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The French and Indian War, the North American phase of the larger Seven Years’ War, began after a series of incidents in the upper Ohio River valley. The French and British governments both claimed it as their territory. Military forces assembled by both imperial powers built forts in the region and attempted to capture each others’ forts. These skirmishes, which included an expedition led by George Washington, ultimately led to the escalation of a broader, full-scale war between Great Britain and France.

[[File:Robert_Dinwiddie_from_NPG.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Virginia Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddle]]

Since the colony of Virginia also claimed this region, Virginian lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie sent Major George Washington with a small expedition to remove the French forts in late 1753. Washington arrived at Fort Le Boeuf, about 15 miles inland from present-day Erie, Pennsylvania, and delivered his message. The fort, Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, received Washington and his men courteously but denied the validity of English claims to the contested region.

Aided by such reports, the French soon learned of the British fort that William Trent and his small group of men were constructing, and French forces moved swiftly to compel its surrender on April 17, 1754. The French destroyed the unfinished fort, building in its place the much more formidable Fort Duquesne.

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