Author: Ashley

In the decade after the French and Indian War, the frontier between Fort Pitt and the future site of Wheeling buzzed with uncertainty—half promise, half threat. This was contested ground, scarred by past conflict and rich with opportunity, and nobody knew that better than George Washington. (I know some people don’t like to think of… Read more

The English were traders on the Ohio River by the early eighteenth century, but the colonies were largely concentrated along the Atlantic coast. In 1747, the combined lobbying of Virginia planters and London stockholders finally paid off when King George II approved the charter granting the Ohio Company of Virginia 200,000 acres of land in… Read more

In the eighteenth century, thousands left Europe in search of land and opportunity in the American colonies. Among them, none came in greater numbers than the Ulster Presbyterians—better known today as the Scots-Irish. Like many German immigrants, they arrived hoping to claim farmland of their own. But what they found was a crowded colonial society,… Read more

Before the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, another war was already brewing in the Ohio Valley. It’s a story tangled in violence, unregulated land schemes, and political manipulation. And like many stories on the early American frontier, it raises more questions than answers. Who is Logan? What happened to his family? Where… Read more