THe French Claim UPPER PIQUA

Upper Piqua Part 1 

I am writing this post for those that may not be familiar the historical significance of Upper Piqua. 

Upper Piqua is directly linked with Ohio history, having been under six flags -Starting with Céleron claiming Ohio (and most of the Mississippi Valley) for France, the establishment of the Miami Village- Pickawillany, The Shawnee Village- Piqua, George Rogers Clark, Anthony Wayne, William Henry Harrison, and culminating with the Civil War ....Camp Piqua in 1862. 

The first flag over Upper Piqua is that of France.

 Pierre Joseph Céleron de Blainville, known to many today as "Céleron”, was a French soldier that rose through the ranks. His career began as a private in 1713 and rose to the rank of captain in 1738.  Céleron commanded the fort at Michilimackinac for several years and then was appointed to command the fort at Detroit.  1744, he assumed command of Fort Niagara, and commanded Fort St. Frédéric in 1746.

In 1749, Céleron was called upon by his superiors to lead “The Lead Plate Expedition”. The expedition was sent along the Ohio River to bury lead plates at the mouths of the Ohio’s tributary rivers. The lead plates were inscribed with the following text:

“In the year 1749, of the reign of Louis the 15th, King of France, we Céleron, commander of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor General of New France, to reestablish tranquility in some Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this Plate of Lead at the confluence of the Ohio and the Chadakoin, this 29th day of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise Belle Riviere, as a monument of the renewal of the possession we have taken of the said river Ohio and of all those which empty into it, and of all the lands on both sides as far as the sources of the said rivers, as enjoyed or ought to have been enjoyed by the kings of France preceding and as they have there maintained themselves by arms and by treaties, especially those of Ryswick, Utrecht and Aix-la-Chapelle.” 

 At least six plates were buried. Three of the six were buried at the mouth of the Muskingum, Kanawha and the Miami Rivers. A map was drawn in 1749 by Joseph Pierre de Bonnecamps, tracking Céleron’s route followed along the Ohio River.

Toward the end of this campaign, Céleron and his troops traveled up the Big Miami. They visited the Miami Chief, “Old Britain” at the Pickawillany Village in an attempt to persuade him to return to his former location and to French interests. It was not long after this event that British traders began to fortify their trading post. This post then became known as Fort Pickawillany. 

Five months after the expedition began, it returned to Montreal, arriving November 10, 1749.  Céleron went on to command Fort Detroit. He later was promoted to the rank of Major and was reassigned to Montreal.

The French, British and Colonials were each adamant in their ownership claim of the Ohio Valley. The disputed land ownership between France and Britain was a factor in the Seven Years War, which eventually made itself real in North America thru the French & Indian War. 

The first battle of the French and Indian War occurred at Pickawillany. The first battle is described in the article titled “The Miami Claim Upper Piqua”,  There is a link to this article on our Homepage. 

Sources for this information were: The History of Miami County, 1953, Galbreath’s Expedition of Céleron to the Ohio country in 1749 and The Ohio[Rivers of America series] by R.E. Banta...TMann