Native Americans Events

1621 Jul English Settlers Organize Rescue Party to Retreive John Billington from Nauset, Improving Relations with Native Americans
In late July, a boy by the name of John Billington became lost for some time in the woods around the colony. It was reported he was found by the Nauset, the same group of Native Americans...
1621 Jul 2 English Pilgrims Negotiate Exclusive Trading Pact with Massasoit
As promised by Massasoit, numerous Native Americans arrived at Plymouth throughout the middle of 1621 with pledges of peace. On July 2, a party of Pilgrims, led by Edward Winslow (who lat...
1621 Oct The "First" Thanksgiving
The autumn celebration in late 1621 that has become known as "The First Thanksgiving" was not known as such to the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims did recognize a celebration known as a "Thanksgiv...
1621 Nov A Second Ship, the Fortune, Arrives at the Plymouth Colony
In November 1621, one year after the Pilgrims first set foot in New England, a second ship sent by the Merchant Adventurers arrived. Named the Fortune, it arrived with 37 new settlers for...
1622 May New Colonists Arrive at Plymouth Shortly before Establishing New Colony of Wessagusset
In May 1622, a vessel named the Sparrow arrived carrying seven men from the Merchant Adventurers whose purpose was to seek out a site for a new settlement in the area. Two ships followed ...
1623 Apr 6 Myles Standish Leads Small Band to Assassinate Native American Warriors at Wessagusset
The next day on April 6th there appeared at the gates of the stockade the leaders of the conspiracy. Pecksuot, a giant warrior and Wituwamat along with two other natives came into the st...
1623 Jul Two More Ships Arrive to Populate Plymouth Colony
In July 1623, two more ships arrived, carrying 90 new settlers, among them Leideners, including William Bradford's future wife, Alice. Some of the settlers were unprepared for frontier li...
1634 John Stone is Killed by Western Niantic, in Retaliation for Atrocities he Committed Against Native Americans
In 1634, John Stone, a smuggler, privateer, and slaver, and seven of his crewmen were killed by the Western Niantic, tributary clients of the Pequot, in retaliation for atrocities committ...
1634 Oct 23 Pequots Send Messenger Promising Tribute to Massachusetts Bay Colony Deputy Governor, Roger Ludlow
In 1634 the the Pequots initiated peace negotiations with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They wanted the English to re-establish trade and arbitrate a peace settlement with the Narraganset...
1634 Nov 7 Massachusetts Bay/Pequot Treaty is Negotiated, but Never Ratified by Pequot Council
Before the war's inception, efforts to control fur trade access resulted in a series of escalating incidents and attacks that increased tensions on both sides. Political divisions between...
1636 Pequots Attack Fort Saybrook
Through the fall and winter, Fort Saybrook was effectively besieged. Any who ventured outside were killed. As spring arrived in 1637, the Pequot stepped up their raids on Connecticut Colo...
1636 Jul 20 John Oldham and Several of His Crew are Killed by Narragansett-Allied Indians
On July 20, 1636, a respected trader named John Oldham was attacked on a trading voyage to Block Island. He and several of his crew were killed and his ship looted by Narragansett-allied ...
1636 Aug 25 Captain John Endecott Leads Party to Block Island to Exact Revenge for John Oldham's Killing
News of Oldham's death became the subject of sermons in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In August, Governor Vane sent John Endecott to exact revenge on the Indians of Block Island. Endecott...
1637 Apr 23 Wongunk Chief Sequin Attacks Wethersfield with Assistance from Pequot
Through the fall and winter, Fort Saybrook was effectively besieged. Any who ventured outside were killed. As spring arrived in 1637, the Pequot stepped up their raids on Connecticut Colo...
1637 May 26 The Mystic Massacre
Believing that the English had returned to Boston, Massachusetts, the Pequot sachem Sassacus took several hundred of his warriors to make another raid on Hartford. But John Mason had only...
1637 Jun Narragansetts Allied with Pilgrims Trick Pequots into Capture by Massachusetts Troops
The slaughter at Mystic broke the Pequot, and deprived them of their allies. Forced to abandon their villages, the Pequot fled -- mostly in small bands-- to seek refuge with other souther...
1637 Jul 13 Pilgrims Catch and Defeat Remaining Pequot, Although Some, Including Chief Sassacus, Escape
In mid-June, John Mason set out from Saybrook with 160 men and 40 Mohegan scouts under Uncas. They caught up with the refugees at Sasqua, a Mattabesic village near present-day Fairfield, ...
1637 Aug Chief Sassacus and His Brother are Killed by Mohawks, Their Scalps Presented to Pilgrims as Peace Offerings
Sassacus and his followers had hoped to gain refuge among the Mohawk in present-day New York. However, the Mohawk had seen the display of English power and chose instead to kill Sassacus ...
1638 Sep 21 Pequot War Ends with the Treaty of Hartford
The term Treaty of Hartford applies to three historic agreements negotiated at Hartford, Connecticut. The 1638 treaty divided the spoils of the Pequot War. The 1650 treaty defined a borde...
1674 Dec John Sassamon Tells Plymouth Colony Officials of King Philip's Arranging Attacks on Colonial Settlements
The spark that ignited King Phillip's War was a report from a Native American Christian convert ("Praying Indian")—an early Harvard graduate, translator, and adviser to Metacom named John...
1675 Feb 10 Mary Rowlandson is Captured by Wampanoag Indians During Raid on Lancaster Village
At sunrise, on February 10, 1675, during King Philip's War, Lancaster came under attack by Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nashaway/Nipmuc Indians. Rowlandson and her three children, Joseph,...
1675 May 2 Mary Rowlandson is Freed from Wampanoag Indians
At sunrise, on February 10, 1675, during King Philip's War, Lancaster came under attack by Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nashaway/Nipmuc Indians. Rowlandson and her three children, Joseph,...
1675 Jun 8 Three Wampanoag Indians are Hanged for the Murder of John Sassamon
On the testimony of a Native American witness, Plymouth Colony arrested three Wampanoags, including one of Metacom's councilors. A jury among whom were some Indian members convicted them ...
1675 Jun 20 A Band of Pokanoket Indians Attacks Homesteads in Plymouth Colony Settlement of Swansea
Beginning in June 1675, the Wampanoag, outfitted with rifles and armor, attacked a series of settlements and took the lives of dozens of colonial men, women and children. English forces r...
1675 Jun 28 Settlers Send Military Expedition to Destroy Wampanoag Town at Mount Hope in Retaliation for Swansea Attacks
On the testimony of a Native American witness, Plymouth Colony arrested three Wampanoags, including one of Metacom's councilors. A jury among whom were some Indian members convicted them ...
1675 Jul 8 Native Americans Attack Settlements of Middleborough and Dartmouth
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Jul 14 Native Americans Attack Mendon Settlement in Plymouth Colony
On July 14, 1675, early violence in King Philip's War took place in Mendon, with the deaths of multiple residents and the destruction of Albee's mill. These were the first settlers killed...
1675 Aug 2 Native Americans Attack Brookfield Settlement in Plymouth Colony
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Aug 19 Native Americans Attack Lancaster in Plymouth Colony
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Sep 1 Wampanoag Attack the Town of Hadley, Giving Rise to Angel of Hadley Legend
In 1676, at the height of King Philip's War, the war leader of the Wampanoag used a ruse to lure away the bulk of the colonial troops to the north. Without the protection of professional ...
1675 Sep 9 New England Confederation Declares War on Native Americans Following Multiple Attacks on Settlements
The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), Mendon (July 14),...
1675 Sep 18 The Battle of Bloody Brook
At the time of the Europeans' arrival, Deerfield was inhabited by the Pocumtuck nation, with a village by the same name. First settled by European colonists in 1673, Deerfield was incorpo...
1675 Oct 5 More than Half of the Town of Springfield is Destroyed by the Pocomtuc Tribe
Springfield remained a small working town when its security was threatened in 1675, during King Philip's War. The leader of the Wampanoag Indian tribe, Wamsutta, died shortly after being ...
1675 Oct 16 Native American Attack Severely Damages Town of Hatfield
Hatfield was founded in 1660 on land granted to General Daniel Dennison and Governor William Bradford. It was formally incorporated as a town in 1670 and has a Board of Selectmen and annu...
1675 Nov 2 Governor Josiah Winslow Leads Militia Against Narragansett Tribe
On November 2, Plymouth Colony governor Josiah Winslow led a combined force of colonial militia against the Narragansett tribe. The Narragansetts had not yet been directly involved in the...
1675 Dec 16 Great Swamp Fight
Led by an Indian guide, on December 16, 1675 on a bitterly cold storm-filled day, the main Narragansett fort near modern South Kingstown, Rhode Island was found and attacked by the coloni...
1676 Mar 12 Native American Forces Attack Plymouth Plantation
Spring of 1676 marked the high point for the combined tribes when, on March 12, they attacked Plymouth Plantation itself. Though the town withstood the assault, the natives had demonstrat...
1676 Mar 26 The 'Nine Men's Misery' Incident
On March 26, 1676 during King Philip's War, Captain Michael Pierce led approximately 60 Plymouth Colony colonial troops and 20 Wampanoag Christian Indians in pursuit of Narragansett India...
1676 Mar 29 Native Americans Completely Destroy Providence, RI
The new year of 1676 saw Philip weakened—somewhat. In January, he and his band traveled further west to Mohawk territory, seeking, but failing to secure, an alliance. The winter months sa...
1676 May 18 Captain William Turner of the Massachusetts Militia Ambush Native Americans at Peskeopscut
In April 1676 the Narragansett were defeated and their chief, Canonchet, was killed. On May 18, 1676, Captain William Turner of the Massachusetts Militia and a group of about 150 militia ...
1676 Jun 12 Force of 250 Native Americans Defeated Near Marlborough, as King Philip's Allies Begin to Desert War
With the help of their long-time allies the Mohegans, the colonists won at Hadley, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1676, and scattered most of the survivors into the wilds of New Hampshire and...
1676 Aug 12 King Philip is Shot Dead by Native American Pilgrim Ally, John Alderman
Philip's allies began to desert him. By early July, over 400 had surrendered to the colonists, and Philip himself had taken refuge in the Assowamset Swamp, below Providence, Rhode Island,...
1678 Apr 12 Sir Edmund Andros Negotiates Treaty with Northern Bands of Native Americans, Conclusively Ending King Philip's War
With Metacomet's death, the war in the south was largely ended. Over 600 colonists and 3,000 Indians had been killed. Several hundred more natives who had surrendered or been captured wer...
1754
to 1763
The French & Indian War
The Seven Years War (1689-1763) was a massive conflict involving Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden. The conflict was played out in Europe, India, and North Amer...
1821 Aug 29 First Treaty of Chicago
The first treaty of Chicago was signed by Michigan Territorial Governor Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley for the United States and representatives of the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi on Au...
1830 May 26 The Indian Removal Act Is Passed
Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to remove Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. The...
1833 Aug 12 Incorporation of the Town of Chicago, Population 350
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. The first boundaries of the new town were Kinzie, Desplaines, Madison, and State Streets, which included...
1833 Sep 26 Second Treaty of Chicago
The second treaty of Chicago was signed by Michigan Territorial Governor George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Weatherford for the United States and representatives of the "Uni...
1835 Dec 29 The Treaty Of New Echota Is Signed
The Treaty of New Echota was a treaty signed on December 29, 1835 in New Echota, Georgia by officials of the United States government and representatives of a minority Cherokee political ...
1862 May 20 Abraham Lincoln Signs the Homestead Act
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. The act provided settlers with 160 acres of surveyed public land after payment of a filing fee and five years of conti...