On this day 250 years ago in Hartford, the Connecticut Committee of the Pay Table ordered Pantry Jones and Joseph Pratt to be paid 2 pounds, 5 shillings “for two horses Waggon to Transport the Cognowago Indians from Hartford to Providence”.  The Kahnawake Indians were probably led by Akiatonharónkwen or Louis Cook, a Kahnawake chief who was part Abenaki and part African in ancestry. Most of the Kahnawake tried to stay neutral during the War, but Akiatonharónkwen led some Kahnawake warriors into the Continental Army, and some Kahnawake warriors would fight with the British.

Sources: https://fortticonderoga.org/news/difficult-choices-kahnawake-in-the-american-revolution/; https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31577

On this day 250 years ago in California, Lt. Col. Juan Bautista de Anza of the Spanish Army returned to Mission San Gabriel (now in San Gabriel, Los Angeles County) where his expedition had been encamped since January 4. Anza had led troops to San Diego to deal with a Native uprising in that area. The 30 soldiers and 210 other immigrants from Mexico who Anza was leading would depart Mission San Gabriel for San Francisco on February 21. The Spanish government organized the Anza expedition in order to establish Spanish settlements in California and prevent English and Russian claims to the region. Mission San Gabriel was the initial European settlement in Los Angeles County.

The National Park Service is commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the Anza Expedition this year.

Sources: https://anzahistorictrail.org/explore/; https://webdeanza.org/a76diary_pg5.html; https://www.nps.gov/juba/learn/historyculture/california-anza-trail-sites.htm#CP_JUMP_767746; https://www.nps.gov/juba/index.htm; https://anzahistorictrail.org/expedition-1775/