Treaty: The Great Peace of Montreal, 1701

This treaty put a temporary end to one of the bloodiest periods of history on the frontier, the Beaver Wars between the French, with their Native allies the Huron and Algonquian people, and the English, with their allies, consisting of other Iroquoian tribes.  Though the English were not signatories to the treaty, they and their Native allies, and the fur trade, benefited from it in many ways.

The Beaver Wars began in earnest around 1648, and continued almost unabated for several decades.  Although the Iroquois and other tribes tried to make peace with the French in Montreal and Quebec City, misunderstandings, distrust of each other's motivations, and intrigue by the English always stymied the process, leading to more fighting.  The Beaver Wars were devastating to Native tribes, causing severe loss in population and displacement from ancient homelands and hunting ranges.  The Iroquois, in particular, also suffered from epidemics that threatened their entire population.  The French soon learned that they would have to deal with the Iroquois Five Nations directly, instead of through English mediation, if they wanted peace.  The Iroquois, tired of war and decimated by disease, were amenable to the French proposals.

Over 1300 Natives representing 40 tribes agreed to meet in Montreal to determine the terms of a peace accord.  Among the key provisions of the treaty was that the Iroquois would remain neutral in conflicts between the French and British, and that signatory tribes would submit their differences to the French for arbitration, rather than revert to war.  Among the signatories were the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee or Five Nations (Mohawk, Seneca, Onandaga, Oneida and Cayuga), other Mohawk bands, including the Kahnawake, the Montagnais, Anikwa, Odawa, Cree, Sac and Fox (Meskwaki), Huron, Illini, Kickapoo, Mescouten, Menominee, Miami, Piankeshaw, Wea, Missassauga, Nippissing, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Algonquian, and Abenaki.  With peace restored among the tribes, French exploration of the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi River Valleys.  The peace established by this treaty would continue until the following year, when Queen Anne's War brought the British and French to arms again (1702-1713).