July - Maya King burial - Native American Heritage Programs

July 1st
1520: According to many sources, Hernán Cortés and his followers will attempt to escape from Tenochtitlán (modern Mexico City) by way of one of the causeways. They have to fight their way through large numbers of Aztec warriors. Thousands of people are killed on both sides. Many of the Spanish soldiers carried so much looted gold that when they fell in the lake, they drowned. This event is often called “Noche Triste” (Night of Tears or Sorrows).
1675: The first scalps are taken by whites in “King Philip’s War.” Lieutenant Oakes is en route from Reheboth to Swansea, when his men encounter some “hostiles”. After the battle, Lieutenant Oakes scalps the Indians, and sends his prizes to Boston for display.
July 2nd
695:Maya Smoke Imix, king of Copán, Honduras is buried, according to some sources. 1754: According to some reports, a peace agreement is reached by representatives of the British in Massachusetts and the Norridgewock Indians.
July 3rd
1724: Frenchman Etienne Veniard deBourgmont leaves Fort Orleans en route to the “land of the Padoucas.” He is going there to try to establish peace and trade with them. He is traveling with “a hundred Missouris, commanded by their Grand Chief, and eight other Chiefs of war, and by sixty-four Osages, commanded by four Chiefs of war, besides a few Frenchmen.”
1761: According to some sources, the Northwest Confederacy is created at a council near Detroit. Its members include the Delaware, Miami, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee and the Wyandot.
July 4th
1636: Boston’s “Standing Committee” gives orders to John Withrop, Jr. to give to the Pequots. They must turn over two murder suspects, as required by the treaty of 1634, or face a war. 1777: The Shawnees attack Boonesborough, again. Similar to their last incursion on April 15th, the town’s fortification prove to be too substantial for them to breech.

July 5th
1831: N. William Colquhoun is appointed Special Agent to the Choctaws, by Secretary of War, Lewis Cass. Colquhoun is ordered to go to the Choctaw Nation and consult with their leaders about their removal to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma).
1871: Arrested for murdering the wagon drivers in the raid on May 18th, Kiowas Satanta and Big Tree go on trial in Jacksboro, in north-central Texas, near Fort Richardson. They are found guilty after three days of testimony. Satanta tells the court, “If you let me go, I will withdrawn my warriors from Tehanna, but if you kill me, it will be a spark on the prairie. Make big fire-burn heap.” Although sentenced to be hanged, the Texas Governor, fearing a Kiowa uprising, decides to commute the sentences to life in a Texas prison. Eventually, Big Tree and Satanta are freed. Later, Satanta is returned to prison, where he commits suicide by jumping off a prison balcony on October 11, 1874.
July 6th
1534: Cartier meets Micmacs in Chaleur Bay, Canada.
1825: The Cheyenne sign a “friendship” treaty (7 stat. 255) with the United States at the mouth of the Tongue River.
July 7th
1540: Coronado attacks the Zuni village of Hawikuh in what becomes New Mexico. 1598: Oñate’s expedition is at the village of the San Domingo Pueblos. According to their journals, leaders from seven different Pueblo groups meet in a council with Oñate. The journals also says the tribal leaders pledge allegiance to Spain.
July 8th
1520: Hernán Cortés and his army have managed to escape from Tenochtitlán (modern Mexico City). Today near Otumba, they encounter an Aztec army. They Spanish manage to win the battle against a much larger army.
1539: The Francisco de Ulloa Expedition is designed to explore the coast of Baja California. This expedition proves California is not an island. Three ships, the Santa Agueda, the Trinidad, and the Santo , leave Acapulco, Mexico.
July 9th
1609: Samuel de Champlain, two Frenchmen, and sixty Algonquin and Huron Indians, attack 200 Mohawks near Ticonderoga, in New York. Champlain has some firearms, and they prove devastating. The Mohawks quit the battle. Some sources list this event on July 30th. 1716: The Mission of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is established for the Nacanish and Nocogdoche Indians in what becomes Texas.
July 10th
1836: 900 Creek Indians from Eneah Emathla’s Band, are captured. They are shipped west, in chains, to catch up to the Creeks that have already left for the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). The Battle of Brushy Creek also takes place in Cook County, Georgia. 1854: According to their Indian Agent, 200 Sacs and Foxes, are attacked by a force of 1500 Comanches, Kiowas, Osage, and Apaches near Smoky Hill, 100 miles west of Fort Riley, in central Kansas. The Sac and Foxes are armed with rifles, and they prevail over their better number adversaries. The Sacs report only six killed, the other Indians have as many as twenty-six killed, and 100 wounded. Both sides are surprised the Sac and Foxes win the fight.
July 11th
1713: After the conclusion of “Queen Anne’s War” in 1712, local settlers, and the Abenaki Indians finally sign a peace treaty. This formally ends the fighting in the area. Minor incidents still occur.
1921: Treaty Number 11 is signed. It is between the government of Canada and “Slave, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare and other Indians, inhabitants of the territory within the limits hereinafter defined and described.”
July 12th
1775: A part of a legislative bill allocates $500 to Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, to be dedicated to the education of Indian youth.
1788: A small Ojibwa war party attacks a small army unit thirty miles north of Fort Harmar in Ohio. Two soldiers are killed and three are wounded. This attack hampers plans for a peace conference in Ohio.
July 13th
1866: After reinforcing, and renaming Fort Reno, in northeastern Wyoming, Colonel Henry Carrington sets out to find a base camp from which he can protect the Bozeman Trail. He arrives at a point near Big Piney Creek with plenty of good grass for his horses. Here he starts building Fort Phil Kearny. The fort is in the middle of one of the best hunting grounds in the region, just south of present day Sheridan, Wyoming.
1878: First Cavalry, Twenty-First Infantry and Fourth Artillery soldiers, under Captain Evan Miles, fight a group of Indians at Umatilla Agency, Oregon. According to army documents, two soldiers are killed. This is a part of the Bannock War.
July 14th
1683: According to some sources, representative of Pennsylvania purchase several tracts of land near Schuylkill from the Delaware Indians. 1837: At Fort Clark, on the upper Missouri, Francis Chardon records the first death of a Mandan attributed to smallpox. The outbreak of this disease spreads rapidly and be extremely deadly to the people in this area.
July 15th
1539: Hernando de Soto, and his troops, begin their march inland from Tampa Bay. 1806: Pike begins the Osage River Expedition with twenty-three whites, and fifty-one Osage and Pawnee.
July 16th
1585: After yesterday’s first encounter between the Roanoke colony and Algonquain Indians in the village of Aquascogoc, in Hyde County North Carolina, colonists discover one of their silver cups is missing. Today, led by colony Governor Ralph Lane, the colonists return to the village, and demand the return of the cup. When the cup is not returned, “we burned and spoiled all their corn'” according to the Governor’s journal. This is one of the first significant conflicts in the area between the Europeans and the native inhabitants.
1769: Franciscan Father Junipero Serra founds the Mission San Diego de Alcala in what becomes San Diego, California
July 17th
1673: Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joilet began an expedition to explore the Mississippi River on May 17th. They reach the juncture of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. Fearing a confrontation with the Spanish who control the lands further south, Marquette and Joilet decide to end their trip, and return north.
1781: The Mission San Pedro Y San Pablo De Bicuner is established, in modern Imperial County, California, on January 7, 1781. It is where the Anza Trail crosses the Colorado River. This is land claimed by the Quechan (Yuma) Indians. After unsuccessful talks, the Quechans attack and take over the Mission and surrounding pueblo. Some sources say this happened in 1780.
July 18th
1759: British Superintendent for Indian Affairs in the Southern Department, Edmund Atkins, meets with Choctaws in the upper Creek villages. They sign a treaty which establishes trade, and a promise of mutual aid in case of war. This treaty angers the Choctaw’s former allies, the French.
1764: According to some reports, an agreement regarding peace and alliances is reached by representatives of Great Britain and the Hurons.
July 19th
695: Maya King Waxaklahun Ubah K’awil ascends to the throne at Copán, Honduras.
1820: The Kickapoo sign a treaty (7 Stat., 208.) at St. Louis. Auguste Chouteau and Benjamin Stephenson represent the United States of America. Twenty-eight Kickapoo make their marks on the document.
July 20th
1528: After spending almost a month in the Apalachee village of Ivitachuco, the Narvaez expedition leaves. They set out in their quest for gold looking for the village of Aute, near present day St. Marks. Accompanying Narvaez is Aztec Prince Tetlahuehuetzquititzin. The Prince, also known as Don Pedro, fought with the Spanish against Montezuma. He is killed by Apalachee warriors during this search for gold.
1676: Captain Benjamin Church has been joined by the Sakonett Indians, in the war with King Philip. They attack Philip’s main camp, and almost capture Philip. His wife and child are captured. They are sold as slaves. As many as 170 Indians are killed in the fighting.
July 21st
1806: Crow Indians steal twenty-four of Lewis and Clark’s horses. 1832: General James Henry’s forces defeat Black Hawk and his followers in the “Battle of Wisconsin Heights.” According to military records, Black Hawk loses sixty-eight warriors; however, Black Hawk says he only loses six men. July 22nd
1790: The United States enacts a law for the formal regulation of trade with Indians titled “An Act providing for Holding a Treaty or Treaties to Establish Peace with Certain Indian Tribes.” It also enacts “An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse With the Indian Tribes.” 1814: A Treaty (7 Stat., 118.) with the “Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanoese, Senecas, and Miamies” is signed. The United States declares peace. It is signed by dozens of Indians.
July 23rd
1766: According to some reports, a peace conference between representatives of Great Britain and the Huron, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Potawatomi and “Six Nations” tribes is held for the next nine days. 1832: The Eastern Cherokees hold a council, in Red Clay, Tennessee, to discuss President Jackson’s special envoy Elisha Chester’s proposals for their removal to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). They reject the proposal out-of-hand. They says they will not hold negotiations as long as the federal government is not living up to its previous treaty promises.
July 24th
1534: Jacques Cartier erects a thirty-three foot high cross on a small island in Gaspe Harbor. He then claims the area for France. 1836: Georgia militia and Creek Indians have a brief fight near Wesley Chapel in Stewart County, Georgia. The Creeks appear to have won.
July 25th
1757: A war party of five dozen Shawnees stages an attack of farms along the James River in Virginia. At one farm they kill a settler and his child. They take his wife, Hannah Dennis prisoner. She is taken to the Shawnee village of Chillicothe. After ingratiating herself to the Shawnees, she is given run of the village. She eventually escapes. Her tale becomes widespread throughout the American colonies.
1834: Crows, led by Rotten Belly begin a siege of Fort McKensie, on the Missouri River, which ends in about one week.
July 26th
1763: Fort Sandusky (in Ohio) is destroyed by Indians on May 16th. Detroit is also being besieged. Captain James Dalyell and almost 300 soldiers arrive on the southern shore of Lake Erie. They find many bodies and the remnants of structures. His forces immediately march against a Wyandot village near modern Fremont.
1824: Seminole Principal Chief Neamathla (also called Eneah Emathla) has managed to avoid removing his people from Florida to the west. Florida Governor William Duval has become convinced that Neamathla is planning another uprising. The Governor officially removes Neamathla from his position as Chief.
July 27th
1755: Indians attack the settlers at Fort Sartwell in Vernon, Connecticut. 1757: Ottawa warriors, and a few French soldiers attack a group of twenty-two barges commanded by British Lieutenant Colonel John Parker on Lake George in New York. The British forces have 160 men killed, and almost 150 men captured. Only two of the barges escape the fighting.
July 28th
1862: Fort Bowie is established in the Apache Pass, in southeastern Arizona, by members of Brigadier General James Charlatan’s California volunteers. 1872: Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie and twelve officers and 272 enlisted men begin an extended patrol of the area surrounding the Texas Panhandle. They include twenty Tonkawa scouts. They are looking for renegade Indians. One of their engagements is called the “Battle of the North Fork of the Red River.” It happens on September 29, 1872.
July 29th
1706: Spaniard Juan de Uribarri is leading twenty soldiers, twelve settlers and 200 Indian allies from Santa Fe to rescue a band of enslaved Indians held by the Cuartelejo Apaches in what is now eastern Colorado. They cross the Arkansas River near present day Pueblo, Colorado.
1837: Henry Dodge, representing the United States, and the Chippewa Indians sign a treaty (7 Stat., 536.) at St. Peters, Wisconsin. The Chippewas trade large land holdings for $9,500 immediately, $19,000 worth of supplies, and a release from their debts.
July 30th
1609: Samuel de Champlain, two Frenchmen, and sixty Algonquin and Huron Indians, attack 200 Mohawks near Ticonderoga, in New York. Champlain has some firearms, and they prove devastating. The Mohawks quit the battle. Some sources list this event on July 9th.
1825: The “Belantse-etoa or Minitaree” conclude a treaty (7 Stat., 261.) at the Lower Mandan Village. Nine chiefs and sixteen warriors sign the document.
July 31st
1763: Captain James Dalyell, and 280 soldiers attack Pontiac’s village at 2:30 am this morning. Pontiac is informed of Dalyell’s plans, so he sets up an ambush at the Parent’s Creek bridge with 400 Indians. When Dalyell’s troops approach the bridge, the Indians attack. Twenty soldiers, including Dalyell, and seven Indians are killed in the fighting. The creek, near Detroit, is now called Bloody Run. Major Robert Rogers helps Dalyell’s survivors to escape.
1779: General John Sullivan leads an expedition in retaliation against the Iroquois’ actions in the Wyoming Valley Massacre.