Montour had problems with alcoholism and debt in much of his life. When sober, he was highly reliable and officials were willing to pay a high price to secure his skilled services. For example, Colonel George Washington wrote a letter to Virginia's governor Robert Dinwiddie, just before the former's capitulation at Fort Necessity during the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France. Washington requested the assistance of Montour, saying that he "...would be of use to me here at this moment in conversing with the Indians, for I don't have other persons to depend on." Washington said he was unsure how to treat the Indians.