one with the Dutch. Another result of the feud between the Iroquois
and the French was the destruction of the confederacy of the Hurons,
themselves a people of Iroquoian stock, established in the region
between Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, over a large portion of
what is now the province of Ontario, although the antagonism
between Hurons and Iroquois had existed even before the coming
of Cartier and the inevitable conflict had already begun. As an
outcome of Champlain’s visit to the country of the Hurons in 1615
the Jesuit missionaries had established themselves among these
Indians and for thirty-five years laboured with a devotion and
sacrifice almost unparalleled in the history of the continent. The
struggle ended in the campaign of 1648–1649, in which the Iroquois
destroyed the Huron settlements and practically exterminated the
people, the French priests in many cases having suffered martyrdom
in the most cruel fashion at the hands of the savage conquerors.
Such of the Hurons as succeeded in escaping took refuge in some
of the safer French settlements or found shelter among friendly
Indian tribes farther west. Some of these refugees have their
descendants among the Hurons of Lorette to-day and among the
Wyandots of Oklahoma. The Tionontati (Tobacco Nation) Hurons
continued the struggle for some time longer, a battle being fought
in 1659 on the Ottawa above Montreal, in which the Iroquois were
victorious and the Huron chief slain. As late as 1747–1748 some
of the Hurons, who had taken refuge in the west, under Orontony,
a wily and unscrupulous chief, who was offended at certain actions
of the French, entered into a conspiracy with many Algonkian tribes
of the region to destroy the French posts at Detroit, &c., which,
however, proved unsuccessful, the plot being revealed through the
treachery of a Huron woman. A notable event in the
French-Iroquois wars was the attack on Montreal in 1689. After the
coming of Frontenac as governor of Canada the wars between the
French and English involved some of the Indian tribes more and
more, on one side or the other, the Mohawks especially, who took
part against the French, being famous for their raids from the region
of Ohio to far into New Brunswick. During the French war and
the American War of Independence the Algonkian and Iroquoian
Indians serving on both sides were in part or wholly responsible for
numerous massacres and other acts of barbarity, though the whites
sometimes showed themselves fully the equals of the savages they
condemned.
In New England the most notable conflicts were “the Pequot war” of 1637–1638 and “King Philip’s war” of 1675–1676, the latter resulting in the overthrow of a powerful confederacy, which at one time threatened the very existence of the colony, and the practical extermination of the Indians concerned, after great havoc had been wrought by them in the white settlements. New England also suffered much from Indian “wars” instigated by the French, and at Caughnawaga and other Iroquois settlements in French Canada there is much white blood resulting from the adoption of captives taken away (e.g. at Marlboro and Deerfield, Mass., in 1703–1704) in raids on New England villages. Celebrated in the annals of war are the Algonkian chiefs Tecumseh (Shawnee), who aided the British in the war of 1812, and Pontiac (Ottawa), whose remarkable conspiracy of 1763 has been studied by Parkman; of noted Iroquoian chiefs and warriors may be mentioned Joseph Brant, who fought for the British in the War of Independence, and Logan, ill-famed for his barbarities perpetrated against the border settlements on the Ohio, 1775–1780, &c.
In Virginia the future of the English colony was not absolutely assured much before 1620. From the founding of Jamestown in 1607 until about 1616 the colony was in more or less danger of extinction by starvation or destruction at the hands of the Indians. The most famous and romantic of the Indian wars of Virginia was that in which Captain John Smith was concerned in the days of Powhatan and Opechancanough, when his rescue by Pocahontas is said to have taken place. Under Opechancanough massacres of the English settlers took place in 1622 and 1644 in particular, while intermittent hostilities continued between these dates, many hundreds of whites being slain by the Powhatan Indians and their confederates of Algonkian stock. As a result of wars with the English and also with other Indian tribes, many of the Algonkian peoples of Virginia, like some of the Iroquoian peoples farther south, were by the end of the 17th century greatly reduced in numbers. In the Carolinian region the Iroquoian Cherokee warred against the English colonists from 1759 until the War of Independence, and continued their struggle then against the Americans until 1794. After their forcible removal west of the Mississippi in 1838–1839 no serious hostilities occurred, with the exception of a conflict between the whites and a portion of the Cherokee, who had earlier moved into eastern Texas while that state was under the Mexican régime. The Tuscarora were in frequent conflict with the English, particularly in the “Tuscarora war” of 1713–14.
Of Algonkian tribes farther west the Cheyenne began conflicts with the whites about 1840, made their first incursion into Mexico in 1853, and between 1860 and 1878–1879, according to Mooney, “they were prominent in border warfare . . . and have probably lost more in conflict with the whites than any other tribe of the plains in proportion to their number.” They participated in the “Sitting Bull war” of 1876.
The Chippewa of the north-western United States in the latter half of the 18th century and till the close of the war of 1812 kept up warfare with the border settlements, but have been generally peaceful since 1815, when a treaty was made. The only serious outbreak among the Cree, who have been generally friendly to the whites from the period of first contact, occurred during the Riel “rebellion” of 1885, but was soon settled. In the latter part of the 18th century (up to the treaty of Greenville, 1795) the Delawares took a prominent part in opposing the advance of the whites. The Kickapoos were concerned in the Indian plot to destroy the fort at Detroit in 1712, and a hundred years later they aided the English against the Americans; in 1832 numbers of them helped Black Hawk in his war against the whites. The Micmac were long hostile to the English, being prominent as aids to the French in the New England wars, and it was not until about 1779 or long after the French cession that conflicts between these Indians and the whites came to an end. The Mississaguas fought with the Iroquois against the French about 1750, having soon become friendly with the English and remaining so. The Ottawa were prominent in the wars of the region about Detroit from 1750 till 1815. Pontiac, whose “conspiracy” of 1763 is noted in American history, was an Ottawa chief. The Penobscot, as friends of the French, continued their attacks on the English settlements till about 1750. The Sacs and Foxes appear early in the 18th century as antagonists of the French (a rare thing among Algonkian peoples) and they were the instigators of the nearly successful attack on Detroit in 1712. In the war of 1812 most of these Indians sided with the British. Black Hawk, the chief figure in the “war” of 1831–1832, was a Sac and Fox chief, who endeavoured to engage all the Indian tribes of the region in a general alliance against the whites. The Shawnees were prominent in the border warfare of the Ohio region, and their famous chief Tecumseh fought for the British in the war of 1812.
Athabaskan.—The Athabaskan tribes of the far north, with the exception of occasional disputes with the traders and settlers, have generally been of a peaceful disposition, and “wars” with the whites have not been recorded to any extent. The warlike members of this stock have been the Apache and the Navaho. The Apache from the middle of the 16th century have given evidence of their instinct for raids and depredations on the frontiers of civilization. In recent times the most noteworthy outbreaks were those under Cochise, Victorio, Geronimo, Nana, Nakaidoklini, &c., between 1870 and 1886, in which several hundred whites in Mexico and New Mexico were killed and much property destroyed. As late as 1900 some of the hostile Apaches, who had escaped to the mountains, made a raid on the Mormon settlers in Chihuahua, Mexico. The Navaho, when New Mexico passed into the possession of the United States in 1849, had long been in the habit of committing depredations upon the white settlements and the Pueblos. These “wars” continued till 1863, when “Kit” Carson completely defeated them and the greater part of the tribe were made prisoners. Since their release in 1867 they have thriven in peace, although occasionally serious trouble has threatened, as, e.g., in November 1905.
Caddoan.—The Caddo proper were friendly to the French and helped them against the Spaniards in the wars of the 18th century. After the annexation of Texas the Indians were badly treated and some of them made answer in kind; in 1855 a massacre of the Indians was proposed by the whites. Since their forced march to Oklahoma in 1859 they have been at peace. The Arikara had a brief conflict with the United States authorities in 1823, as a result of the killing of some traders. In the wars of the 18th century the Kichai adhered to the cause of the French. The Pawnee seem never to have warred against the United States, in spite of much provocation at times.
Californian Stocks.—Such “wars” as are recorded, for the most part between the minor Californian stocks and the whites, have been largely directly or indirectly instigated by the latter for various purposes of gain. The Lutuamian stock is remarkable as furnishing both the Klamath, who have always kept peace with the whites, and the Modoc, who are well known through the “Modoc war” of 1872–73 under the leadership of their chief, Kintpuash or “Captain Jack.”
Kiowan.—The Indians of the Kiowan stock joined with the Comanche, Apache, &c., in the border wars in Texas and Mexico, and, according to Mooney, “among all the prairie tribes they were noted as the most predatory and bloodthirsty, and have probably killed more white men in proportion to their numbers than any other.” They have been on their present reservation since 1868, and the only outbreak of importance latterly occurred in 1874–75, when they joined with the Comanche, Cheyenne, &c.
Muskogian.—This stock has furnished some of the most warlike Indians of the continent. The Chickasaw were friendly to the English, or rather hostile to the French, in the 18th century (war of 1736–40), and their action practically settled the question of the extension of French power in this region. The Choctaw aided the French in the wars of the 18th century, and a few Indians of this tribe participated in the “Creek War” of 1813–14. The Creeks or Muskogees are famous on account of the terrible war of 1813–14 in which they sustained overwhelming defeat. Earlier they were hostile to the Spaniards in Florida, and during the 18th century were generally friendly to the English, particularly in the “Apalachee war” of 1703–08, when they served under Governor Moore of
