"Upon the whole Matter, his Excellency the Governor and the Council, are unanimously of the Opinion, and do declare, that the Indians now living of the Wappinger Tribe, have no Right, Title, or Claim to the Lands granted as aforesaid by Letters Patent to the said Adolph Philipse..." 47

Despite the guidance of Secretary Shelburne and the Lords of Trade, the verdict was in; a summary and conclusive dismissal of the Wappinger and their claim. Adding insult to injury, Beverly Robinson was declared to be "a man of Character, of Prudence, and of undoubted Loyalty." 48 Nimham was forced to move the rest of his tribe to Stockbridge, MA and relinquish all claims to the Wappinger ancestral homeland. Pockets of resistant occupation may have remained in remote, rugged deep backwoods areas like Mount Nimham (Putnam County), but the bulk of the tribe (numbering less than two hundred fifty at this point) now had to retreat to Stockbridge, joining the Mohican community there. 49

The American Revolution: One Last Chance for Justice In April of 1775, a final opportunity for justice for Nimham and the Wappinger appeared with the arrival of the Revolutionary War. Having been betrayed by the Crown's corrupt bureaucratic network, the Wappinger had one last chance to win back their lands and freedom. As early as the spring of 1775 Nimham traveled to Boston to declare his loyalty to the Patriot cause. 50 Joined by his son Abraham, both joined the Stockbridge Militia Company, a Native American military unit comprised of Munsee, Mohican and Wappinger largely from the Stockbridge area. As early as 1774, Native Americans from Stockbridge had met at the Red Lion Inn (later made famous in Norman Rockwell's 1967 Home for Christmas painting of the Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas) pledging their loyalty to the American cause: