To day I detacht 7
men of my company to go in the artelery under the command of Cap. Jones. Went
out to walk round to see the land; could see where the Indians used to carry
our people in order to burn. I am told great numbers of them have been caried
there to suffer to satisfie their insatiate loue of blood & cruelty. At
night we followed the old custom of drinking to wives & swetthearts.
SOURCE: Samuel
Jenks, Diary of Captain Samuel Jenks
During the French and Indian War, 1760, p. 8
1 A batteau is a kind of scow or flat-boat,
used on shallow streams like the Hudson above Waterford.
2 Saratoga. This settlement was near the mouth
of the Fish creek, on the south side. The village of Schuylerville is just
across the stream, on the north side. On the plain, in front of the village of
Schuylerville, was a regular quadrangular fortification, with bastions, called
Foil Hardy. It was erected in 1756, and named in honor of the governor of New
York at that time.
3 On the west side of the Hudson, six or eight
miles below Fort Edward. The river is there broken by swift rapids. During this
campaign, Major (afterward General) Putnam was here surprised by a party of
Indians, and boldly descended the rapids in a canoe, and escaped. It was a feat
they never dared to attempt, and they felt certain that he was under the
protection of the Great Spirit. Here a stream called Bloody Run enters the
Hudson. It is so named because a party of soldiers from the garrison, in 1759,
went there to fish, were surprised by the Indians, and nine were killed and scalped.
SOURCE: Abraham
Tomlinson, Editor, The Military Journals
of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775, p. 16
You are to go out as soon as possible to the Westward of the great Mountains, and carry with you such a Number of Men, as You think necessary, in Order to search out and discover the Lands upon the River Ohio, & other adjoining Branches of the Mississippi down as low as the great Falls thereof: You are particularly to observe the Ways & Passes thro all the Mountains you cross, & take an exact Account of the Soil, Quality, & Product of the Land, and the Wideness and Deepness of the Rivers, & the several Falls belonging to them, together with the Courses & Bearings of the Rivers & Mountains as near as you conveniently can. You are also to observe what Nations of Indians inhabit there, their Strength & Numbers, who they trade with, & in what Comodities they deal.
When you find a large Quantity of good, level Land, such as you think will suit the Company, You are to measure the Breadth of it, in three or four different Places, & take the Courses of the River and Mountains on which it binds in Order to judge the Quantity: You are to fix the Beginning & Bounds in such a Manner that they may be easily found again by your Description; the nearer in the Land lies, the better, provided it be good & level, but we had rather go quite down the Mississippi than take mean broken Land. After finding a large Body of good level Land, you are not to stop, but proceed farther, as low as the Falls of the Ohio, that We may be informed of that Navigation; And You are to take an exact Account of all the large Bodies of good level Land, in the same Manner as above directed, that the Company may the better judge where it will be most convenient for them to take their Land.
You are to note all the Bodies of good Land as you go along, tho there is not a sufficient Quantity for the Company's Grant, but You need not be so particular in the Mensuration of that, as in the larger Bodies of Land.
You are to draw as good a Plan as you can of the Country You pass thro: You are to take an exact and particular Journal of all your Proceedings, and make a true Report thereof to the Ohio Company.
SOURCE: William M. Darlington, Christopher Gist’s Journals, pp. 31-2
The Weather being bad and I unwell I stayed here all Day: The Indian to whom this Camp belonged spoke good English and directed Me the Way to his Town, which is called Shannopini Town: He said it was about 60 M and a pretty good Way.
SOURCE: William M. Darlington, Christopher Gist’s Journals, p. 33
І was unwell and stayed in this Town to recover myself; While I was here I took an Opportunity to set my Compass privately, & took the Distance across the River, for I understood it was dangerous to let a Compass be seen among these Indians: The River Ohio is 76 Poles wide at Shannopin Town: There are about twenty Families in this Town: The Land in general from Potomack to this Place is mean stony and broken, here and there good Spots upon the Creeks and Branches but no Body of it.
SOURCE: William M. Darlington, Christopher Gist’s Journals, p. 34
Down the River W 3 M, NW 5 M to Loggs Town; the Lands these last 8 M very rich the Bottoms above a Mile wide, but on the SE side, scarce a Mile wide, the Hills high and steep. In the Loggs Town, I found scarce any Body but a Parcel of reprobate Indian Traders, the Chiefs of the Indians being out a hunting: here I was informed that George Croghan & Andrew Montour who were sent upon an Embassy from Pensylvania to the Indians, were passed about a Week before me. The People in this Town, began to enquire my Business, and because I did not readily inform them, they began to suspect me, and said, I was come to settle the Indian's Lands and they knew I should never go Home again safe; I found this Discourse was like to be of ill Consequence to me, so I pretended to speak very slightingly of what they had said to me, and enquired for Croghan (who is a meer Idol among his Countrymen the Irish Traders) and Andrew Montour the Interpreter for Pensylvania, and told them I had a Message to deliver the Indians from the King, by Order of the President of Virginia, & for that Reason wanted to see M Montour: This made them all pretty easy (being afraid to interrupt the King's Message) and obtained me Quiet and Respect among them, otherwise I doubt not they woud have contrived some Evil against me I imediately wrote to M Croghan, by one of the Trader's People.
SOURCE: William M. Darlington, Christopher Gist’s Journals, pp. 34-5