Treaty of Casco (1703)

Treaty of Casco (1703) was an unsuccessful attempt made by Governor Joseph Dudley of Massachusetts Bay Colony to prevent further Indian hostilities from breaking out along the northern frontier. War was already going on in Europe between England and France (see Queen Anne's War) and the eastern Indians from whom trouble was expected were under the influence of French Jesuits. Accordingly, Governor Dudley appointed a meeting of the several chiefs and their tribes to confer with him and his councilors to reconcile whatever differences had arisen since the last treaty. They met in Casco, Maine, June 20, 1703. The Indians made the customary professions of peace, disavowing any conspiracy with the French to exterminate the English. They then presented the governor with a belt of wampum and ended the ceremony with an exchange of volleys. The Indians undoubtedly intended to make the white leaders their victims on the spot, but the white and Indian leaders were so placed that one group could not be destroyed without the other. Within two months the eastern Indians were again on the war path and the settlers of New England prepared for another period of surprise attacks.

Source: Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940