setting and dark, the twenty-fifth day after I left Williamsburg. We traveled over some extremely good and bad land to get to this place.
As soon as I came into town, I went to Monacatoocha (as the Half-King? was out at his hunting cabin on Little Beaver Creek, about fifteen miles off), and informed him by John Davidson, my Indian interpreter, that I was sent a messenger to the French general, and was ordered to call upon the sachems of the Six Nations to acquaint them with it. I gave him a string of wampum and a twist of tobacco and desired him to send for the Half- King, which he promised to do by a runner in the morning, and for other sachems. I invited him and the other great men present to my tent, where they stayed about an hour and returned.
According to the best observations I could make, Mr. Gist's new settlement (which we passed by) bears about west northwest seventy miles from Will's creek; Shannopins, or the fork, north by west, or north north- west, about fifty miles from that; and from thence to the Logstown the course is nearly west about eighteen or twenty miles; so that the whole distance, as we went and computed it, is at least one hundred and thirty-five or one hundred and forty miles from our back inhabitants.
NOVEMBER 25.
Came to town, four of ten Frenchmen, who had deserted from a com- pany at the Kuskuskas,8 which lies at the mouth of this river. I got the following account from them: They were sent from New Orleans with a. hundred men and eight canoe loads of provisions, to this place, where they expected to have met the same number of men from the forts on this side of Lake Erie, to convoy them and the stores up, who were not arrived when they ran off.
I inquired into the situation of the French on the Mississippi, their numbers, and what forts they had built. They informed me that there were four small forts between New Orleans and the Black Islands,9 gar --
7 Half-King. Tanacharisson, a shrewd Seneca, was called the Half -. King, as his authority was subject to that of the Five Nations. Campbell's History of Virginia, p. 461; Sargent's Braddock, p. 54. He was with. Washington in the affair with Jumonville, and died in October, 1754.
8 Kuskuskas was, it is said, an Indian town on Big Beaver Creek, Pennsylvania, but it is more likely that the French post of Kaskaskia is intended.
9 Black Islands. Washington was here evidentiy misled by the sound, and mistook Illinois for Isles Noires, that is, Black Islands. 'There was no. French post called Black Islands, but the name Illinois, now so familiar to us, was then upheard in the British colonies. The Miamis and Illinois were known as.Chicktaghicks and Twigtwies, and both together frequently- under the last, the more common term.
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Washington's Journal.
risoned with about thirty or forty men and a few small pieces in each; that at New Orleans, which is near the mouth of the Mississippi, there are thirty-five companies of forty men each, with a pretty strong fort, mounting eight carriage guns, and at the Black Islands there are several companies and a fort with six guns. The Black Islands are about a hundred and thirty leagues above the mouth of the Ohio, which is about three hundred and fifty above New Orleans. They also acquainted me that there was a small palisadoed fort on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Obaish,10 about sixty leagues from the Mississippi. The Obaish heads near the west end of Lake Erie, and affords the communication between the French on the Mississippi and those on the lakes. These deserters came up from the lower Shannoah11 town with one Brown, an Indian trader, and were going to Philadelphia.
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