Chronology of American Indian History

P

for MAY 9, 1763). Their Indian victims, however,
are scapegoats for the colonial government—the
true target of the Paxton Boys’ wrath. Dominated
by pacifist Quakers, the government has been re-
luctant to build up the colony’s military, leaving
settlers on Pennsylvania’s western frontier feeling
vulnerable as Indians began to wage war against the
English in their lands.

“What could old Shehaes, so

old he had been present at

Penn’s Treaty in 1701, done

that he should have been cut

to pieces in bed? What could

he or the other poor old men

and women do? What had

the little boys and girls done?

What could children of a year

old, babes at the breast, what

could they do that they must

be shot and hatched? And in

their parents’ arms! This is

done by no civilized nation

in Europe. Do we come to

America to learn and practice

the manners of barbarians?”

—Benjamin Franklin on the

Paxton Boys’ massacre

of the Conestoga Indians

1765

August 17

Pontiac makes peace with the
English.
Seeing support for his Indian confederacy dwindle
in the face of continued English attacks, Pontiac

meets with an Indian agent sent by English of-

ficials. The Indian leader agrees to end his war

against the English (see entry for MAY 9, 1763).

He also accepts a pension from his former ene-

mies—an action that will embitter many of the

warriors who had followed him into battle. (See

also JULY 23, 1766.)

1766

Russians attack Aleut villages.

To stop a rash of Aleut attacks (see entry for

1761), Russian trader Ivan Solovief launches an

assault against the Aleut’s villages. Traveling on

ships armed with cannons, Russian mercenaries

shell the Aleut homes, then enslave or execute all

of the survivors they can capture. The brutal mas-

sacres so reduce the Aleut population that they

will no longer be able to sustain their rebellion

against the Russians.

Alaska Natives are made subjects of

Russia.

Catherine the Great of Russia declares that the

indigenous peoples of the Aleutian Islands and

Alaska Peninsula are Russian subjects, who can be

taxed by the Russian government. The czarina also

decrees that, as subjects, they should be treated

well, a demand that will have little influence on

the behavior of Russian traders and explorers.

July 23

Pontiac’s War officially ends.

The informal peace made between Pontiac and

the English (see entry for AUGUST 17, 1765) is

made official with a peace agreement signed by

40 Indian leaders and William Johnson (see entry

for 1755), the British superintendent of Indian

affairs, at Oswego, New York. The treaty ends the

organized resistance to English settlement in the

Ohio River valley.