[133] This letter is reprinted from _New York Colonial Documents_, vii, pp. 787, 788. It was evidently written after Croghan’s return from the West, and accompanied the official version of his journal, which Johnson sent to England November 16, 1765. See _New York Colonial Documents_, vii, p. 775.—ED. [134] Fort Chartres was originally built as a stockade post in 1720; but in 1756 was rebuilt in stone, and became the most important French fortification in the West. It was an irregular quadrangle, with houses, magazines, barracks, etc., defended with cannon.—See Pittman, _Settlements on the Mississippi_ (London, 1770), pp. 45, 46. After its surrender by the French, the English garrisoned the stronghold until 1772, when the river’s erosion made it untenable. For the present state of the ruins, see Mason, _Chapters from Illinois History_, pp. 241-249. The French trading post sixty miles above Fort Chartres, on the western bank of the river, was the beginning of the present city of St. Louis, which was founded in April, 1764, by Pierre Laclède. Upon the surrender of the Illinois to the English, St. Ange, with the garrison and many French families, removed to this new post, in the expectation of living under French authority. To their chagrin the place was surrendered to the Spanish the following year.—ED. III TWO JOURNALS OF WESTERN TOURS, BY CHARLES FREDERICK POST: ONE, TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF FORT DUQUESNE (JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1758); THE OTHER TO THE OHIO (OCTOBER, 1758-JANUARY 1759) SOURCE: Proud’s _History of Pennsylvania_ (Philadelphia, 1798), ii, appendix. INTRODUCTORY NOTE Christian Frederick Post, author of the following journals, was a simple, uneducated missionary of the Moravian Church. His chief qualifications for the perilous journeys herein detailed, were his intimate acquaintance with Indian life and character, the belief of the tribesmen in his truthfulness and honesty, and his own steadfast courage and trust in the protection of a higher power. Born in Polish Prussia in 1710, Post early came under the influence of the Moravians, whose remarkable missionary movement was just beginning to germinate.