"Ohio's First Peoples depicts the Native Americans of the Buckeye State from the time of the ancient Adena and Hopewell peoples to the forced removal of the Wyandots in the 1840s." "James O'Donnell presents the narrative of the early Ohioans, concentrating on their saga of confrontation with European settlers. He provides an overview of the movements of Fort Ancient peoples driven out by economic and political forces in the seventeenth century. The story then turns to the Wyandot, Shawnee, and Delaware peoples, who were lured to Ohio by its plentiful game and fertile farmlands." "By the early nineteenth century, however, only a few native peoples remained in the new state, still hoping to retain their homes. Pressures from federal and state governments, as well as the settlers' desire for land, left the earlier inhabitants no refuge. By the mid-1840s they were gone, leaving behind relatively few markers on the land." "In commemorating the bicentennial of Ohio, we remember its earliest inhabitants. Ohio's First Peoples recounts their story and documents their contribution to Ohio's full heritage."--BOOK JACKET.