Last updated: October 13, 2020
Person
Christopher Gist
Quick Facts
Significance:
Frontier explorer and guide
Place of Birth:
Maryland
Date of Birth:
C. 1706
Place of Death:
South Carolina or Georgia
Date of Death:
1759
Christopher Gist was trained as a surveyor, but he put his skills and spirit to broader use during his lifetime, also serving as a frontier explorer, Indian agent, military scout, and guide.
Gist’s exploration of the west and relationship with George Washington can both be traced back to the Ohio Company. This private company hired him in 1750 to explore territory in the Ohio Valley, where they hoped to acquire suitable land and encourage settlement and expansion. Gist’s explorations took him through areas of the west previously unseen by English colonist, such as Kentucky. He also produced prolific written records in the form of his journals. These journals are useful to historians today in understanding the British westward expansion that contributed to the French and Indian War.
After scouting for the Ohio Company, Gist was engaged to go with Washington on the 1753 expedition to deliver a message to the French at Fort LeBoeuf. The British message demanded the French to leave the Ohio River Valley. The French replied that they were not going to leave and Washington and Gist hurried back to deliver the news. The return journey was dangerous. When the pair was traveling with an American Indian who claimed to be their friend, he suddenly turned and shot at them. Fortunately, the musket misfired and didn’t go off. They were able to capture the American Indian, disarm him and send him away. They walked day and night to get to the Allegheny River, where they built a raft to cross the ice clogged river. Unfortunately, Washington fell into the frigid water and the pair could not maneuver the raft to either shore. They needed to spend the night on an island. It was so cold that night Gist got frostbite, but the cold also saved them. The river froze and the pair walked across the ice to shore.
Gist encountered Washington in a different campaign in 1754, when he reported on May 27th that a French force was en route to Washington’s location at the Great Meadows. Washington had already heard from an American Indian ally, the Half-King, that an aggressive French force was on its way. Together, these reports helped shape Washington’s belief that the approaching French were hostile, priming him for the ensuing skirmish at Jumonville Glen. Gist was also present for the Battle of Fort Necessity that followed the skirmish. Finally, Gist’s skills were also engaged a year later, in General Braddock’s 1755 expedition against Fort Duquesne.
Mid-1756, Gist joined the southern Cherokee nation, seeking allies for the British in the evolving French and Indian War. It was during this assignment that Gist died, in South Carolina or Georgia, in 1759.
Gist's skill and frontier expertise may have saved both his and Washington's life on the dangerous return journey from Fort LeBoeuf. Gist was instrumental in helping the British colonies explore and claim the frontier.
Author: Catarina Hurtado
Sources:
Clary, David A. George Washington’s First War: His Early Military Adventures. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.
Darlington, William M. Christopher Gist’s Journals with Historical, Geographical, and Ethnological Notes and Biographies of his Contemporaries. J.R. Weldin & Co., 1893.
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/christopher-gist/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Gist
See Also:
For more about the Cherokee: https://www.nps.gov/fone/learn/historyculture/upload/FONE-Cherokee-and-the-FandI-War.pdf