What's online?
[Note - A digitized version of the published Christopher Gist's Journalscan be found online at the Internet Archive website.
What’s in the entire collection?
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.
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About Christopher Gist's journals
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.
About William Darlington
William M. Darlington (1815-1889), a Pittsburgh lawyer and avid collector of western Pennsylvanian history, took special interest in the Ohio Company. The Ohio Company was responsible for the exploration and settlement of the Ohio Territory, as well as parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In 1876, Darlington purchased material relating to the Ohio Company, which included a manuscript copy of the journal created by Christopher Gist. Darlington compiled and edited Gist's journals as Christopher Gist's Journals, published posthumously in 1893.
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