Dr. Carl Robertson, President and CEO of the Providence Plantation Foundation, is expecting to publish by the end of 2008 his book entitled, "Washington's Perilous Path."  In that book he documents the first public mission of 21-year-old George Washington. In 1753, George Washingnton passed through Murdering Town while on a mission to Fort Le Boeuf about six months before the French and Indian War began.  Among his major objectives in the book, Dr. Robertson seeks to finally solve the mysteries of the location, name, people, and end of Murdering Town.  This notorious Indian town was where Washington and his party slept one night on their northbound journey to demand the French departure from the region.  Another mystery he seeks to solve is the course Washington and Gist took just below Murdering Town when they "left the [Venango] Path on their southbound travel to reach the Allegheny. Although it is no mystery, the author also attempts to explain the significance of the two near-death experiences of Washington within that thirty-mile travel and what it tells us about the character and competence of the Adjutant from Virginia.

Why do we believe that we have

located Murdering Town?

It is and has for many years been generally assumed that the mysteries surrounding the Indian settlement notoriously known as Murdering Town would never be solved.  Several locations have been identified over the years, but none with period cartographical (maps) and written documentation.  Dr. Carl Robertson has spent the past several years researching what has proven to be an exciting and highly rewarding study This is where Washington and his party slept one night on their northbound journey to demand the departure of the French from the region. Some of the best information comes from the journals of Washington and Gist as they reached Murdering Town.  As these journals (and other period maps and documents) tie together the Venango Path, the Connoquenessing Creek and Murdering Town. Dr. Robertson painstakingly identifies the main Venango Path from the Forks of the Ohio to Venango Path was consistently used for Ohio Indians and the French and British military units (1724-1774). Carefully distinguishing it from other actual and so-called "Venango Paths” Dr. Robertson conclusions are strictly based on period documentation (maps, letters, and journals), but he makes ample use of secondary literature. To him, the evidence is strong for identifying the location of the Murdering Town in Forward Twp, Butler County. We have had a historical archeologist at the site we believe was Murdering Town.  Based on where Indian towns were built, the location we have located fits the characteristics of where an Indian town would have been built.  We are currently in contact with the property owner and hope to obtain permission to conduct preliminary site digs to confirm our beliefs. 

         Dr. Robertson has not only made this unprecedented rediscovery of Murdering Town, but has also found documentary and physical evidence for the "forgotten" course that Washington and Gist took just below Murdering Town to travel the shortest distance to the Allegheny.

          This research and the book that will define and document its conclusions are offered in an irenic spirit.  We can only hope that open and inquiring minds will address it in the same spirit. We expect that some will differ with the conclusions Dr. Robertson has reached and will be willing to provide the documented evidence to support other positions.  Hopefully, in this way all will be historically enriched in the process.