the
advance skirmishers of their respective armies, they often exchanged
shots, and then fell back to report what they had seen and done to their
countrymen.

The fertile lands of the Great West had long attracted attention, and
many efforts had been made to buy them at a cheap price to sell again to
settlers. In 1749, the Ohio Company was formed by a number of London
merchants and several prominent Virginians. The lands they bought lay in
western Pennsylvania, which Virginia claimed as part of her territory.
This company proved its earnestness by sending out surveyors, opening
roads, and offering tempting inducements to settlers.

The French were equally prompt and took possession of the country
between the Alleghanies and their main chain of forts. They built a fort
at Presq' Isle, on the site of the present city of Erie, and began
erecting a new chain of forts southward toward the Ohio. Governor
Dinwiddie of Virginia saw the danger of permitting this encroachment,
and he wrote a letter of remonstrance to the French commander, which was
placed in the hands of GEORGE WASHINGTON, to be carried five hundred
miles through wilderness, across mountains and dangerous rivers, to the
point in western Pennsylvania where the French officer was building his
forts upon disputed ground.

[Illustration: YOUNG WASHINGTON RIDING A COLT.

One summer morning, young George, with three or four boys, was in the
field looking at a colt, given him by his mother, and when the boys said
that it could never be tamed, George said: "You help me get on its back,
and I'll tame it."]

The journey was a long and perilous one, but Washington, who was a
magnificent specimen of vigorous young manhood, performed it in safety,
and brought back the reply of the French commander, which notified
Governor Dinwiddie that he not only refused to vacate the territory, but
would drive out every Englishman he found within it.

This meant war, and Virginia made her preparations. She raised about 400
men and placed them under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington,
who was more familiar with the country than anyone else. The Ohio
Company at that time were putting up a fort on the present site of
Pittsburg, and Washington hurried forward to protect it. The Frenchmen
understood the value of a post at the junction of the Alleghany and
Monongahela Rivers, and also started on a race for it. They arrived
first, captured the fort, strengthened it, and gave it t