The Cook Expedition arrives in the Pacific Northwest.

An expedition led by British captain James Cook anchors off the coast of Vancouver Island while searching for the Northwest Passage—a presumed water route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On the basis of Cook’s exploration, England will claim lands in what are now Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of present-day Montana and Wyoming.

Cook’s sailors obtain 1,500 sea otter pelts through trade with Indians on the island. The Englishmen intend to use the furs to make clothing for themselves, but when they travel on to China they discover that they can sell them to their Chinese trading partners for an enormous profit. As the Chinese clamor for furs for use as hats and trim, large numbers of Englishmen, Russians, and Americans will rush to the Pacific Northwest to trade with Indian trappers.

Spring

Daniel Boone is held captive by the Shawnee.

A series of Indian raids drive settlers out of most of Kentucky, except for the settlements at Har-rodsburg and Boonesboro. During one attack, Boonesboro’s founder Daniel Boone (see entry for MARCH 10, 1775) is captured and taken to the Shawnee village of Chillicothe. There he learns that the Shawnee leader Black Fish is planning an attack on the Boonesboro fort. After three months in the village, Boone manages to escape and rushes to the fort to warn the inhabitants that the Shawnee are en route. He reaches Boonesboro in time to help in the successful defense of the settlement. (See also entry for AUGUST 19, 1782.)

April

Army troops destroy Chickamauga Cherokee villages.

After the wounding of Dragging Canoe (see entry for JULY 1776), his Cherokee followers leave tribal territory and resettle in abandoned Creek sites along the Chickamauga Creek, in present-day eastern Tennessee. To avenge the Indians’ past raids against whites, 600 troops led by Colonel Evan Shelby invade the Chickamauga Cherokee’s new homeland and destroy the villages.

Summer

Seneca and Cayuga Indians aid in raids on Wyoming Valley settlements.

British soldiers and Seneca and Cayuga warriors under an English officer, John Butler, launch a series of brutal attacks in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. The force captures eight stockades. At most forts, the inhabitants surrender quickly and are allowed to escape unharmed, though many later die of starvation. At one stockade called Forty Fort, however, the Americans take on Butler’s men. More than 200 militiamen are killed in the battle.

September 17

The United States negotiates its first Indian treaty.

At Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), representatives of the United States and the Lenni Lenape (Delaware) sign the first of the 370 treaties the U. S. government will negotiate with Indian nations. In return for the Lenni Lenape’s allegiance during the American Revolution, the treaty offers the possibility that Lenni Lenape territory could enter the Union as the I4th state. This provision will not be acted upon.

November 11

Iroquois warriors massacre Americans at Cherry Valley.

Mohawk leader Joseph Brant (see entry for JULY 1777) and British captain Walter Butler lead a combined Iroquois-British force in an attack on Cherry Valley, a town about 40 miles west of Albany, New York. Brant instructs his warriors to destroy the town, loot the inhabitants’ possessions, and take captives. Many Seneca in Brant’s force, however, are eager for revenge against the Americans for previous raids on their villages. They ignore their leader’s orders and slaughter and mutilate some 30 women and children. One eyewitness account holds that Brant “turned round & wept” when he saw what his warriors had done. News of the Cherry Valley Massacre will terrify colonists throughout New York. Many will abandon their homes and flee south to escape further attacks.

Winter

Skenandoah delivers food to soldiers at Valley Forge.

As General George Washington’s troops suffer through a harsh winter at the American army’s headquarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Oneida leader Skenandoah provides relief by bringing them 300 bushels of corn. Washington will later honor Skenandoah by naming Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley after him.