French explorer; born about 1715.
The treaty of peace at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 did not touch the subject of boundaries between the
French and
English colonies in
America.
The Ohio Company was formed partly for the purpose of planting English settlements in the disputed territory.
The
French determined to counteract the movement by pre-occupation; and in 1749 the governor of
Canada, the
Marquis de la Galissoniere, sent Celeron with subordinate officers, cadets, twenty soldiers, 180 Canadians, thirty
Iroquois, and twenty-five Abenakes, with instructions to go down the
Ohio River and take formal possession of the surrounding country in the name of the
King of
France.
Contrecoeur, afterwards in command at
Fort Duquesne, and
Coulon de Villiers accompanied him as chief lieutenants.
Celoron was provided with a number of leaden tablets, properly inscribed, to bury at
[
74]
different places as a record of pre-occupation by the
French.
The expedition left Lachine on June 15, ascended the
St. Lawrence, crossed
Lake Ontario, arrived at
Niagara July 6, coasted some distance along the southern shores of
Lake Erie, and then made an overland journey to the head-waters of the
Alleghany River.
Following that stream to its junction with the
Monongahela, they went down the
Ohio to the mouth of the
Great Miami, below
Cincinnati, proclaiming French sovereignty, and burying six leaden tablets at as many different places.
From the mouth of the
Miami they made an overland journey to
Lake Erie, and reached
Fort Niagara Oct. 19, 1749.
The place and date of Celoron's death are uncertain.
