Of Braddock's relations with the Indians there are many conflicting stories; but a careful examination of the most trustworthy accounts will convince an impartial investigator that there is no basis in fact for the charge, often made, that his conduct toward them was impolitic and unjust. On the contrary, it is difficult to find a single fair criticism that can be made against him on this score. However one may account for the circumstance that but eight of them accompanied the expedition, it seems to be practically certain that this small number was not due to the fact that the Indians had not received every reasonable consideration from the English general.
In providing the horses, wagons, and supplies necessary for the undertaking, Braddock was ably assisted by Benjamin Franklin, whose extraordinary efforts, tact, and courage called forth his warm appreciation. "I desired Mr. B. Franklin, postmaster of Pennsylvania, who has great credit in that province," he wrote on June 5, "to hire me one hundred and fifty wagons and the number of horses necessary, which he did with so much goodness and readiness that it is almost the first instance of integrity, address, and ability that I have seen in all these provinces."[7]
In the solution of his third problem, that of constructing a road through Pennsylvania in order to have an adequate avenue for securing supplies, Braddock was less successful. He quickly recognized the importance of having the road cut west of the Susquehanna in order to intersect with the route of the army at a place called indifferently Turkey Foot, Crow Foot, or the three forks of the Youghiogheny (at what is now Confluence[8]); and he had the satisfaction of seeing the work of building this road prosecuted with great diligence by Governor Morris of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for Braddock, however, it proved to be impossible to complete the road in time for it to be of any service to him in the expedition.[9]
From Fort Cumberland westward Braddock had to make a road for his troops across mountains divided by ravines and torrents, over a rugged, desolate, unknown, and uninhabited country. The history of the construction of this road and a description of its course it is the purpose of this paper to set forth; for the growing interest with which the routes of celebrated expeditions are coming to be regarded, and the confusion that attends the tracing of such routes after a lapse of years, make it altogether fitting that the road by which the unfortunate Braddock marched to his disastrous field should be surveyed, mapped, and suitably marked while it is yet possible to trace its course with reasonable definiteness.