b'The French infoxes, muskrats, and minks, all of whichOhio Country thrived in the Ohio area.The Iroquois did their best to keepWhen Jacques Cartier, a French the French out of the Ohio Country. Evenexplorer, found and named the St. so, some explorers did reach the OhioLawrence River in 1534, it was just a River. Robert La Salle is thought to havematter of time before the French trav- been the first white man to see theeled up that river into the Great Lakes upper Ohio River, but some historiansand finally to the Ohio Country. disagree with that claim. The FrenchExplorers like Cartier found much more claimed much of the Ohio Valley becausethan land as they explored. They met of La Salles expedition. Many trappersmany native people and discovered the and traders cameriches of this landespecially the fursthat were so plentiful.One of theIn the early 1600s, the French had plates claimingFrenchworked out an arrangement with the ownership ofnatives, especially in the Canadian the OhioCountry thatregions. Explorers had moved on, but was buried bytraders had moved in. They built trading Celeron on hisexpedition inposts where the French exchanged 1748.European products (like guns) for furs. In Graphic (GG)Europe,Americanfurs werehighlydesired.They madehats, coats,and otherobjectsfrom thefur ofbears,beavers,otters,raccoons,Map shows native areas and white towns around 1760. Graphic (HH)page 22'