In the 1760s after defeating the French in the French and Indian War (and in the Seven Years' War in Europe), the British took control of the Straits of Mackinac and other French territory east of the Mississippi River. They encountered resistance from the Natives, who rose up in what was called Pontiac's War (1763–1766). On June 2, 1763 Ojibwe and Sauk warriors killed the majority of white residents at Fort Michilimackinac. Alexander Henry the elder, one of the survivors, was taken captive and transported to Beaver Island but was rescued by the Odawa "Wawatam". The British built the more substantial Fort Mackinac at the site in 1780.