Colonial Roots

Between 1750 and 1753 Christopher Gist, the agent of the Ohio Company of Virginia, explored the greater portion of the region now included within the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia, and parts of Western Maryland and Southwestern Pennsylvania. Gist kept a regular journal containing descriptions of the land, the native peoples and their customs, French settlements and forts, and English settlements. His recounting of events on the trail bring his experiences to life.

Additionally, his journal contains biographical sketches of others including the Andrew Montour family, George Croghan, Thomas Cresap, the Indian Guyasuta, General James Grant, Conrad Weiser, and others. Historical documents correspondence and maps supplement his work. Of special interest is Robert Orme's letter to General Dinwiddie describing the horror of Braddock's Defeat in the French and Indian War. Also includes references to the Treaty of Lancaster, the Ohio Company, the Walpole Grant, William Trent & Co, and Pownalls' Account of the Lead Plate...a great resource for colonial history scholars and living historians researching the Pre-Revolutionary Era in America. Originally published in 1893 and reprinted with a full name index by Heritage Books. 294 pp. (1893), 2002, 2004.