George Washington And The Half King Chief Tanacharison

George Washington and the Half-King Chief Tanacharison details the events in western Pennsylvania that precipitated the French and Indian War. It describes the interpersonal relationship between 22-year-old, inexperienced, but self-assured George Washington and the 54-year-old wily Iroquois Chief Tanacharison, which led to, as Horace Walpole quipped, Washington firing “a volley in the backwoods of America that set the world on fire.” The book explores the history of the French and English rivalry for the trans–Allegheny territory and its impact on the Indians in the area. It shows how Washington and Tanacharison each sought to influence the other to gain support for their respective agendas. Washington wanted the Indians to endorse Virginia’s claim to the Ohio territory, while Tanacharison wanted a war between England and France so that the Iroquois could maintain their dominance over the Ohio Indians. The book describes in detail the sequence of events through which the crafty half-king manipulated Washington into starting the war he wanted, and by his actions implicated Washington in nothing less than a cold-blooded murder.

George Washington and the Half-King Chief Tanacharison details the events in western Pennsylvania that precipitated the French and Indian War. It describes the interpersonal relationship between 22-year-old, inexperienced, but self-assured George Washington and the 54-year-old wily Iroquois Chief Tanacharison, which led to, as Horace Walpole quipped, Washington firing "a volley in the backwoods of America that set the world on fire." The book explores the history of the French and English rivalry for the trans-Allegheny territory and its impact on the Indians in the area. It shows how Washington and Tanacharison each sought to influence the other to gain support for their respective agendas. Washington wanted the Indians to endorse Virginia's claim to the Ohio territory, while Tanacharison wanted a war between England and France so that the Iroquois could maintain their dominance over the Ohio Indians. The book describes in detail the sequence of events through which the crafty half-king manipulated Washington into starting the war he wanted, and by his actions implicated Washington in nothing less than a cold-blooded murder.

Christopher Gist is a great American hero who has often gone unnoticed. Recognized for giving colonists the first detailed description of the Ohio Country, Gist was a close friend of George Washington, whom he met through their affiliation with the Ohio Company. In 1753, the two went on an arduous trek through the western Pennsylvania wilderness in the dead of winter to deliver a message to the French commander on the upper Allegheny River. Gist had a profound impact on Washington and saved the future president's life on at least two occasions during their mission. Despite Gist's impressive achievements, historians have largely overlooked him. This book extensively details his remarkable accomplishments in frontier exploration and military service.

"An authoritative, sweeping, and fresh new biography of the nation's first president, Colin G. Calloway's book reveals fully the dimensions and depths of George Washington's relations with the First Americans."--Provided by publisher.

In the mid-17th century, the Iroquois Confederacy launched a war for control of the burgeoning fur trade industry. These conflicts, known as the Beaver Wars, were among the bloodiest in North American history, and the resulting defeat of the Erie nation led to present-day Ohio's becoming devoid of significant, permanent Indian inhabitants. Only in the first quarter of the 18th century did tribes begin to tentatively resettle the area. This book details the story of the Beaver Wars, the subsequent Indian migrations into present Ohio, the locations and descriptions of documented Indian trails and settlements, the Moravian Indian mission communities in Ohio, and the Indians' forlorn struggles to preserve an Ohio homeland, culminating in their expulsion by Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act in 1830.

Sally Townsend of Oyster Bay was a petite, vivacious, intelligent and remarkably beautiful young lady with beguiling eyes. A 1779 Valentine poem from an admiring British officer reads: "Thou know'st what powerful magick lies Within the round of Sarah's eyes." She was the sister of Robert Townsend, a principal member of the "Culper Ring," General Washington's most effective spy network. During the British occupation (1776-1783), Loyalist and Hessian troops were quartered in and around Oyster Bay, two Redcoat officers in the Townsend home. Sally assisted her brother in gathering intelligence while coyly flirting with the enemy. The romantic interest of Jager officer Ernst Wintzingerode, she dallied with Major John Andre and was courted by Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe of the Queen's Rangers. She paid a heavy price for her role in thwarting the Benedict Arnold treason plot. The book explores the possible identity of the mysterious "Agent 355" mentioned in a cryptic Culper Ring message.

"Revered as a general and trusted as America's first elected leader, George Washington is considered a great many things in the contemporary imagination, but an intellectual is not one of them. In correcting this longstanding misconception, George Washington: A Life in Books offers a stimulating literary biography that traces the effects of a life spent in self-improvement"--