eeded to raise a family of six
sons and three daughters.

In 1754 Governor Dinwiddie offered as bait to officers who would enlist
for service in the French and Indian Wars, two hundred thousand acres of
land in the Ohio country. Sixteen years later this land had not been
distributed. Washington was selected as agent to represent the officers
of the First Virginia Regiment, and at their request, he left early in
October 1770 to inspect and locate lands to be patented in their names.
He was accompanied by Dr. Craik. The two set off on horseback with three
Negro servants, two of the General's and one of Dr. Craik's, and a pack
horse, spending two months in surveying and plotting these wild lands.
Despite bad weather, cold, and early snow, it was a journey enjoyed by
both men.

The route was charged with memories of Fry and Braddock's campaign.
Washington wished to retrace these rivers and streams. The possibility
of connecting the Potomac with the west by canals, opening up the
country for settlement and trade had come to the engineer even while the
soldier was fighting. As they rode he dreamed of tilled fields and
settled communities in the path of his horse and used his instruments to
measure distances and to plumb the depth of streams. That he revealed
his plans to this congenial friend of his travels seems certain.
Fourteen years later, in 1784, he took Dr. Craik over the same terrain
when these dreams appeared to attain realization in the contemplated
canal to connect the Potomac with the Ohio.

During his entire life, Dr. Craik was a steady visitor at Mount Vernon,
on social occasions or on professional calls. He could be counted on for
a visit at least once a month; sometimes he remained four or five days
at a time, but more frequently he only passed the night. It is rather
strange that the good Doctor is never mentioned as a companion of
Washington's favorite sport. That he was an able horseman, covering the
roughest terrain in arduous campaigns, a seasoned sportsman, a hardened
athlete but no fox-hunter, seems borne out by the fact that he is never
mentioned as sharing in the chase, although the gentleman to whom it
meant so much noted almost every hunt and rider in his daily journals.

Politically the two friends were united. When Virginians were becoming
dissatisfied and impatient with England, Dr. Craik and Washington
thought alike, attending county meetings and councils, acting together.
When the colony wa