On May 19, 1749, King George II of Britain chartered the Ohio Company. It was formed by Virginia and London merchants to colonize the American West.

The company sent Christopher Gist down the Ohio River to explore as far as the mouth of the Scioto River. The company challenged French claims to Ohio and all the other land west of the Allegheny Mountains, precipitating the French and Indian War.

The English won the seven-year war and claimed possession of the entire Northwest. This angered Native Americans, who united under Chief Pontiac to drive the English out. British Col. Henry Bouquet concluded peace with the Indians in the Muskingum Valley in 1764. Ohio was further colonized by a Second Ohio Company, formed in Boston in 1786.

- Rebecca Goodman

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call 768-8361.