The 31.4 square mile town of Malta located at coordinates 42°58′N 73°48′W was originally part of the land of the Mohawks, native Americans from the Iroquois nation. There is evidence of Indian habitation near Shenantaha Creek Park dating back to 5000 BC. The Mohawks called themselves Kahnlakenhaka, or People of the Flint Place. Their trade in flint to other tribes, and later furs to the Dutch who traveled up the Hudson in the early 1600's, made them quite wealthy. The British enlisted their cooperation to fight the French during the French and Indian War in 1754. The Mohawk tribe remained allies of the British when the Revolutionary War began. At the end of that war, the defeat of the British and their allies meant that the Mohawks were forced to give up most of their territory in New York.