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Period: to
Leading up to Statehood
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Rene Robert Cavelier claims Ohio Region for France
Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle was a French explorer and the first European known to have seen the Ohio River. La Salle was born in Rouen, France in 1643. As a young man he studied to become a Jesuit priest but left the religious order due to his unwillingness to conform to Jesuit doctrine. Click here for full story -
Ohio Company is Chartered
King George II of England grants the Ohio Company a charter of several hundred thousand acres of land around the forks of the Ohio River, thereby promoting westward settlement by American colonists from Virginia. France had claimed the entire Ohio River Valley in the previous century, but English fur traders and settlers contested these claims.
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French Surrender Claim to Britain
France and Great Britain both held claims to the Ohio region. In 1750, the Ohio Company of Virginia sent Christopher Gist to explore Ohio in preparation for the settlement of British colonists. Disputes over land in North America started the French and Indian Wars, and ended in 1763 with British control of most land in North America.
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United States Declaration of Independence
Click here to learn more The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of American history. It has been included among one of the most important documents ever to be written in the history of the United States of America. We refer to it still today as we recall the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. -
Ohio becomes a State
Ohio became the 17th state on March 1, 1803. Chillicothe was the first state capital, followed by Zanesville in 1810, then Chillicothe again, and finally Columbus in 1816. River trade developed after acquiring the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Products could be shipped from the Mississippi River through New Orleans. The first steamboat, New Orleans, went down the river in 1811. click here to learn more
