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FRANCE AND ENGLAND.

[CHAP. V.

CHAPTER V.

FRENCH AND ENGLISH CLAIMS TO THE OHIO.

THE claim of France to all the country watered by the Ohio and its tributaries, was based upon that recognized law of nations that the discovery of the mouth of a river entitled the nation so discovering to the whole country drained by that river and its tributaries. This claim set up by France and resisted by the colonies, is precisely the same upon which we have recently based our title to the "whole of Oregon."

On the part of Great Britain, it was claimed, that independent of her title by purchase,' she held, under the discovery of Cabot, the entire region lying between the 38th. and 67th degree of north latitude, and stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific-a zone athwart the continent. She also set up another claim,-priority of discovery,—to the Ohio Valley a claim utterly absurd and entirely untenable.

Such were the grounds upon which two of the greatest European nations claimed supremacy in the beautiful and luxuriant Valley of the Ohio. Without stopping to discuss the merits of either, we will proceed in the continuation of our history.

France, convinced of the justness of her claim, and determined not to be overawed by the threatening attitude of her great rival, adopted at a very early day, the most efficient means for maintaining her position in the great valley of the West. In 1720, she erected Fort Chartres, in Illinois, one of the strongest posts in its day on the Continent of

1 Treaty of Lancaster.

2 This was based upon a vague tradition, that John Howard, an Englishman, crossed the mountains from Virginia in 1742, and descended the Ohio river.

1750.]

INTERESTING RELIC.

49

North America. It was constructed by a military engineer of the Vauban school, and was designed to be one of a cordon of posts reaching from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. That at Vincennes was established in 1735,1 at which time the valley of the Wabash, or Ouabache, was strongly defended.

Viewing the restless energy of that people, can it be doubted that they penetrated far up the valley of the Ohio, and made themselves familiar with the country bordering "La Belle Riviere," long previous to any account now upon record? We have now in our possession, a singular and interesting relic, taken from an ancient mound, near the mouth of Fishing creek, Wetzel county, Va., which may aid some little in establishing the era of French visitation to the Ohio. The relic is a crucifix, and its appearance plainly indicates great antiquity. The cross is of iron and much corroded, but the image of the SAVIOUR, being of more enduring metal than the cross, is as perfect as when it came from the hand of the artist. (See Wetzel Co. for further notice.) The mound in which this remarkable relic was found, was one of the most ancient in appearance along the river. The depth at which it had been placed, with many other attending circumstances, leaves but little doubt that it must have lain in that aboriginal tomb for at least two centuries. The presumption is, by all who have examined it, that the relic belonged to some Jesuit missionary who visited the Ohio Valley at a very early period.

Immediately following the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, (1748,) "the Court of London formed the plan of several new settlements, in which they consulted rather the interest of their own commerce, than the articles of those treaties which were renewed by that of Aix-la-Chapelle."" Among the projected movements was the formation of the Ohio Com

1 Mr. Schoolcraft says in 1710, while Bancroft, (Hist. U. S. iii. 346,) states that a military establishment was there in 1716.

2A Memorial," &c.

50

LEADEN PLATE.

[CHAP. V. pany, the settlement of the upper Ohio valley, &c. These steps naturally alarmed the French, who, believing that the spirit of the compact had been violated, determined to resist, at all hazards, the encroachments upon their soil.1

2

As a preliminary step in taking formal possession of the Ohio and its tributaries, the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor-general of Canada, determined to place along the "Oyo" or La Belle Riviere,3 at the confluence of important tributaries, leaden plates, suitably inscribed, asserting the claim of France to the lands on both sides of the river, even to the heads of the tributaries. One of these plates has recently been discovered at the mouth of Kanawha (Point Pleasant). It was found by a son of John Beale, Esqr., in April, 1846. (Mr. Beale now lives in Covington, Ky.) We have procured an exact drawing of the relic, and made a literal translation of the inscription; both of which are here given.◄

1 The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle having left unadjusted the question of territorial limits, the French felt justified in resisting what they considered a trespass upon their rights.

2 We have noticed in several publications an effort to question the chronology of this plate, in consequence of a statement in Murray's work on British America, that M. de la Galissoniere had been superseded as Governor of Canada in 1746, by Jonquierre; thus leaving a discrepancy of three years to be accounted for. In order to satisfy those who have been disposed to cavil, we have examined some reliable authorities, and find that Jonquierre did not succeed the Marquis Galissoniere until August, 1749. Bouchette in his account of the British Dominions in America, says the former succeeded the latter on the 16th August, 1749; and Prof. Du Kalm, who was present at the inauguration of Jonquierre, confirms this statement.

3 La Belle Riviere-the beautiful river,-was the euphonious distinction given to this truly beautiful stream, by the simple-hearted French voyageur as his light pirogue glided over its fair and placid bosom.

4 TRANSLATION OF PLATE.

In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV., King of France, We, Celeron, commandant of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Commandant General of New France, to re-establish tranquillity in some Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this plate at the mouth of the river Chinodashichetha, the 18th August, near the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possessions, which we have taken of the said river Ohio, and of all those which fall into it, and of all the lands on

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