User:Russell D. Jones/New France in the Ohio River Valley

Following King George's War and given the protracted peace with the Iroquois, the French began considering how to head off British encroachments into New France.

The original French and English (and later British) claims to the Ohio River Valley had always been in conflict. But a contest over these conflicting claims did not erupt until after King George's War.

France's first claims to the region came with Jacques Cartier and were reiterated in 1671 by the "Pageant of the Sault" during which the French governor St. Lusson reiterated the french claim to all of the lands drained by the Great Lakes.

The first English claims were established by King James I who granted to the London Company of Virginia all of the lands from their settlement at Jamestown westward and Northwestward to the Pacific Ocean, "from Sea to Sea." This claim was later passed on to Virginia which claimed lands in Kentucky and Ohio and nearly all of the Old Northwest. Additionally, royal charters granted to Connecticut and Massachusetts overlapped Virginia's claims in the Old Northwest.

In 1747, a group of Virginians formed the Ohio Company, a land company to speculate in, develop, and promote settlement in the Ohio River Valley. The company obtained a grant from King George for 200,000 acres along the Ohio River and a promise for an additional grant of 300,000 acres if the company successfully settled one hundred families in the region by 1757. Other Virginia and Pennsylvania land companies were becoming active about this time as well. Also, at this time, Wyandot Indians invited the British into the region who established a Fort on the Sandusky Bay. Last, Pennsylvania fur traders also were active in the region, further expanding British claims to the area to the detriment of the French.

During King George's War, Pennsylvanian fur traders began exploiting the French shortages of trade goods and gained a foothold in the fur trade in the Ohio River Valley. By 1744, George Croghan had established a fortified trading post at Pickawillany, the site of a Miami village and the present-day Piqua, Ohio. In 1748, Croghan engaged in some forest diplomacy bringing several chiefs of Ohio Valley tribes to Logstown, Pennsylvania, where they renounced their traditional allegiance to France and pledged their loyalty to King George.

Alarmed by these incursions into its traditional territory and allies, the French needed to make a response. In 1749, the Crown sent a force of 200 soldiers led by Pierre-Joseph Celeron de Blainville to re-establish French claims to the area. His expedition planted lead plates at several rivers proclaiming French title.