Peak season notice: Shipping for this category may take 14–21 business days after cleared payment. Thanks for your patience.
LOT #42045 |
Starting Bid: $20,000
[George Washington]. Christopher Gist Autograph Journal....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Description
Exceedingly Rare Journal Recounting Washington's 1754 Mission to the French Forts in the Ohio Valley, as Recorded by His Frontier Guide, Christopher Gist: A Harrowing Journey In Which a Young Washington Narrowly Escaped Murder
[George Washington]. Christopher Gist Autograph Journal.
Five pages on two bifolia, 7 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches; [Ohio Valley];
November 14, 1753-January 4, 1754. Comprises forty-seven daily
entries. With a note on the journey's total distance on page four,
as well as a contemporary docket in another hand.A remarkable firsthand record of one of the most consequential frontier expeditions in American history, documenting young George Washington's first major military and diplomatic mission, as recorded by his guide, the renowned frontiersman Christopher Gist (1706-1759). Commissioned by Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie, the expedition's goal was to confront French encroachments in the Ohio Valley and gather intelligence on their military presence. Gist's detailed daily entries trace the journey from Washington's arrival at his home on Wills Creek through the party's return, including a dramatic escape from a murderous guide. Washington returned with a firm French refusal to abandon the Ohio Valley, and his report gave Virginia officials clear evidence that France intended to fortify and hold the region. The mission's intelligence directly shaped the next phase of British colonial policy, leading to Washington's 1754 return to the frontier, the clash at Jumonville Glen, and the opening of the French and Indian War.
Dinwiddie had received royal instructions to warn the French against occupying or fortifying the Ohio Valley, which the English claimed as part of Virginia. In October 1753, Washington met with the governor and volunteered to deliver the message to the French commandant. He was ordered to proceed across the Alleghenies to Logg's Town, establish contact with Native leaders friendly to the British, and continue on to the French posts. Secretly, he was charged "to procure all the information he could obtain of the numerical strength, armament, defenses, communications and plans of the intruders" (Freeman, George Washington, vol. 1, p. 276).
Gist opens his account with Washington's arrival: "Then Majr. George Washington came to my House at Wills Creek and delivered me a Letter from the Council in Virginia requesting me to attend him up to the Commandant of the French Fort on the Ohio River." The party, consisting of Washington, Gist, Jacob Van Braam as interpreter, and several attendants, set out the following day. Their progress was slow and arduous, marked by worsening weather and difficult terrain. By November 22, they had reached the Monongahela and the trading post of John Frazier, who provided critical intelligence on changes in Native alliances and the movements of the French.
On November 24, they reached Logg's Town, where Washington conferred with Native leaders including the sachem known as the Half King, who agreed to accompany them north to the French posts. On November 30, Gist records: "we set out...the Half King and two old men and one young warrior with us..." The party proceeded along the Allegheny, arriving at Venango on December 4, where they were received by the French interpreter Joncaire: "we was kindly & complaisantly received by Mons. Joncaire [Joincare] the French Interpreter for the Six Nations." By December 11, they reached Fort Le Boeuf, where Washington formally presented Dinwiddie's letter to the French commander, St. Pierre:"...the Majr. delivered the letter and desired speedy answer..."
Washington's observations convinced him that the French intended to maintain and expand their presence in the region, relying on Native alliances and fortified positions. Upon receiving St. Pierre's reply to the Governor's letter, the English party set out to return, escorted by several French-manned canoes. The return journey proved even more dangerous. Gist recounts hazardous river travel, freezing conditions, and failing supplies: "...the creek began to be very low & we were forced to get out of our Canoe from oversetting...the water freezing to our Cloaths, and we had the pleasure of seeing the French over set and the Brandy & Wine floating in the Creek and Run by them and left them to shift for themselves. Came to Wynango..."
On December 24, Gist writes that "Majr. Washington set out on foot in Indian Dress. Our horses grew so weak that we were mostly obliged to travel on foot and had snow all day..." Three of the men suffered severe frostbite. Washington, anxious to get back to the Governor, proposed that he and Gist proceed by a shorter route, saving a day's travel. Gist "was unwilling he should undertake such a travel who had never been used to walking before this time," but Washington insisted and the two men set off on their own on 27 December.
Shortly thereafter, they encountered a Native American guide whom Gist suspected of treachery. The episode that followed became one of the most famous incidents of the expedition. At "Muthering Town," a frontier outpost, the two hired a Native American in spite of misgivings stated by Gist: "Washington insisted on travelling on the nearest way to the Forks of Allegheny, we ask'd the Indian if he would...show us the nearest way, the Indian seem'd very glad and ready to go with us, upon which we set out and the Indian took the Majr's Pack..."
During the journey, the guide offered to take them to his own cabin rather than making camp outdoors, but Gist wrote: "I thought very ill of the Fellow but did not care to let the Majr. know I mistrusted him, but he soon mistrusted him as much as I..." Washington soon began to suspect they were being deliberately led astray, as Gist records, "we came to a clear Meadow, it was very light and Snow on the ground, the Indian made a stop, turn'd about, the Majr. saw him point his gun towards us and fired, said the Majr. Are you shot?...upon which the Indian run forward to a big standing white Oak and [set] to loading his Gun..."
Gist and Washington gave chase, and upon catching up with him, Washington urged Gist to spare the man: "I would have killed him but the Majr. would not suffer me to kill him. We let him charge his Gun, we found he put in his ball, then we took care of him, the Majr. or I always stood by the Guns..." When they prepared to camp that night, Gist said to Washington: "As you will not have him killed we must get him away, and then we must travel all night, which he said to the Indian, I suppose you was lost and fired your gun...Well said I do you go home and as we are much tired we will follow your trail in the morning...he was glad to get away, I followed him & listened untill he was fairly out of the way..."
Gist and Washington travelled all night and most of the next day on foot. The pair's final obstacle came at the Allegheny River, where they constructed a raft to cross: "the Majr. having fallen in [the river] from off the Raft and my fingers frost bitten and the Sun down and very cold..."
Despite these hardships, they reached safety and returned to Wills Creek by early January. Washington soon delivered the French response to Governor Dinwiddie, completing a mission that would set the stage for the French and Indian War.
The formal report of Washington and Gist's epic journey is published in The Writings of George Washington (Fitzpatrick, 1931). Gist's journal was edited by William M. Darlington and published in 1893. Freeman uses Gist's and Washington's accounts as the two principal sources in constructing his account of the mission, in a chapter entitled "A Mission Uncovers a Pending Advance" (Washington, vol. 1, pp. 274-326). Within a year, Britain and France were at war in North America, and the young Washington would be called upon again for frontier service.
This lot also includes a modern hardbound reprint of The Journals of George Washington and His Guide, edited by Don Marshall Larrabee (1927).
Condition: Overall very good. Edges trimmed close. Light wear and minor separations at folds, affecting a few words. Some light dampstaining and foxing. Evidence of minor repairs throughout.
References: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 1, ed. W. W. Abbot (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 276.
Provenance: Christie's, Printed Books and Manuscripts, November 8, 1996, lot 200.
Auction Info
2026 June 19 The John H. Freund Americana Collection Signature® Auction #6331 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
June
19th
Friday
10:50 am CT
Auction Dates
June
19th
Friday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
17 Days
18h 19m 6s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 0
Lot Tracking Activity: 4
Page Views: 127
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $49) per lot.
This lot is in: 1 -
Signature® Floor Session (Live Floor, Live Phone, Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 42001-42298) - 11:00 AM Central Time, Friday, June 19, 2026.
[Proxy bidding ends ten minutes prior to the session start time. Live Proxy bidding on Heritage Live now starts within 2 hours of when the auction opens for proxy bidding and continues through the live session.]
Exhibition Viewing Times, Title Page, Floor Session and License Information
Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions - Dallas
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms