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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 returned 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 Virginia’s mountains. At Governor William Berkeley’s request, he made three trips in 1669–1670. He reached the Blue Ridge Mountains and saw the Shenandoah Valley but couldn't cross t...
The 1671 expedition led by Thomas Batte and Robert Hallom was one of the first to explore the Appalachian interior. Historians once believed they followed the New River to Kanawha Falls, but newer research suggests they went southwest, reaching pr...
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 1700s, exploration had shifted toward land settlement. Louis Michel of Switzerland played a key role, seeking support from colonization leader Baron de Graffenreid in 1703.In 1706, Michel explored the area around present-day Harpers F...
In 1716, Governor Alexander Spotswood led the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" expedition across the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley. With 50 men, including servants and Indian guides, the journey aimed to assert England’s claim a...
In the 1740s, competition for land in Western Virginia intensified as speculators and settlement promoters vied for territory. Christopher Gist explored the Ohio Valley for the Ohio Company, founded by Virginians such as Thomas Lee and Augustine W...
The Greenbrier Company, led by land speculators like the Lewis family, played a key role in settling the Greenbrier Valley. Granted 100,000 acres in 1745, it promoted settlement through surveys by Andrew Lewis.Indian attacks during the French and ...
Thomas Walker and John Lewis were key figures in the Loyal Company, formed to claim land amid British control. Granted 800,000 acres in 1749, Walker explored through the Cumberland Gap in 1750, opening access to central Kentucky and southern West ...
In 1742, John Peter Salling (sometimes Salley) joined a Virginia expedition to explore the Mississippi River and support British claims. Traveling by a buffalo-hide boat, the group followed the New, Coal, Kanawha, and Ohio rivers before reaching t...
In 1749, French governor Pierre-Joseph Celoron de Blainville led 230 men to claim the Ohio Valley for France, burying lead plates along the Allegheny and Ohio rivers to mark territory—one at Wheeling Creek, another at the Kanawha River.Celoron bur...
Lives of Indians during the Frontier Period
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