AQudyek Tia Corner Newport RI INDIAN HISTORY OF MOUNT HOPE AND VICINITY R. F. HAFFENREFFER, JR. Reprint of a speech given at Mount Hope on September 17, 1923, Published by the Fall River Hisiorical Society in 1927INDIAN HISTORY OF MOUNT HOPE AND VICINITY R.F, HAFFENREFFER, JR, Tt was with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to address this society on the subject of our focal Indians, whose activities, and their attitude in their relation with the early English settlers during colonization days, T shall attempt to justify by historical references. Recognizing that too little, much of it unjust, has been written on ‘this subject to convey a fair appreciation of the events of that time, T cannot but yield to a combative yearning which awoke within me to defend the Indian cause when, deeply impressed, | listened to the touching story told me by Queen Teeweelema and her two sisters, direct lineal descendants of King Philip, two of whom are now living at Lakeville, Mass., in a little hut surrounded by a few acres of land--all that the whites have left them of their glorious heritage from Massasoit. In their hearts, with the memories of those long bygone days, lives the acute sense of irresistible ‘wrong done them by the alien in the land of their forefathers. fit is tue, as philosophers tell us itis, that environment, twadition and association have much to do in developing and moulding character, then the character of the Indian of North America should have been simple, stern, enduring, heroic. Born where everything in nature was dignified and sublime, we should expect his soul, in the continual presence of such amplitudes, to have taken on something of that dignity and sublimity. Unfortunately, we have no impartial history of the race, but shreds and patches enough of individual character have come down to us to show that, while the Indian was bold and defiant, he was also not deficient in the kindlier sympathies of our nature. The Wampanoag tribe of Indians emerges from the obscurity of the unwritten past in the early years of the seventeenth century. As an island approached at sea through a haze gradually becomes visible by the appearance of vague and unconnected points. so vague und disconnected reports of explorers, who returned to the Old World from the NewEngland coast, told of various meetings with Indians near the seashore, of a conference with Indian kings at Nummastaquyt, now Middleboro, and of Indian captives ruthlessly and barbarously snatched away from their homes and families, and brought across the great ocean to die in distant and strange lands. Or, as the reverse of this shield, we may picture the young and impressionable Indian prince Ousamequin, better Known to us by his later name of Massasoit, listening to the weird and fantastic tales of monstrous canoes, out of which -w aloft beuring, instead of leaves, huge white wings than wigwams, and of that mysterious race of pale skinned magicians who came in these canoes from no one knew where, tarried awhile, and then disappeared across the unknown sea towards whence they came. ‘That these strangers carried bows that shot forth arrows, not of wood, but of flaming fire, was one of the unbelievable stories that were related to him, at which he marvelled. But the practical affairs of daily life required the young man’s attention, The Wampanoags belonged to the great Algonquin group of Indians and had advanced in civilization to What is usually described as the sone age and hunting stage of development. ‘They did not differ materially in language, customs and manners from the other Algonquin tibes that surrounded them. ‘Their tools were of stone and their utensils of stone or wood. They fished, hunted, and farmed on a rather small scale, maize being the principal agricultural product. ‘They built canoes and wigwams, manufactured wampumpeage out of sea-shells, and smoked, or, as it was then called, "drank tobacco’ Roger Williams 2 telly us that Kautantowwit was the “great South West God to whose House all soules gor and from whom came their Corne, Beanes,” etc. May not this fanciful myth be the crystalization’ of the vague and exaggerated reports of the glories and achievements of that high and wealthy civilization of the distant southwest--of the Aztecs and of the Mayas~stories which must repeatedly have been handed on from tribe to tribe by traders and travelers—stories, to be sure, which, by repetition, by distance, and by time, must have become enlarged, distorted and indistinct. Trade existed between the tribes, and certain it is that copper ornaments made from the copper found about the Great Lakes and pipes made from stone found in the Ohio Valley drifted eastward by trade or war and came eventually into the possession of the Wampanoags, in whose graves such objects have been found. The Dutch traders, following in the wake of Adrien Block's Unrest, pushed on up Narragansett Bay as far as the confluence of the Warren and Barrington Rivers, called "Gense eyland” and "Klips Kil" on their maps. ? They traded with the ‘Wampanoags, and it is doubtless here, at Mount Hope, almost at the door of his home, that Massasoit first saw the pale faced men and their great winged canoes. Perhaps, however, the first white man that Massasoit saw was a Frenchman and not a Dutchman. In 1616 a French fishing vessel penctrated to Massachusetts Bay and its crew traded with the Indians. 4 Thi ‘as ship-wrecked and some of the Frenchmen were taken captive by the natives. One of these Frenchmen outlived the others, and served as a slave among the Wampanoags. The story goes that this Frenchman threatened and boasted that his God would destroy the Indians for retaining him. ‘The Indian sachem, doubtless confusing the words "god" and "king", made the Frenchman stand on the top of a hill while the sachem collected his people about it. He then asked the Frenchman if his god had as many men as this and if he could kill so many. Upon which the Frenchman replied in the affirmative. Certain it is that one of these Frenchmen was held by the Wampanoags and redeemed by Captain Dermer in 1619. Meanwhile, about 1616, a plague broke out and by its deadly ravages greatly reduced the number of the Wampanoags and so weakened the political power of the tribe. 5 ‘The Narragansett Indians, who lived on the west shore of Narragansett Bay and were therefore separated by it from the Wampanoags, had under the able and warlike sachem Mascus been steadily increasing their political control over the neighboring tribes and extending the boundaries of their large, 3though loosely-bound, empire. ‘They looked covetously upon the lands of the Wampanoags, coextensive in general with the later Plymouth Colony. When the ranks of the Wampanoags had been thinned and weakened by the plague, their dependence as a tribe became to that extent jeopardized. The Narragansett sachem Mascus had died, but his brother and colleague, Cunonicus, with his son and successor, Miantonomi,--the two reigning sachems of the Narragansetts-~ launched war upon the almost defenseless Wampanoags. ‘The victory of the Narragansetts was assured. ‘The military struggle, carried on for years by Massasoit’s father and by himself “against the imperialism of the Narragansetts, was ended, not by generalship or by treachery, but, as Massasoit himself said, by God who "subdued me by a plague, which swept away my people, and forced me to yield.” 5 Massasoit realized the uselessness of continuing the unequal struggle, Accompanied by ten of his chief counsellors, he obeyed the command of the victorious Miantonomi and attended the court of Canonicus at Narragunsett, where, amid the solemnities of an Indian council, a treaty was concluded and the young Wampanoag sachem, humbling himself before Canonieus and Miantonomi, formally acknowledged himself, his people and their lands in vassalage to the Narragansett sachems. What bitter hatred and chagrin, what hopes--groundless hopes for revenge and independence-must have Massasoit fostered and nursed in his reflections as he slowly retumed from the most galling public ceremony of his life! In 1605 Captain George Waymouth touched at Patuxet, now Plymouth, and carried away some Indians.? One of these was Tisquantum, or as he is more commonly called, Squanto or Squantum. “In the summer of 1619 Captain Thomas Dermer touched at what is now Plymouth and, accompanied by Squanto, proceeded inland as far as Nummastaquyt, now Middleboro, where he was visited by two kings, the sachems of Pocanoket, probably Massasoit and his brother, accompanied by an armed body guard of fifty men.’ The ship-wrecked Frenchman was tedeemed and carried away by Captain 4Dermer. Massasoit had doubtless taken the Frenchman’s tales of Europe with the proverbial grain of salt, but the information imparted to the two kings and to the other natives by Squanto, one of their own tribe, must have greatly influenced the ideas of the Wampanoags in regard to the white race. Massasoit at distant Pocanoket heard of the arrival of the Mayflower at Patuxet with its body of English colonists and that they apparently planned to settle and reside there. During, the early weeks of the settlement few Indians were seen by the colonists, but from the friendly cover of trees and shrubs, the natives watched the whites and reported to their sachem Massasoit the progress of the little settlement at Plymouth. Nor did Massasoit sit idly by, as perchance it may have appeared to the Pilgrims, and let matters shape their own course. From subsequent events, it would seem clear that Massasoit thought much and deeply on a subject of vital interest to himself and his tribe. Near at hand he found two tich sources of information in the Indians.--Samoset and Squanto,--men whose evidence and testimony would carry weight not only with the sachem himself but with his Counsellors. Both of these Indians had associated with white men and knew their ways. Especially Squanto, who hud lived in Europe for more than a decade and a half, could tell of the multitudes of white men who lived beyond the seas, of their complex civilization, of their power in war, due mainly to their marvelous engines of destruction, Samoset from other sources could substantiate many of the almost incredible statements of Squanto. Massasoit with far-sighted vision saw that an alliance with these new comers would enable him and his tribe to throw off the hated yoke of vassalage to the Narragansett sachems. In the Weakened state of his tribe, to fight against the fire-arrows of the English on one side and the large armies of the Nurragansetts on the other was, Mussasoit saw, both foolhardy “and impolitic. To fight the English while still remaining under the overlordship of the Narragansetts, would only win a victory for those hated sachems and leave the affairs of the Wampanoag unchanged, save for the loss of warriors that such an undertaking might incur.The Indian statesman carefully laid his plans. About March 16, 1620 Old Style, or 1621 modern style, (for then the year began on March 25th instead of January Ist as it does Today), Massasoit sent Samoset into the English settlement.0 Boldly this Indian emmissary marched info Plymouth and welcomed the startled and alarmed colonists in broken English. He told them of Squanto, who had been to England, and of Massasoit, the great suchem of the Wampanoags, who ruled the tribe of Indians who lived in this part of the country. As a mark of friendship, he went away and returned with some tools, that had been stolen from the settlers a short time before by some sneaking Indians. The entertainment, feasting, and exchange of gifts, so characteristic of Indian hospitality, were naturally observed upon the occasion of Samoset’s visit. 11 On March 22nd, about noon, Samoset and Squanio came to Plymouth, bringing gifts, and ‘announced "that their great Sagamore Massasoit. was hard by with Quadequina, his brother, and all his men.” In about an hour the great Sagamore appeared on the crest of a nearby hill, surrounded by his bodyguard of sixty men, ‘The the Indians stood in plain view of the English in the village. The English dared not send their Governor to the Indians and the Indians dared not send their Sagamore to the English. Caution was the keynote of both. ‘Squanto went back and forth between the two groups secking, further negotiations and to find some compromise course. Finally Edward Winslow, as representative of the Governor, went among the Indians and personally made the acquaintance of Massasoit. After presenting the gifts which he carried, inslow made a speech telling Massusoit that "King James saluted him with words of love and peace, and did accept of him as his Friend and Ally, and that our Governor desired to see him and to “truck’, that is, trade, with him and to confirm a peace with him as his next neighbor. Massasoit liked well of the speech and heard it attentively; though the interpreters did not well express it; after he had eaten and drunk himself, and given the rest to his company, he looked upon our messengers’ sword and armour which he had on, with intimation of his desire to buy it, but on the other side, our messenger showed his unwillingness to part with it: In the end he left him in thecustody of Quadequina, his brother, and came over the brook, and some twenty men following him, leaving all their bows and arrows behind them. We kept six or seven as hostages for our messenger: Captain Standish and Master Williamson met the King at the brook with half a dozen musketeers, they saluted him and he them, so one going over, the one on the one side, and the other on the other, conducted him to an house then in building, where we placed a green rug, and three or four cushions, then instantly came our Governor with drum and. ‘trumpet after him, and some few musketeers. After salutations, our Governor kissing his hand, the King kissed him, and so they sat down, The Governor called for some strong water, and drunk to him, and he drunk a great draught that made him sweat all the while after, he called for a little fresh meat, which the King did eat willingly, and did give his followers." On this famous 22nd of March, Mussasoit and the Pilgrims drew up and negotiated « treaty of peace and a defensive alliance which was observed during the remaining forty years of the Sagamore’s life. Although the wording of this agreement was probably never adequately understood by Massasoit, yet the spirit of it was understood and appreciated by him and his newly made friends.!3 This defensive alliance was practically tantamount to a renung n of the overlordship of the Narragansetts, and was a most brilliant diplomatic achievement. ‘The terms of the treaty are given by Mourt as follows: "1. ‘That neither he nor any of his should injure or do hurt to any of our people. 2. ‘And if any of his did hurt to any of ours, he should send the offender, that we might punish him. 3. That if any of our tools were taken away when our people were at work, he should cause them to be restored, and if ours did any harm to any of his, we would do the like ta them, 4. If any did unjustly war against him, we would aid him; if any did war against us, he should aid us. 5. He should send to his neighbor confederates, to certify them of this, that they might not wrong us, but likewise comprised in the condition of peace. 76. That when their men came to us, they should leave their bows and arrows behind them, as we should do our pieces when we came to them, Lastly, that doing thus, King James would esteem of him as his friend and ally. This treaty insured the colonists from the danger of an Indian attack and allowed them to develop their resources in peace until over fifty years of growth and expansion had forever removed from the immediate vicinity the danger of severe ravages, Mourt!? describes Massasoit as follows: "In his person he is a very lusty man, in his best years, an able body. grave of countenance, and spare of speech.” In his attire little or nothing differing from the rest of his followers, only ina great chain of white bone beads about his neck, and at it behind his neck, hhangs a little bag of tobacco, which he drank and gave us to drink; his face was painted with a sud red like murry, and oiled both head and face, that he looked greasily.” Massasoit had in his bosom hanging on a string, a great long knife. His followers were: "in their faces, in part or in whole painted, some black, some red, some yellow, and some white, some with crosses, and other antique work, some had skins on them, and some naked, all strong, tall, all men in appearance.” Mourt tells us that all the while Massasoit sat by the Governor he trembled for fear, and Drake interprets this as evidence that he was rather forced to sign the treaty from fear than that it was concluded with deliberation and cheerfulness on his part.!® This fear, if it was fear, was probably due more to anxiety lest some of the English firearms should go off through accident or carelessness, rather than fear of the English themselves. Massasoit and his retinue went into the woods about a half a mile from the English and spent the night there, beginning their homeward journey to Pocanoket on the morrow.” Before he left, however, he summoned Tepresentatives from the English, Miles Standish and Isaac Allerton attended upon him and exchanged gifts. ‘Thereupon, Massasoit started homeward, leaving Squanto and Samosetwith the Pilgrims. The assistance rendered to the settlers by these intelligent natives can scarcely be over-estimated. In the summer of 1621 the Pil s decided to send emissaries to make a formal visit to their ally, Massasoit. They had several minor matters to discuss with him and wished particularly to locate his residence in case they should need to call upon him in an emergency. Accordingly, Stephen Hopkins and Edward Winslow, with Squanto as a guide, set out on June 10th, according to Mourt, but on July 2nd, according to Bradford. — Massasoit was absent when they arrived at Pocanoket, but was immediately sent for and soon appeared. Upon the arrival of Massasoit, the English discharged their guns as a salute to him, whereupon he kindly welcomed them and took them into his hous They all sat down and exchanged messages and presents. The Governor had sent Massasoit a red coat ornamented with lace! and a copper chain, which the Sachem put on and "was not a little proud to behold himself; and his men also to see their King so bravely attired!" Massasoit delivered a speech in which he described the extent of his domains. After his speech, they sat around drinking tobacco and informally discussing political affairs Massasoit "talked of the Frenchmen, bidding us not to suffer them to come to Narragansett, for it was King James his Country, and he also was King James his man,” Perhaps Massasoit considered all non-English white-men as French, embracing in one group the ship-wrecked French captives and the Dutch traders that were pushing forward in the Narragansett Bay district. "Late it grew," the English account reads: "but victuals he offered none; for, indeed, he had not any, being he came so newly home. So we desired to go to rest: he laid us on the bed with himself and his wife, they at the one end and we at the other, it being only planks laid a foot from the ground, and a thin mat upon them.” Two more of his chief men for want of room pressed by and upon us; so that we were more weary of our lodging than of our journey. "The next day being Thursday, many of their Sachems or petty governors came to see us, and many of their men also. ‘There they went to their manner of games for skins and knives. 8There we challenged them to shoot with them for skins; but they durst not; only they desired to see one of us shoot at a mark, who shooting with hail-shot, they wondered to see the mark so full of holes. About one o'clock, Massasoit brought two fishes that he had shot, they were like bream but three times so big, and better meat. These being boiled there were at least forty who looked for share in them, the most ate of them. This med! only we hud in two nights and a day, and had not fone of us brought a partridge, we had taken’ our journay fasting: very importunate he was to have us stay with them longer; but we desired to keep the Sabbath at home, and feared we should either be light-headed for want of sleep, for what with bad lodging, the savages barbarous singing, (for they use to sing themselves asleep) lice and fleas within doors, and mosquitoes without, we could hardly sleep all the time of our being there; we much fearing, that if we should stay any longer, we should not be uble to recover home for want of strength. So that on the Friday morning before sun rising, we took our leave and departed, Massasoit being both grieved and ashamed, that he could no better entertain us; and retaining ‘Tisquantum to send from place to place to procure truck for us and appointing another, called Tokamahamon in his. place, whom we had found ‘faithful before and after upon. ali occasions." The Pilgrim writers state that at the time of the negotiation of the treaty, Massasoit was at war with the Narragansetts.!3_ This seems to be an. exaggeration or overstatement of the case. There was certainly a biter hostility between the tribes, and some minor raids, and guerilla warfare may have occurred on the borderland, but real recognized war was certainly not the case. Canonicus and Miantonomi must have heard with dismay of the weaty of Massasoit with the English, which agreement threatened to give both independence and strong allies to the able sagamore, who had chafed unwillingly as their vassal and subject, In the hierarchy of Indian sachems, an_ ambitious underling could invariably be found, and in this. instance Caunbitant of Mettapoiset appeared to be the most promising 10of Massasoit’s subject. sachems for the project of the Narragansetts. Caunbitant was moved by what seems to have been a genuine fear of subsequent English aggression and by the personal ambition to increase his prestige and influence. His first open act of hoxtility was the seizure of Squanto, the interpreter, whom he derisively called the Tongue of the English.'6” By this act he hoped to cripple communication between the English and Massasoit as the first step to weaken that alliance. This occurred in August, 1621, Hobomok escaped from Caunbitant and hastened to Plymouth with the news of the seizure of Squanto, ‘The English were not slow to act. Captain Miles Standish with fourteen men armed with weapons so terrible to the Indians accustomed only to archery, taking Hobomok as a guide, went forth to avenge the supposed murder of Squanto, Caunbitant, overcome by fear of the lead shot, retreated northward, leaving Squanto to his English friends. Some Indians were wounded by the gun fire of the English, before the latter learned that Caunbitant had withdrawn. The noise and damage caused by the guns added enormously to the Indian's respect for the English. The English issued a proclamation threatening to relentlessly pursue Caunbitant unless he ceased his hostile activities, and even then in case Massasoit should not return in safety from Narragansett.” Meanwhile it happened that Massasoit and his bodyguard had been overpowered by a band of Narragansetts and carried captive to Narragansett.'8 When the news of this reached Plymouth, the English demanded the immediate release of their ally, and the ever cautious Canonicus not only complied with this request, but opened negotiations with the English in regard to the establishment of a permanent peace. Without risking an engagement, Caunbitant together with Chikataubut and seven other sachems, placing discretion above valor, opened negotiations with the English and finally went to Plymouth, where on September 13, 1621 they formally submitted themselves as royal subjects of King James of England.!9 Massasoit was released by the Narragansetts and the prestige of the English was enormously inercased. aThe fear of losing control of the Wampanoags unquestionably led to a council of the Narragansett leaders during the winter. We may well imagine how the younger and More impetuous counsellors urged war, while the éver cautious Canonicus endeavored 10 sooth the anger of his courtiers and avoid an uncertain conflict with the powerful English. For, in addition to their fire-arms, the English were credited with being in collusion with evil spivits and of having magical and unseen powers of destruction.2" In February, 1622, they sent 10 the English at Plymouth an ultimatum in the form of a bundle of arrows tied together in a snake skin, The English took up the challenge and returned the snake skin filled with powder and shot and sent it back to Canonicus with an insulting and defiant offer to test their sttength in war. Canonicus, however, wisely refused to receive this symbol, thereby demonstrating the fact that he wished peace to continue. With the failure of this blatant threat, and with his bluff called, to use modern phraseology, Canonicus was forced tacitly at least to renounce his jurisdiction over the Wampanoags, the allies of the English, ‘The peace party at Narragansett had prevailed, and for almost a decade the Narragansett and the Wampanoag indians lived side by side without serious hostilities. In the spring of 1622, Squanto plotted to set the English against Massasoit, hoping thus to accomplish the death of the chem, and so open the way for Squanto himself to become chief sachem of the Wampanoags2! He had a confederate bring to Plymouth the report that Caunbitant, re-enforced by the Narragansetts. and by Massasoit, was marching against Plymouth, The Pilgrims were in consternation, Hobomok reassured them, branding the entire report as false and accusing ‘Squanto as being the author of it, Squanto naturally denied all knowledge of the affair. Hobomok sent his wife to Pocanoket, thus acquainting Massasoit with the occurrence. The sachem sent her back with a verification of Hobomok’s contention Massasoit, satisfied that Squanto’s treachery had been aimed at himself as well ay at the English, requested that Squanto be delivered up to him, according to the terms of the treaty. ‘The Governor allayed his wrath for the time being, and 12Massasoit returned home. Upon giving the matter second thought, Massasoit decided that Squanto should be executed. He, therefore, sent messengers to Plymouth demandin; the extradition of Squanto, as required under the treaty, offering beaver skins as a profitable inducement that the treaiy might be observed in this particular instance, and thoughtfully sending a knife to be used in cutting off Squanto’s head and hands, in case the transportation of his corpse to Pocanoket might seem too burdensome. Syuanto gave himself up to the Governor, relying upon the need the Pilgrims had of his services. The Governor felt that the colony could not spare Squanto and yet wished to seem to live up to the treaty. He temporized and delayed, until the messengers returned in unger to Massasoit with the information that the English had broken faith in the first emergency. Squanto lived. It is said that Massasoit seemed "to frown” on the English for some time and he certainly was justified. Apropos of this Sylvester remarks: "The English were punctilious in their exactions of the Indians” Promises; as to their own, they did as suited their convenience." In March, 1623, Massasoit was taken desperately sick, and his death was momentarily expected? _He immediately sent word of his condition to his friends at Plymouth. While Massasoit was thus lying at death's door, a Dutch trading ship was driven high on shore by a storm, “right before his dwelling." Edward Winslow, accompanied by "one Master John Hampden, a gentleman of London” and with Hobomok as a guide, set off for Povanoket. This Master Hampden has with considerable reason been identified by some as ship-money John Hampden of English parliamentary fame, whom Gray in his "Elegy" pays the high tribute of making his name a noun, symbolizing a champion of the oppressed. You will recall the lines: "Some village Hampden, that with dauntless breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood.” Hampden Meadows on New Meadow Neck is named in honor ‘of Winslow's companion on this occasion, When they reached Pocanoket, the Dutch vessel had gone, so that Winslow could not interview its captain.23 13Massasoit was lying on a bed of sickness, his understanding left but his sight gone. ‘Thanks to the exertions of Winslow and the effects of his medicines and cordials, Massasoit began to recover rapidly. His sight returned and’he called for broth, Massasoit was expecially grateful to Winslow, as both the sachem and his followers believed that he was beyond all help and that cleath was certain at that time, Just before the English departed, Massasoit disclosed the details of a very dangerous Indian conspiracy against the settlers that had been brewing for some time. The ringleader of the undertaking was a Massachusetts sachem called Wittuwamet, Drake 2 states that "it is not improbable but that he became exasperated against the English from the many abuses some of them had! practised upon his countrymen.” Massasoit had been invited to join this conspiracy, but had steadfastly refused and remained faithful to his alliance with Plymouth. Hobomok transmitted to Winslow the words of Massasoit which are related as follows by Winslow: "Therefore as we respected the lives of our countrymen and our own safety, he advised us to kill the men of Massachusetts, who were the authors of this intended mischief. And whereas ‘we were wont f0 Say, we would not strike a stroke till they first began, if, said he, upon this intelligence, they (the English) make that answer, tell them, when their countrymen at Wichaguscusset are killed, they not being able to defend themselves, that then it will be (oo late to recover their lives, that it would be with difficulty that they could preserve their own, “and therefore he counselled, without delay, to take away the principals, and then the plot would cease.” Acting upon the advice of their ally, the English at Plymouth on March 23, 1623 (1624 according to our reckoning) formally proclaimed war against the Massachusetts Indians. Standish headed the successful expedition against the Indians and brought back the decapitated head of Wittuwamet, which was set up on the fort of Plymouth, where it remained testimony of the Christianity, civilization and humanity of the Pilgrims. 14Winslow's care of Massasoit and the latter's information in regard to the Indian plot further cemented and solidified the alliance between the Pilgrims and Wampanoags. Massusoit permitted the English to establish a trading post at Sowams, near his principal residence. Sowams in Pocanoket was certainly near the confluence of the Barrington and Warren rivers, but on which side has been a matter of bitter dispute between the partisans of the town on either bank. The English post naturally superseded und eliminated the occasional Dutch traders who formerly frequented Klipskil ‘The English had obtained their first outlet on Narragansett Bay, and the Dutch, checked in that direction, concentrated their trade in the southwest section of the bay. Perhaps this rebuff of the Dutch aroused their business associates, the Narragansetts: perhaps news of the arrival of more English at Boston; perhaps merely some minor spark kindled the blaze. Be that as it may, the Narragansetts in April, 1632, took the war-path, crossed the bay and threw their strong forces against Sowams, the home of Massasoit. 25 ‘The Wampanoag, unable to resist the powerful forces of Miantonomi, leaving their village to the enemy fled toward Plymouth and the protection of their white friends, A stout English trader at Sowams held the post until the arrival of a relief party under Captain Standish. ‘Thercupon, the old Canonicus himself took the field with a large army to give support to the besiegers. Standish sent to Plymouth for Teenforcements. A severe struggle seemed to be imminent, but the unexpected happened. ‘The Pequots, taking advantage of the absence of Canonicus and his braves, invaded the Narragansett Country from the west, and Canonicus was forced to withdraw all his forces from Sowams in order to defend his lands against these new aggressors. Reinstated at Sowams, thanks to the help of his English friends, Massasoit was still more closely bound to them and for the remainder of his life enjoyed a peaceful reign. As the English settlements spread westward from Massachusetts Bay, Massasoit became acquainted with a larger number of Englishmen. One of these, the young minister at the Plymouth church, went among the Indians as a missionary. He 1slived with them in their wigwams, partook of the routine of their daily life, gradually learned their language, and, what is more to the point, recognized their fellowship’ in the brotherhood of mankind, and by consistent kindness and sympathy won his way deep into the hearts of the natives. This man was Roger Williams, better known perhaps, as Oscar Straus?? described him: "The Pioneer of Religious Liberty in America” than in his almost equally important capacity of champion of the Indian's rights. Williams wrote: "God was pleased to give me a painful, patient spirit to lodge with them in their filthy, smoky holes (even while I lived at Plymouth and Salem) to gain their tongue.” In those days he met Massasoit and conversed with him in his own tongue, of theology. of morals and of politics. A few years later, when expelled from. Massachusetts, Williams sought the hospitality of his old friend, Massasoit. Banished, exposed to the mercy of an howling wilderness in frost and snow, he was welcomed by Massasoit and given whatever food and shelter the impoverished and shivering Wampanoags had to share. In the spring Massasoit gave Roger Williams permission to plant and build near what is now Omega Pond, East Providence. As this settlement was in Massasoit’s domains, and as the Wampanoags were by the English at least considered a protectorate, if not a subject nation, Williams was forced to Move on across the river to the present Providence. This land Williams obtained from Canonicus and Miantonomi, although later Massasoit claimed that it was originally and ‘rightfully his2® This claim, however, was not pushed. ym S” banishment wa in dispute between the Nurragansetts and the Wampanoags, he found himself in a dangerous 16predicament, By travelling back and forth between Massasoit and the Narragansetts, Williams, a most skillful peacemaker, aided by the high personal esteem in which he was held by the sachems, pacified and satisfied them and averted a threatened impending conflict.2° We have mentioned that Massasoit claimed a rightful, though perhaps titular, jurisdiction over what is now Providence. He did not push this claim, owing to his personal friendship for Williams, and for the same reason waived his interest in Prudence Island, when Williams obtained a grant of it from Canonicus. Williams wrote that he obtained whatsoever he desired from Massasoit, and continued: "T never denied him or Miantonomi whatever they desired of me as to goods or gifts or use of my boats or pinnave and the travels of my own person, day and night.” fassasoit grew old and his children grew up about him amidst the rapidly expanding English settlements, Freed from the fear of an attack from the Narragansetts by his alliance with Plymouth, and the interposition of Roger Williams, the friend of both tribes, Massasoit saw the Wampanoags flourish, the only cloud being the gradual encroachment upon his territory and his political power by his strong and professedly friendly allies. The wise old sachem, philosopher that he was, could not have failed to observe what transpired about him, how that first breach of faith of the Pilgrims in regard to Squanto was to be the keynote of the English attitude towards the Indians, From such a beginning, is it surprising to find Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson's book entitled "A Century of Dishonor", an account of American dealings with certain Indian tribes? rs had bi i is interesting to note threatened to go to war with setts, and in 1637 went to war with the Pequots, because the murderers of Englishmen were not turned over to them for justice, but that in 1638, when some English murdered and robbed an Indian, the English authorities would not give up the murderers to the Indians, as Roger Williams thought was the fair course that could be taken, but instead 17tried and pu own laws.% Upon the outbreak of the Pequot War, the English were informed that the Pequots had sent their women and children to Block Island for safety, that they might be outside the area of hostilities; the English, realizing the defenceless condition of these non-combabants, "presently" sent Captain Patrick with an armed force "to set upon them."s! Sca it possible to picture a more disgraceful and wanton act of destruction, a slaughter of innocents, by a band of well-urmed soldiers, forewarned and so without an excuse of military necessity or possible danger to themselves. Near Saybrook an Indian was taken cuptive by the English and was put to torture. Winthrop adds as a sort of apology, "The reason was, because they had tortured such of our men as they took alive.” The historian, James Savage, comments in a foot-note: "It was, probably, a mistaken policy, however justifiable the practice of retaliation may be with nations of nearer similarity of manners, Savages ure hardly tamed by kindness; never by severity. I lament, that brave men should be commanded to torture a prisoner of war.” In the next Paragraph Winthrop tells us that the Dutch "redeemed the two maids, who had been well used by the Pequots, and no violence offered to them.” James Truslow Adams, New England's latest historian, remarked: "It ote ‘mpt apunsiilee Chasity UakGtie Nee charged against the suvage--a recor distinctly better than that — of the white settlers."* Probably the most shocking act committed by the English against the Indians was the murder of the Narragansett sachem, Miantonomi. Amold says: "The whole career of this haughty chieftain, in his intercourse with the English, displays the nicest sentiments of honor, blended with a proper regard for his own dignity and absolute soverignty, He regarded every article of the treaty he had made as bindi g to the last hour of his life, not only in its terms but in its spirit, and expected, though unfortunately, and as it proved fatally to himself, 10 receive from his ‘civilized allies an equally honorable treatment." ished the murderers themselves according to their 18Observing the terms of the treaty, he consulted the English before going to war and they stated the determination to remain neutral in his controversy with Uncas, the Governar bidding him "take his own course" in the matter. By the treachery of two of his captains, Miuntonomi was delivered into the hands of Uneas. Savage says: "The savage soul of Uncas doubted whether he ought to take away the life of a great King, wh had fallen into his hands by misfortune: and to resolve thi doubt, he applied to the Christian Commissioners of the four united colonies, who met at Hartford in September, 1644.’ Their decision in their own words was, "we were all of opinion that it would not be safe to set him at liberty, and neither had we Sufficient grounds for us to put him to death.” “As usual,” writes Adams, "they tuned to the church for advice, and, us usual that advice was for blood, “the most judicious elders,” who had been consulted, unanimously agrecing “that he ought to be put to death’.” The ners, Savage adds, "ordered Uncas to carry Miantonomi out of their jurisdiction, and slay him; but kindly added, that he should not be tortured: they sent some persons to see the execution done, who had the satisfaction to sce the captive King murdered in cold blood,” the reward he received for assisting the English in the Pequot war seven years before. But to go back a few years to 1636 when John Oldham, a trader, was murdered by some Indians and his vessel found by Captain Gallop. ‘There being but four Indians on the vessel, the English boarded her "whereupon one Indian came up ‘and yielded: him they bound and put into the hold. Then another yielded, whom they bound. But John Gallop, being well acquainted with their skill to untie themselves, if two of them be together, and having no place to keep them asunder, he threw him overboard.”” The inhumanity charged against the Indians was practised by their white associates. Canonicus on one occasion took a stick, and breaking it in ten pieces related ten instances wherein the English had proved false, laying down a piece of the stick at cach instance.*5 Williams satisfied him that he was mistaken in some of the cuses and offered to intercede with the Governor in a9the others. Indeed, as early as 1637, Canonicus complained to Roger Williams that he could relate’ many particulars wherein the English had broken their promises. * ‘The rapid expansion of the white settlers throughout land formerly occupied by the Indians, whether by royal grant, by conquest in war or by purchase with some few trinkets, continually drove the natives into smaller confines. The ordinary every day oppression of the Indians by the bigoted and superior whites acted like the constant dripping of water on a stone, intensified now and again by some unnecessary and grossly unjust atrocity. “Innocent Indians were insulted, and plundered of their possessions, and in some cases their women and children were murdered in cold blood. Yet Juries refused to conviet the offenders, and the General Court frequently yielded to the clamor, until letters from England, and the discovery of a hideous plot by the whites to massacre all the (Indian) converts gathered on Deer Island, awoke them to some sense of their duty." Adams, whom T have just quoted, culls attention to the fact that while the Indians scalped for honor, the settlers did it for money, prives rising as high as $50 for a female scalp and $130 for a boy's scalp.’ Moseley in his expedition near Hatfield, captured a squaw. She was "ordered to be tor in pieces by dogs and she was so dealt withal.” Where can we look for a parallel equal to this atrocity?» Brought up in such an atmosphere, can we be surprised that Massasoit’s son, Metacom, called’ by us King Philip, should smart under the misfortunes of his race, his own tribe bereft of most of its domains and power, insulted, betrayed and scorned by these arrogant white men, who preached yet practised not what they preached. The inevitable struggle had been postponed by Massasoit. He died, and his son Alexander succeeded him. The respect and esteem in which the older gencration held Mussasoit was to an extent inherited by the Succeeding generation, but with his death, that shadow of a former friendship vanished. About 1656 Massasoit’s two sons were brought to Plymouth. The elder was called Wamsutta or Mooaham and the younger Pometacom, or more commonly Metacom. Being 20desirous of having English names as well, the Governor graciously bestowed upon Wamsutta the name of Alexander, after Alexander the Great, and, carrying out the Grecian motif, gave to the younger Metacom, the name of Philip, after Philip of Macedon. Alexander married Namumpum, alias Weetamoe, squaw sachem of Pocasset, the modern Fall River and Tiverton, who is described as a princess as potent as any prince around about her. Massasoit’s residence was at Sowams and Mount Hope. Alexander, upon his accession, adopted Mount Hope as. his Permanent residence. His reign, however, was to be brief. The English forgot the kindnesses of his’ father, forgot that Alexander was their ally, not their subject. Upon suspicion that he was plotting against them, they summoned him to appear at Plymouth, even as they might have summoned any disobedient and refractory subject. The overbearing attitude of the Plymouth authorities was not even sugar-coated. The contemporary Plymouth writers, ex-parte historians that they were, contradicted each other as to Alexander's reply and actions, but agree that he did not go to Plymouth. No indepencent sovereign with any self-respect could be expected to submit to such an order. In the midst of his own domains, while on a hunting wip, Alexander and his followers were surprised by the arrival of Major Winslow ancl a company of soldiers, 41 In a time of peace, unsuspecting any treachery, the Indians did not even seize their arms, which were Stacked in a pile nearby, Winslow, placing a pistol at Alexander's breast, ordered him to accompany him to Plymouth. Alexander fearlessly refused, risking the pistol shot, but, through the intercession of one of his counsellors, agreed to go, if he might be allowed to proceed as of his own will and given the recognition due a sovereign and an ambassador. Winslow offered a horse to Alexander that he might ride, but he declined, as his wife and other squaws were in the party, saying he could go on foot as well as they. Unfortunately for all concerned, Alexander was stricken with a fever, which the Indians naturally attributed to poison administered by the English. 21Alexander's condition became so much worse that the English sent him back to his people. On the way Alexander, “dying of a crushed spirit", to quote Abbott, gradually became weaker and weaker, and at Titicut on the shores of the Taunton River passed to his eternal rest. Let us again quote Abbott: "What a scene for the painter! The sublimity of the forest, the glassy stream, meandering beneath the overshadowing trees, the bark canoes of the natives moored to the shore, the dying chieftain with his warriors assembled in stern sadness around him, and the beautiful and heroic Wetamoe, holding in her lap the head of her dying lord, and as she wiped his clammy brow, nursing those emotions of revenge which finally desolated three colonies with flame, blood, and woe." 41 Were not the English thus to blame for the subsequent disaster? If Alexander's fever was not caused by the poison of the English, its severity was certainly intensified by. the nervous strain induced by their unwarrantable actions. Winslow's treatment of an ally in time of peace was certainly a deliberate act of war, and had it not been for the unpreparedness and weakness of the Indian tribes at that time, that war would not have been postponed fifteen years. The treatment of Alexander, this culminating injustice of the English, sealed the inevitability of the impending conflict. No power could withhold it. Alexander's successor, his brother Philip, the new Sachem of the Wampanoags, determined to make & crowning effort on behalf of his oppressed countrymen, let it matter not what might be the cost. Might not those famous lines of Gray, already quoted, have been fittingly applied to Philip, who, dauntless as “Some village Hampden’, sought to oppose the little Tyrants of Plymouth seeking to enslave his people. Sitting in his chair of solid stone on the east side of Mount Hope, King Philip could look across the bay at his feet to the land beyond it, the present Fall River, then a mass of densely wooded hills, As his eye wandered eastward to the extent of vision, his mind continued on over lands formerly belonging to his tribe, but now to white foreigners, and so on eastward to the seacoast, to the English settlement of Plymouth, where lived those who sought the "benevolent 22assimilation” of his race, or at least of the property belonging to his race. How could he stem this rising tide of color? How could he check this vast stream of white men, pushing ever westward, like a flooded river overflowing its bank. Isolated islands of red men-the Wampanoags--the Narragansetts—the Nipmues~and others had retained a scant foothold in. this flood, which, while growing in intensity, in numbers, had parted, flowed by these ethnological islands and joined again beyond them in a larger stream, just as a mountain torrent flows on either side past some stubborn rock to mingle its waters again beyond the sturdy obstacle. To unite the scattered brow-beaten Indian tribes in one strong confederacy, Philip saw was the only hope of checking and turing back the whites, and he likewise realized that the consummation of such aw @ superhuman task. ‘The time-honored ancient feuds and Jealousies of the tribes presented an obstacle that could only be overcome by long and skillful negot But these very negotiations were as surely doomed to be betrayed by some treacherous native to the whites, before the wished-for organization should have been consummated. And the whites, thus forewarned and forearmed, could and unquestionably would nip the undertaking in the bud and penalize its leaders with death, The only alternative was servile submission to insults and oppre: en the Ind ankless fol efits of the past, the opportunish English, brushing aside friends! and gratitude, thought only of the future and its gains. Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Philip might win. The odds to be sure were against him. War, bitter successful war, offered a revenge for past and present grievances and the only hope for a bearable future, ‘Thus pondered King Philip. Henceforth he was to be the leader of a lost cause, one of the great pathetic figures of history. Adams sums up the situation in the following words: "Indeed, it is 23Questionable whether, in the competition between raves of higher and lower civilization, when the former intrude upon the lands of the latter, justice, in its strictest sense, is ever possible. One cannot believe that the world would have been either better or happier had the land which today supports a hundred illion self-zoverning people been left to the half-1 barbarians who barely gained a subsistence from it four Sago. Man, in the individual treatment of his fellow, is, indeed, bound by the laws of justice and of right; but in the larger processes of history we are confronted by problems that the ethics of the individual fail to solve. ‘The Indian in the American forest, and the Polynesian in his sunny isle, share, in the moral enigma of their passing, the mystery of the vanished raves of man and brute, which have gone down in the struggle for existence in geological or historic ages, in what, one would fain believe, is a universe governed by moral law." The English suspected Philip of conspiring with the Narragansetts. Accusations, explanations, negotiations ensued. The Plymouth officials claimed that Philip was their subject, not their ally. Philip maintained that, although a subject of the crown, he was independent of Plymouth. ‘The detuils of the years preceding King Philip's War and the account of the war itself are too lengthy and too well known to you for me to recount them here. On September 29, 1671, Philip was forced to humble himself and acknowledge himself a subject of Plymouth Colony. He was not as yet prepared to strike back, He must submit until he had consolidated his plans. Three years of outward calm followed. Ellis. says: "There were those who suspected that the calm was that which comes before the storm. Hunters and Christian Indians spoke of the sullen demeanor of the Independent Indians, but the great body of the colonists scemed to have been lulled into curity; Many of the exposed towns on the frontier had been left unstockacled, and so low had the interest in military matters fallen in Massachusetts that the election of military officers had given place sometime before to appointment by the general court." The year 1675 reeked with rumors of an impending Indian war. In June Rhode Island became alarmed and sent a 24delegation to wait on Philip. The Indian King met them at Bristol Ferry Neck on June 17th. Philip told of the wrongs suffered by the Indians at the hands of the English, 4 The Rhode Island Quakers faced the facts, recognized the points in dispute between English and Indians, urged that: "the quarrel might rightly be decided in decide their quarrels." ‘The In i SORGEETA The Rhode Islanders suggested arbitration, bu! Indians objected that the English would only submit to English ex-parte arbitrators, which would not be arbitration. Easton, who attended the conference, wrote: "We said they might choose an Indian King and’ the English might choose the Governor of New York, that neither had case to say either were parties to the difference." This suggestion was favorably received by the Indians, but, of course, Rhode Island could not bind the other Colonies. Indeed, an idea arising in Rhode Island was per se objectionable and unacceptable to the other Colonies. Easton comments “if that way had been tendered, the Indians would probably have accepted.” Philip grieved to make war on his personal friends among the white men and gave orders that no harm should be done to James Brown, Thomas Willet and James Leonard.#6 Clark in his history of Norton states that Philip’s friendship for the Leonard family probably prevented the destruction of the town of Taunton. +” Philip notified Hugh Cole, from whom Cole’s River is named, that he and his family had better remove to Rhode Island, for it might be out of Philip's power to protect them in case of Indian hostilities. At the outbreak of the war, he sent back to Mr. Cole his two sons who had been taken by the Indians. ch acts of kindness contradict the Yentomous attacks on Philip's character by the partisan writers of the period The war progressed with the terrible destruction and losses as you know. In August, 1676, the great Squaw Sachem Weetamoe, who was considered by the English "next unto Philip in respect to the mischief that hath been done”, was attacked by the English and her soldiers captured, She escaped, reached the Taunton River and sought to swim to her own domains; "but whether tired and spent with swimming, of 25starved with cold and hunger, she was found stark naked in Metapoiset, not far from the water side, which made some think she was first half drowned, and so ended her wretched life." 48 Her head was cut off und set up on a pole in Taunton Upon being seen by some Indian prisoners, they made a most horrid and diabolical lamentation, crying out that it was their queen's head. Throughout this part of the country there are many localities connected with the history of the Indians. Some of these have been marked by fitting memorials You all know how PI wught in the ambush at the edge of the swamp near Mount Hope, was shot by the Indian Alderman who had joined Captain Church's forces. King Philip, with one shoi through his heart and another not wo inches above it, fell with his face in the mud and water, with his gun under him. +” Thus died Philip. Church then said: "Forasmuch as he has caused many an Englishman's body to lie unburied and rot above ground, not ‘one of his bones shall be buried."* His body was beheaded, his hands cut off and his body quartered. Philip's wife, the gentle Wootonekanuske, and their nine year old son were sold into West Indian slavery by their Christian captors. Drake "To say the least of Philip's humanity, it was as great as towards cuptives, as far as we have any knowledge, as was that of any of the English to the captive Indians." The idea of the slavery to which the Christian New Englanders condemned Wootonekanuske and her son was too appalling for Hollister, who with poetic license wrote: "The mother turned her eye in the direction indicated by his little hand; then grasped him firmly in her arms, and mounting the rail of the ship, just as a flash of lightning lit up the summit of the rock, plunged silently into the waters. ‘The ship glided on; and long before the foam had ceased to whiten her wake, the queen and the son of Philip, secure from bondage to which their proud spirits could never submit, were sleeping side by side in the embraces of the ocean T would that it were true. If only they might have had so kind an ending. But this picture created by the impulse of the Mid- Victorian refinement in an endeavor to blot out the most 26horrible and most heartless atrocity of New England and so climinate the haunting horror of our ancestors” crime, must give place in our minds to the living death of torture that thi hapless Wampanoag queen and prince were forced to face in the scorching West Indian fields, a picture certainly made vivid to those of you who have read Sabatini’s recently published "Captain Blood’. But to return to unburied Philip, his carthly remains mouldering into the surface of Mount Hope. He gave his life, his wife, his son, all he had to give, to save his native land--his fellow countrymen. He lost, and now Mount Hope, lifting its lofty head, stands in beautiful solitary loneliness, eternally his mausoleum. 1. Adams, James T. Founding of New England, 2, Williams, Roger. Key. Chap, XX. 3. Chapin, Howard M. Cartography of Rhode Iskand. p 3. 4. Drake. Samuel G. Book of the Indians 5th ed. p 17.21 5. Miller. William J. Wampanoag Indians 12. 6, Narragansett Club Pub. VI-316, Roger Williams” Letters, 7. Drake 5. 8. Drake 20. 9, Drake 21 10, Bradford, History of Plymouth 57, 11. Mourt’s Relation p 35. 12. Mour 37. 13. Drake 23, 14. Mouri 45. 15, Drake 24, 16, Drake 29. 17, Mount 53, 1X. Chapin Mss, 6 19. Drake 30, 20, Sylvester 1:129, "Indian Wars.” 21, Drake 24,38, 39, Sylvester [:138, 22. Miller. 23. Drake 26, 28 24, Drake 25. Chapin Mss. 7, 2726. Drake 27, 27. Oscar Straus’ "Roger Williams." 28. Straus, 35 29.N.C. Vid06 ). Chapin, Doe. Hist. of R. 1. ESI 31. Winthrop 222, Mason's Pequot War 1869 Ed, p 10. 32. Winthrop 223, 33. Adamns 21. 34, Amold 116, "History of R. 1" 35. Drake $6. 36.N.C. Vis 37, Adams 357. 38. Adams, 39, Aduns 357. 40, Drake 1:1 41. Miller 33-37 42. Easton in Richman’s Rhode Island 2-169. 43. Plymouth Col. Rec. V:79. 44, Ellis 45, 45. Richunan 169, 46. Ellis 60-61 47.Clark 55. 48, Drake ILS, 49. Drake Ik 50. Drake 1:43, SI. Drake Ids,