From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 84
"Did the condition of the bodies show that the massacre was recent?" Washington inquired further.
"Not very recent; the bodies were scattered about, and several of them were much eaten by hogs," was the
chief's answer.
"Have you any suspicions as to who the murderers were?" urged Washington.
"Certain marks which they left behind showed that the butchery was done by Indians of the Ottawa nation,"
was the information given in answer to his question.
Mr. Frazier informed Washington that an Indian queen, living three miles distant, had taken offense because
he did not call upon her on his way to the fort. As he was obliged to wait two days for horses, he paid her a
visit and made her a present of a watch-coat.
Washington's final entry in his journal is:
"Tuesday, the 1st of January, 1774, we left Mr. Frazier's house, and arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Monongahela, the
2d, where I bought a horse and saddle. The 6th, we met seventeen horses loaded with materials and stores for
a fort at the fork of the Ohio, and the day after, some families going out to settle. This day we arrived at Will's
Creek, after as fatiguing a journey as it is possible to conceive, rendered so by excessive bad weather. From
the first day of December to the fifteenth, there was but one day on which it did not rain or snow incessantly;
and throughout the whole journey we met with nothing but one continued series of cold, wet weather, which
occasioned very uncomfortable lodgings, especially after we had quitted our tent, which was some screen
from the inclemency of it."
Washington arrived at Williamsburg on the sixteenth day of January, and immediately reported to Governor
Dinwiddie, delivering the reply of the French commander; the belts of wampum from the Indian tribes, as
pledges of friendship; together with his journal, as his report of the expedition.
Weems says, "The governor was much pleased with the Indian belts, more with the Frenchman's letter, but
most of all with Washington's journal."
"I shall have your journal published immediately," said the governor to Washington.
"I beg your honor not to give it to the public in print," replied Washington; "it is a very defective document,
written, as it was, in the wilderness, under the most unfavorable circumstances. It was intended for no eyes but
yours."
"My dear man," said the hearty Scotchman, "you are altogether too modest in this matter. I am sure that the
document is worthy of the greatest publicity."
"But you will grant me the privilege of amending it," pleaded Washington, almost frightened at the idea of his
journal appearing in print.
"Indeed, major, there is no time for that now," answered the governor. "The Assembly will rise to-morrow or
next day, and I want each member to have several copies to carry home with him. You need not give yourself
any uneasiness, man, for your journal is worthy of a perusal by the King of Great Britain, and I intend to
present him with a copy."
The journal went to press at once, and was in the hands of members of the Assembly before the adjournment.
It was received with the greatest enthusiasm and praise everywhere, and was published in all the papers of the
Colony. Copies were sent to England, and there it appeared in the journals of the day.