Plausawa

Who was Plausawa?

Plausawa was a Pennacook Indian who lived in what is now New Hampshire. In 1728 he was the last known Native American living in the town of Suncook. At the start of King George's War in 1740 Plausawa moved to St. Francis in Quebec and fought against the settlers of the British.

During a raid on Epsom, New Hampshire on August 21, 1747, Plausawa and his companions, Sabattis and Christo, captured Isabella McCoy and burned her farm and the neighboring farms while her husband Charles McCoy was away serving in the New Hampshire Militia. Isabelle McCoy told of the very good treatment she received by Plausawa on her way to Quebec where Plausawa sold her as a servant to a French Canadian family.

In 1752 Plausawa led another raid that captured two African-American slaves from a field in Canterbury, New Hampshire. One slave escaped to warn the town militia and Plausawa, Sabattis and Christo returned to Quebec where they sold their captive to a French officer.

In 1754, King George's War was over and the French and Indian War had yet to start, and Plausawa and Sabattis were in Canterbury again intending to trade furs with the townspeople. After some altercations they were told to leave or else.