The French claimed the valley of the Ohio as their territory; the
English claimed it as theirs. The dispute was of long standing.
The French claim was based on discovery; the English claim, on
the seato-sea charters of Virginia and other colonies and on
treaties with the Six Nations. The French refused to admit the
right of the Six Nations to dispose of the territory. The English
were inclined to maintain the validity of their treaties with the
Indians. Especially was Virginia so inclined, for a large share
of the Ohio lay within her chartered domain.
The quarrel had entered its acute phase in 1749, when both the
rival claimants took action to assert their sovereignty. The
Governor of Canada sent an envoy, Celoron de Blainville, with
soldiers, to take formal possession of the Ohio for the King of
France. In the same year the English organized in Virginia the
Ohio Company for the colonization of the same country; and
summoned Christopher Gist, explorer, trader, and guide, from his
home on the Yadkin and dispatched him to survey the land.
Then appeared on the scene that extraordinary man, Robert
Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, erstwhile citizen of
Glasgow. His correspondence from Virginia during his seven years'
tenure of office (1751-58) depicts the man with a vividness
surpassing paint.
Pages:
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88