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The first people to live in what's now West Virginia were the Paleo-Indians, who arrived around 10,500 B.C. Indians continued to live here until the 1600s, but by the time European settlers arrived, the region was mostly empty. This might have been due to tribal conflicts or diseases brought by Europeans. The Native villages along the Ohio, Kanawha, and Monongahela rivers were abandoned before settlers arrived.
The tribes most closely connected to this area were the Shawnee, Delaware, and Cherokee, along with some Iroquoian-speaking groups such as the Seneca and Mingo. Even though they didn't live here when European settlers arrived, Indians still used the land for hunting and travel, so they strongly resisted European settlement.
The League of the Iroquois was a group of Indian nations in what is now upstate New York. They called themselves "the Longhouse," while the Dutch and English called them "the Five Nations" (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca). After 1722...
The name "Seneca" comes from a Dutch word meaning "the ones who live farthest out," referring to their position in the Iroquois Confederacy. The Senecas called themselves "the people of the great hill," after their village in New York. The English...
The term "Mingo" comes from the word "Menkwa," used by Algonquin people to refer to speakers of Iroquoian languages. It later referred to members of the Six Nations who lived outside their homeland in New York. Europeans adopted the term and spell...
Before Europeans arrived in North America, the Cherokee were one of the largest Indigenous groups in the southeastern U.S., with around 20,000 people. Most lived in the southern Appalachian Mountains, living off the area's wildlife, plants, and fe...
The Shawnee were a group of Indians who spoke Algonquian and lived in the eastern woodlands. They originally lived in the Ohio Valley but moved to different places such as Kentucky, Alabama, and Pennsylvania in the 1600s due to attacks from the Ir...
When Europeans first came to North America, they discovered a network of trails used by Indians for trade and communication. These trails stretched from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Indians traded goods such as marine shells and copper for t...
The French and Indian War was part of a global conflict between Britain and France. In North America, it started in 1754 over control of the Ohio Valley. The French and their Indian allies clashed with the British and their colonial settlers. In 1...
Pontiac's Rebellion was an uprising against settlers in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes after the French and Indian War ended in 1763. Pontiac, an Ottawa tribe leader, teamed up with other Indian tribes to fight against European-American settlers ...
From the 1750s to the 1790s, violent Indian resistance to European-American settlement shaped the history of West Virginia. Major conflicts such as the French and Indian War (1754-63) and Lord Dunmore's War (1774) were part of this struggle, but s...
Chief Logan was born around 1725 in Pennsylvania, the son of Shikellamy, an Oneida chief. Logan became the chief of the Cayuga tribe after his father died in 1748 and worked to keep peace with European settlers. In the 1770s, Logan moved to the Oh...
The Battle of Point Pleasant was fought in October 1774 between Virginians, led by Andrew Lewis, and the Shawnee, led by Cornstalk. It's the most important battle ever fought in what is now West Virginia.In response to attacks along the Ohio River...
Cornstalk was a Shawnee leader from what is now southeastern Ohio. He fought in several conflicts, including the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion. In 1774, he led Indian forces in the Battle of Point Pleasant, where they lost to Virgi...
The Iroquois Six Nations, Shawnee, Cherokee, and other Indian tribes relinquished their claims to land in present-day West Virginia through a series of treaties. In all cases, the Indian negotiators did not represent the views of all their peopleI...
During the Revolution, the fighting in what is now West Virginia was a continuation of earlier frontier wars, especially the French and Indian War. It involved Indian raids on settlers, with the British supporting the Indians. The Shawnee were par...
The Battle of Fallen Timbers took place near Toledo, Ohio, on August 20, 1794, and ended a long period of conflict between Indians and settlers in the Ohio Valley. Since the 1750s, the region had been a battleground, and even after the American Re...
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