Washington's first visit to Pittsburgh occurred in November, 1753, while he was on his way to the French fort at Leboeuff. He was carrying a letter from the Ohio Company to Contrecoeur, protesting against the plans of the French commander in undertaking to establish a line of forts to reach from Lake Erie to the mouth of the Ohio River. The winter season was becoming very severe, in despite of which Washington and Gist were forced to swim with their horses across the Allegheny River. On the way they fell in with a friendly Indian, Keyashuta, a Seneca chief, who showed them much kindness, and for whom a suburban town, Guyasuta, is named. Washington, in writing of his first sight of the forks of the river, says: As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing the rivers and the land at the fork, which I think extremely well situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of both rivers. The land at the point is twenty-five feet above the common surface of the water, and a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land all around it very convenient for building. The rivers are each a quarter of a mile across and run here very nearly at right angles, the Allegheny being northeast and the Monongahela southeast. The former of these two is a very rapid and swift-running water, the other deep and still without any perceptible fall. About two miles from this on the southeast side of the river at a place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a fort, lives Shingiss, King of the Delawares. We called upon him to invite him to a council at Logstown. As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday at the fork, my curiosity led me to examine this more particularly and I think it greatly inferior either for defense or advantages, especially the latter. For a fort at the fork would be equally well situated on the Ohio and have the entire command of the Monongahela, which runs up our settlement and is extremely well designed for water carriage, as it is of a deep, still nature. Besides, a fort at the fork might be built at much less expense than at the other place.