Editing Point Pleasant, West Virginia (section)

=== The Céloron Expedition (1749) ===
[[File:L'AN 1749 DV REGNE DE LOVIS XV ROY DE FRANCE - Plaques OHIO.png|thumb|In 1749 French explorer Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville asserts sovereignty of France over the Ohio valley by burying a lead plaque called « of Point Pleasant ».]]

In the second half of 1749, the [[France|French]] explorer [[Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville]] (1693-1759) claimed French sovereignty over the [[Ohio Valley]], burying a lead plaque at the meeting point of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.

The text on the plaque is as follows: 
:''L'AN 1749 DV REGNE DE LOVIS XV ROY DE FRANCE, NOVS CELORON, COMMANDANT D'VN DETACHEMENT ENVOIE PAR MONSIEVR LE MIS. DE LA GALISSONIERE, COMMANDANT GENERAL DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE POVR RETABLIR LA TRAN QUILLITE DANS QUELQUES VILLAGES SAUVAGES DE CES CANTONS, AVONS ENTERRE CETTE PLAQUE AU CONFLUENT DE L'OHIO ET DE TCHADAKOIN CE 29 JVILLET, PRES DE LA RIVIERE OYO AUTREMENT BELLE RIVIERE, POUR MONUMENT DU RENOUVELLEMENT DE POSSESSION QUE NOUS AVONS PRIS DE LA DITTE RIVIERE OYO, ET DE TOUTES CELLE~ QUI Y TOMBENT, ET DE TOUTES LES TERRES DES DEUX COTES JVSQVE AVX SOURCES DES DITTES RIVIERES AINSI QV'EN ONT JOVY OU DV JOVIR LES PRECEDENTS ROIS DE FRANCE, ET QU'ILS S'Y SONT MAINTENVS PAR LES ARMES ET PAR LES TRAIT TES, SPECIALEMENT PAR CEVX DE RISWICK D'VTRECHT ET D'AIX LA CHAPELLE.''<ref>The Céloron Plate, one of only two to be recovered among the six placed by Céloron along the Ohio River during the expedition, is in the collections of the [[Virginia Historical Society]]. It was recovered in 1849 after washing out from the river bank; a monument marks the spot today.</ref>

:''(In the year 1749, in the reign of [[King Louis XV]], we, Celoron, commander of a detachment sent by [[Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière|Commander de La Galissonière]], Commander General of [[New France]], for the restoration of peace in various untamed villages in the region, have buried this plaque at the confluence of the Ohio and Tchadakoin [Rivers] this 29th day of July near the fine river bank, to commemorate the retaking into possession of the afore-mentioned river bank and all the surrounding lands on both river shores back to the river sources, as secured by previous kings of France, and maintained by force of arms and by treaties, specifically the Treaties of [[Treaty of Ryswick|Rijswick]], of [[Treaty of Utrecht|Utrecht]] and of [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Aix la Chapelle]]) ''

Céloron's expedition was a diplomatic failure since the local [[Native American tribes in Virginia|tribes]] remained pro-British, and British representatives refused to leave. This incident was the prelude to conflicts between the French and [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] in North America that would lead to the outbreak of the [[French and Indian War]] in 1754 (as part of the [[Seven Years' War]]) that would lead to the cessation of [[New France]] to the British and the ultimate expulsion of France from most of its possessions in North America.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The expedition can nevertheless be seen in more positive terms as a geographical project since the Céloron expedition was the starting point for the first map of the [[Ohio Valley]], which was the work of the [[Jesuit]] [[Joseph Pierre de Bonnecamps]].

In 1770, Colonel [[George Washington]] visited the confluence that would become Point Pleasant, then proceeded 14 miles up the "Great Kanawha" and later reported that "This Country abounds in Buffalo and Wild game of all kinds as also in all kinds of wild fowl, there being in the Bottoms a great many small grassy Ponds or Lakes which are full of Swans, Geese, and Ducks of different kinds."<ref>Cleland Hugh (1955), ''George Washington in the Ohio Valley''; [[Pittsburgh]]: [[University of Pittsburgh Press]], pg 261.</ref>