, ▁an ▁Alg on qu ian ▁tribe . ▁The ▁ham let ' s ▁land ▁was ▁part ▁of ▁a ▁huge ▁tract ▁en comp ass ing ▁all ▁of ▁today ’ s ▁Put nam ▁County ▁pat ented ▁in ▁ 1 6 9 7 ▁by ▁Ad olph us ▁Philip se , ▁son ▁of ▁a ▁wealth y ▁Ang lo - D utch ▁gent ry man , ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Philip se ▁Pat ent . ▁ ▁During ▁the ▁French ▁and ▁Indian ▁War , ▁W app ingers ▁throughout ▁Put nam ▁County ▁tra ve led ▁north ▁to ▁Massachusetts ▁to ▁fight ▁for ▁the ▁British . ▁ ▁When ▁the ▁British ▁Crown ▁refused ▁to ▁return ▁their ▁land ▁after ▁the ▁war , ▁most ▁W app ingers ▁abandoned ▁the ▁area , ▁ ▁concentr ating ▁in ▁Stock bridge , ▁Massachusetts ▁before ▁re loc ating ▁with ▁other ▁disp la ced ▁Native ▁Americans ▁elsewhere . ▁Farm ers ▁and ▁their ▁families ▁migr ated ▁to ▁Mah op ac ▁from ▁as ▁far ▁away ▁as ▁Cape ▁C od ▁and ▁r ented ▁land ▁from ▁the ▁Philip se ▁family . ▁W heel w right s ▁and ▁black sm ith s ▁set ▁up ▁sh ops ▁to ▁assist ▁the ▁ten ant ▁far mers . ▁ ▁Although ▁no ▁batt les ▁were ▁fought ▁in ▁Mah op ac ▁during ▁the ▁American ▁Revolution , ▁the ▁area ▁was ▁strateg ically ▁important ▁due ▁to ▁its ▁location . ▁With ▁tro op ▁enc amp ments ▁in ▁nearby ▁P atter son , ▁York town , ▁West ▁Point , ▁and ▁Dan bury , ▁Connecticut , ▁it ▁was ▁a ▁cross - ro ads ▁between ▁key ▁Col onial ▁g