CHRISTOPHER GIST - EXPLORER WHO TWICE SAVED WASHINGTON'S LIFE
(1706-1759) Colonial British explorer, surveyor and frontiersman, one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country. SAVIOR OF GEORGE WASHINGTON At the outset of the French and Indian War, Gist accompanied Colonel George Washington on missions into this wilderness and saved Washington's life on two separate occasions. Very rare A.N.S. "Chris't Gist", 1p. oblong 12mo., Maidstone, March 10, 1757, Gist attests that at the time the effects of one Ezekiel Rankin had been attached, Gist had slightly over 19 pounds; "... which had not been Paid to any Person…", signed at the conclusion by Gist and also the individual making payment. Fine. Examples of Gist's signature are all but unknown. A reference made by Anderson Galleries in 1917 reads: "We can find no record of anything autographic by Christopher Gist". The Emmett Collection of the New York Public Library includes a signed receipt and a letter exists at the Carnegie Library. There apparently are no other citations. In 1753 Gist accompied George Washington to the Ohio Country on orders of Gov. Robert Dinwiddie to deliver a message to the French demanding they leave. 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 Indian; and, second, by pulling Washington from the freezing Allegheny River after Washington had fallen off of a makeshift raft.