VERMONT, the fourteenth State, and the first under the Constitution, was admitted to the Union March 4, 1791. It was so called from its principal range of mountains (_verd_, green, and _mont_, mountain). Champlain discovered and explored much of it in 1609. The first settlement was made in 1724, in the present town of Brattleborough, where Fort Dummer was erected. The region was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York (see p. 110). In 1777, the inhabitants declared the "New Hampshire grants" an independent State, under the title "New Connecticut, alias Vermont." In 1791, however, New York consented to relinquish her claim on the payment of $30,000, and Vermont was accordingly admitted into the Union. KENTUCKY, the fifteenth State, was admitted to the Union June 1, 1792. The name, "dark and bloody ground," had its origin in the fierce conflicts which took place between the whites and the Indians. Daniel Boone, a famous hunter, for two years rambled through the forests of this region, delighted with its scenery and the abundance of game. After many thrilling adventures and narrow escapes from the Indians, he established a fort at Boonesborough, and removed his family thither in June, 1775. This was the first permanent settlement in the State, then a part of Virginia, from which it was not separated till 1790. TENNESSEE, the sixteenth State, was admitted to the Union June 1, 1796. It was named from the river Tennessee, the "river with the great bend." It is thought that DeSoto, in his wanderings, visited the spot where Memphis now stands. The first permanent settlement in the State was at Fort Loudon, thirty miles from the present site of Knoxville, in 1756. In 1780, James Robertson crossed the mountains with a party, and located where Nashville now stands, but which was then a wilderness. In 1789, North Carolina gave up her claim on the region, and the next year it was joined with Kentucky to form an independent territory. It received a distinct territorial government two years before it became a State. [Footnote: This was the first permanent English settlement south of Pennsylvania and west of the Alleghanies.] was at Fort Loudon, thirty miles from the present site of Knoxville, in 1756. In 1780, James Robertson crossed the mountains with a party, and located where Nashville now stands, but which was then a wilderness. In 1789, North Carolina gave up her claim on the region, and the next year it was joined with Kentucky to form an independent territory. It received a distinct territorial government two years before it became a State. OHIO, the seventeenth State, was admitted to the Union November 29, 1802. It was so called from the river of that name, signifying the "beautiful river." The first explorations were made by the French, under LaSalle, about 1680. The first permanent settlement was at Marietta, in 1788. It was the first State carved out of the great Northwestern Territory.