Treaty of Easton, 1758

Colonial wars began in European theatres and spread to North America with little thought of the consequences to those most directly involved, the Native tribes who actually lived here.  Ever since the 17th century, tribes had developed intricate trading networks with either France or England, the two dominant powers.  Each tribe had their reasons for preferring one or the other.  The Iroquois were almost unanimous in their support of the English, while other tribes, such as the Delaware/Lenape and the Shawnee, at times preferred the French.  Fortunately, some colonial officials, such as Sir William Johnson, saw the need to get as many tribes as possible on the side of the British and worked feverishly to that end throughout the Seven Years War, 1758-1763.

The Delaware/Lenape at this time were especially aggrieved.  The Walking Purchase treaty of 1737 had defrauded them of most of their range in Pennsylvania.  Now they were being asked to give up any claims to hunting lands in New Jersey.  In October, 1758, representatives of 13 tribes including the Iroquois, the Delaware/Lenape and the Shawnee met in Easton, Pennsylvania to work out an agreement.  Conrad Weiser, a colorful character on the Pennsylvania frontier, served as the interpreter and official representative of Johnson's Indian Department.  Colonial representatives from Pennsylvania were also present.  The tribes all agreed not to support the French in return for guarantees of the right to settle in the Ohio Valley.  The British undertook to bar settlement beyond the Allegheny Mountains.  The various tribes reiterated their cession of land in Pennsylvania and the Delaware in particular were paid 1,000 Spanish reals for the New Jersey land.  The Governor of Pennsylvania, William Denny, took the opportunity to reiterate Pennsylvania's peaceful relationship with the Delaware.

So, how did this all work out in reality?  Although the British did issue the Proclamation of 1763, forbidding American settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains, Settlers ignored it and the British found it next to impossible to police.  Settlers poured into Pennsylvania and then into the Ohio Valley, Kentucky and Tennessee, disrupting the hunting ranges of all these tribes.  Many tribal leaders soon found that the English weren't the trading partners the French had been, curtailing sales of weapons, ammunition and liquor while demanding higher quotas of pelts.  King Phillip's War of 1764 was the result of all of the above.  The settlement boundaries would be pushed back by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768 and the frontier remained as volatile as ever it had been.