The Dolph Briscoe Center at the University of Texas at Austin recently acquired a letter written by George Washington.
The letter was written to John Armstrong in 1769 – before the Revolutionary War. In it, Washington talks about his views of an incident resulting in the deaths of three Native Americans. Washington describes the killings as murders and calls them "villainy" and "mischief.”
Erin Purdy is the Briscoe Center's Associate Director of Publications and Curation. She says the letter provides some insight into what Washington was experiencing at the time.
"He was at a point in his life where he was expanding his personal empire, buying lands out west. And so the letter talks about the issues he was facing, and that he and other settlers were facing the western land expansion and the Native Americans at that time," Purdy said.
The letter was a gift to the Briscoe Center from a Texas Ex and his wife – Mr. and Mrs. Barron U. Kidd.
