August - Native American Heritage Programs

August 1st
1735: According to some sources, an agreement covering “amity and commerce” is reached by representatives of the British in New York, and Western Abenaki, Housatonic, Mohegan and Scaghticoke Indians.
1739: Several Shawnee Chiefs sign a peace treaty with British Pennsylvania authorities not to become allies with any other country. The British agree to enforce previous treaties banning the sale of rum to the Indians.
August 2nd
1689: A small force of thirty men, led by Lieutenant James Weems, are occupying the fort at Pemaquid, Maine. They are attacked by almost 100 Abenaki Indians. The soldiers eventually surrender, and those who aren’t killed, are taken as prisoners to Canada.
1792: Mohegan Samson Occom dies in New Stockbridge, New York. A protégé of Rev. Eleazar Wheelock, Occom learns numerous foreign languages, become an ordained minister, be the first Indian to preach in England, minister to many Indian tribes, and be instrumental in the establishment of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
August 3rd
1492: Columbus sails for the New World from Palos, Spain.
1761: According to some records, a conference regarding land questions and the return of prisoners is held for the next ten days between representatives of the British in Pennsylvania and the Cayuga, Conoy, Delaware, Mahican, Nanticoke, Oneida and Onondaga Indians.
August 4th
1742: According to some reports, a meeting is held between representatives of the British in Massachusetts and the Maliseet, Norridgewock, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Pigwacket and St. Francis Indians regarding trade problems.
1813: 500 warriors of the White Stick faction of the Creeks gather in Coweta, across the river in Alabama from modern Columbus Georgia. With 200 Cherokee warriors, they make plans to attack a band of Red Stick Creeks, followers of Tecumseh, over 2,500 strong. The White Sticks are led by Tustunnuggee Thlucco and Tustunnuggee Hopoie.
August 5th
695: Forces under Maya King Jasaw Chan K’awiil I (Sky Rain) defeat an army from Calakmul under Maya King Yich’aak K’ak’ (Fiery Claw).
1570: A Spanish colony expedition in sailing up the Chesapeake in Virginia, when they reach the area they will call Axaca somewhere near the Rappahannock. The local Indians will force the Spanish to abandon the effort.
August 6th
1676: Weetamoo is the Sachem of the Wampanoag town of Pocasset, Rhode Island. The sister-in-law of King Philip, she leads as many as 300 warriors in battle. While trying to escape from European soldiers from Taunton, Massachusetts, she drowns in the Taunton River. Her head is cut off, and displayed on a pole in the town.
1840: Hundreds of Comanches, led by Buffalo Hump, surround, and attack Victoria, Texas. In the next two days, fifteen settlers are killed in the fighting. The Comanches take several hundred head of livestock.
August 7th
1670: Apache or Navajos attack the ancient Zuni Pueblo of Hawikuh. They burn the church, and kill the resident missionary.
1758: According to some reports, a peace conference is held for the next two days between representatives of the British in New Jersey and the Minisink Indians.
August 8th
422: Maya King Casper is born, according to some sources. Eventually, he rules over Palenque, Mexico.
1699: The Tohome Indians live along the Gulf Coast in Alabama and Mississippi. In Biloxi, they formally establish peaceful relations with the French.
August 9th
1814: The Treaty of Fort Jackson (7 stat.120) officially ends the Creek War. The Creeks, including those who fought with Andrew Jackson, are forced to cede 22,000,000 acres, almost half their lands, to the United States. Timpoochee Barnard, one of the Yuchi Indian allies of the Americans, is one of the signatories to the treaty of Fort Jackson. Fort Jackson, formerly Fort Toulouse, is in modern Wetumpka, Alabama.
1823: In June Arikara warriors attack an American expedition. A force of 500 Sioux warriors finds the Arikaras and a battle takes place. Colonel Henry Leavenworth soon arrives with his force of 200 soldiers. He reports his men kill fifty Arikaras and the Siouxs kill fifteen. The Sioux lose two warriors.
August 10th
1680: The Pueblo Rebellion takes place in New Mexico under the leadership of a Tewa named Popé. Popé has arranged for an attack on as many of the Spanish missions as possible to all take place on the same day. Some sources say this happens on August 11th.
1861: Stand Watie’s Cherokee troops fight on the Confederate side at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, in southern Missouri. The southerners are victorious. However, the participation of the Cherokees on the side of the south leads to further tensions among the Cherokees who wish to remain neutral. According to some sources, the first Cherokee to die in the Civil War falls during this battle.
August 11th
3114 B.C.: According to some Maya sources, the present creation takes place. Other sources say this happens on August 12th or 13th. It will end on December 21, 23 or December 24, 2012.
1802: Tecumseh has predicted an earthquake. It happen and becomes known as the “New Madrid Earthquake.”
August 12th
1769: Kumeyaay Indians fight with the Spaniards who have established the Mission San Diego de Alcala in what becomes San Diego, California.
1831: George Gaines, a white man the Choctaws trust, is appointed Special Agent to supervise the “collection and removal” of the Choctaws to the west bank of the Mississippi River. Here they are turned over to the army. The Choctaws want Gaines to handle the entire process. They feel he will not exploit them. George is the younger brother of General Edmund Gaines.
August 13th
1521: Montezuma’s nephew, and successor, Cuahtemoc surrenders to Cortés. His name is spelled Guatimozin in some sources.
1645: For several years, the Dutch, and the local Indian tribes near New Amsterdam and Pavonia, have been fighting. Hackensack Chief Oratamin negotiates a peace between the warring parties. It is another ten years before another major conflict erupted.
August 14th
1559: Tristan de Luna y Arellano has been appointed to establish Spanish settlements on Pensacola Bay by the Spanish Viceroy in Mexico. His expedition of thirteen ships, several priests, 500 soldiers, and 1000 settlers arrive in Pensacola Bay, in Florida. Much of the expedition is killed or starves because of a hurricane which strikes the area a few days later.
1806: Lewis and Clark first reach a Minnetaree and Mandan village.
August 15th
1514: Spanish Bishop Bartoleme de las Casas releases the Indians he holds as serfs in Hispaniola. 1749: Maliseet chiefs ratify and agree to the treaty of December 15, 1725
August 16th
1692: The Diego de Vargas campaign to reconquer New Mexico takes place. 1851: One in a series of treaties with California Indians is signed at Reading’s Ranch. The treaty is designed to reserve lands and to protect the Indians.
August 17th
1755: Almost 400 Indians attack John Kilburn’s stockade at Walpole, on the Connecticut River. Some sources say the Indians are led by King Philip. After a day of fighting, the Indians withdraw.
1765: Pontiac and the British sign a treaty
August 18th
1804: Lewis and Clark meet with the Ottos to discuss the war with the Maha.
1854: Captain Jesse Walker attacks the Modocs on Tule Lake. Several minor engagements continue until the peace treaty is reached on September 4, 1854.
August 19th
1607: English settlers officially found “the other” English colony on North America. Unlike Jamestown, Popham is settled by just men and boys. Popham, northeast of modern Portland, Maine, is established on the bluffs overlooking the spot where the Kennebec River flows into the ocean. The colony lasts only a little over one year. The colony’s second leader returns to England, taking the settlers with him, when he inherits a sizeable estate in England.
1854: A Miniconjou Sioux, named High Forehead, kills a sickly cow near Fort Laramie, in southeastern Wyoming. The cow’s owner complains to the fort’s commander. A brash Brevet Second Lieutenant John L. Grattan, and thirty volunteers leave the fort to find the Sioux involved. Grattan goes to Conquering Bear’s Brule Sioux camp near Ash Hollow, and demands the Indian who shot the cow. Grattan makes numerous threats to the Sioux, but they won’t hand over High Forehead. During the parlay, a shot rings out, and Grattan’s artillery gunners open fire on the camp. Conquering Bear tries to get both sides to stop shooting, but he is hit by an artillery round. Eventually, all but one of Grattan’s men are killed in the fighting.
August 20th
1789: Juan de Ugalde is Commanding General of all Spanish forces in Coahuila, Nuevo León, Nuevo Santander, and Texas. He starts a major expedition against the Apache.
1789: An “Act Providing for the Expences Which May Attend Negotiations or Treaties with the Indian Tribes, and the Appointment of Commissioners for Managing the Same” is approved by the United States.
August 21st
1689: Frenchmen convince local Indians to attack British Fort Charles in Maine. Several settlers are killed in the fighting. 1847: The Pillager Band of Chippewa sign a treaty (9 stat. 908) at Leech Lake.
August 22nd
1670: Hiacoomes preaches his first sermon to his Wampanoag people on Martha’s Vineyard.
1806: Pike’s expedition has reached a village of the Little Osage near the forks of the Osage River in modern Missouri. He holds a council here with both the Grand and Little Osage. The Little Osage are lead by Tuttassuggy or “The Wind,” and the Grand Osage by Cheveau Blanc, or White Hair.
August 23rd
1732: Today marks the beginning of a peace conference held in Philadelphia with the local Indians. Attending the meeting are several Iroquois Chiefs, including Onondaga Chief Shikellamy.
1876: “Treaty 6 Between Her Majesty The Queen and The Plain and Wood Cree Indians and Other Tribes of Indians at Fort Carlton, Fort Pitt and Battle River with Adhesions” is signed in Canada. August 24th
1818: The Quapaw Indians sign a treaty (7 stat. 176) at St. Louis covering lands along the Arkansas and Red Rivers.
1835: The United States signs a treaty (7 Stat., 474.) with the Choctaw, Comanche, Creek (Muscogee), Cherokee, Osage, Quapaw, Seneca and Witchita at Camp Holmes “on the eastern border of the Grand Prairie, near the Canadian River.” Governor Montfort Stokes, Brigadier-General M. Arbuckle, represent the U. S. Many Indians sign the treaty.
August 25th
1737: A agreement is signed by Thomas Penn and Munsee Chiefs Manawkyhickon and Nutimus. Teeshacomin and Lappawinzoe also sign. The agreement recognizes an old deed made in 1686. The agreement calls for Indian lands to be sold along the Delaware River for the distance that a man can walk in a day and a half. This is called the “Walking Purchase” and is performed on September 19, 1737. Web Editor’s Note: Actually called the “Running Ripoff”! For more information read The Walking Purchase Hoax of 1737 by Ray Thompson.
1868: Acting Governor Hall of Colorado telegraphs to the military that 200 Indians are “devastating southern Colorado.” The military also receives a report of Indians killing an animal herder near Fort Dodge, in southwestern Kansas.
August 26th
1842: The Caddoes sign a treaty in Texas. They agree to visit other tribes and try to convince them to also sign treaties with Texas. 1858: In what is called “The Battle of Four Lakes,” force under Colonel George Wright fight for about three hours with Coeur d’Alene, Columbia River, Colville, Kalispel, and Spokane Indians. The army defeats the Indians.
August 27th
1868: According to a report filed by Captain Henry C. Bankhead, commander Fort Wallace, in western Kansas, several citizens have been killed by Indians in the last few days near Sheridan (near modern Winona) and Lake Station, Colorado. Soldiers escorting a stagecoach near Cheyenne Wells were able to fight off an Indian attack. 250 Indians’ presence made Captain Edmond Butler, Fifth Infantry, and his wagon train, return to Big Springs. Acting Governor Hall, of Colorado, again telegraphs the President that Arapahos are killing settlers all over southern Colorado. In a separate report, Lieutenant F.H. Beecher, Third Infantry, reports two experienced scouts are shot in the back by Indians who have pretended to be friends. One survives by using the other’s dead body as a shield.
1878: Captain James Egan, and Troop K, Second Cavalry, are following a group of Bannocks, who have been stealing livestock along the Madison River. Near Henry’s Lake, Captain Egan’s forces skirmish with the Bannocks, and recover fifty-six head of livestock. The escaping Bannocks are starting to follow the trail taken by the Nez Perce, last year.
August 28th
1565: Leading an expedition of 1,500 soldiers and colonists, Pedro Menendez de Aviles lands on the coast of Florida. His mission is to defeat the Protestants in the area, and to claim the land for Spain. Next month he establishes the town of St. Augustine.
1833: Assiniboines attack Piegan Indians at Fort McKensie.
August 29th
1758: The First State Indian reservation, in Brotherton New Jersey, is established. It is primarily for the Lenni Lenape.
1978: The Area Director, Minneapolis Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, has authorized an election for amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin. The election will be held on December 15, 1978.
August 30th
1645: A peace treaty between the Dutch, led by Willem Kieft, and several local tribes is signed at Fort Orange, in modern Albany. This treaty concludes a protracted conflict in the area. 1690: A combined force of British, Yamassee and Yuchi Indians attack the Spanish mission of San Juan de Guacara in northern Florida. Many Timucua Indians in the area have been converted to Christianity or are loyal to the Franciscan monks. All of the Timucua Indians at the mission are killed in the fighting.
August 31st
1666: Mohawk Chief Agariata is attending a peace conference in Quebec between the Iroquois and the French. Governor Alexandre de Proville asks, during a dinner, if anyone knew who killed his son a few months ago. Agariata brags that he did it. The governor becomes so angry, he has Agariata seized, and hung. This ends the peace process. Governor de Proville leads French troops against the Mohawks, himself. 1715: After a history of occasional skirmishes, at the urging of Europeans living in Pennsylvania, the Conestogas and the Catawba tribes agree to sign a peace treaty. They agree to stop fighting among themselves