I also recommend to you "Storms Brewed In Other Men's Worlds" by Elizabeth John. That work covers the interaction of the Spanish and French with the Indians in the Southwest from 1540-1795. The axe played no role where there were no great forests, but the musket, and especially disease, did. While Small Pox loomed large it was only one of the many diseases that afflicted the Indian. Diphtheria, Yellow Fever, Malaria, and others were all in the mix.Being an American Indian, I kind of disagree.
While the musket certainly played a role in our former way of life (we were not defeated, we are still here, still contributing to society, just in a different, morphed way), I believe the axe was a much more prominent reason for the shift. It felled forests, and caused the shift from hunter-gathering to agriculturally based life. From building ships, houses, farmsteads and industry, it changed EVERYTHING, and the musket was only used as a means to allow the use of the axe to be used. I am not alone on this assessment as Robert Pike, in his 1965 book on New England Forests states this very thing, and I agree fully with him upon reflection of it.
What really felled my forefathers was disease. Giving us blankets teeming with Smallpox did not help, but everything from alcoholism to scarlet fever knocked us down. Not that it really matters, change was inevitable, and I am not seduced into thinking I would be better off today wearing deer skin and living in longhouses. No thanks...
But while the musket had its role, but I think the swing of the axe is what tamed the North American continent the most. And to some degree, disease