Three Years in the Wilderness
Young Washington was tall and of athletic build, which, together with
his manner, made him seem older than he was. It did not occur to any one
to treat the sixteen-year-old youth like a boy. His principal qualities
were earnestness, decision, candor, and modesty. In the Spring of 1748
he set out on his surveying expedition, accompanied by the
twenty-two-year-old George, son of William Fairfax, and a negro, all
three on horseback. At that time the beautiful chain of the Blue Ridge
Mountains formed the western boundary of inhabited Virginia. The little
party was obliged to traverse these in order to reach the territory
which they were to survey. The tops of the mountains were still covered
with snow and ice, while Spring had already sown the valleys with
flowers. They had to ride over rocky passes and through thickets to
reach their destination. The greatest difficulty they encountered was in
crossing the mountain torrents, swollen by the melting snows, but
courage and resourcefulness helped them to surmount all obstacles.
Crossing a pass, they at last reached the chief valley of Virginia,
which is nearly twenty-five miles broad and very beautiful. The clear
river which flows through it was called “The Daughter of the Stars” by
the Indians, because of its loveliness.
George outdid himself in glowing descriptions of the region in his
diary, but from the moment when real work began there is not a trace of
such descriptions to be found in the book. From that time he lived only
for his work. As it was seldom that the little company chanced upon the
hut of a squatter, George and his companions spent most of their nights
around a campfire in the forest. Their food consisted, for the most
part, of wild turkeys. A fork-shaped stick was the spit and a chip of
wood the plate. Of course George had to expect and be prepared to meet
with Indians, so that he and his companions had armed themselves. It was
natural that the Indians should not be very friendly to the settlers.
They looked upon the country as their property and upon the white
squatters as interlopers and robbers. There was much cruelty practised
on both sides. Fairly considered, one must admit that the Indians had
shown themselves incapable of any kind of communal development, and it
would have been a pity for such an enormous territory, immensely rich in
some portions, to have remained in the sole possession of a race which
was incapable of civilization and which probably never numbered over one
hundred thousand people. In contrast to the Indians, the increase of the
Europeans was extraordinary. In his own peculiar but essentially just
manner, this was once commented upon by an Indian chief, called by the
Americans “Little Turtle,” in a speech to the whites. It is a strange
and incomprehensible thing about the white people. Scarcely two
generations have passed since you set foot on our soil, and already you
cover it like a swarm of insects, while we aborigines, who have lived
here no one knows how long, are almost as few in number as the deer
which we hunt. To be sure, you palefaces know how to make use of a piece
not much bigger than my hand. On a patch only fifteen or twenty times as
great as this room, a white man will raise enough food to keep him for a
full year. He takes another bit of land grown with grass and herbs and
raises his cattle upon it, which supply him with milk and meat. We red
men, on the contrary, need immense territories, for the deer which we
kill and which scarce provides us with food for two days, needs a great
region in which to attain its proper growth. And when we have killed two
or three hundred deer, it is the same as though we had destroyed all the
grass and woods on which they subsisted. The white men spread out like
oil on a blanket, while we melt away like snow in the spring sunshine,
and if we do not soon adopt new ways, it will be impossible for the race
of red men long to survive. But the Indians showed themselves incapable
of learning “new ways.”
[Illustration: _WASHINGTON AMONG THE INDIANS_]
George, who had seen no Indians heretofore, met a band of about thirty
warriors one day. One of them carried the scalp of an enemy, as a
pennant, in front of the procession. It would have gone hard with the
little company if the Indians had attacked them, which would no doubt
have happened if they had shown any signs of fear. A small present of
liquor procured them the spectacle of a war dance. The Indians kindled a
fire in the midst of an open space and seated themselves in a circle
around it. Then the chief began to extol their deeds of valor, his voice
and gestures becoming more and more animated. The warriors sat with
bowed heads, as in a dream. Suddenly, as though awakened by the glowing
description of their heroic deeds, a warrior sprang up and began a
curious, wild dance. One after another followed his example, until most
of them were leaping about the blazing fire, emitting frightful cries
and seeming more like demons than human beings. Music was not lacking
for this spectacle. One savage drummed on a deerskin, which was
stretched over a kettle half filled with water, and another played upon
an instrument made of a hollow gourd, which contained a number of pieces
of shot and was decorated with a horse’s tail.
The survey was completed and in little more than a month’s time George
arrived at Mount Vernon, where he gave an account of his work to Lord
Fairfax and received the acknowledgment of his complete satisfaction.
Young Washington had, with the accomplishment of this piece of work,
taken his diploma, so to speak, as a surveyor. His reputation was
established, and before he was seventeen he received the appointment as
public surveyor, and his work, from this time, was officially accepted
by the public authorities of Virginia. He received orders from many
quarters and for three years devoted himself to his growing business. We
may know how conscientiously he did his work from the fact that down to
this day, in Virginia, the surveys are relied upon which are officially
recorded under his name. Lord Fairfax immediately made arrangements for
the cultivation of a beautiful portion of his large property on the
other side of the Blue Ridge. He laid out a gentleman’s estate of ten
thousand acres of pasture and farm lands, which he called Greenway
Court.
The greater part of the three years George spent in the beautiful but
lonely forest. What a contrast this is to the enervating life of many
youths in our great cities! The grand impressions of nature strengthened
and steeled him in body and mind. The solitude of the woods stimulated
him to dwell upon the noblest thoughts and emotions. In the intervals of
work he spent more or less time with his step-brother, Lawrence’s
father-in-law, and Lord Fairfax. Association with these men of fine
breeding kept his manners from deteriorating in spite of his life in the
wilderness. It is not surprising that he gained confidence in himself
through his work and because of the confidence with which it was
accepted by every one else. And the labor of these three years was of
still greater advantage to him in another way, which he did not
appreciate until later. How could the young surveyor dream that before
long he should be traversing the same region as a soldier! It is always
most important in the conduct of a war to know the configurations of the
country well. As an engineer Washington had surveyed his future theatre
of war and carefully noted down his observations.