in 1754, when the British governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, tried to oust the French from the forks of the Ohio. In addition to asserting Virginia’s jurisdiction, Dinwiddie promoted his own interest in a company of land speculators determined to sell Ohio Valley lands to settlers. Dinwiddie sent a small regiment of colonial troops commanded by his fellow land speculator, the young and ambitious George Washington, to evict the French.
