When white settlers first entered the country north and west of the Ohio
River, from which later on the state of Ohio was to be carved, they
found here, as everyone knows, the Indians. When we pause to consider
that Ohio today is one of the greatest states in the Union, it is hard
to believe that this happened less than two centuries ago. However, the
story of the Indian tribes that white men found living on Ohio soil when
they arrived is a part of Ohio history, and will not be dwelt upon in
this booklet. For the present we are concerned only with the people who
lived in Ohio before the historic Indians, and we may refer to them as
the first Ohioans.