Fayette County was formed in 1831 from Nicholas, Greenbrier, Kanawha, and Logan counties and was named for General Lafayette. On the New River in 1671, Batts and Fallam officially claimed the Mississippi Valley for Great Britain in opposition to the claim of France. Kanawha County was authorized in 1788 and organized in 1789 from Greenbrier and Montgomery. It was named for the Kanawha River, which bore the name of an Indian tribe. Salt making brought early settlers into the valley, and from it grew vast modern chemical plants.