R. David Edmunds Book order

This is the saga of the Fox (or Mesquakie) Indians' struggle to maintain their identity in the face of colonial New France during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The Foxes occupied central Wisconsin, where for a long time they had warred with the Sioux and, more recently, had opposed the extension of the French firearm-and-fur trade with their western enemies. Caught between the Sioux anvil and the French hammer, the Foxes enlisted other tribes' support and maintained their independence until the late 1720s. Then the French treacherously offered them peace before launching a campaign of annihilation against them. The Foxes resisted valiantly, but finally were overwhelmed and took sanctuary among the Sac Indians, with whom they are closely associated to this day. R. David Edmunds, Professor of History at Indiana University, is an award-winning author of Native American histories. Joseph L. Peyser, Professor of French at Indiana University South Bend and well known as an editor and translator of documents relating to New France, received the 1991 Hesseltine Award of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for his research on the French-Fox conflict. "It treats an important topic and touches on such vital themes as intertribal warfare, the impact of the fur trade on Indians, and the democratic mature of Indian societies and how that militated against strong tribal government."-William T. Hagan, author of The Sac and Fox Indians. "By incorporating Fox oral traditions and uncovering new manuscript sources, R. David Edmunds and Joseph L. Peyser have given us new insights into the history of the Foxes. Anyone interested in American Indians should find this book useful. It treats an important topic and touches on such vital themes as intertribal warfare, the impact of the fur trade on Indians, and the democratic nature of Indian societies and how that militated against strong tribal government." -William T. Hagan, author of The Sac and Fox Indians.

The Potawatomi Indians were the dominant tribe in the region of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and southern Michigan during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Active participants in the fur trade, and close friends with many French fur traders and government leaders, the Potawatomis remained loyal to New France throughout the colonial period, resisting the lure of the inexpensive British trade goods that enticed some of their neighbors into alliances with the British. During the colonial wars Potawatomi warriors journeyed far to the south and east to fight alongside their French allies against Braddock in Pennsylvania and other British forces in New York. As French fortunes in the Old Northwest declined, the Potawatomis reluctantly shifted their allegiance to the British Crown, fighting against the Americans during the Revolution, during Tecumseh’s uprising, and during the War of 1812. The advancing tide of white settlement in the Potawatomi lands after the wars brought many problems for the tribe. Resisting attempts to convert them into farmers, they took on the life-style of their old friends, the French traders. Raids into western territories by more warlike members of the tribe brought strong military reaction from the United States government and from white settlers in the new territories. Finally, after great pressure by government officials, the Potawatomis were forced to cede their homelands to the United States in exchange for government annuities. Although many of the treaties were fraudulent, government agents forced the tribe to move west of the Mississippi, often with much turmoil and suffering. This volume, the first scholarly history of the Potawatomis and their influence in the Old Northwest, is an important contribution to American Indian history. Many of the tribe’s leaders, long forgotten, such as Main Poc, Siggenauk, Onanghisse, Five Medals, and Billy Caldwell, played key roles in the development of Indian-white relations in the Great Lakes region. The Potawatomi experience also sheds light on the development of later United States policy toward Indians of many other tribes.