chiefdom · North America and Oceania

Susquehannock

1550 CE – 1675 CE (approx.)

An Iroquoian people of the lower Susquehanna valley, powerful middlemen in the 17th-century fur trade until wars with the Iroquois and colonists broke them.

Origins

The Susquehannock moved down the Susquehanna River into southern Pennsylvania in the 16th century, settling near modern Lancaster in large palisaded towns. When John Smith met them in 1608 on Chesapeake Bay he described them as tall and well armed. They spoke an Iroquoian language but were long-standing enemies of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Rule and society

Controlling routes between the interior and the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, the Susquehannock traded beaver pelts for European goods with Virginia, Maryland, New Netherland and New Sweden, which supplied them with guns. Their towns were run by councils of chiefs, and they farmed maize and hunted. In 1652 they made a treaty with the Province of Maryland, ceding land along the bay.

Decline and legacy

Epidemics and wars with the Seneca wore them down, and in 1675 they abandoned their homeland. Attacked by Maryland and Virginia militia at their fort on the Potomac, their raids helped spark Bacon's Rebellion. Survivors joined the Iroquois; the last Conestoga were killed by the Paxton Boys in 1763.

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Susquehannock. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/susquehannock
MLA
“Susquehannock.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/susquehannock. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Susquehannock.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/susquehannock.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Susquehannock’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/susquehannock (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻