The New England occupancy of Maine brought on new hostilities connected with the wars between France and England. The French in Canada proposed neutrality and an agreement to employ no Indians on either side. New York consented and was saved from the horrors of Indian war, winch New England preferred. The New England forces, however, finally overthrew the Pennacooks and Nor-ridgewocks and closed their Indian war. In the seven years' war, known in America as the French and Indian war, both sides used the In-dians, and the annals of the time teem with horrors. The French had some wars with the Foxes and Miamis in the west, and, provok-ing the Natchez, drew on themselves a massacre, followed by a war in which the Natchez were destroyed. The French then attacked the Chickasaws, but failed to subdue them. The Indians looked on the English success in Canada with jealousy, and Pontiac in 1763 organized a vast conspiracy of the Indian tribes, aiming at a total extirpation of the whites; but they were finally reduced, as were the Cherokees, who made war in 1760. In the course of these wars, Michilimackinac, and Forts St. Joseph, Ouiatenon, Miami, Presqu'isle. Lebœuf. and Venango, were taken by the Indians. Detroit besieged, and stubborn battles fought at Bloody Bridge, Fort Pitt, Bushy Run, and at Point Pleasant between the Virginians and Shaw-nees. When the American revolution began, the English government at once employed Indians, and the Iroquois and western tribes ravaged the frontiers.

An expedition under Sullivan laid waste the territory of the Six Nations. The articles of confederation gave congress little power. Under the constitu-tion of 1787 the general government claimed sovereignty over the whole territory, and had the management of Indian tribes not within a state and under laws and treaties with it. The United States treaties with Indians were made as with foreign powers. The great object to be obtained was the cession of the large tracts claimed as hunting grounds, sometimes on very slight pretexts. The Indian tribes viewed the new government with dis-trust, and the Miamis began hostilities in 1790, and in two engagements near the present Fort Wayne defeated the army under Gen. Harmar.

The next year they routed St. Clair's army, killing nearly half of his men; but they were reduced by Gen. Wayne in 1793. The war was renewed in 1811, when they were again defeated by Gen. Harrison at Tippecanoe. In the war with England that followed, the Indians aided the enemy and again ravaged the frontiers; but Harrison defeated the combined forces on the Thames in 1813, killing Tecumseh, the head of the great Indian confederacy; while in the south Jackson, in 1813 and 1814, humbled the Creeks at Tallushatchee, Talladega, and Tohopeka. In 1817 the Seminoles commenced hostilities, but were punished by Jackson, and Florida soon after became part of the United States territory. The next Indian trouble was that caused by the attempt of Georgia to dispossess the Creeks and Cherokees, who, relying on the treaties made with the United States, appealed in vain to congress and the supreme court. Failing to obtain redress, they yielded and agreed to remove beyond the Mississippi in pursuance of a plan for collecting all the Indians in one territory, to be theirs inviolably and for ever.

Though treaties were signed in 1825, the removal was not completed till 1838. The Seminoles under Micanopy and Osceola refused to emigrate, and a war ensued in 1835 which lasted till 1842, and cost over $15,000,-000. The Sacs and Foxes under Black Hawk gave trouble in 1832. Greater trouble was given by the Sioux or Dakotas, who from time to time attacked frontier settlements and had to be reduced. The Comanches and Apaches have been almost constantly committing depredations, often joined by other tribes. The Oregon tribes have several times been at war with the whites. The establishment of the Indian territory in 1833, the removal of the Choctaws and Creeks, and the settlement of the Qua-paws and other tribes there, were followed by the formation of other reservations, under state management in New York, and under the general government in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington .territory. The civil war was ruinous to the tribes in the Indian territory. Geographically in the south, the confederate government took possession of it, and was supported by many of the chiefs. Others attempted to take part with the United States government.

The result was disastrous in loss of life and property. In 1869 a board of Indian commissioners was created to superintend the disbursement of appropriations, and inspect goods furnished to the Indians. The powers of this body have been from time to time increased, but some new measures were adopted which have not yet been tested by time, such as that of assigning certain districts exclusively to certain missionary bodies, and the consequent confounding of the duties of Indian agent and missionary. The following is the return of the Indian population on reservations in 1871:

Besides the Indians thus on reservations, there are G0,000 in Alaska, and tribes not yet brought in, as the Apaches, Comanches, Lipans, and Kickapoos, with a few remnants of tribes in Maine, Georgia, etc. (2,000), and Florida (500), estimated at 53,000 more, making the total Indian population of the Union about 350,000, according to the estimate of the Indian department in 1871. - That the red race is steadily diminishing can scarcely be doubted. In 1829 the entire Indian population of the United States was estimated at 313,000; and though the annexation of Texas, New Mexico, and California brought in a large addition, the estimate of 400,000 made in 1850 was evidently too large. In 1855 Mr. Schoolcraft's estimate, with all the data of the Indian department, was 350.000. In 1871 the commissioner estimated them, including 60,000 in Alaska, as still 350,000, showing an actual decrease of 00,000 in 16 years. Yet some of the civilized tribes have held their own. The Cherokees in 1822 numbered 11,000; 1825, 15,000; 1871, 14.682. The Chippewas and Ottawas in 1822 were 18,977; 1825,18,850; 1871,19,732. The Iroquois in 1822, 4,000; 1825, 4,510; 1871, 4,958. The Chickasaws in 1822, 3,625; 1871, 5,000. The Creeks and Choctaws in that period lost about one third, the Serainoles one half, the Sacs and Foxes seven eighths. - In the eye of the law the Indian originally held an anomalous position, neither citizen nor alien, and incapable of becoming a citizen.