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Why did Virginia claim the land around present-day Pittsburgh?

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Painting of Edward Braddock and British troops in uniform advancing through dense forest, facing Native American and French fighters during the French and Indian War near Fort Duquesne. — French and Indian War British commander Edward Braddock and his troops preparing to march on the French-held Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) during the French and Indian War.

The government of Virginia claimed the land around present-day Pittsburgh based on its 1609 colonial charter, which the colony argued granted it rights to western lands that superseded the claims made by New France via the later explorations of René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle.1

By the end of 1752, the Virginia government had conditionally granted approximately 2,300 square miles of land in the Ohio Valley to settlers, creating significant interest among influential families in the colony. When the French began driving out British traders and constructing forts on the headwaters of the Allegheny River to consolidate their position, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie viewed these actions as an occupation of Virginian territory. Consequently, the Ohio Company of Virginia was encouraged to build a fort at the strategic convergence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, a location recognized for its vital importance in the struggle for control of the North American interior.12