Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 185 



veys "by virtue of the Governor's warrant for offi- 

 cers and soldiers on the Ohio and its waters." 38 



They started on April 9, 1774, eight men in 

 all, from their homes in Fincastle County. 39 They 

 went down the Kanawha in a canoe, shooting bear 

 and deer, and catching great pike and catfish. The 

 first survey they made was one of two thousand 

 acres for "Colo. Washington"; and they made an- 

 other for Patrick Henry. On the way they en- 

 countered other parties of surveyors, and learned 

 that an Indian war was threatened; for a party of 

 thirteen would-be settlers on the upper Ohio had 

 been attacked, but had repelled their assailants, and 

 in consequence the Shawnees had declared for war, 

 and threatened thereafter to kill the Virginians and 

 rob the Pennsylvanians wherever they found them. 40 



38 The account of this journey of Floyd and his compan- 

 ions is taken from a very interesting MS. journal, kept by 

 one of the party Thomas Hanson. It was furnished me, 

 together with other valuable papers, through the courtesy 

 of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Trigg, of Abingdon, Va., and of Dr. 

 George Ben. Johnston, of Richmond, to whom I take this 

 opportunity of returning my warm thanks. 



39 From the house of Col. William Preston, "at one o'clock, 

 in high spirits." They took the canoe at the mouth of Elk 

 River, on the i6th. Most of the diary is, of course, taken up 

 with notes on the character and fertility of the lands, and 

 memoranda of the surveys made. Especial comment is made 

 on a burning spring by the Kanawha, which is dubbed "one 

 of the wonders of the world." 



40 They received this news on April i7th, and confirmation 

 thereof on the igth. The dates should be kept in mind, as 

 they show that the Shawnees had begun hostilities from a 

 fortnight to a month before Cresap's attack and the murder 

 of Logan's family, which will be described hereafter. 



