The Foundation was established to focus public attention on the early settlement of the American colonies' western frontier, with particular emphasis on the French and Indian War (1754-1763).  Much has been written about the American Revolution, but little attention has been paid to the French and Indian War, a war that within thirteen years of its conclusion led to the banding together of the thirteen North American colonies against the British rule.

It was during the French and Indian War that the leadership qualities of George Washington were forged in a series of setbacks and defeats that prepared him for his role as commander-in-chief of a new nation.  The Foundation's office is in Winchester, Virginia where the young Washington, commander of the Virginia Regiment, established his headquarters for defending the western frontier against allied forces of the French and Ohio Valley Indians.  Here he built Fort Loudoun and marshaled and dispatched his troops to the forts that stretched from the Potomac River on the north to the Carolinas on the south.  In an arc surrounding this area are the remains and locations of many sites that played a significant role in the conflict.