. By the middle of the 1700s, British fur traders had crossed theAppalachian Mountains into the Ohio River Valley. They moved into land that was claimed by both the British colonies and France.
The French explorer LaSalle had claimed a huge land area called New
France. It stretched from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. And from the Great Lakes in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south.
All of the Ohio River Valley was not really part of LaSalle's claim. But
gradually the French began to move into all of the Ohio River Valley. Although the French had claimed a huge land area, there were very few French farmersliving in New France. Most French men were fur traders. They traded for furs with the American Indians. The furs were then bought by French trading companies who sold them in Europe. Many of the French fur traders had good relations with the Indians for a long time.
British fur traders began to move into the Ohio River Valley to take the fur business away from the French. To do this, the British offered the Indians more goods, but for fewer furs. In time, the French lost most of their fur trading business to the British.
