After the death of Ruatara, his uncle Hongi Hika became protector of the mission. Thomas Kendall, John King and William Hall, missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, founded the first mission station in Oihi Bay (a small cove in the north-east of Rangihoua Bay) in the Bay of Islands in 1814 and over the next decades established farms and schools in the area. In 1823 Rev. Henry Williams and his wife Marianne established a mission station at Paihia on land owned by Ana Hamu, the wife of Te Koki. In 1826, Henry's brother William and his wife Jane joined the CMS mission at Paihia. Marianne and Jane Williams established schools for the Ngāpuhi. William Williams lead the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible and other Christian literature; with the first chapters of the Māori Bible being printed at Paihia by William Colenso in 1827. The missionaries did not succeed in converting a single Māori until 1830 when Rawiri Taiwhanga (1818–1874), a Ngāpuhi chief, was baptised. Ruatara and Hongi Hika themselves welcomed the missionaries' presence, but did not convert. Hōne Heke attended the CMS mission school at Kerikeri and Heke and his wife Ono, were baptised in 1835. Musket Wars By the early 19th century, the Bay of Islands had become a prominent shipping port in New Zealand. Through increased trade with Europeans, initiated by Ruatara, Ngāpuhi gained greater access to European weapons, including muskets. Armed with European firearms, Ngāpuhi, led by Hongi Hika, launched a series of expansionist campaigns, with resounding slaughters across Northland and in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. United Tribes of New Zealand and the Declaration of Independence On 28 October 1835, various Northland chiefs, primarily from the Ngāpuhi tribe, met at Waitangi with British resident James Busby and signed the Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand, proclaiming the United Tribes of New Zealand. In 1836, the Crown received and recognized the United Tribes' independence under King William IV. By 1839, 52 chiefs from around Northland and central North Island had signed the Declaration, including most Ngāpuhi chiefs and Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, ariki of the Tainui tribes of the Waikato (iwi). Flagstaff War and re-erection of the flagstaff In 1840, the Ngāpuhi chiefs were all signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi. However, from 1845 to 1846, Ngāpuhi fought against the British Crown over treaty disputes and European encroachment and interference. The Māori forces