 The Mississippi Land Company was formed by colonial Virginians including George Washington, John Augustine Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Arthur Lee, and William Fitzhugh.The company hoped to establish a new colony in the Mississippi Valley by petitioning the Crown for 2.5 million acres (10,000 km²) in what is now Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee, including where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi.Their timing was poor, however, because the British government soon issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which put a temporary halt to the western expansion of the British colonies.