_The Gathering Storm of War._
Life among the Planters--The Dismal Swamp--The peace of
Fontainebleau--Arrogance of the British--The Stamp Act--Speech
of Patrick Henry--The First Congress--Testimony of
Franklin--Views of Washington--Splendor of Display--Insolence
of the Soldiery--The Boston Massacre--The Expedition to the
Ohio--Events of the Journey--The Romance of Travel in the
Wilderness.
Many of the Virginia planters were devoted to pleasure alone. They
lived high, gambled, hunted, and left the management of their estates
very much to overseers. Washington was a model planter. He carried
into the administration of his estate all the sagacity, integrity,
punctuality, and industry, which had thus far characterized him in
public affairs. He was his own book-keeper, and his accounts were kept
with methodical exactness. His integrity was such, that it is said that
any barrel of flour, which bore his brand, was exempted in the West
India ports from the ordinary inspection.[57]
He was very simple in his domestic habits, rising often, in midwinter,
at five o’clock. He kindled his own fire, and read or wrote, by
candle-light, until seven o’clock when he breakfasted very frugally.
His ordinary breakfast was two small cups of tea, and three or four
cakes of Indian meal, called hoe-cakes. After breakfast he mounted one
of his superb horses, and in simple attire, but which set off to great
advantage his majestic frame, visited all those parts of the extended
estate, where any work was in progress. Everything was subjected to his
careful supervision. At times he dismounted, and even lent a helping
hand in furtherance of the operations which were going on. He dined at
two o’clock, and retired to his chamber about nine in the evening.[58]
He was kind in word and deed to his negro slaves, and while careful
that they should not be overtasked, was equally careful that they
should not be permitted to loiter away their time in idleness. The
servants were proud of their stately, dignified, wealthy master, and
looked up to him with reverence amounting almost to religious homage.
Washington was very fond of the chase. Often, when riding to a distant
part of the estate, he would take some of the hounds with him, from
the hope that he might start up a fox. There was not perhaps, in all
Virginia, a better horseman, or a more bold rider. The habits and
tastes of the old English nobility and gentry prevailed in Virginia
to an extraordinary degree. The passion for following the hounds
was thoroughly transplanted from the broad estates of the English
land-holders to the vast realms which nature had reared and embellished
on the banks of the Potomac, and amid the ridges of the Alleghanies.
Mount Vernon was always crowded with guests. Even the most profuse
hospitality was no burden to the princely proprietor. Frequently, in
the season, Washington would three times a week engage in these hunting
excursions with his guests. He could mount them all superbly from his
own stables. The Fairfaxes were constant companions on these festive
occasions. These opulent and high-bred gentlemen would often breakfast
at one mansion, and dine at another. It is said that Washington,
notwithstanding his natural stateliness of character, greatly enjoyed
these convivial repasts.
Washington was, however, by no means engrossed in these pleasures in
which he sought frequent recreation. The care of his vast estates
demanded much of his time. His superior abilities and his established
integrity led him to be in demand for public services. He was
appointed Judge of the County Court, and being a member of the House of
Burgesses, was frequently called from home by public duties. Whatever
trust Washington assumed, was discharged with the utmost fidelity. The
diary which he carefully kept was headed with the words, “Where and How
my Time is Spent.”[59]
The great Dismal Swamp, that vast, gloomy morass, thirty miles long and
ten miles wide, had then been but very partially explored. Washington,
with several other gentlemen of enterprise in his vicinity, formed a
project to drain it. Imagination can hardly conceive of a more gloomy
region. A dense, luxuriant forest, of cedar, cypress, hemlock, and
other evergreen and deciduous trees, sprang up from the spongy soil.
Many portions of this truly dismal realm were almost impenetrable, from
the density of thickets and interlacing vines. Stagnant creeks and
pools, some of which were almost lakes, were frequently interspersed.
It was the favorite haunt of venomous reptiles, and birds and animals
of ill omen.
Washington undertook to explore this revolting region. There were
portions of the quaking bog over which he could ride on horseback.
But often he had to dismount and carefully lead his horse from mound
to mound. In the centre of the morass he found a large sheet of water,
six miles long and three broad. It is appropriately called the Lake of
the Dismal Swamp. Upon the banks of this lake there was some firm land.
Here Washington encamped on the first night of his exploration. As the
result of this survey a company was chartered, under the title of the
Dismal Swamp Company. Through the efficiency of this company great
improvements were made in this once desolate region.
In the spring of 1763, the peace of Fontainebleau was signed; and
the two great kingdoms of England and France sheathed their swords.
During the conflict, the British government, through the arrogance
and haughty assumptions of its officers, had become increasingly
unpopular. The British had driven the French from the continent. They
had been accustomed to treat the Americans, officers and privates, as
contemptuously as they had treated the Indians. A man born in America
was deemed of an inferior grade to one born in England. This spirit,
which met the Americans at every turn, was rapidly severing the ties of
kindly feeling which had bound the emigrants to the mother country.
It was a constant endeavor of the British government to impose taxes
upon the Americans, while refusing them the right of any representation
in parliament. From the earliest period, when such a measure was
attempted, the colonists had, with great determination, remonstrated
against it. We cannot enter into the detail of the attempts made to
impose taxes, and the nature of the resistance presented. At one time
the colonists resolved not to purchase British fabrics, but to clothe
themselves in home manufactures. This, in Boston alone, cut off the
sale of British goods to the amount of more than fifty thousand dollars
in a single year.
The question was discussed in parliament, in the year 1764, George
Grenville being prime minister; and it was voted that England had a
right to tax America. There were, however, many Englishmen who were
opposed to the wrong, and who vehemently denounced it. In accordance
with this vote the Stamp Act was passed. By this act, no legal
instrument was binding, unless written upon paper stamped by the
British government, and purchased of their agents.
It is a little remarkable that aristocratic Virginia was the first
effectually to rise, in a burst of indignation, against this decree.
Thus far it had been strong in its devotion to the British crown,
church, and constitution. Washington was then a member of the Virginia
House of Burgesses. Patrick Henry, one of the most renowned of the
early patriots, presented the celebrated resolution, that “The General
Assembly of Virginia has the exclusive right and power to lay taxes
and impositions upon the inhabitants; and that whoever maintained the
contrary should be deemed an enemy to the colony.”[60]
It was in the speech of great eloquence which he made upon this
occasion, that he uttered the sentence which became world renowned:
“Cæsar had his Brutus; Charles his Cromwell; and George the
Third”--“Treason; treason,” shouted several emissaries of the crown.
Patrick Henry, bowing to the chairman, added, with great emphasis, “may
profit by their example. Sir; if this be treason, make the most of it.”
The storm was gathering. Washington foresaw it. With gloomy forebodings
he returned to Mount Vernon. He wrote to Francis Dandridge, his wife’s
uncle, then in London:
“The Stamp Act engrosses the conversation of the speculative part of
the colonists, who look upon this unconstitutional method of taxation
as a direful attack upon their liberties, and loudly exclaim against
the violation.”
The alarming posture of affairs led the General Court, or Assembly
of Massachusetts, to invite a Congress to meet, of delegates from
the several colonies. The meeting was held in New York, in October,
1765. There were delegates representing Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,
and South Carolina.
With great unanimity they denounced the acts of parliament imposing
taxes without their consent, and some other measures, as violations
of their rights and liberties. An address, in accordance with these
resolves, was sent to the king, and petitions to both houses of
parliament. In Boston, the stamp distributor was hung in effigy, and
the stamps were seized and burned. Similar demonstrations were made
in several other places. In Virginia, Mr. George Mercer was appointed
distributor. On his arrival at Williamsburg he declined the office.
The bells were rung, the town illuminated, and Mercer was greeted with
acclaim.
The 1st of November, 1765, was the appointed day for the Stamp Act to
go into operation. In many of the colonies the day was ushered in with
funereal solemnities. The shops were closed, bells were tolled, flags
were at half-mast, and many of the promoters of the act were burned in
effigy. In New York, a copy of the act was paraded through the streets,
in large letters on a pole, surmounted by a death’s head, with an
inscription beneath:
“The Folly of England and the Ruin of America.”
Innumerable were the scenes of popular reprobation and violence which
the obnoxious measure brought forth. The merchants of the great
commercial marts of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, mutually
pledged themselves not to purchase any goods of British manufacture,
until the act was repealed.
Washington took no active part in these demonstrations. All his
associations allied him with the aristocracy. The native dignity and
reserve of his character rendered it difficult for him to throw himself
into the turbid current of popular indignation. He was constitutionally
cautious, being careful never to take a step which he might be
compelled to retrace. He remained quietly at Mount Vernon, absorbed in
the complicated cares of the large estates there subject to his control.
The commotion so increased that the British government became somewhat
alarmed. Dr. Franklin was called before the House of Commons to be
examined on the subject. He was asked:
“What was the temper of America toward Great Britain before the year
1763?”
The philosopher replied, in calm, well ordered phrase, characteristic
of the extraordinary man:
“The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the government of
the crown. Numerous as the people are, in the several old provinces,
they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies to keep
them in subjection. They were governed, by this country, at the expense
only of a little pen, ink, and paper. They had not only respect, but
affection for Great Britain, its laws, its customs and manners, and
even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce.
Natives of Great Britain were always treated with particular regard. To
be an Old England man was, of itself, a character of some respect, and
gave a kind of rank among us.”
“And what is their temper now?” Franklin was asked.
He replied, “Oh! it is very much altered. If the Stamp Act is not
repealed there will be a total loss of the respect and affection the
people of America bear to England; and there will be the total loss of
the commerce which depends on that respect and affection.”
“Do you think,” the question was asked, “that the people of America
would consent to pay the tax if it were moderated?”
“No,” Franklin replied; “never, unless compelled by force of arms.”[61]
These representations probably exerted very considerable influence. The
act was repealed on the 18th of March, 1766. Washington was in entire
harmony with the philosophic Franklin in his views upon this subject.
To a friend he wrote:
“Had the Parliament of Great Britain resolved upon enforcing it,
the consequences, I conceive, would have been more direful than is
generally apprehended, both to the mother country and her colonies. All
therefore, who were instrumental in securing the repeal, are entitled
to the thanks of every British subject, and have mine cordially.”[62]
The Americans were struggling for the establishment of a principle
which they deemed vital to their liberties. The petty pecuniary sum
involved in that one case was of but little moment. The repeal of the
act was attended with the obnoxious and insulting declaration that the
king and parliament “had the right to bind the people of America in all
cases whatever.”
In correspondence with this assumption, a tax was speedily imposed
on tea, glass, and sundry other articles. Troops were also sent out
to hold the Americans in subjection, and the colonies were ordered to
pay for their support. Two regiments of British regulars were sent to
Boston. This was indeed shaking the rod over the heads of the people. A
town meeting was called. It was resolved that the king had no right to
quarter troops upon the citizens, without their consent. The selectmen
refused to provide lodgings for them.
Most of the troops were encamped on the common, while the governor, as
agent of the crown, converted the State House and Faneuil Hall into
barracks for others. The indignation of the people was at the boiling
point. To overawe them, cannon, charged with grape-shot, were planted,
to sweep the approaches to the State House and Faneuil Hall, and
sentinels, with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, challenged all who
passed.
These regiments paraded the quiet streets of puritanic Boston with
their banners and glittering weapons, and the martial music of bugles,
drum and fifes was heard, even on the Sabbath, and every note fell upon
the ears of the people like an insult and defiance. Washington, in
his beautiful retreat at Mount Vernon, was steadfastly and anxiously
watching all these proceedings. His feelings, in reference to the
conduct of the British government, were very frankly expressed in the
following letter to a friend, George Mason.[63]
“At a time when our lordly masters in Great Britain will be satisfied
with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems
highly necessary that something should be done to avert the stroke, and
maintain the liberty which we have derived from our ancestors. But the
manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in
question. That no man should scruple or hesitate a moment, in defence
of so valuable a blessing, is clearly my opinion. Yet arms should be
the last resource. We have already, it is said, proved the inefficacy
of addresses to the throne and remonstrances to Parliament. How far
their attention to our rights and interests is to be awakened or
alarmed, by starving their trade and manufactures, remains to be tried.”
Washington clearly foresaw how terrible the sacrifice which he and his
opulent associates must make, in entering into a conflict with the
British government. He alluded to this in the following words:
“I can see but one class of people, the merchants excepted, who will
not, or ought not, to wish well to the scheme; namely those who live
genteelly and hospitably on clear estates. Such as these, were they not
to consider the valuable object in view, and the good of others, might
think it hard to be curtailed in their living and enjoyments.”
It required the highest patriotic heroism for these wealthy men to
peril their earthly all in such a conflict. An appeal to arms, followed
by defeat, would inevitably lead to the confiscation of their estates,
and to their execution upon the scaffold, as guilty of high treason.
Mr. Mason nobly replied, in harmony with the spirit of Washington:
“Our all is at stake; and the little conveniences and comforts of
life, when set in competition with our liberty, ought to be rejected,
not with reluctance but with pleasure. We may retrench all manner of
superfluities, finery of all descriptions, and confine ourselves to
linens, woollens, etc. It is amazing how much this practice, if adopted
by all the colonies, would lessen the American imports, and distress
the various trades and manufactures of Great Britain.”
The result of this correspondence was the draft, by Mr. Mason, of the
plan of an association, each member of which was to pledge himself
not to use any article of British merchandise upon which a duty was
imposed. Washington was to submit this plan to the House of Burgesses,
on its approaching session. A somewhat similar resolve had already
been adopted by the people of Boston.
The king had appointed Lord Botetourt[64] Governor of Virginia. It was
the plan of the British court to crush the Puritans of Massachusetts by
the gleam of bayonets and the rumbling of artillery. But the Cavaliers
of Virginia were to be dazzled and seduced by such a display of regal
splendor as had never before been witnessed on this continent. It was
supposed that the _title_ of the noble lord would quite overawe the
wealthy, splendor-loving plebeians of the Potomac. The king presented
Lord Botetourt with a very magnificent coach of state, and also with a
gorgeous dining service of solid silver.[65] When the governor reached
Williamsburg, he surrounded his petty court with all the etiquette
of royalty. He opened the session of the Assembly with the pomp of
the monarch opening Parliament. His massive coach of state, polished
like a mirror, and with the panels emblazoned with his lordship’s
family coat-of-arms, was drawn from his mansion to the capitol by six
milk-white horses in the richest caparisons.
The poor negroes gazed upon the pageant, with mouths wide open with
wonder, awe, and admiration. The bedizened lord, seated upon luxurious
cushions, with his outriders, his brilliantly liveried coachman and
footman, appeared to them but little less than an archangel from some
higher sphere. But the pompous display was not in the least calculated
to overawe George Washington, George Mason, and their gentlemanly
associates, who well knew the value of human rights, and the
worthlessness of tawdry splendor.
The souls of these men were moved by stern responsibilities pressing
upon them. Several members presented spirited resolves denouncing
the late acts of Parliament in imposing taxes. It was declared,
emphatically, that the power to impose taxes was vested in the House
of Burgesses alone. Washington was prepared to submit the plan
of agreement which Mr. Mason had drawn up. The plan was publicly
canvassed, and everywhere met with approval. An address was voted to
the king, in which it was urged that all trials for treason, alleged to
be committed in one of the colonies, should be tried before the courts
of that colony. It was very clear that if any one, who had incurred the
displeasure of the crown, should be dragged to London for trial, he
would stand a very poor chance of acquittal.
Lord Botetourt was astonished by these bold declarations and demands.
He promptly repaired to the capitol, authoritatively summoned the
speaker and his council to his audience chamber, and said to them
imperiously:
“Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, I have heard of
your resolves, and augur ill of their effects. You have made it my duty
to dissolve you; and you are dissolved accordingly.”
The Burgesses, as the members of the colonial Assembly were called,
unintimidated by this exercise of the royal prerogative, repaired, in a
body, to a private house. They were no longer the House of Burgesses,
but merely a collection of citizens. They chose for moderator their
late speaker, Peyton Randolph.[66] Washington then presented his draft
of an association to discountenance the use of all British merchandise,
taxed by Parliament to raise a revenue in America. It was signed by
every member. Then, being printed, it was sent throughout the country,
and to other colonies, and soon became almost universally adopted.
The king and parliament were not alarmed; they were only astonished
to see that the helpless worm should have presumption thus to squirm
beneath their gigantic tread. Lord Botetourt soon began to feel the
influence of the society which surrounded him. He found that the
opulent, highly cultivated gentlemen of Virginia, were quite his
equals; that they were men who could not be dazzled from their paths,
by any display of ribbons and gilding and courtly pomp.
Nay, more than this; he soon began to feel the power of their
superior intelligence. As he listened to their courteous and logical
representations, he became convinced that their cause was a just
one; that their grievances were many, and that he had entered upon
his office, with entirely erroneous impressions respecting the true
posture of affairs. His pompous equipage was laid aside. He reduced his
establishment to the simplicity of that of a well bred gentleman. He
even did not hesitate to declare that the taxes ought to be repealed,
and that sundry other reforms were called for.
In Boston, a committee called upon the royal governor to state that the
General Court could not deliberate, with self-respect, when the State
House was surrounded by soldiers, and cannon were pointed at its doors,
and men-of-war were in the harbor, with their guns directed menacingly
against the town. They requested therefore that the governor, as the
representative of his majesty the king, would have such forces removed
from Boston during the session of the court.
The governor curtly replied, “I have no authority to order the removal
of either ships or troops.”
The General Court responded firmly but respectfully, “The General Court
cannot then undertake to transact any business, while thus menaced by
cannon and muskets.”
The governor was embarrassed. There was business of pressing importance
to come before the court. He endeavored to extricate himself by
ordering the court to meet in Cambridge, beyond the reach of the guns
of the fleet, and where there were no troops. The court met, and the
governor immediately sent in a requisition for money to pay to British
soldiers, and for quarters to be assigned for their board and lodging.
The blood of the Puritan was as red and pure as that of his equally
patriotic brother the Cavalier. After a solemn discussion, for it was a
solemn moment, involving issues of fearful magnitude, these noble men
returned an answer, in brief as follows:
“The establishment of a standing army in this colony, in a time of
peace, is an invasion of our natural rights.”
There was no offer to provide for these British regulars, and no
refusal to do so, save what might be implied in the resolve. The
governor again sent to know whether the Assembly would or would not
make provision for the British troops. The decisive reply was returned
that it was “incompatible with their own honor and interest, and their
duty to their constituents,” to pay the expenses of British soldiers
thus unconstitutionally billeted upon the American people.
The governor, much annoyed, prorogued the Assembly, and ordered it to
meet again in Boston, on the 1st of January, 1770.
The “Non-Importation Associations,” as they were called, produced the
effect, on British commerce, which the advocates of those measures had
anticipated. The British merchants were in great trouble. They flooded
Parliament with petitions that the taxes might be repealed, so that
commerce might be restored.
Lord North became prime minister. He was one of the most haughty of
England’s nobles, with limited capacity, but an obstinate will. He
revoked all duties excepting that on tea. Thus he adhered to the
_principle_ that England had a right to impose taxes upon America,
without allowing the Americans any representation in Parliament. He
distinctly announced that this single tax was continued, “to maintain
the parliamentary right of taxation.” It was foolishly thought that,
because the tax was only three-pence on the pound, the Americans
would therefore consent to be betrayed into the establishment of the
principle.
There were many Englishmen in Parliament whose sympathies were entirely
with the Americans. In strains of eloquence equal to any which have
ever proceeded from human lips, they argued the cause of colonial
rights. George III. was one of the most obstinate of men. Lord North
was bound to obey his behests. He but gave utterance to the sentiments
of his royal master in saying:
“The properest time to exert our right of taxation is when the right is
refused. To temporize is to yield. The authority of the mother country,
if it is now unsupported, will be relinquished forever. A total repeal
cannot be thought of, till America is prostrate at our feet.”[67]
The British soldiers, established in Boston, were exceedingly obnoxious
to the citizens, and bitter hostility soon sprung up between them.
These veterans, inured to the cruelties of war, as, in their gay
uniform they paraded the streets, with gleaming bayonets and loaded
muskets, looked very contemptuously upon the towns-people, and often
treated them with great insolence.
One day there was some collision between a party of young Bostonians
and a small band of soldiers. The unarmed young men were put to flight,
and the soldiers pursued them. The alarm bells were rung. Excited
crowds swept through the streets. The mob, armed with clubs and stones,
assailed the troops fiercely. They defended themselves with bullets.
Four of the populace were killed. Several others were wounded. The
exasperation had now risen to such a pitch that the governor deemed it
expedient to remove the troops from the town. Tidings of the “Boston
Massacre” swept through all the colonies, and added additional fuel to
the flame already so fiercely burning.
Lord Botetourt found no friendly response to his representations at the
British Court. He had been sent to Virginia to overawe the inhabitants,
and to bring them into servile obedience to the British crown. He had
thought that the same views of truth, which had influenced his mind,
would exert a conciliatory influence upon the king and his cabinet.
But he was bitterly disappointed. Opprobrium was his only reward.
Desponding and enfeebled, he was attacked by a bilious fever and died.
He had become endeared to the people by his noble espousal of their
cause. Washington testified that he was disposed “to render every just
and reasonable service to the people whom he governed.” The House of
Burgesses erected a statue to his memory, in the area of the capitol.
The path of this world, as of all its nations and individuals, has
ever been through darkness, clouds, and storms. While the tempest of
national war, which was to doom our land to the most awful woes, was
thus deepening its folds, Washington undertook another expedition,
across the mountains, to the Ohio. He was influenced by public as well
as private considerations. The State of Virginia had offered a bounty
of two hundred thousand acres of land, to be divided among the officers
and soldiers, who had served during the French war, according to their
rank. Washington was one of the Virginia Board of Commissioners. There
had been great neglect in settling these claims. The zeal of Washington
was aroused that they should be promptly and fully paid.
The treaties made with the Indians in those days, will seldom bear
minute investigation. The purchasers were not careful to ascertain the
validity, of the title of the chiefs, to the lands which they sold. And
many of the chiefs were ready, for a suitable compensation, to sell all
their right and title to lands to which they had no claim whatever.
There was a powerful confederacy of tribes living in the vicinity of
the great northern lakes, called the Six Nations.[68] By a treaty, in
1768, these chiefs sold to the British crown all the land possessed by
them south of the river Ohio. Speculators were rushing in. It was the
object of Washington to visit these fertile acres, and affix his seal
to such tracts as he might deem suitable to pay off the soldiers’ claim.
It was an enterprise fraught with considerable danger. There was no
law in these vast wilds, which were ranged by Indians, and by white
men still more savage in character. Several of the tribes in that
region remonstrated against the sale. Among these were the powerful
Delawares, Mingoes, and Shawnees. They said that the chiefs of the Six
Nations had withheld from them their share of the consideration which
was paid; and that they were as legitimate owners of those vast hunting
grounds as were any chiefs of the Six Nations. They therefore openly
avowed their intention of exacting the deficiency, which they deemed
due to them, from the white men who should attempt to settle on their
hunting-grounds. Thus there had been several robberies and murders,
perpetrated by no one knew who. White vagabonds, dressed in Indian
costume, could scarcely be distinguished from the Indians themselves.
And lawless bands of savages, roving here and there, were the burglars
and highway robbers of the wilderness, for whose outrages no tribe
could be held responsible.
Washington selected, for his companion, on this expedition, his very
congenial friend and neighbor, Dr. Craik.[69] Washington took two of
his negro servants to accompany him, and the doctor took one. Thus
the party consisted of five persons. All were well mounted. A single
led horse carried the baggage of the party. A journey of twelve days
conducted them, through this unpeopled wilderness, to Fort Pitt, which,
it will be remembered, had been reared on the ruins of Fort Duquesne.
It was the 17th of October, 1770, when they reached the fort. It was
garrisoned by two companies of Irishmen. Around the fort a little
hamlet had sprung up, of about twenty log houses. It was called the
town. These rude dwellings, in comfort but little above the wigwam
of the savage, were occupied by a rough, coarse set of men, who had
been lured into the wilderness to trade with the Indians. Such was
the origin, scarcely one hundred years ago, of the present beautiful
city of Pittsburg, with its opulent, refined, and highly cultivated
population.
One of these cabins they called a tavern. Nominally, Washington and
his companion took up their quarters there. But they were entertained
within the fort with all the hospitality that frontier post could
afford. Washington met, at the fort, Colonel George Crogan, a man of
great renown in frontier adventures. He had reared his hut on the banks
of the Alleghany river, about four miles above the fort. Washington
visited the colonel, at his spacious and well-guarded cabin. There
he met several chiefs of the Six Nations. The fame of Washington had
reached their ears. They greeted him fraternally, and assured him of
their earnest desire to live in peace with the white men.
Washington and his party, returning to Fort Pitt, left their horses
there, and embarked in a large canoe to sail down the beautiful and
placid Ohio, as far as the Great Kanawha. Colonel Crogan engaged two
Indians attendants and an interpreter to accompany the party, as they
floated down the sublime solitudes of this majestic stream. He also,
with several other officers, descended the river with them in a canoe,
about thirty miles, as far as the Indian village called Logstown. It
will be remembered that Washington had held an interview with the
Indian chiefs here on a former excursion.[70]
It was the lovely month of October. Nothing can be imagined more
beautiful than the luxuriant banks of the Ohio, with their swelling
mounds, crowned in their autumnal vesture. It was the favorite hunting
season of the Indians. The river valley abounded with game. The roving
Indians were alike at home everywhere. They had a taste for lovely
scenery. In every cove their picturesque wigwams could be seen. They
feasted abundantly upon the choicest viands the forest and river could
afford. Often, at night, the picturesque scenery would be illumined,
far and wide, by their camp fires, while the echoes of hill and valley
were awakened by their boisterous revelry.
Blessed peace reigned; and our voyagers were cordially welcomed and
hospitably entertained at all these encampments. As they drifted
down the tranquil current, they found themselves in the paradise
of sportsmen. Herds of deer were browsing in the rich meadows, and
unintimidated by the passage of the boats, were coming down to the
waters edge to drink. At times the whole surface of the stream seemed
to be covered with water-fowl, of every variety of gay plumage. Flocks
of ducks and geese, in their streaming flight were soaring through the
air. These skilful sportsmen, without landing, could fill their canoes
with game. When night came, selecting some sheltered and attractive
spot, they would land, erect their hut, imperious to wind and rain,
spread their couch of rushes or fragrant hemlock boughs, build their
fires, and, with appetites whetted by the adventures of the day, enjoy
as rich a repast as earth can give.
The banks of the Ohio are now fringed with magnificent hotels, and the
stream is ploughed with steamers palatial grandeur. But probably no
voyagers on that river now can find the enjoyment, which Washington
experienced in his canoe, one hundred years ago.
Washington had a spirit of romance in his nature which led him
intensely to enjoy such scenes. And yet he was at the farthest remove
from a mere pleasure-seeker. His journal shows that his mind was
much engrossed with the great object of the expedition. He carefully
examined the soil, the growth of timber, and the tracts of land most
suitable for immediate settlement.
At Logstown, Colonel Crogan, and the officers of the fort returned
up the river, and left the adventurers to pursue their voyage into
the solitary realms beyond. About seventy-five miles below Fort Pitt
they came to quite an important Indian village, called Mingotown. Here
again, amid all these scenes of peace and beauty, where man might enjoy
almost the bliss of Eden, they came to the sad evidences of our fallen
race. The whole population was in turmoil. Sixty warriors, hideously
painted and armed to the teeth, were just setting out on the warpath.
Their savage natures were roused to the highest pitch of hatred against
the Cherokees, for some real or imagined wrong. With demoniac rage they
were going to rush upon some Cherokee village, at midnight; to apply
the torch, to dash out the brains of women and children, to tomahawk
the men; and, having made such captives as they could, to bring them
back to their villages, and there, burning them at the stake, to
inflict upon them the most fiend-like torture.
It was also said that, about forty miles farther down the river, two
white men had been recently killed. Who their murderers were was not
known, or whether their object was plunder or revenge. This troubled
state of affairs led Washington to hesitate whether to continue
his voyage. He, however, decided to proceed, though with great
circumspection. Having arrived at the spot, at the mouth of Captema
creek, where the murder were said to have taken place, he found a small
Indian village, two women only being there, as the men were all absent
hunting. Here he learned that rumor had, as usual, been exaggerating
the facts. Two traders had attempted to cross the Ohio, on the backs of
their horses, swimming them; and one of them had been drowned. This was
all.
The voyage of two additional days, through unbroken solitudes, brought
the party to an Indian hunting camp, at the mouth of the Muskingum
river. An illustrious chieftain resided here, by the name of Kiashuta.
He was a sachem of the Senecas, and was considered head chief of the
river tribes.[71]
Kiashuta was a renowned warrior. He had been one of the most energetic
of the Indian chieftains in Pontiac’s conspiracy for the extermination
of the English. The chief instantly recognized Washington. Seventeen
years before, in 1753, he had formed one of the escort of the youthful
Washington, across the wilderness country, to the French posts near
Lake Erie.
The chief received Washington with every demonstration of friendship,
presented him with a quarter of a fine buffalo, just killed, aided
him in establishing his camp, and, at the camp fire, engaged in
earnest conversation until near the dawn of the morning. He was a very
intelligent man, of decided views as to Indian policy, and was well
informed respecting the plans and measures of the English. As was
the case with nearly all the chiefs, he was very anxious for peace
with the white men. He expressed the earnest desire, to Washington,
that friendly relations might continue to exist between them and the
English, and that trade might be carried on between them upon equitable
terms. Impartial history must declare that the Indians seldom if ever
commenced hostilities, unless goaded to do so by intolerable wrongs.
Early the next morning the delightful voyage was resumed, beneath
unclouded skies, through charming scenery, over a placid river, and in
the enjoyment of as genial a clime as this earth can anywhere afford.
They reached the mouth of the Great Kanawha. Here, upon a spot on the
southern, or Kentucky shore, appropriately called Point Pleasant, they
encamped for several days to explore the solitudes of the grand realms
spreading around them.[72]
Washington describes the country as charming in the extreme. There
were, in the vicinity, many beautiful lakelets of crystal water fringed
with the grand forest in its autumnal vesture. Over these still waters,
ducks, geese, and swans floated in numbers which could not be counted.
Their gambols and their joyous notes excited the mind with the most
pleasurable emotions. Flocks of fat turkeys would scarcely step aside
from the path of the hunter, while buffalo, deer, and other similar
game, met the eye in great abundance. The larder of our voyagers was
profusely stored, and among those back woodsmen there were cooks who
knew well how to find the tender cuts, and how to prepare them for
their repasts with the most appetizing effect.