and the lilies of the Bourbons were nailed to forest trees in token of possession. 1 The determination of the French reopened the original con The establishment of the contemplated forts was troversy. Not only would with fraught danger to the English colonies. country belonged to France,

they cut off the western Indian trade, but would build up a power behind the English settlements which would be to them a perpetual menace, even if it did not involve their very exist

ence as subjects of Great Britain.

Self-interest as well as selfdefense demanded that their construction should be anticipated not, that their occupation by the French should

if possible

if

be resisted.

The colonies were themselves divided in regard to

the jurisdiction to which they were respectively entitled by their charters ; but, without waiting for the determination of the dis pute, Virginia organized what was known as the Ohio com pany, for the ostensible purpose of securing the Ohio valley for the English world. Obtaining a patent in March, 1749, for five hundred

thousand acres, this company sent out, in Oc

tober, 1750, Christopher Gist to make treaties with the Indians and select locations for colonies, while Pennsylvania, for a similar purpose, dispatched George Croghan. At Logstown, these agents met and together prosecuted surveys, and consum mated treaties, covering a broad expanse of territory, resting

from

their labors in the heart of finally

the territory of the

Miamis.

The Senecas, the Lenapes, and the Shawanoes, whose territory was thus invaded by the rival