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1609English explorer Henry Hudson travels up
the Hudson River.
Hired by the Dutch East India Company, Eng-
lishman Henry Hudson and a crew of 24 sails
to North America in search of the fabled North-
west Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. Hudson explores the New England coast
and Delaware Bay before traveling up the river
that now bears his name to the site of present-day
Albany. His explorations will allow the Dutch to
claim the area and for a time dominate the Indian
fur trade in the region.
The Spanish found Santa Fe.
On the site of ancient Indian ruins, Spaniards
establish the settlement of Santa Fe. The site
will become the capital of the Spanish province
of New Mexico and serve as the most important
trading center for the Spanish and Indians in the
American Southwest for more than 200 years.
Summer
Indians and the French join forces against
the Mohawk.
Huron, Algonkin, and Montagnais warriors and
Frenchmen led by Samuel de Champlain (see
entry for 1603) attack a large party of Mohawk
on what is now Lake Champlain. Although out-
manned, the Huron-French force—well armed
with muskets—quickly repels the Mohawk, who
are stunned when Champlain shoots and kills two
of their leaders in the initial volley. The encounter
greatly impresses the French-allied Indians, who
come to see maintaining a friendship with the
French (and thus access to European weapons) as
the key to protecting themselves from their tradi-
tional Iroquois enemies. It also seals the Iroquois
hatred of the French, which will lead them into
alliances with the Dutch and English during the
early years of contact.
1610The Powhatan and the English go to war.
On the brink of starvation, the colonists at
Jamestown (see entry for MAY 1607) are ready to
abandon their settlement when ships from Eng-
land arrive with provisions and 300 more settlers.
Bolstered by the newcomers, the English begin
expanding their colony into the lands of the tribes
ruled by the Indian leader Powhatan. As the Indi-
ans defend their territory, war breaks out between
the Powhatan Confederacy and the Virginians.
In response to the Indians’ guerrilla attacks, the
English launch vicious retaliatory campaigns, in
which they set entire villages ablaze and slaugh-
ter Indian women and children. The fighting
will continue for four bloody years until a peace
is solidified through the marriage of Pocahontas,
the daughter of Powhatan, to the wealthy colonist
John Rolfe (see entry for APRIL 5, 1614).“Why should you take by force
that from us which you can
have by love? Why should you
destroy us, who have provided
you with food? What can you
get by war? We can hide our
provisions, and fly into the
woods; and then you must con-
sequently famish by wronging
your friends. What is the cause
of your jealousy? You see us
unarmed, and willing to supply
your wants, if you come in a
friendly manner, and not with
swords and guns as to invade
an enemy.”
—Powhatan to the Jamestown
colonists in 1609, as recorded by
Captain John Smith