The Romance of Western History - 1857 Author:James Hall Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 68 SETTLEMENTS ON THE OHIO. CHAPTER III. Settlements on the Ohio—Early movements in Virginia—Views of Gov. gpotewood—Settlement of Pittsburgh—Travels ... more »of Carver— Expedition of Dunmore. While the French were engaged in exploring and occupying the region of the Mississippi, the shores of the Ohio remained, for a series of years, unnoticed. Between them and the English colonists there was a wide expanse of country, of the extent and value of which they seemed alike ignorant. We have seen that the former spoke vaguely of the Wabash, as a river " coming from the country of the Iroquois towards New England," and the latter only knew of the West as a wilderness beyond the mountains. A natural transition, therefore, brings us to the period when our own immediate ancestors began to become acquainted with the importance of that country which was destined to be the richest inheritance of their children. It is not our design to trace the footsteps of the pioneers through all their wanderings, to depict their personal adventures, or to describe their various conflicts with the savage tribes. These minute details, however interesting, must be left to other hands. We shall only attempt a rapid summary of a few prominent events. We have no means of ascertaining how the early English colonists became impressed with a sense of the EARLY MOVEMENTS IN VIRGINIA. 69 importance of the country west of the mountains, or what was the extent of their knowledge. It was probably derived chiefly from the French, who were not solicitous to publish their discoveries, and came with all the vagueness of rumor, and all the exaggerations of surmise. Certain it is, that a belief was entertained in Virginia, at a very early period, of the existence of a wide and fertile territory beyond the mo...« less