This collection primarily contains manuscript drafts of William Darlington's book,
Christopher Gist's Journals, published posthumously in 1893 by J.R. Weldin & Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Included are Darlington's notes on Gist's journals as well as research notes, manuscript drafts, and several printing plates of the maps used in the publication. A small portion of the book's galley proofs (i.e., a typed preliminary version of the final publication) is also present. The materials in this collection are mostly undated, but believed to have been created in the late nineteenth century presumably by Darlington or his wife between 1882 and 1893. The material has been organized to reflect the table of contents in the publication.
The journals of Christopher Gist reflect the surveyor's experiences and observations while exploring the Ohio Territory in the early 1750s. They provide a unique record of early interactions with Native Americans during this period of British expansion that precipitated the French and Indian War. Notes relating to Andrew Montour, an interpreter and negotiator in the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontiers during the 1750s and 1760s, as well as material documenting the Conference at Loggstown, are included. It is important to note that related material can found in the Ohio Company Papers (dar192502), specifically a manuscript copy of Gist's first and second journals believed to have been copied by John Mercer.
A digitized version of the published
Christopher Gist's Journals can be found online at the Internet Archive website (http://www.archive.org/details/christophergists00gistuoft).
