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The first European explorers found only a few Indians in present West Virginia. By then, Indians had formed into tribes, and warfare was common. Two of the most powerful groups in the eastern United States were the Iroquois and Cherokee, both of which claimed parts of West Virginia. They probably forced weaker tribes, including the Shawnee, Mingo, and others, to abandon most of the state. In 1606, King James I of England granted to the Virginia Company of London a vast expanse of land that included all of Virginia, present West Virginia, and Kentucky, as well as parts of North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and even New York.
After the Stuarts return to power in England, Sir William Berkeley was reinstated as governor of Virginia. His expansionist policies and desire to find new trade routes and access to the Pacific Ocean led to several exploratory missions
John Lederer, a German doctor, was the first European to explore the mountains of Virginia. In 1669 and 1670, he made three trips through the Appalachian Mountains at the request of Virginia Governor William Berkeley. On his first and third trips,...
The 1671 expedition led by Thomas Batte and Robert Hallom was one of the first attempts to explore the interior of what is now Appalachia. Early historians thought they traveled down the New River, passing through present-day Fayette County, to re...
La Salle, a French explorer, is often credited with exploring the Ohio River region in 1669. La Salle's exploration gave France a basis to challenge English claims to the region as the French sought to establish their own dominance in the heart of...
By the early 18th century, the focus of exploration shifted towards land acquisition and settlement schemes. One notable person in this was Louis Michel, from Bern, Switzerland. In 1703, Michel, who was affiliated with Swiss settlement promoters, ...
In 1716, Virginia's royal governor, Alexander Spotswood, led an expedition known as the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" across the Blue Ridge Mountains. The group of 50 men, including servants and Indian guides, traveled through difficult terrai...
In the 1740s, the stakes began to raise in the exploration of Western Virginia as settlement promoters and land speculators competed for valuable land. Christopher Gist explored much of the Ohio Valley for the Ohio Company, which was formed by pro...
The Greenbrier Company played a key role in settling and developing the Greenbrier Valley. Formed by land speculators, including the Lewis family, the company was part of a larger movement in the 1700s where land grants encouraged settlement. In 1...
Thomas Walker, along with John Lewis, played a key role in the Loyal Company, which was formed in response to British control over land distribution. The company was granted 800,000 acres of land in 1749, and in 1750, Walker led an exploration tha...
In 1742, John Peter Salling was part of a group of Virginia explorers who set out to explore the Mississippi River and strengthen British claims in the west. They built a boat covered with buffalo hides and traveled down the New River, then overla...
In 1749, French governor Pierre-Joseph Celoron de Blainville was sent to claim the Ohio Valley for France. He led 230 soldiers and Indian guides down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, burying lead plates along the way to mark French claims to the lan...