Until their defeat as British allies in the War of 1812 North American Indian tribes were used as auxiliaries in the struggles among Britain, France, and Spain (and Americans) for control of the continent.
The colonies and the early republic had a small population strung out along a thousand miles North to South and the relatively narrow band of settlement was always in danger of raids and irregular warfare, especially since the Indians often were supplied with firearms by the powers, though they could not use them so effectively as Europeans.
Once deprived of outside support, the Indians ceased to be an existential threat to white settlement.
