From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 61
"Exactly; my word for it, you will find it so," added Lawrence.
That journal has proved of far more value than Lawrence predicted. After the lapse of over one hundred and
thirty years, we are able to learn from it about the hardships, dangers, and severe labors of his surveying
expeditions. A few extracts from letters and journal will afford an insight into that important period of his life.
He wrote to one of his friends, after an experience of several months, thus:
"Your letter gave me the more pleasure, as I received it among barbarians, and an uncouth set of people. Since
you received my last letter I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed; but after walking a good deal
all the day, I have lain down before the fire upon a little hay, straw, fodder, or a bear-skin--whichsoever was
to be had--with man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats; and happy is he who gets the berth nearest the
fire. Nothing would make it pass off tolerably but a good reward. A doubloon[A] is my constant gain every
day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles[B]. The coldness of the weather
will not allow of my making a long stay, as the lodging is rather too cold for the time of year. I have never had
my clothes off, but have lain and slept in them, except the few nights I have been in Fredericksburg."
[A] $7 50. [B] A pistole was $3.50
The entry in his journal for the third day after he started, in March, 1748, was as follows:
"Worked hard till night, and then returned. After supper we were lighted into a room; and I, not being so good
a woodsman as the rest, stripped myself very orderly, and went into the bed, as they called it, when, to my
surprise, I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted together, without sheet or anything else, but only one
threadbare blanket, with double its weight of vermin. I was glad to get up and put on my clothes, and lie as my
companions did. Had we not been very tired, I am sure that we should not have slept much that night. I made
a promise to sleep so no more, choosing rather to sleep in the open air before a fire."
George commenced operations for Lord Fairfax early in March, when the mountains were still white with
snow, and wintry blasts swept over the plains. The heavy rains of spring had swollen the streams into torrents,
so that it was perilous to ford them. Of course the hardships of such an expedition were largely increased by
the rough, cold weather of the season.
Abbot says: "The enterprise upon which Washington had entered was one full of romance, toil, and peril. It
required the exercise of constant vigilance and sagacity. Though these wilds may be called pathless still there
were here and there narrow trails, which the moccasined foot of the savage had trodden for centuries. They led
in a narrow track, scarcely two feet in breadth, through dense thickets, over craggy hills, and along the banks
of placid streams or foaming torrents."
Everett says: "The hardships of this occupation will not be fully comprehended by those who are acquainted
with the surveyor's duties only as they are practised in old and thickly settled countries. In addition to the want
of accommodation, the service was attended by serious perils. In new countries, of which 'squatters' have
begun to take possession, the surveyor is at all times a highly unwelcome visitor, and sometimes goes about
his duties at the risk of his life. Besides this, a portion of the land traversed by Washington formed a part of
that debatable land, the disputed right to which was the original moving cause of the 'Seven Years' War.' The
French were already in motion, both from Canada and Louisiana, to preoccupy the banks of the Ohio, and the
savages in their interest roamed the intervening country up to the settlements of Virginia."
Another entry in his journal is the following:
"Rained till about two o'clock, and then cleared up, when we were agreeably surprised at the sight of more
than thirty Indians, coming from war with only one scalp. We had some liquor with us, of which we gave