alliance between the Native American chief Memeskia and British interests against the expanding French colonies. From there he crossed into Kentucky accompanied by a black servant and returned to his home along the Yadkin. When Gist returned to North Carolina, he found that his family had fled to Roanoke, Virginia, because of Indian attacks. He rejoined them. During the summer of 1751 he again went west to explore the Pennsylvania and western Virginia (present day West Virginia), country south of the Ohio River. During 1753 Gist again returned to the Ohio Country, this time accompanying George Washington. Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia, sent Washington to Fort Le Boeuf to deliver a message to the French demanding they leave the Ohio Country. (The French were constructing forts in the Ohio Country to prevent the Thirteen Colonies from expanding there; they ignored Dinwiddie's letter.) Washington took (now Lieutenant) Gist along as his guide. They traveled on the Venango Path through the Ohio Country, stopping at Logstown on their way to the fort. During the trip, Gist earned his place in history by twice saving the young Washington's life: first, from an attempted assault by a hostile Native American; and, second, by pulling Washington from the freezing Allegheny River after Washington had fallen off of a makeshift raft. French and Indian War service During 1754, Washington, Gist, and a detachment of the Virginia Regiment attempted to drive the French from the region. At the Battle of Fort Necessity on July 3, 1754, the French army routed the Virginia militia. This was the beginning of the French and Indian War, a part of the Seven Years' War between France and Britain. Gist owned land near the present city of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He named it Gist's Plantation and began to build a town there. At the outset of the war, the French burned all the buildings. Gist was a member of the Braddock Expedition during 1755 when it was defeated by the French and their Native American allies. In May, 1756, Gist and elements of the 1st Virginia Regiment, 17th Company 'Rangers' accompanied Thomas Cresap on a retaliatory strike against Indian attacks. That military action originated at Fort Cumberland, but had to make a fighting retreat after being ambushed. Details of the action and Gist's role in it were printed in the June 17, 1756 issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette. After the defeat, Gist