Ohio Country
Christopher Gist was one of the first English-speaking explorers to travel through and write about the Ohio Country in 1749. When British traders such as George Croghan started to do business in the Ohio Country, the French and their northern Indian allies drove them out. In 1752 the French raided the Miami Indian town of "Pickawillany" (modern Piqua, Ohio). The French began military occupation of the Ohio Valley in 1753.