408 Frank Carney 



water was to be had. So the expedition came to an end, within 

 easy reach of the Ohio river. The route of this party is the most 

 feasible one from central Virginia, the one selected for the Chesa- 

 peake and Ohio Railway. 



Claimants of the Area Now Ohio 



Its geographic relationship to other regions often decides the 

 ownership of a particular area; and for the same reason, the ''other 

 regions" may shift from one master to another. The application 

 of this principle is best seen in accounting for the changes in the 

 political affiliations of a state or a nation. Several peoples have 

 claimed to own the region of which Ohio is now- a part. 



CLAIM OF THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY 



The Five Nations claimed this territory, having acquired it, 

 they urged, through conquest. It is a fact that this combination 

 of strong eastern tribes did drive out of the Ohio, Indiana, and Illi- 

 nois areas all other Indians, making thorough conquest to the 

 Mississippi river. Having done this, the Five Nations asserted 

 that they owned the territory; and on the basis of this claim, at a 

 later period, deeded it to the British, who based their ownership 

 on this deed. In recent years, the Museum of Natural History 

 of New York State has brought to light many facts bearing on this 

 Indian conquest; much of the data was procured from Indian 

 sources, and is quite as pertinent as the English discussions of the 

 title which the Iroquois transferred. The evidence appears to 

 show that the Five Nations, through a campaign which was the 

 more easily made successful by causing it to be understood that 

 they were aided by powerful white allies, either defeated or 

 spread consternation among these western tribes. Many of the 

 prairie Indians fled, and very few fell into the hands of the Iro- 

 quois. Gradually these dispersed tribes moved again into their 

 own territory, and reoccupied it successfully as far eastward as the 

 Muskingum valley. Furthermore, all later attempts of the 

 Five Nations to dispossess them were successfully thwarted, 

 largely because of the organization made among these Indians 

 by La Salle, who in the meantime had returned from France with 

 a royal hcense to carry on his fur trade. He, in a way, is respon- 



