The Iroquois Wars, instigated by the Dutch in the 1640s in an attempt to use the Indians to subvert the French and Huron beaver fur trading industry, was presumed to be brought to an end in 1653 with the treaty signed with the French. But the war for the Iroquois had been more than simply a compliance with their Dutch allies. The Iroquois genuinely needed to control the fur trade. Their intention was to completely annihilate all of the tribes in the region which were not alligned with them.
In the absence of the Dutch as the years passed, the Iroquois were encouraged in their warfare by the New York provincial government.
In 1660 the Iroquois attacked and virtually defeated the Ottawas. After that, they launched attacks on the Miamis and the Illinois. They turned their attention southward against the Susquehannocks, Potawatomis, Nipissings and the Delaware. The Mahicans in the Hudson Valley were defeated in 1664.
The Iroquois raids stretched as far west as the Mississippi River and around Lakes Erie and Ontario, which was the traditional Huron country. By 1686, the Iroquois succeeded in disrupting the trade system held between the Huron and French. As the Iroquois gained control of the fur industry, they chose to trade primarily with the English, having taken a dislike to the French because of their alliance with the Huron.
A French trader, Nicolas Perrot undertook a campaign against the Iroquois in 1687. It failed. In retaliation, the Iroquois raided settlements throughout the St. Lawrence Valley. At least two hundred French settlers were killed and between ninety and one hundred and twenty were taken prisoner at the village of Lachine in August of 1689.
The Lachine raid of 1689 may be considered the end of the Second Iroquois War, it giving way to the beginnings of the so-called French and Indian Wars.
