In the 1750s, land speculation companies were claiming land to sell to future settlers. A
land speculation company in Virginia hired Christopher Gist to
explore the Ohio River Valley
in
1750. Part of Gist's job was to make friendly contact with Native
Americans in the area.
Read Gist's description of a conversation that took place during his expedition. Then answer
the question below.
An Indian, who spoke good English, came to [me], and said that their great
man, the Beaver, and Captain Oppamyluah (two chiefs of the Delaware)
desired to know where the Indians' land lay, for the French claimed all the land
on one side of the Ohio River, and the [British] on the other.
Delaware: a European name for the Lenape Native Americans
What problem did the chiefs bring up in Gist's account?
Native Americans weren't able to communicate well in English, and they
couldn't understand the colonists.
The French and British were claiming all the land. There was none left for the
Native Americans.
The Ohio River had flooded all of the Native Americans' land.