militia against the tribe on the false pretext that the
Indians are plotting an attack on English settle-
ments. Eight of the formerly friendly Massachuset
are killed. Among them is Wituwamet, a sachem
whose severed head the colonists’ display atop the
fort at Plymouth.
May 22
The English murder Powhatan leaders at a
peace conference.
Beaten down by the Virginia colonists’ relentless
military campaign against the Powhatan people (see
entry for MARCH 1622), Opechancanough and sev-
eral other Powhatan leaders agree to release a few
English prisoners and discuss terms of a truce. At
the end of the meeting, the colonists offer the In-
dians wine tainted with poison. As the drug takes
effect, the English open fire on the groggy Pow-
hatan. Opechancanough is shot, but he survives the
attack and manages to escape.
1624The Dutch found the trading post at
Fort Orange.
The Dutch establish their first trading post in
North America at what is now Albany, New York.
From the post, named Fort Orange, the Dutch will
develop prosperous trading relationships with sev-
eral area Indian groups, including the Mahican and
the Mohawk.
1626The Dutch and the Mahicans are defeated
by the Mohawk.
Although the Dutch generally follow a policy
of neutrality in intertribal warfare, four Dutch
traders join the Mahicans in a raid against their
Mohawk enemies. The Dutch-Mahican force is
soundly defeated by the powerful Mohawk, and
the traders are killed.
May 6The Canarsee sell Manhattan to the Dutch.
Peter Minuit, the governor of New Netherlands,
purchases the island now known as Manhattan from
the Canarsee Indians for 60 Dutch guilders’ worth
of goods. Minuit is following the instructions of the
charter of the United New Netherlands Company,
which stipulates that the company cannot take
control of Indian land without their consent and
must be fair and honest in all negotiations with In-
dian groups. After discovering that the island they
bought is not part of Canarsee territory, the Dutch
will later make another payment for the land to the
Manhattan Indians, who claim Manhattan as their
hunting grounds.1628The Merry Mount colony is destroyed.
Thomas Morton, the leader of the small English
colony of Merry Mount, infuriates the leaders of
nearby Plymouth by trading gunpowder and liquor
to area Indians and abandoning Puritan reserve to
stage dances around a maypole. A force of Plym-
outh colonists led by Miles Standish (see entry for
1623) attacks Merry Mount and arrests Morton,
who is sent back to England in order to remove his
immoral influence from the colonies.1629JulyThe Montagnais aid David Kirke in taking
over New France.
An English crew led by adventurer David Kirke
compels Samuel de Champlain to surrender Quebec
(see entry for JULY 3, 1608). In this bold move, Kirke
is probably supported by the Montagnais, who have
grown disenchanted with the French as trading part-
ners. Quebec will be restored to French control in
1632 by the Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye.