1749 French Claims to Ohio River Valley #12-31
Posted by: BruceS
N 39° 05.998 W 084° 29.931
16S E 716288 N 4330848
Historical marker commemorating the French claim to the Ohio River Valley, located along river in Cincinnati.
Waymark Code: WM3H75
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 04/06/2008
Views: 136
Side A : "1749 French Claims to Ohio River Valley"
In 1749, the French in North America perceived a threat by British expansion
west of the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River Valley and beyond. The French
commander, Pierre Joseph Celeron, sieur de Blainville, with 250 men, left
Montreal, New France, to establish French claims. They buried inscribed lead
plates at the mouths of six important tributaries to the Ohio River. Three lead
plates have been recovered, one was sent to England, and two are in American
historical societies. The final plate was buried just west of here at the mouth
of the Great Miami River, before the detachment turned north. However, after the
British captured Montreal in 1760, French claims east of the Mississippi River
were ceded to Britain by the 1793 Treaty of Paris. British Parliament annexed to
Quebec (now Canada) and controlled all lands north of the Ohio River until 1776.
Side B :
A translation of French inscription on lead plates: In 1749, in the reign of
Louis XV, King of France, we, Celeran, Commander of the detachment sent by
Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor General of New France, to
reestablish tranquility in some uncivilized district, have buried this plate at
the mouth of the Great Miami River, 31st of August, near the River Ohio,
otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument to the renewal of possession we have
taken of said River Ohio and lands on both side of its tributaries to their
sources, as enjoyed or ought to have been enjoyed by the preceding Kings of
France, as they have there maintained themselves by arms, and especially by the
treaties of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle.