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assault on Wells; the rebuilding of Pemaquid; the erection of a strong fort on the Saco; the failure of a French squadron sent by Frontenac to reduce the coast defenses; the possibilities for large and lucrative barter which the English colonies offered to the Wapanakis; the desire for the return of their people who had been captured and were held at Boston as hostages; all these, combined with a suspicion that their French allies were using them for purely selfish purposes, had a subduing effect on the red men. They were ready to lay down their arms. At a conference held at Pemaquid in August, 1693, representatives of the tribes who claimed sovereignty over the land lying between the Merrimac and the St. John signed a treaty of peace with the Massachusetts Colony. They promised to aid the French no longer and to be loyal subjects to the British King.

Frontenac's plans were in danger, and, though he appears to have had no knowledge of the consummation of the treaty, he made strenuous efforts to break off the negotiations between the Indians and the Colonists, which had been reported to him, and which he feared would end in disaster to French interests. In the Indian camps were two men who were willing to serve him the missionaries, Bigot and Thury. These priests had won the confidence and affection of their flocks by sympathy and devotion, and they used their influence to incite the Indians against the English. In this they were supported by Moxus (sometimes written Taxous), chief of the Penobscot village at Castine, who was of sufficient importance and influence to be placed later at the head of the tribe. Opposed to the priests and Moxus in this contention were the majority of the Wapanakis, led by Modokawando, the sachem of the Penobscots, an old man of marked ability as a leader, who had also the reputation of a brave and skillful warrior. There were many vehement debates in the councils of the tribes during the