The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, originally known as the River Colony, was an English colony located in North America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English permanently gained control of the region in 1637. The colony was later the scene of a bloody war between the English and Pequot Indians known as the Pequot War. Connecticut Colony played a significant role in the establishment of self-government in the New World with its refusal to surrender local authority to the Dominion of New England, an event known as the Charter Oak incident which occurred at Jeremy Adams' inn and tavern.