Founded in 1749, the Ohio Company was created to help encourage settlement and development of the vast Ohio Valley. Royal Governor Robert Dinwiddie, George William Fairfax, George Mason, and George's half-brothers Lawrence and Augustine Washington were all shareholders in the Ohio Company. Washington's family along with many of his political allies had strong economic interests in the Ohio Valley Learn More: Washington's 1753 Allegheny Expedition 2. Washington's return to Virginia during the winter of 1753 was a perilous one, but the group safely returned to Williamsburg after traveling almost 900 miles in two and a half winter months. After reviewing Dinwiddie's letter, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre calmly wrote a reply stating that the French king's claim to the Ohio Valley was "incontestable." On December 11, 1753, amidst a raging snowstorm, Washington arrived and was politely received by Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre at Fort LeBoeuf.
Washington departed Williamsburg, Virginia in October 1753 and made his way into the rugged trans- Appalachian region with Jacob Van Braam, a family friend and French speaker, and Christopher Gist, an Ohio company trader and guide. Washington was to deliver a message from the governor demanding that the French leave the region and halt their harassment of English traders.
Governor Robert Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old Major George Washington of the Virginia Regiment on a mission to confront the French forces. Rivers like the Ohio, which connected to the Mississippi, were essential transit corridors for goods produced in this fertile region.Ĭoncerned by reports of French expansion into the Ohio Valley, Virginia Lt. George Washington to deliver an ultimatum to the FrenchĬontrol of the expansive Ohio Valley region, especially near the joining of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers (modern-day Pittsburgh), was of great interest to both the British and their French rivals. Virginia's governor sent 21-year old Maj.
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