The earliest white man’s activity begins with the surveying by Colonel Thomas Cresap and the founding of Will’s Town. Later to become Will’s Creek, in honor of Indian Will, the town’s namesake, first appearing on the official 1751 map as Caiuctucuc Creek. The inhabitants of this region were a part of the Shawnee tribe, a warlike sub-division of the Algonquin group. While the men of the tribe engaged in the pursuit of fish and game, taking time now and then to go on the warpath; their families were left at home to till the soil and grow maize and grass in the rich river bottom land.The first official government venture into the region and westward into the Pennsylvania frontier came at the request of Governor Dinwiddie to reconnoiter French intentions and activity. To carry out this order he chose a 21-year-old unassuming young man named George Washington. Leaving Williamsburg, VA on the 31st of October, 1753, Washington would hire Christopher Gist, living on Will’s Creek, as his guide. That winter’s journey into Western PA to confront the French would conclude with Washington’s capitulation at Fort Necessity. Washington’s Journal of this expedition is an important part of this book. The subsequent building of Ft Cumberland, the build up of British forces and activity that culminated with that fateful day on July 9, 1755, is the subject of the remainder of this book. Supremely important to this book is the 60 pp ORDERLY BOOKS of Braddock from Feb. 28 to June 17, 1755, taken from the originals in the CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY as he prepares to march to Western PA.