It was an enterprise fraught with considerable danger. There was no law in these vast wilds, which were ranged by Indians, and by white men still more savage in character. Several of the tribes in that region remonstrated against the sale. Among these were the powerful Delawares, Mingoes, and Shawnees. They said that the chiefs of the Six Nations had withheld from them their share of the consideration which was paid; and that they were as legitimate owners of those vast hunting grounds as were any chiefs of the Six Nations. They therefore openly avowed their intention of exacting the deficiency, which they deemed due to them, from the white men who should attempt to settle on their hunting-grounds. Thus there had been several robberies and murders, perpetrated by no one knew who. White vagabonds, dressed in Indian costume, could scarcely be distinguished from the Indians themselves. And lawless bands of savages, roving here and there, were the burglars and highway robbers of the wilderness, for whose outrages no tribe could be held responsible. Washington selected, for his companion, on this expedition, his very congenial friend and neighbor, Dr. Craik.[69] Washington took two of his negro servants to accompany him, and the doctor took one. Thus the party consisted of five persons. All were well mounted. A single led horse carried the baggage of the party. A journey of twelve days conducted them, through this unpeopled wilderness, to Fort Pitt, which, it will be remembered, had been reared on the ruins of Fort Duquesne. It was the 17th of October, 1770, when they reached the fort. It was garrisoned by two companies of Irishmen. Around the fort a little hamlet had sprung up, of about twenty log houses. It was called the town. These rude dwellings, in comfort but little above the wigwam of the savage, were occupied by a rough, coarse set of men, who had been lured into the wilderness to trade with the Indians. Such was the origin, scarcely one hundred years ago, of the present beautiful city of Pittsburg, with its opulent, refined, and highly cultivated population. One of these cabins they called a tavern. Nominally, Washington and his companion took up their quarters there. But they were entertained within the fort with all the hospitality that frontier post could afford. Washington met, at the fort, Colonel George Crogan, a man of great renown in frontier adventures. He had reared his hut on the banks of the Alleghany river, about four miles above the fort. Washington visited the colonel, at his spacious and well-guarded cabin. There he met several chiefs of the Six Nations. The fame of Washington had reached their ears. They greeted him fraternally, and assured him of their earnest desire to live in peace with the white men.