ADVENTURES IN NEW ENGLAND
THE INDIANS AND THE PILGRIMS
You have all heard of the hardy Pilgrim Fathers. The Pilgrims landed
at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Several wooden huts were built,
ground marked off, and the company divided into nineteen families. Thus
was made the first permanent settlement in New England, several former
attempts having ended in failure. Those early pioneers, who were a
sturdy, God-fearing people, had a rough time of it from the beginning,
and before spring came, one-half of them had died, Governor Carver
passing away in April.
A great surprise came to the little band of settlers one day in March,
when an Indian walked out of the woods and came toward them. Although
the weather was cold, his only clothing was a band of leather about the
waist to which a fringe hung. He strode boldly forward, and, when he
saw the looks of astonishment, called out:
"Welcome, Englishmen! Welcome, Englishmen!"
The first thought that came to the settlers was wonder as to how this
native had learned their language. His name was Samoset, and he had
picked up a few words from the English fishermen on the coast of Maine.
Because of the chilly air, one of the men brought out a horseman's coat
and flung it over the shoulders of their visitor. He wished to talk
and to tell the white men all that could interest them. By means of
the few English words he knew, and by signs he succeeded quite well.
He felt at home, and ate and drank all that was set before him. He
said that he lived at a place called Pawtuxet, but a few years before
all the men and women had died of a dreadful plague. It was afterwards
found that Samoset told the truth.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR WINSLOW SOLDIER AND STATESMAN]
The dusky caller was more eager to stay with the Englishmen than they
were willing to have him as a guest. They bade him good-bye as night
drew on, but he chose to remain with them, leaving Plymouth the next
day to go to Massasoit, of whom he had spoken several times. He said
Massasoit was a great sachem, who would come in a few days to barter
beaver skins with the white settlers and to pay his respects to them.
On the following Sunday, Samoset was on hand again. He brought with him
five warriors as tall and pleasing in their looks as himself. He had
been told that he and his companions must not come into the settlement
with their weapons. Accordingly, they left their bows and arrows some
distance from town. They were treated well, but the settlers would not
trade with them because it was Sunday. When the five left, Samoset
claimed he was ill, and stayed at Plymouth for three days. In fact, he
had formed a stronger liking for the colonists than they had for him.
The visitors had promised to come again to barter, and they kept their
promise. The most important news, however, brought by them was that
Massasoit, their great sagamore or chief, was only a short distance
off, awaiting the chance for an introduction to the white men. An hour
later the chief with sixty of his followers appeared on the crest of a
hill not far away.
The settlers distrusted the meaning of the visit of so large a body. It
might be they meant to massacre the whites, and were using their usual
trickery to gain an advantage over them. Among the colonists was an
Indian named Squanto, who had been kidnapped several years before, and
kept for some time in England, where he learned to speak the language.
He was now sent to Massasoit to ask the wishes of the sagamore. The
reply was a request for one of the Englishmen to come out and have a
talk with him. Edward Winslow did so, and gave a number of trinkets to
the great chieftain, who showed childish delight over the presents.
Through Squanto, Winslow told Massasoit that the King of England sent
him words of peace and love, and that the Governor of Plymouth wished
to make a treaty of friendship with him.
When the speechmaking was over, Massasoit left Winslow with the
warriors as a hostage, while he and twenty of his men, leaving their
weapons behind, walked forward for a talk with the governor. They were
conducted to a house not then finished, where Governor Carver welcomed
them and ordered refreshments, of which all partook. "Strong water" was
a part of the dinner. It was new to the Indians, but they were pleased
with the fiery stuff, of which they drank enough for its effects to
show. The natives became quite merry, and it is to be feared that the
Puritans reached a mellow mood. Be that as it may, no more favorable
time could have been chosen for agreeing upon a treaty, and the
important fact is that Massasoit made one treaty with the English which
was kept sacred for more than fifty years.
It will help to understand the early history of New England, if we
remember that the Indians of that section consisted at that time of
five confederacies, or leagues, of different numbers and strength. The
Pawtuckets lived mainly in southern New Hampshire; the Massachusetts
around the bay of that name; the Pequots in eastern Connecticut; the
Narragansetts to the east of the Pequots, Rhode Island and the other
small islands in the neighborhood being within their territory, while
the Pokanokets, more generally known as Wampanoags, embraced portions
of Plymouth and Barnstable, and a good deal of the country between
the Pawtucket tribes and the Massachusetts, with a part of present
Bristol county, Rhode Island. The Wampanoags numbered nine tribes, each
governed by its own sagamore, and all subject to Massasoit, the grand
sachem, who generally lived near Mount Hope.
Governor Carver died a few weeks after the signing of the treaty named,
and was succeeded by William Bradford, who held the office for many
years. To him, more than to any one person, is due the success of the
first colonies planted in New England. The most striking tribute to
the greatness of Massasoit lies in the fact that while it was a rule
among his race that the foremost warriors attained their fame through
personal courage and deeds, yet he was a man of peace. But he held the
numerous tribes together without war, and ruled over a larger dominion
and a more numerous people than Powhatan, Opecancanough, Pontiac or
Tecumseh. True, the last two held full sway at certain times, but it
was for purposes of war only.
[Illustration: HIAWATHA, FOUNDER OF THE IROQUOIS LEAGUE.
The Iroquois League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations, who founded in the New York
wilderness a barbaric republic, with bonds of union that might serve in
many respects as a model for civilized nations of to-day.]
[Illustration: THE INDIANS LISTEN TO A MISSIONARY.
The Indians often visited the colonists and listened to the traveling
missionary, but only a few converts were made among the red men during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.]
It will be recalled that Powhatan had several homes. The same was true
of Massasoit, though his principal home was at Mount Hope. Governor
Bradford had hardly come into office when he sent an agent to Massasoit
to confirm the treaty made with Carver, to procure seed corn and to
explore the country. Massasoit did as requested, and a piece of better
fortune could not have come to New England. Plymouth and her neighbors
for a long time were so weak, and their sufferings from disease and
hardship so severe, that a union of the Indian confederacies would have
swept them from the earth. The feebleness of the colonists could not
be hidden from the Indians, but Massasoit checked the enmity of the
surrounding tribes, and by uniting with Roger Williams in 1637, the
other red men were kept from joining the Pequots in their war against
the colonists. Thus more than once, and through many years, this great
man really saved the settlements from destruction.
There are few American Indians whose fame is not wholly due to their
military skill. Many were great orators, and not a few showed noble
traits of character. The case of Massasoit, therefore, is the more
remarkable, for no man not gifted by nature with fine ability and tact,
could have held peace for so long a time among the fierce tribes, not
only under his direct rule, but that belonged to the confederacies
surrounding his own people. Soon after the signing of the treaty,
one of Massasoit's sachems tried to start a rebellion against his
sovereign. With the help of the bold Miles Standish, the scheme was
brought to naught, and the example of Massasoit led nine other sachems
to come to Plymouth and sign a treaty of submission to the English king.
[Illustration: MILES STANDISH AND HIS SOLDIERS ENTERING THE INDIAN
COUNTRY]
In 1623, news reached Plymouth that the great sachem was mortally ill.
Governor Bradford sent at once two of his people and a friendly Indian
to the chief, who was found near death. No doubt he would have soon
passed away, but for the prompt action of his white friends, who gave
him cordials and took such measures that he was soon restored to rugged
health, and lived many years afterwards. Massasoit was very grateful
all his life for this kindness. He told his visitors of a plot that was
on foot among the Massachusetts tribe and several others to massacre
the English settlers at Wessagusset. He urged that sharp measures be
taken against the plotters, and Captain Standish did so with such
vigor that the evil men were terrified, many of them killed, and the
peril ended.
In 1632, Massasoit was set upon by a party of Narragansetts, and fled
for his life to an English house near at hand. As soon as news of his
danger reached Plymouth, Captain Standish with a small armed force was
sent to aid the brave chief in his danger. It did not take the "man
that never feared" very long to scatter the Narragansetts and to rescue
the good friend of the English from his great danger.
[Illustration: MASSASOIT VISITING THE GOVERNOR]
As Massasoit grew in years, he united his oldest son with him in the
government of the people. In the autumn of 1639, the two came into
open court at Plymouth with the request that the treaty of 1621 should
continue unbroken. Not only that, but the two chiefs made new pledges
which gave the colony a first claim to the Pokanoket lands. The exact
date of Massasoit's death is not known, but it was probably soon after
1660. That he was one of the best friends the white men ever had they
were soon to learn in the most alarming manner.
More than one neighbor of Massasoit was famous at this same time. Next
in power to the Wampanoag confederacy was that of the Narragansetts,
who, it will be remembered inhabited a large part of the territory
which afterward became Rhode Island, including all the islands in the
bay named for them. The Sagamores of a portion of Long Island, Block
Island and Niantic were also under their sway. They had more than two
thousand warriors, one-half of whom owned firearms and knew how to use
them. They had long been enemies of the Pequots on the west and the
Wampanoags on the north.
The chief sachem during the days of Massasoit was Canonicus, who after
a time joined his nephew Miantonomah with him in the government of his
tribes. This was probably due to the youth and wisdom of his relative.
When Roger Williams was driven out of Salem because of his too plain
preaching, he fled to the country of Canonicus. The chief, although
a little distant at first, received him kindly, and gave him a large
tract of land, which Williams divided among those who followed him into
exile. Thus the city of Providence was founded and the settlement of
Rhode Island begun.
This friendship on the part of Canonicus was the more notable because
he disliked the English from the first. As early at 1622, he was
determined to attack them, and sent a messenger to Plymouth with a
bundle of arrows wrapped about with a rattlesnake skin. This was a
challenge to war, and Governor Bradford could not mistake its meaning.
He snatched up the rattlesnake covering, flung aside the arrows,
and stuffed the skin full of gunpowder and bullets. He ordered the
messenger to tell his chief that if the white ruler had a vessel, he
would not wait for Canonicus to come to Plymouth to fight him, but
would seek him out and give him all he wished of war. The chief was
invited to come to Plymouth at once and start the fighting. The bold
message had its effect. Canonicus decided to leave the white men for
the present alone. It was Canonicus who led the attack on Massasoit
in 1632, when he had to flee to an English house and Captain Miles
Standish hurried to his rescue.
In 1636, the Pequots formed a conspiracy to slay all the English in
their country. As a first step, they asked Canonicus and Miantonomah
to make a treaty of peace with them, and to join in the war against
the settlements. The temptation was a peculiar one to the Narragansett
leaders. They had now the chance of striking a blow at their old
enemies, the Pequots, or of joining with them against the English.
Their inclination was to make common cause against the white men. Roger
Williams was living among the Narragansetts when the Pequot messengers
came to Canonicus, and he used all his powers to keep the chief out
of the alliance. The Pequots were enraged and would have killed him
had they dared, but Canonicus was a true friend of the exile, and they
were afraid to offend the chief. Finally, he yielded to the prayers
of Williams, and refused those of the Pequots, who entered upon the
campaign alone, and, as a consequence, suffered destruction at the
hands of the colonists. In this dreadful work the whites had the help
of several hundred Narragansetts.
Another great Indian leader now appears on the stage. He was Uncas,
who was born a Pequot, and was one of more than a score of the leaders
of that unfortunate nation. During some domestic troubles, he rebelled
against his sachem and became the head of a strong "Schism." This was
just before the opening of the Pequot war. The territories of the
Pequots were divided, and the part known as "Mohegan" fell to Uncas,
who aided the English in their overthrow of the Pequot. It is said
that he felt pity for the dreadful misfortune of his old friends and
neighbors, and, in more than one instance, did what he could to shield
them from the fury of their conquerors. Moreover, he gave protection to
a number of settlements, Norwich being one of the towns thus favored.
[Illustration: A PEQUOT MASSACRE]
In 1638, the magistrates at Hartford asked Uncas and Miantonomah to
come thither and agree upon the division of the two hundred Pequot
captives (not including women and children). In the division eighty
went to the Narragansett chief, twenty to a neighboring chief, while
a hundred were turned over to Uncas. He and Miantonomah had long been
jealous of each other, the feeling being strong on the part of the
Narragansett. The two leaders pledged themselves to peace, but their
mutual hatred was too deep for either to keep the letter or spirit of
the agreement. Miantonomah was ambitious, and wished to become ruler of
all the New England Indians. Uncas belonged to the branch with which
the Narragansetts had always been at enmity, and the Narragansett
leader determined to kill him on the first chance, believing that the
way would thus be opened for a union of all the tribes against the
English.
The first attempt to slay Uncas was made in the spring of 1643. The
criminal caused only a slight wound, when he fled to the Narragansetts,
telling every one he had slain Uncas. Learning after a time his
mistake, he said that Uncas had made the wound himself and then told
the story of the Pequot shooting him. A probing of the affair by the
authorities at Boston removed all doubt of the guilt of the man who had
been delivered to the court by Miantonomah himself. This chief removed
all suspicion of his part in the matter, and the prisoner having been
turned over to him at his request, he slew him with his own hand.
Almost at the same time, a sachem on the Connecticut killed a leading
Mohegan, and, waylaying Uncas, shot several arrows at him. Uncas
complained to the governor and court of the colony, who tried without
success to settle the affair. The criminal refused to express regret,
and insisted that Uncas should fight him. Uncas accepted the challenge
and invaded the territory of the other to whom he gave a severe defeat.
There seems little doubt that Miantonomah prompted both of these
attempts at assassination. The baffled sachem was an ally, and the
Narragansett set on foot a campaign against Uncas, hoping to strike his
blow before the Mohegan could prepare for it. The spies of Uncas warned
him of his danger, and he hurriedly gathered several hundred warriors
to meet the invaders that were twice as numerous.
In order to save his villages the Mohegan marched out several miles
toward the Narragansetts. When they were face to face, he called to
Miantonomah.
"You have a good many brave warriors, so have I; it is a pity that
these men should lose their lives because of a quarrel that is only
between you and me; if you are as much of a man as you claim to be, you
will come forward, and we will fight it out between ourselves; if you
slay me, my men shall be yours; if I slay you, your men shall be mine."
This challenge was not only a brave one, but it was cunning, for,
if accepted, it would make the conflict equal by holding it to two
leaders. Rather it would give Uncas a marked advantage, since he was of
unusual size and strength. Miantonomah was too wise to throw away his
opportunity.
"My warriors have come a long distance to fight," he replied, "and they
shall not go home without a fight."
It was the answer that Uncas expected and for which he was ready.
The words were hardly spoken, when Uncas dropped like a flash to the
ground. At the same instant his men launched a shower of arrows over
his body, uttered a series of shouts, and rushed like a whirlwind upon
the Narragansetts.
The assault was so sudden that the invaders were thrown into a panic,
with the whooping Mohegans at their heels. No mercy was shown, and the
Narragansetts were cut down like frightened sheep. Miantonomah could
not rally his warriors, and joined in the headlong flight. He was soon
overtaken, but the pursuers left him to Uncas, who quickly came up and
seized him by the arm. Believing nothing could save him, the hapless
chief stopped short and sat down without speaking a word. Uncas gave
a signal which brought a number of his men to the spot. The prisoner
continued sullen with downcast eyes and would not make any reply to the
taunts of Uncas.
"If I were _your_ prisoner," said he, "I should have begged for life;
are you too proud to ask a like favor of me?"
Miantonomah was too proud to beg for mercy. Uncas spared his life for
the time and took him to his village as a proof of his triumph. He then
conducted his prisoner before the governor and magistrates at Hartford,
and asked them what he should do with him.
This act put the authorities in a delicate situation. There was no
war between them and the Narragansetts, and they did not wish to
interfere in the quarrel. They therefore turned the problem over to the
Commissioners of the United Colonies, who were to meet in September. By
this time, Miantonomah had regained speech, and, knowing he would be
safer as a prisoner of the English than of his rival, begged that he
might remain in custody at Hartford. Uncas was willing, but insisted
that he should be held as _his_ prisoner.
The Commissioners tackled the question. They declared that it had been
proved that Miantonomah had made several attempts against the life of
Uncas; that he had set on foot a general plot among the Indian tribes
for the destruction of the colonies, and, still further, that he had
urged the Mohawks to join in such a plot, and that they were already
within a short distance of the English settlements, and only awaiting
the release of the Narragansett sachem to unite with him in the attack.
They condemned him to death at the hands of Uncas, who was urged to
make it merciful, and not torture his captive. It was ordered that
the execution should take place in the presence of "certain discreet
English persons," and the Hartford government was to provide Uncas with
sufficient forces to protect him against all his enemies.
These directions were carried out. Uncas went to Hartford, received his
prisoner, and conducted him to the spot where he had been captured.
Hardly had the party arrived, when a Mohegan, directly behind
Miantonomah, killed him with a single blow of his tomahawk.
It is only fair to add that historians have never agreed as to the real
character of Uncas and Miantonomah. The incidents just related would
seem to make Uncas the better of the two, but some think he was simply
the more crafty and cunning, and that the Narragansett sachem was
innocent of the attempts made against the life of the Mohegan leader,
as well as of the charge of urging the Mohawks to join him in a war
against the English. It is impossible at this late day to settle the
dispute as to the honor of Miantonomah, but we must quote the tribute
of Stephen Hopkins, who was governor of Rhode Island for nine years,
and a signer of the Declaration of Independence:
"This was the end of Miantonomah, the most potent Indian prince the
people of New England had ever any concern with, and this was the
reward he received for assisting them seven years before, in their war
with the Pequots."
The death of Miantonomah took place in 1643. News of what had been done
was sent to Canonicus. He was then an old man, well beyond fourscore,
and greatly broken in spirit by the loss of a favorite son. He signed
a deed in April, 1644, by which he subjected himself and his lands to
King Charles I. of England. He had lost all desire for war, and was in
no condition to punish the last sad blow that had been dealt him. He
died just before the middle of the seventeenth century, when he must
have been nearly or quite ninety years old.
Uncas lived for several years after the close of King Philip's war. He
was crafty and treacherous, and the English bore more from him than
they would have borne from any one else, because of their wish to hold
him as an ally. Despite the halo which some writers have thrown about
his memory, it is impossible to believe he was as truthful, high-minded
and honorable as many less noted members of his race.