4. The immediate cause of hostilities was _a conflict between the frontiersmen of the two nations_ in the Ohio valley. In order to prevent the intrusion of the French fur-traders into this country, a number of Virginians joined themselves together in a body called the OHIO COMPANY. In March of 1749, they received from George II. a land-grant of five hundred thousand acres, located between the Kanawha and the Monongahela. But before the company could send out a colony, the governor of Canada dispatched three hundred men to occupy the valley of the Ohio. In the next year, however, the Ohio Company sent out an exploring party under Christopher Gist, who traversed the country and returned to Virginia in 1751. 5. This expedition was followed by vigorous movements of the French. They built a fort called Le Bœuf, on French Creek, and another named Venango, on the Alleghany. About the same time, the country south of the Ohio was again explored by Gist and a party of armed surveyors. 6. The Indians were greatly alarmed at the prospect. They rather favored the English cause, but their allegiance was uncertain. In the spring of 1753, the Miami tribes, under the leadership of the Half-King, met Benjamin Franklin at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and made a treaty with the English. [Sidenote: =Washington sent to St. Pierre.=] 7. Before proceeding to actual war, Governor Dinwiddie determined to try a final remonstrance with the French. A paper was drawn up setting forth the nature of the English claim to the valley of the Ohio, and warning the authorities of France against further intrusion. A young surveyor, named GEORGE WASHINGTON, was called upon to carry this paper from Williamsburg, Virginia, to General St. Pierre at Presque Isle, on Lake Erie. 8. On the last day of October, 1753, Washington set out on his journey. He was attended by four comrades besides an interpreter and Christopher Gist, the guide. At Logstown, Washington held a council with the Indians, and then pressed on to Fort Le Bœuf. Here the conference was held with St. Pierre. Washington was received with courtesy, but the general of the French was acting, he said, under military instructions, and would eject every Englishman from the valley of the Ohio. [Illustration: Washington's Route to Ft. le Boeuf.] 9. Washington soon took leave of the French, and returned to Venango. Then, with Gist as his sole companion, he left the river and struck into the woods. Clad in the robe of an Indian; sleeping with frozen clothes on a bed of pine-brush; guided at night by the North Star; fired at by a prowling savage from his covert; lodging on an island in the Alleghany until the river was frozen over; plunging again into the forest, the young ambassador came back without wound or scar to the capital of Virginia. The answer of St. Pierre was laid before the governor, and the first public service of Washington was ended. [Sidenote: =English post on the Ohio.=]