* John Smith: Smith was an English explorer and colonist who also played a major role in the early history of West Virginia. He explored the Chesapeake Bay region in 1607 and founded the Jamestown settlement.
* William Claiborne: Claiborne was a Virginia colonist who established a trading post on Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay in 1631. He later became governor of Maryland.
* Abram Wood: Wood was a Virginia frontiersman who established a settlement in the Shenandoah Valley in 1730. He is considered to be one of the founders of West Virginia.
* Daniel Boone: Boone was a famous American frontiersman who explored and settled the Kentucky and Tennessee regions. He also spent time in what is now West Virginia, hunting and trapping.
* George Washington: Washington, the first president of the United States, was a surveyor and land speculator who explored the Ohio River Valley in the 1770s. He also served as commander of the Virginia militia during the French and Indian War.
* Lewis and Clark: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were two American explorers who led the Lewis and Clark Expedition from 1804 to 1806. They explored the Missouri River and reached the Pacific Ocean.
* Zebulon Pike: Pike was an American explorer who explored the Rocky Mountains and the upper Mississippi River Valley. He also explored present-day West Virginia in 1805.