Massasoit’s Town
Sowams in Pokanoket
ITS HISTORY LEGENDS
AND TRADITIONS
By VIRGINIA BAKER
Author of
The History of Warren, R. I. in the War of the Revolution
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
WARREN, R. I.
1904
“Warren! where first beside the cradled nation,
The old chief stood, we love thy storied past,
‘Sowams is pleasant for a habitation’――
’Twas thy first history――may it be thy last.”
――HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.
Copyright 1904 by Virginia Baker
Massasoit’s Town
Sowams in Pokanoket
[Illustration: small acorn and oak leaf logo]
A peculiar interest centres about everything pertaining to the great
Wampanoag sachem Massasoit. Massasoit has always, and justly, been
regarded as one of the most remarkable of that group of illustrious
aboriginal chieftains with whom the early white settlers of New
England were associated. But while the student of history is familiar
with the story of the Indian king’s life-long allegiance to our
forefathers, while he admires in the untutored savage virtues few
Christian monarchs have possessed, he knows comparatively little of
the environments that helped to mould a character of so unique a
stamp. The ancient chroniclers often allude to Massasoit’s place of
residence, and the questions that naturally present themselves are:
Where was this place? Why did Massasoit select it for his abode? What
is its history? To answer these questions, in part at least, is the
object of this sketch.
At the period when the Mayflower came to anchor in Plymouth harbor,
Massasoit exercised dominion over nearly all the south-eastern part of
Massachusetts from Cape Cod to Narragansett Bay. The south-western
section of his kingdom was known as Pokanoket, Sowams, or Sowamsett.
It included what now comprises the towns of Bristol, Warren,
Barrington, and East Providence in Rhode Island, with portions of
Seekonk, Swansea, and Rehoboth in Massachusetts. Though its area was
only about 500 square miles Pokanoket, owing to its many natural
advantages, was more densely populated than any other part of the
Wampanoag country. Its principal settlement was the village of Sowams,
where Massasoit maintained his headquarters, and where, without doubt,
the greater portion of his life was passed.
For many years the exact location of this village was a disputed
point, authorities variously fixing it at Bristol, Barrington, and
Warren. The late Gen. Guy M. Fessenden was the first to demonstrate,
conclusively, that Sowams occupied the site of the last mentioned
place. The results of his careful and painstaking investigation of the
claims of the three towns may be found in the short but valuable
historical sketch of Warren published by General Fessenden in 1845.[1]
One familiar with the Pokanoket region readily perceives why Massasoit
placed his capital where he did. Warren is situated midway between
Barrington and Bristol, on an arm of Narragansett Bay, and is bounded
on the north and east by the State of Massachusetts. A glance at the
map of Rhode Island will show the reader that, at Warren, which is
farther inland than either of its sister towns, the Wampanoags were,
in a great measure, protected from the danger of sudden attack by
their enemies, the Narragansetts who dwelt upon the opposite shore of
the bay,[2] and that, in case of hostile invasion, they were easily
able to retire to less exposed portions of their domains.
The Indians were always particular to locate their permanent villages
in the vicinity of springs of running water. Warren abounds in such
springs. Its soil is generally fertile and its climate agreeable and
healthy, as, owing to its somewhat inland position, it escapes the
full rigor of the fierce winds, that, during the winter months, sweep
the unsheltered shores of Bristol. In the days when the Wampanoags
inhabited its territory, it was well timbered, and grapes, cherries,
huckleberries, and other wild fruits grew abundantly in field and
swamp. Its rivers teemed with fish of many varieties, and also yielded
a plentiful supply of lobsters, crabs, oysters, clams, quahaugs, and
mussels. Flocks of wild fowl haunted its marshes; deer and smaller
game frequented its woods. Even in those seasons when food became
generally scarce, the dwellers at Sowams probably suffered little from
hunger in comparison with the inhabitants of many sections of New
England less favored by nature.
At Sowams, too, every facility for the manufacture of the shell beads
used as currency by the aborigines was to be found. Any one who chose
might become a _natouwompitea_, or coiner, and literally, “make as
much money,” as he wished. From the rocks at hand the savage artificer
shaped the rude implements which his craft demanded. The waters gave
him freely the periwinkle and the quahaug. From the former he cut the
_wampum_[3] or white beads. Of the “eye,” or dark portion of the
latter, he fashioned the more valuable black beads called
_suckauhock_. These beads were made into necklaces, scarfs, belts,
girdles, bracelets, caps and other articles of dress and ornament
“curiously strung,” says Roger Williams, “into many forms and figures,
their black and white finely mixed together.” Not infrequently a
savage arrayed in gala attire carried upon this person his entire
stock of ready money. Governor Bradford states that the Narragansetts
and Pequots grew “rich and potent” by the manufacture of wampum and,
presumably, wealth contributed in no small degree towards establishing
the prestige of the Wampanoags.
This tribe, properly speaking, was a confederation of clans each clan
having its own headman who was, however, subservient to a chief
sachem. The Wampanoags, or Pokanokets as they were also called, were
originally a populous and powerful people and it is said that, at one
period, their chief was able to rally around him no less than 3,000
warriors. The father of Massasoit, according to the testimony of his
illustrious son,[4] waged war successfully against the Narragansetts;
and Annawon, King Philip’s great captain, boasted to his captor,
Church, of the “mighty success he had formerly in wars against many
nations of Indians, when he served Asuhmequin, Philip’s father.” About
three years before the settlement of Plymouth, however, a terrible
plague devastated the country of the Wampanoags and greatly diminished
their numbers. Governor Bradford, alluding to this pestilence, states
that “thousands of them dyed, they not being able to burie one
another,” and that “their sculs and bones were found in many places
lying still above ground, where their houses and dwellings had been; a
very sad specktacle to behould.” The Narragansetts who were so
fortunate as to escape the plague, took advantage of the weakness of
their ancient foes, wrested from them one of the fairest portions of
their domain the island of Aquidneck, (Rhode Island) and compelled
Massasoit to subject “himself and his lands,” to their great sachem
Canonicus. In 1620, the Pokanoket chieftain could summon to his aid
only about 300 fighting men, sixty of whom were his immediate
followers. Yet Massasoit, despite his weakness, contrived to maintain
his supremacy over the petty sachems of the various clans of the
Wampanoag confederacy. The sagamores of the Islands of Nantucket and
Nope or Capawack (Martha’s Vineyard), of Pocasset, (Tiverton), Saconet
(Little Compton), Namasket (Middleborough), Nobsquasset (Yarmouth),
Monamoit (Chatham), Nauset (Eastham), Patuxet (Plymouth), and other
places, together with the headmen of some of the Nipmuc nation, were
tributary to him. Undoubtedly some of these chiefs were allied to
Massasoit by ties of consanguinity or mutual interests; others,
probably, rendered homage as conquered to conqueror.
Like the Narragansetts, the Wampanoags were considerably advanced in
civilization. They built permanent villages, and cultivated corn,
beans, pumpkins, and squashes. They manufactured cooking utensils of
stone and clay,[5] and rude implements for domestic and war-like
purposes from shells, stone, and bone. They prepared the greater part
of their food by the aid of fire and their cookery was, by no means,
unpalatable. The famed Rhode Island Johnny cake and still more famous
Rhode Island clam bake each claim an Indian origin. They understood
how to dress birch and chestnut bark which they used for covering
their wigwams, and they constructed canoes by hollowing out the trunks
of large trees. Of rushes and grasses they wove mats and baskets, and
they fashioned moccasins, leggings, and other articles of apparel from
the skins of wild beasts. They were very accurate in their
observations of the weather, and spent much time in studying the
heavens, being familiar with the motions of the stars, and having
names for many of the constellations. In common with the other native
tribes of North America, they worshipped various gods, peopling earth,
air, sky, and sea with deities; yet they acknowledged one supreme
being, and believed in the immortality of the soul.
It is obvious that Massasoit possessed mental endowments of no mean
order, and it is equally obvious that his environments were precisely
those best calculated to develop a character naturally strong. He
dwelt in a land which, if not literally flowing with milk and honey,
abounded with everything needful to supply the simple wants of savage
life, and thus he escaped those demoralizing influences which attend
the struggle for mere existence. The proximity of a powerful enemy
rendered him, cautious, alert, and vigilant. His position as the chief
of a considerable confederacy invested him with dignity, and called
into activity all those statesman-like qualities for which he was so
justly famed. Winslow describes him as “grave of countenance, spare of
speech,” and this description tallies exactly with our ideal of the
man. General Fessenden remarks: “This chief has never had full justice
done to his character.” Certainly it was no ordinary man who,
conquered himself, still retained the respect and allegiance of
several clans, differing in thought, mode of life, and interests. It
was no ordinary man who, undaunted by misfortune, endured the yoke
patiently till the opportunity to throw it off presented itself, and
then quietly taking advantage of the auspicious moment accomplished
the liberation of himself and his people from a servitude more bitter
than death itself.
Massasoit was familiar with the appearance of white men before the
arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. In 1619, Captain Thomas Dermer,
an Englishman, visited the Massachusetts coast and held an interview
at Namasket with “two kings” of Pokanoket, undoubtedly Massasoit and
his brother Quadequina. The English were regarded with suspicion and
dislike by some of the tribes of the Wampanoag confederacy, owing to
the fact that a certain unscrupulous trader[6] had kidnapped some of
the natives and sold them into slavery in Spain. Had the English
attempted a settlement at Plymouth when the Pokanokets were at the
zenith of their power, they would, probably, have been either
exterminated or driven from the country. But, in 1620, Massasoit,
whose fortunes were at the ebb, stood ready to extend the right-hand
of fellowship to the pale-faced strangers, in whom he perceived the
possible deliverers of his nation. The treaty with the Pilgrims into
which he entered at Plymouth in March, 1621, was the bold stroke of a
wise statesman and an experienced politician. The article in the
treaty which stipulated that the English should aid him if “any did
unjustly war against him” makes his position plain. “We cannot yet
conceive but that he is willing to have peace with us,” writes
Winslow, alluding to this treaty. “And especially because he hath a
potent adversary, the Narrowhigansets that are at war with him;
against whom, he thinks, we may be some strength to him; for our
pieces are terrible unto them.” Subsequent events proved that
Massasoit’s policy was not at fault for, with the assistance of his
white allies, he was finally enabled to throw off the galling yoke of
Canonicus, and to restore the Wampanoags to their old-time position of
independence and power.
In July, 1621, Governor William Bradford decided to send a deputation
to Pokanoket, to “discover the country,” to “continue the league of
peace and friendship” which had been entered into a few months
previous at Plymouth, and to procure corn for planting. Provided with
gifts, a horseman’s laced coat of red cotton and a chain, Edward
Winslow and Stephen Hopkins set out from Plymouth on Monday, July 2d,
having for a guide Tisquantum, or Squanto, the friendly Indian whose
name appears so conspicuously in the early annals of Plymouth. The
trail followed led the travellers through Titicut in the north-west
part of Middleborough, where they spent the night, to Taunton, thence
to Mattapoiset (South Swansea) and from there to Kickemuit in the
easterly part of Warren. Undoubtedly the Kickemuit River was crossed
at a wading-place, often alluded to in the early records of Warren,
which was at a point a little north of the present Child Street
bridge. From Kickemuit they continued on to Sowams in the western part
of the town on the shores of the Warren River, then known as the
Sowams River. There seems little reason to doubt that, in going from
Kickemuit to Sowams, they followed a winding trail leading along what
now constitutes the Kickemuit Road, and Market Street in Warren, as,
in 1621, the westerly portion of Child Street[7] was a thick swamp.
This visit of Winslow and Hopkins was the second paid by white men to
Rhode Island, the first visit having been made by Verazzano and his
companions nearly a century before.
Winslow’s party arrived at Sowams on the afternoon of July 4th, but
Massasoit proved to be absent from home. Messengers were immediately
dispatched after him, and he shortly appeared being greeted by a
discharge of his white visitors’ guns. He welcomed the Englishmen
cordially and invited them into his wigwam, where they delivered a
lengthy message from Governor Bradford and presented the gifts they
had brought with them. The sachem at once donned the coat and hung the
chain about his neck. “He was not a little proud,” says Winslow, “to
behold himself; and his men also to see their king so bravely
attired.”
In answer to the Governor’s message Massasoit made a long speech in
which he mentioned some thirty different places over which he
exercised jurisdiction, and promised that his people should bring
their skins to the English. At the close of the speech he offered his
guests tobacco and then “fell to discoursing” of England, King James,
and the French against whom he seemed to feel a particular aversion.
“Late it grew,” states Winslow in his narrative of this journey to
Pokanoket, “but victuals he offered none: for indeed he had not any;
being he came so newly home, so we desired to go to rest.”
Upon the following day many petty sachems came to Sowams to pay their
respects to their white allies. They entertained the strangers by
playing various games, the stakes being skins and knives. The
Englishmen challenged them to a shooting match for skins, but they
“durst not” accept the challenge. They, however, desired one of the
two to shoot at a mark, “who shooting with hail shot (bird shot) they
wondered to see the mark so full of holes.” This “shooting at a mark”
is the first instance of target practice by a white man within the
limits of Rhode Island of which we have any record.
On Friday morning Winslow and Hopkins took their departure from
Sowams, carrying with them some seed corn which Massasoit had given
them. The sachem earnestly entreated them to prolong their stay; but
the Englishmen “desired to keep the Sabbath at home,” so declined the
invitation. They reached Plymouth, on Saturday night, “wet, weary, and
surbated,” indeed, yet with the satisfaction of feeling that the
object of their mission had been attained.
In March, 1623, “news came to Plymouth that Massasoit was like to die;
and that, at the same time, there was a Dutch ship driven so high on
the shore by stress of weather, right before his dwelling that, till
the tides increased she could not be got off.” Upon receipt of this
intelligence Governor Bradford deemed it expedient to dispatch a
second expedition to Sowams for the two-fold purpose of expressing his
friendship for the Wampanoag chief and obtaining “some conference with
the Dutch.” Edward Winslow was again selected as the government’s
messenger, having for a “consort” a certain Master John Hamden, “a
gentleman of London” (supposed by some to be the famous parliamentarian
of that name) and for a guide, the friendly native Hobbamock. The
party followed the ancient Indian trail, and, upon nearing
Mattapoiset, were informed that Massasoit was “dead and buried.”
Hobbamock desired the Englishmen to “return with all speed” to
Plymouth, but Winslow being anxious, if the king was indeed dead, to
enter into friendly relations with his successor, decided to continue
the journey. At Mattapoiset, the wife of Corbitant, sachem of the
Pocassets, gave the travellers “friendly entertainment,” and, as no
definite information regarding Massasoit’s condition was obtainable,
Winslow dispatched a messenger to Pokanoket to ascertain the truth.
The messenger returning in a few hours, brought the welcome
intelligence that the chief was still living though critically ill.
“Much revived” at these tidings, Winslow and his companions “set
forward with all speed” and arrived at their destination “late within
night.” They found Massasoit yet alive, though apparently very near
his end. The Dutch ship, however, had departed “about two of the clock
that afternoon,” so that, as regarded one of its intents, their
“journey was frustrate.”
This Dutch ship probably visited Sowams for trading purposes. The fact
that it grounded “right before” Massasoit’s dwelling proves that the
_sachimo comaco_ (sachem’s house) was situated on the shore of Sowams
(Warren) River. Probably it stood not far from the spring still known
as Massasoit’s Spring. This is located at the foot of Baker Street in
the compact part of Warren. In its natural state it was a powerful
spring, bubbling from a bed of pure white sand. Many years ago it was
excavated to the depth of about eight feet and walled up like a well.
At a distance of five feet from the bottom a sluice-way was left,
through which a small stream flows during the greater part of the year
and, finding its way to the surface, trickles into the river. The
water, which never fails, is of excellent quality and even in warm
weather remains pure and cold.
When the Englishmen entered the royal wigwam, they found a great crowd
of people assembled about the bed of the chief. “There they were,”
narrates Winslow, “in the midst of their charms for him making such a
hellish noise, as it distempered us that were well, and therefore
unlike to ease him that was sick.” Massasoit, whose sight was gone,
greeted Winslow with these mournful words, “Oh Winslow I shall never
see thee again!” Winslow answered that Governor Bradford had sent from
Plymouth certain things deemed by the English good in illness and,
“having a confection of many comfortable conserves etc., on the point
of his penknife, gave the sachem some, the juice of which he
swallowed.” Whereat those that were about him much rejoiced; saying
“he had not swallowed anything in ten days before.” Winslow then
washed the sick man’s mouth and gave him more of the confection
dissolved in water and, within half an hour, this treatment “wrought a
great alteration in him in the eyes of all that beheld him.” His sight
began to return which gave both him and his white friends “good
encouragement.” Winslow then hastily addressed a letter to Governor
Bradford describing the “good success” of the expedition, and
requesting that some chickens for broth, medicine, and other things
might be sent him; and, with this letter, a messenger started for
Plymouth at two o’clock in the morning.
Massasoit, having expressed a wish for some “English pottage,”
Winslow, though “unaccustomed and unacquainted in such business,”
undertook its preparation. He “caused a woman to bruise some corn”
which he placed in a pipkin and, as soon as the day broke, he sallied
forth with Hamden in search of herbs; and, finding nothing but
strawberry leaves gathered a handful and put them in the pot with the
corn with a slice of “saxifrax root” to give the mixture a “good
relish.” When this gruel was sufficiently boiled, he strained it
through his handkerchief and gave Massasoit “at least a pint, which he
drank and liked it very well.” After this the sachem’s sight “mended
more and more,” indeed, so rapid was his improvement that, says
Winslow, “we with admiration blessed God for giving His blessing to
such raw and ignorant means, * * * himself and all of them
acknowledging us the instruments of his preservation.”
Massasoit finding himself so far recovered, now besought Winslow to
visit all that were ill in the town and to give them the same
treatment that had proved so beneficial in his own case, saying that
his people were “good folk.” Winslow acceeded to the sachem’s request
though it was “much offensive to him,” he “not being accustomed to
such poisonous savours.” An entire morning was spent in going from
wigwam to wigwam, and one can imagine the commingled awe and gratitude
with which the simple children of nature regarded the man who, to
them, must have seemed gifted with divine powers. Doubtless that
wondrous season of healing was long remembered in Sowams, and
doubtless the name of Winslow continued to remain a household word in
the Indian village many years after its owner lay slumbering in his
grave.
In the afternoon, Winslow again sallied forth, gun in hand, to gratify
the desire of the king for more “pottage” of fowl. He shot an
“extraordinary fat” duck and with it prepared a broth of which
Massasoit, despite all warnings, “ate as much as would well have
satisfied a man in health.” The result of this “gross meal” was a
relapse so severe that even the Englishmen doubted their patients
recovery. For the space of four hours the sick man bled profusely at
the nose; but, at last, the bleeding ceased and he fell into a
profound slumber from which he awakened refreshed and strengthened.
Meanwhile the messenger returned from Plymouth with the chickens and
other things for which Winslow had asked, but Massasoit “finding his
stomach come to him,” would not have the fowls killed, “but kept them
for breed.” These historic chickens were the first domesticated fowls
ever brought into Rhode Island. So far was the sachem’s health
restored that the Englishmen dared not give him the medicine sent by
the Plymouth surgeon. Massasoit, himself, felt assured of his
recovery. “Now I see the English are my friends and love me,” he
exclaimed, “and whilst I live I will never forget this kindness they
have showed me.” These were no idle words as subsequent events proved.
During the white men’s stay at Sowams many of Massasoit’s friends and
allies came to visit him, “some by their report from a place not less
than a hundred miles.” To all comers one of the sachem’s chief men
related the story of Massasoit’s illness, “how near he was spent; how,
amongst others his friends the English came to see him; and how
suddenly they recovered him to this strength they saw; he being now
able to sit upright by himself.” But it was not by words alone that
the “good folk” of Sowams showed their appreciation of the
Englishmen’s services to them. “Whilst we were there,” writes Winslow,
“our entertainment exceeded all other strangers. Divers other things
were worth the noting,” he adds, “but I fear I have been too tedious.”
Gladly would we have pardoned the worthy chronicler the most “tedious”
description of that primeval entertainment which, doubtless included
feasting and dancing and wild aboriginal sports. Of what inestimable
value would it have been to the historian!
But it was at the moment of his guests’ departure that Massasoit
demonstrated the depth of his gratitude to his preservers. Calling
Hobbamock, the guide, aside he, in the presence of two or three of his
most trusted counsellors, charged him to acquaint Winslow with the
existence of a plot originated by the Massachusetts Indians against
Weston’s colony at Wessagusset and the settlement at Plymouth.
Hobbamock faithfully obeyed his sachem’s instructions. What would have
been the fate of the Pilgrims had this timely warning not been given,
we can only conjecture. Massasoit advised his white allies to “kill
the men of Massachuset who were the authors of this intended
mischief,” and this advice they were constrained to follow.
This second visit of the English to Sowams marks an epoch in the
history of both red men and white. It firmly cemented, by mutual
gratitude and esteem, the friendship first established on a political
basis. Previous to it, Massasoit appears to have cherished some
misgivings regarding the good faith of his Christian allies. But his
restoration to health by their ministrations removed every doubt from
his generous mind. Witness his words, “Now I see that the English love
me and are my friends, and whilst I live I will never forget this
kindness they have showed me.” He never did forget it.
Less than a decade after this eventful visit, an English trading house
was established within the limits of Sowams of which at one period,
Thomas Prince, afterwards governor of Plymouth colony, was “master.”
The location of this trading house has caused historians as much
perplexity as the location of Sowams village itself. William J. Miller
in his “History of the Wampanoag Indians” says (p. 24), “The trading
post was supposed to have been located on the Barrington side of the
river (Warren River) on the land known as Phebe’s Neck.” A little
thought will convince anyone familiar with the Sowams region that the
trading house would never have been placed in Barrington, for the
reason that a wide, deep, and unfordable river lay between Phebe’s
Neck and Massasoit’s town which the white men would have been
compelled to constantly cross and recross in their traffic with the
Indians. Moreover, as early as 1652, an English settlement had been
planted in what now constitutes the north-easterly portion of Warren
on the banks of the Kickemuit River, and it seems only reasonable to
suppose that the colonists placed their homes in close proximity to
the trading house, which, probably, was also a fort.
Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts states in his “Journal,” under the
date, April 12, 1632; “The Governor received letters from Plymouth
signifying that there had been a broil between their men at Sowamset
and the Narragansett Indians who set upon the English house there to
have taken Owsamequin[8] the Sagamore of Packanocott, who fled
thither, with all the people, for refuge; and that Captain Standish
being gone thither, to relieve the three English which were in the
house, sent home in all haste for more men and other provisions, upon
intelligence that Canonicus, with a great army, was coming against
them; on that they wrote to our Governor for some powder, to be sent
with all possible speed; for it seemed they were unfurnished. Upon
this, the Governor presently despatched away the messenger with so
much powder as he could carry, viz., 27 pounds. The messenger returned
and brought a letter from the Governor (Bradford) signifying that the
Indians were retired from Sowamsett to fight the Pequots.”
The Narragansetts feared and disliked the white men. The Old Indian
Chronicle states that they were jealous of Massasoit “because he had,
from the first, been in high favor with the English.” Naturally they
would have viewed the establishment of an English trading post at
Sowams with displeasure. Whether their hostility to the whites led to
the “broil” at Sowams, or whether, as has been suggested,[9] they
invaded Pokanoket for the purpose of compelling Massasoit and his
warriors to assist them in repulsing the Pequots, may be only
conjectured. Standish, perhaps fearing a second incursion, remained at
Sowamset until some time in May.[10]
In course of time, the trail leading from Plymouth to Sowams became a
familiar path to the people of the Pilgrim settlement. The Plymouth
records show that Edward Winslow made, at least, one more visit to
Pokanoket, and that John Alden, Samuel Nash, and others, also
journeyed there. All who explored the Sowamset district perceived that
it was, like the valley of Eshcol, “a good land,” and the idea of
establishing a plantation within its limits seems to have been
entertained by the Plymouth government for some years before such a
settlement was actually begun.
The most famous sojourner at Pokanoket, in those early days, was Roger
Williams. Banished from Salem, in January, 1636, he “fled from the
savage Christians of Massachusetts Bay to the Christian savages of
Narragansett Bay.” In “a bitter winter season,” he made his way
through the wild forests to seek a new home in the domains of
Massasoit, the friend of white men. The best authorities believe that
Massasoit gave him shelter at Sowams village until the spring broke.
Williams himself, writes, “When I came (to the Narragansett) I was
welcome to Ousamequin,” and “I testify and declare, that, at my first
coming into these parts, I obtained the lands of Seekonk of
Ousamequin.” If circumstantial evidence be of any value, Warren has
certainly good grounds on which to base its claim to the honor of
having been the first spot in Rhode Island pressed by the foot of the
State’s illustrious founder. It is a fact worthy of note that, one
hundred and twenty-nine years after Roger Williams sought refuge with
Massasoit, Rhode Island’s great educational institution (Rhode Island
College, now Brown University), began its career within a few rods of
the site of the royal wigwam which, presumably, sheltered the Salem
exile.
On September 25, 1639, Massasoit and his eldest son, then known as
Mooanam, “appeared at Court and renewed the ancient league with the
Plymouth government,” Massasoit “acknowledging himself a subject of
the King of England.” Thirteen years later, as we find by the records
of the colony, an English plantation, “rated” at the value of
£01:10:00, existed at Sowams. This settlement was located on the banks
of the Kickemuit River in the north-easterly part of the present town
of Warren. It was completely destroyed by the Indians during King
Philip’s war;[11] but, as late as Revolutionary times, the remains of
its cellars and hearth stones were still visible. Its northern limit
extended to what now constitutes the boundary line separating Warren
from North Swansea. Its southern limits approached within less than a
mile of the Indian village of the same name. At just what date the
first log cabin of a white settler was erected at Sowams we have no
means of ascertaining; but it is not unreasonable to suppose that the
little hamlet grew up, slowly, around the old trading house.[12]
The Kickemuit River is a picturesque stream which, rising in Swansea,
winds along the shores of Warren and Bristol and empties into Mount
Hope Bay at a point called by the Indians “Weypoiset,” by the English
the “Narrows.” On the west bank of the river, near the site of the old
boundary line of Warren and Bristol, is a living spring still known as
Kickemuit Spring.[13] The soil in the vicinity of this spring is mixed
with oyster, clam, and quahaug shells to the depth of several feet,
and from it various aboriginal implements have at different periods
been exhumed. It is evident that an Indian village once occupied the
locality.[14]
The main trail winding from Kickemuit to Sowams was intersected by
shorter paths leading to various sections of Pokanoket. The Metacom
Avenue of today, familiarly known as the “Back Road,” is identical
with the trail worn by moccasined feet in travelling to and from Mount
Hope. Another trail closely following the lines of the present
Kickemuit Road, School House Road, and Swansea Road, led to what is
now North Swansea, and passed the “national grinding mill” of the
Wampanoags,[15] a large flat rock located on the west side of the
Swansea Road at a point very near the line separating Massachusetts
and Rhode Island. There were other paths leading to Birch Swamp in the
north-easterly part of Warren, to Poppasquash (the name then applied
to the westerly part of Bristol), and to a ferry over Sowams River by
means of which connection was made between Massasoit’s town and
Chachacust, (a neck of land in what is now Barrington). The two last
mentioned trails are identical with North and South Main Streets in
Warren.
From the “wading-place” a trail ran eastward a short distance and then
branched off towards Touiset, Mattapoisett, and other localities. A
careful study of the early records of Swansea and Warren has convinced
the writer that, in laying out highways, the original settlers of the
towns, in many instances, merely widened the ancient trails used by
the Wampanoags for no one knows how many centuries prior to the
arrival of the Mayflower in Cape Cod Bay.
The Plymouth government having established a settlement at Sowams,
“the garden of their patent,[16]” granted “certain worthy gentlemen”
of the colony leave to purchase land in the Sowamset district.
Negotiations were immediately entered into with the Wampanoag chief,
which resulted in the sale of “Sowams and Parts Adjacent” by Massasoit
and his oldest son Wamsutta (Mooanam or Alexander), in March, 1653.
The purchasers of these “Sawomes Lands,” which included the greater
part of Pokanoket were Thomas Prince, Thomas Willett, Miles Standish,
Josiah Winslow, William Bradford, Thomas Clark, John Winslow, Thomas
Cushman, William White,[17] John Adams and Experience Mitchell. The
price paid was thirty-five pounds sterling, and the reader scarcely
needs to be told that the Englishmen “got the best of the bargain.”
Why Massasoit consented to “sell his birthright,” is a question more
easily asked than answered; gratitude probably influenced him, in
part. He never forgot that he owed his life to his English allies.
Possibly, too, the wise statesman, realizing the superiority of the
white man’s civilization, believed his people would be benefitted by
closer relationship with them. He is said to have warned his sons that
if they ever engaged in war against the English they would meet with
defeat.
The Sowams proprietors did not immediately enter into possession of
their entire purchase. By a clause in the “Grand Deed of Saile,” they
were restrained from occupying “the neck” (_i. e._ Mount Hope
Neck[18]) until such time as the Indians should remove therefrom, the
term “neck” as used, however, really signifying only the “uplands,” or
central portion of what now constitutes Warren and Bristol. The
meadows (_i. e._ marshes) on either side the “great river,” (Sowams
River), Kickemuit River, and in and about Poppasquash and Chachacust
were the only portions of the territory which actually passed into
their hands at the date of sale. These they at once proceeded to
divide. The boundaries of the several “lots” are plainly described in
the “Records of Sowams and Parts Adjacent” and may be easily traced on
a map of Bristol County, R. I. The lots apportioned within the limits
of Indian and English Sowams fell to the share of Captain Miles
Standish, Experience Mitchell, Resolved and Peregrine White, Thomas
Willett, John Adams, Thomas Prince, and John and Josiah Winslow.
The lot of Captain Standish included the marshes on both sides of
Kickemuit River from the source of the stream to “the passage where
they have usually gone over with canoes” _i. e._ the “wading-place.”
Standish also had land on the east bank of the river from the
wading-place to a “certain creek” running towards the upland. His next
neighbor on the south was Experience Mitchell whose “meadow” extended
from the creek before mentioned to “Clark’s Creek.” Beyond Mitchell’s
land that of John Adams stretched from “Clark’s Creek” to “Rocky Run;”
while, still farther south, the lot of Resolved White ran from “Rocky
Run” to “Weypoisett,” the “narrows” of the river. Resolved White also
possessed a strip of marsh on the west bank of the stream which began
at the “passage with canoes” and ended at a “broaken red oak tree”
whose location no man now knoweth.
The northern boundary of Captain Thomas Willett’s lot was marked by
this same “broaken oak tree” and its southern boundary line was very
near the “narrows.” In addition to this land Willet had a strip of
marsh on the east bank of Sowams River. South of this strip was the
lot of John Winslow, and south of Winslow’s meadow was a tract of land
belonging to Peregrine and Resolved White. Willett’s meadow was
apparently bounded by Massasoit’s village on the north, the marshes of
which were not divided, undoubtedly having been reserved by Massasoit
for the use of his people.
The land on the east shore of Belcher’s Cove, an arm of Sowams River,
fell to the share of Thomas Prince. On the west side of the Cove the
meadows “to the head thereof” were laid out to Josias Winslow and the
Whites. The “Sowams Purchase” was a speculation, and the original
proprietors did not long retain their land. That they were no losers
by their investment is proved by the fact that Peregrine White sold
his share for £40 pounds, five pounds more than was paid the
Wampanoags for the entire territory bought.
From 1652 until the death of Massasoit in 1660, peace between the
white men at English Sowams and the red men at Indian Sowams remained
uninterrupted. The civilized farmer and the savage warrior appear to
have each dwelt quietly under the shadow of his “own vine and fig
tree.” Doubtless the inhabitants of Massasoit’s town were more or less
affected by every day intercourse with their white neighbors. They
must have learned many things unknown to the savages of districts
remote from English settlements. Firm as was his friendship for the
white men, however, Massasoit, Hubbard states, “was never in the least
degree well affected to the religion of the English” and would fain
have forced them to promise “never to attempt to draw away any of his
people from their old pagan superstition and devilish idolatry.” He
lived and died a heathen, clinging pertinaciously to the faith and
gods of his fathers.
In 1658 the Plymouth government voted to raise a troop of horse “out
of the several townships to bee reddy for service when required.” Each
horse was to be “well appointed with furniture, viz.; a saddle and a
case of petternells.”[19] Sowamsett contributed one trooper to this
company.
For several years prior to the death of Massasoit, Wamsutta, or
Alexander, was associated with his father in the government of the
Wampanoags, and when the great chief’s spirit fled from earth to
_Sowaniu_, the paradise of the red man, became the sachem of the
tribe. He does not appear to have made his father’s town his own
headquarters, but to have resided at Mount Hope. Probably his village
stood near, or upon, the site of that occupied at a later date by his
brother Philip. Philip’s town was not located as many writers have
erroneouly stated, upon the mount, itself, but at a point about a mile
and a half north of it and near the “narrows” of Kickemuit River. At
and about this spot, relics of the aborigines have been disinterred in
considerable numbers, and the remains of an ancient Indian burial
ground was discovered there several years ago.
Soon after the death of his father Wamsutta repaired to Plymouth and
“professing great respect,” desired the Court to bestow English names
upon himself and his younger brother. The Court acceded to the request
and named the sachem “Allexander Pokanoket,” his brother (Metacom)
Philip, presumably after Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon.
For a brief period succeeding this event, the old time friendship of
Wampanoag, and Englishman remained apparently undisturbed.
In 1660 the “rates” of Sowams were increased to £02:10:00. The little
hamlet was slowly gaining in population and importance. During this
year, the Court ordered a pound erected at Kickemuit, as Wamsutta
complained that corn belonging to his people had been injured by
swine, the property of the English. In June, 1661, Sowamsett and “all
the naighbors there inhabiting” were placed under the “ward” of
Rehoboth, and it was decreed that twenty shillings of Sowams’ rates
should “be allowed for the easing of Sandwich rates.”
Alexander’s good faith began to be questioned by the English early in
1662. The governor of Plymouth colony having been informed that the
sachem was endeavoring to persuade the old-time enemies of the
Wampanoags, the Narragansetts, to join him in a revolt against the
whites, deputed Captain Thomas Willett to investigate the truth of the
report. Upon visiting Mt. Hope, Captain Willett was assured by
Alexander that the Narragansetts had fabricated the story in order to
injure the Wampanoags in the eyes of the English. The chief agreed to
attend the next session of the Court at Plymouth that the charges
against him might be fully investigated; yet when the Court convened
he failed to appear being, it was said, at that very date upon a visit
to the Narragansett country. The government decided to deal
peremptorily with him and, accordingly, Josias Winslow, then Major
Commandant of the Colonial militia, was depatched to bring him to
Plymouth by force. Winslow and his party came upon the sachem,
suddenly, at a hunting lodge near Munponset Pond in the present town
of Halifax, Mass.; and, when Alexander declined to accede to the
Court’s demand, Winslow presented a loaded pistol at his breast
threatening him with instant death if he persisted in his refusal.
Alexander and followers were almost helpless, their guns which had
been stacked outside the lodge having been seized by the English
before entering, and consequently, after a parley, and at the earnest
entreaty of his people, the sachem yielded to the inevitable and,
accompanied by his wife and a long train of warriors and squaws began
the march towards Plymouth. Upon reaching Duxbury he was entertained
at Major Winslow’s house, pending the arrival of orders from Governor
Prince who resided at Eastham. But the haughty spirit of the Wampanoag
king could ill brook the humiliation of arrest and imprisonment, and
Alexander was soon smitten with a raging fever induced by grief and
anger. The best medical skill was summoned to attend him, but he sank
rapidly, and his terrified followers, believing him poisoned by the
English, entreated to be allowed to carry him to Mt. Hope, promising
to return with him as soon as he should recover and offering to send
his son[20] as a hostage. Their request was granted and with all
possible speed they started on the homeward journey. They bore their
chief on a litter until they reached Titicut where they embarked in
canoes, but had proceeded only a short distance down the river ere
they perceived that he was dying. They immediately drew their frail
barks to the shore, lifted him from the canoe, and tenderly placed him
upon the grass. In stoical silence they awaited the end; and, when,
the last fluttering sigh had escaped the pallid lips, they replaced
the form of the dead sachem in the canoe, grasped their paddles and,
with hearts burning with grief, anger, and thirst for revenge, pushed
swiftly and silently down the stream.
The tragic death of Alexander,――the direct result of the bold and
perhaps unwise policy of the Plymouth government――broke the first
link in the chain of friendship that had bound Wampanoag and
Englishman together. The sullen attitude of the savages awakened
anxiety among the colonists, and it was with some alarm that
those dwelling at the Sowams’ settlement beheld a vast concourse
of savages gathered at Mt. Hope to mourn for the dead chief and
to celebrate his brother Philip’s accession to the sachemship.
But the feared outbreak of hostilities did not occur. Whatever
Philip’s real feelings were, he apparently desired to live in
amity with the English; and a few months after becoming the head
of his tribe renewed the “covenant” which Massasoit had made with
the government of Plymouth. He does not seem to have, at first,
felt a prejudice against the Christian religion for, in the
winter of 1663-4, he and his people sent to John Eliot for “books
to learn to read and to pray unto God.” Eliot’s son twice visited
Pokanoket and taught among the Wampanoags, and from a letter
addressed by Eliot to the United Colonies in 1664, it appears
probable that the apostle, himself, labored at Mt. Hope in
1664-5.
The hamlet by the Kickemuit continued under the ward of Rehoboth
during 1663 and 1664, being ordered to so remain until such time as
the “naighborhood should be in a capassitie and desire to be a
township of themselves.” In 1664 Sowams was rated at £2:05:00; in 1666
at £07:17:06; in 1667, at £10:10:00. During this same year,
“Wannamoisett[21] and Parts Adjacent” were incorporated as a township
under the name of Swansea. The charter granted it described the
township as “all such lands that lyeth betwixt the salt water Bay and
coming up Taunton River all the land between the salt water and river
and the bounds of Taunton and Rehoboth.” It will readily be seen that
the site of Warren was included within the bounds of this extensive
territory. The history of Sowams thus became merged in that of
Swansea, less than a score of years after its commencement, and from
the annals of Swansea the chronicler must glean the facts that make up
its final chapters.
It is not within the province of this sketch to discuss at length the
causes which led to that mighty struggle between savagery and
civilization known is history as King Philip’s War. For some years
after he became sachem, Philip maintained an outward show of fealty to
the English. But as time went on the relations of red men and white
became strained. The Indian saw the forests rapidly vanishing beneath
the colonist’s axe, and realized that the game on which he depended
for sustenance would, also, soon disappear. He was forced to sell his
lands for the necessities of life, and he complained bitterly, and too
often with reason, of wrongs inflicted upon him by his white brother.
Moreover, he was fast becoming debased by the vices of civilization.
Philip was a statesman and a patriot. He loved his country and his
people. In the increasing power of the English he saw presaged the
downfall of his race. He resolved to attempt the extermination of the
usurpers. His fertile brain evolved a scheme for a union of the
various native tribes against the common foe. The English suspected
his designs, yet he many times adroitly baffled their watchfulness.
The fates, however, were against him, and he was destined never to
work out the salvation of his people.
In 1675, John Sassamon, a Christian Indian employed as a sort of
private secretary by Philip, warned the Plymouth government that his
master was plotting against it. Philip discovered the perfidy of
Sassamon, and shortly afterward, the dead body of the latter was found
beneath the ice in Assawamset Pond in Middleborough. The English
doubted not that Sassamon had been put to death by the sachem’s order.
They arrested three savages whom they charged with the murder, tried
them before a jury composed of twelve Englishmen and four Indians, and
sentenced them to death, though two of them maintained their innocence
to the last. Philip had been summoned to Plymouth to testify regarding
his own connection with the murder, but he was too wise to obey an
injunction, so fraught with peril. Instead, he openly hurled defiance
at his accusers.