The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

APPENDIX.] THE OHIO COMPANY 479
tion of gentlemen. Before this date there were no English residents in those regions. A few traders wandered from tribe to tribe,
and dwelt among the Indians, but they neither cultivated nor occupied the lands.
With the view of carrying his plan into operation, Mr. Lee associated himself with twelve other persons in Virginia and Maryland,
and with Mr. Hanbury, a merchant in London, who formed what
they called " The Ohio Company." Lawrence Washington, and his
brother Augustine Washington, were among the first, who engaged
in this scheme. A petition was presented to the King in behalf of
the Company, which was approved, and five hundred thousand acres
of land were granted almost in the terms requested by the Company.
The object of the Company was to settle the lands, and to carry on
the Indian trade upon a large scale. Hitherto the trade with the
western Indians had been mostly in the hands of the Pennsylvanians.
The Company conceived, that they might derive an important advantage over their competitors in this trade, from the water communication of the Potomac and the eastern branches of the Ohio, whose
head waters approximated each other. The lands were to be chiefly
taken on the south side of the Ohio, between the Monongahela and
Kenhawa lRivers, and west of the Alleganies. The privilege was
reserved, however, by the Company, of embracing a portion of the
lands on the north side of the river, if it should be deemed expedient.
Two hundred thousand acres were to be selected immediately, and
to be held for ten years free from quitrent or any tax to the King,
on condition that the Company should at their own expense seat one
hundred families on the lands within seven years, and build a fort,
and maintain a garrison sufficient to protect the settlement.
The first steps taken by the Company were to order Mr. Hanbury,
their agent in London, to send over for their use two cargoes of
goods suited to the Indian trade, amounting in the whole to four
thousand pounds sterling, one cargo to arrive in November, 1749,
the other in March following. They resolved, also, that such roads
should be made and houses built, as would facilitate the communication from the head of navigation on the Potomac River across the
mountains to some point on the'Monongahela. And as no attempt
at establishing settlements could safely be made without some previous arrangements with the Indians, the Company petitioned the
government of Virginia to invite them to a treaty. As a preliminary
to other proceedings, the Company also sent out Mr. Christopher Gist
with instructions to explore the country, examinethe quality of the
lands, keep a journal of his adventures, draw as accurate a plan of