Christopher Gist (c.1706–1759), a prominent figure on the Virginia-Pennsylvania frontier, was born in Maryland. After early experience in surveying and exploration, he was living in northwestern North Carolina when approached in 1750 by the Ohio Company and engaged to explore the Ohio country as far as the mouth of the Scioto River. In 1751 he carried on further explorations as far south as the Great Kanawha and in 1752 represented the Ohio Company at the Logstown council. By 1753 he had settled on the frontier near the present site of Brownsville, Pa., but soon moved to a new settlement near Mount Braddock, Pennsylvania. During the French and Indian War, Gist served for a time as a deputy Indian agent at Winchester, Va., and as a captain of a company of scouts once attached to GW’s Virginia Regiment. His son, Thomas, also served during that war, reaching the rank of lieutenant in the Virginia Regiment.