deserves a more particular notice. He was a notable warrior, who came
to Plymouth about the end of July, 1621, and remained with the English
to the close of his life. He was the principal means of the lasting
friendship of Massasoit, which he took much pains to promote. Esteemed
by his own countrymen for his prowess and valor, he was extremely
serviceable to the colonists, by teaching them how to cultivate the
fruits and grains peculiar to the country. The latter had no reason to
apprehend treachery on his part, as Hobomok was a favorite of
Massasoit, and one of his principal captains, and was entirely in
their interest. The following incident strengthened them in their
opinion: The Massachusetts Indians had, for some time, been inviting
the settlers into their country to trade for furs. When in March,
1622, they began to make ready for the voyage, Hobomok told the people
that he feared the Massachusetts were joined in confederacy with the
Narragansets, and that they therefore would seize upon this occasion
to cut off Captain Standish and his company abroad; and also, in the
mean while, it was to be feared that the Narragansets would attack the
town at home, giving reasons for his apprehensions, declaring also
that Tisquantum was in the confederacy. He intimated that the latter
would use many persuasions to draw the people from their shallops,
that the Indians might take advantage of their situation.
They, however, proceeded on their voyage, but had not reached a great
distance before a false messenger came running into Plymouth, apparently
in great agitation. He informed them that Caunbitant, with many of the
Narragansets, and he believed Massasoit with them, were on their way in
order to cut off the English. The story was unhesitatingly believed, and
their instant purpose was to bring back Captain Standish, who had just
left in the boat with Hobomok. The discharge of a cannon from the town
brought the company back. They had no sooner arrived than Hobomok
assured them there was no truth in the report, and said it was a plot
of Squanto's, who was then in one of the boats. He knew that as to
Massasoit, that chief would not engage in such an enterprise without
consulting him. Although there was reason to believe this, or at least
to confide in the sincerity of Hobomok, yet, as related in another
place, the English saw fit to connive at Squanto's practices. "Hobomok
was greatly beloved by Massasoit, notwithstanding he became a professed
Christian, and Massasoit was always opposed to the English religion
himself. He was the pilot of the English when they visited Massasoit in
his sickness, whom before their arrival they considered dead, which
caused great manifestations of grief in Hobomok. He often exclaimed, as
they were on the way, 'My loving sachem! my loving sachem! many have I
known, but never any like thee.' Then turning to Mr. Winslow, said:
'While you live, you will never see his like among the Indians, that he
was no liar, nor bloody and cruel, like other Indians. In anger and
passion, he was soon reclaimed, easy to be reconciled towards such as
had offended him; that his reason was such as to cause him to receive
advice of mean men; and that he governed his people better with few
blows than others did with many.' In the division of the land at
Plymouth, among the inhabitants, Hobomok received a lot as his share, on
which he resided after the English manner, and died a Christian among
them. The year of his death does not appear, but was previous to
1642."[19]
FOOTNOTE:
[19] Book of the Indians.
V. ENGLISH AND NARRAGANSETS.
TERRITORY OF THE NARRAGANSETS--Canonicus their sachem--His mode of
challenging the English to War--Union proposed between the
Pequods and Narragansets--How defeated--Haughty bearing of
Miantonimoh--Accused of a conspiracy against the
English--Accusations repelled--Peace concluded between him and
Massachusetts--War between Uncas and Miantonimoh--The latter
captured and delivered to the English--How disposed
of--Troubles with the Narragansets under Ninigret--Expedition
against him--Issue of it.
The Narragansets were considered a great nation among the Indians. The
territory of their sachem extended about thirty or forty miles from
Sekunk river and Narraganset bay, including Rhode Island and other
islands in that bay. Pawcatuck river separated it from the Pequods.
Under the rule of Canonicus, in 1642, this nation was at the height of
its greatness, and was supposed to embrace a population of thirty
thousand inhabitants. He was sachem of the tribe at the time of the
landing of the fathers on the shores of New England, and continued in
this capacity to the time of his death, in 1647. He died, it is
believed, at a very advanced age. At the period of the settlement of
Plymouth, the Wampanoags were in great fear of the Narragansets, and
at one time war actually existed. During its continuance, Massasoit
fled before Canonicus, and sought the protection of the English.
The Narragansets, at an early period, were not disinclined to seek a
quarrel with the English. In view of the weakness of the latter, they
began to utter threats, although the summer preceding they had desired
and obtained peace. They deemed it a favorable opportunity for their
purpose, as the English had just received an addition to their
numbers, but not to their arms or provisions--a circumstance of which
the Indians were advised. Their desire, or intention, was definitely
made known by the following significant circumstance: In February,
1622, Canonicus sent a man, accompanied by one Tokamahamon, a
friendly Indian, into Plymouth, bringing with him a bundle of arrows,
bound with a rattle-snake's skin, and, leaving them there, immediately
left the place. When Squanto was made acquainted with the incident, he
informed the English that it was a challenge for war. The governor
(Bradford) taking the rattle-snake's skin, and filling it with powder
and shot, returned it to Canonicus. At the same time, he instructed
the messenger to bid him defiance, and dare him to the combat. This
had the desired effect upon the Indian sachem. He refused to receive
the skin, as also the other chiefs, until it was at last returned to
Plymouth. Canonicus was evidently awed by the hostile bearing and
threat of the English.
[Illustration: Governor Bradford and the Snake-skin.]
Not long after this affair, the Pequods proposed to the Narragansets
to join them in rooting out the English: on the ground that if the
Pequods were once destroyed, the ruin of the Narragansets was sure to
follow. The English would want their lands. They were spreading fast.
But a timely combination would save both tribes and their
inheritance. On these politic representations, the historian Hubbard
cleverly remarks that, "Machiavel himself, if he had sat in council
with them, could not have insinuated stronger reasons to have
persuaded them to a peace." It is said that the Narragansets felt the
force of them, and were almost persuaded to accede to the proposal,
and to join with the others against the English; but when they
considered what an advantage they had put in their hands, by the power
and favor of the English, to take full revenge of all their former
injuries upon their inveterate enemies, the thought of that was so
sweet, that it decided their hesitating minds.
The governor of Massachusetts, in order to prevent a union between
these savage nations, and to strengthen the bands of peace between the
Narraganset Indians and the colony, sent for Miantonimoh, who was
their sachem in connection with Canonicus, inviting him to come to
Boston. Upon this, Miantonimoh, together with two of the sons of
Canonicus, another sachem, and a number of their men, went to Boston,
and entered into a treaty to the following effect: That there should
be a firm peace between them and the English and their posterity--that
neither party should make peace with the Pequods without the consent
of the other--that they should not harbor the Pequods--and that they
should return all fugitive servants, and deliver over to the English,
or put to death, all murderers. The English were to give them notice
when they went out against the Pequods, and they were to furnish them
with guides. It was also stipulated that a free trade should be
maintained between the parties.
These articles were indifferently well observed by the Narragansets
till their enemies, the Pequods, were totally subdued; but after that
event, they began to grow insolent and treacherous, especially
Miantonimoh himself. The English seem always to have been more
favorably disposed towards other tribes than to the Narragansets, as
appears from the interest they took in the wars between them and their
enemies. As long as the other tribes succeeded against them, the
English took no part in the contests; but whenever the Narragansets
prevailed, they were ready to intercede.
After the period of the Pequod war, in 1637, the Narragansets were the
most numerous and powerful of the Indian tribes in this part of the
country. Conscious of their power, and discontented that the whole
sovereignty over the rest of the Indians was not adjudged to belong to
them, or envious that Uncas, the chief sachem of the Mohegans, had
gained the favor of the English more than themselves, they constantly
sought occasions of disagreement with the Mohegans. This was in
contravention of an agreement made between the English and the
Narragansets, in the year 1637, when they had helped to destroy the
Pequods, and also the triple league between the English, Mohegans, and
Narragansets, entered into at Hartford in 1638. The Narragansets
seemed to owe a special spite against Uncas and the Mohegans, from the
time of the distribution of the Pequods after the termination of the
war. They had probably expected the whole management of that affair
for themselves. They therefore found occasions of quarrel with Uncas,
and were hardly kept from making open war with him, when they saw all
other attempts to destroy him by treachery, poison, and sorcery had
failed. The Mohegans, though a less numerous and powerful people than
the Narragansets, were yet more warlike in character and more politic
in their intercourse with the whites.
The disposition of Miantonimoh was haughty and aspiring, and he seemed
to infuse the same spirit into the minds of his people. He possessed a
fine figure, was tall of stature, and was a master of cunning and
subtlely. It was strongly suspected that, in the year 1642, he had
contrived to draw all the Indians throughout the country into a
general conspiracy against the English. Letters from Connecticut,
received at Boston, had announced the existence of such a conspiracy,
and even the details of it were given. The time appointed for the
assault was said to be after harvest--the manner, to be by several
companies entering into the houses of the principal men, professedly
for the purposes of trade, and then to kill them there; one company
seizing their arms, and others being at hand to prosecute the
massacre. It was urged on the part of Connecticut, that war should be
begun with them, and that if Massachusetts would send one hundred and
twenty men to Saybrook, at the mouth of the river, they would meet
them with a proportionable number. Though there was a probability in
the stories afloat, respecting the Narragansets, yet the general court
of Massachusetts did not think the information to be a sufficient
ground for commencing a war. The court, however, ordered that the
Indians within their jurisdiction should be disarmed, and to this they
willingly assented. The sachem of the Narragansets was, moreover, sent
for to Boston, and, by his readiness to appear, confirmed the English
in the opinion that nothing had as yet occurred which could be
construed into a justifiable cause of war. The sachem's quarrel with
the Mohegans would very naturally render them a subject of such a
report, whether there was a foundation for it or not.
Miantonimoh very consistently urged before the court, that his
accusers should be confronted to him, and their allegations sifted, so
that the truth might be ascertained--that if they could not prove
their charges, they might receive the punishment which was their due,
and which would have been inflicted on himself if found guilty, that
is, death--and that as the English must have believed the report,
because they ordered the disarming of the Indians, so equity required
that they who accused him, should be punished according to the offence
charged upon his own person. He, moreover, engaged to prove that the
report was raised by Uncas himself, or some of his people. On the part
of English, the disarming of the Indians was excused on the ground
that Englishmen's houses had been robbed in several instances by the
Indians, which was a consideration that somewhat satisfied the chief.
The Connecticut people yielded, though with reluctance, to the
decision of the Massachusetts court.
They spent two days in making a treaty of peace, the delay being
occasioned by the difficulty of obtaining Miantonimoh's consent to a
portion of the stipulations. It was, however, effected to the
satisfaction of the English. Indian hostages were given for its
performance, and, excepting a company stationed in the Mohegan country
for the protection of Uncas, the whites laid aside warlike preparations.
In the year 1643, Miantonimoh invaded the Mohegans with nine hundred
of his warriors; Uncas met him at the head of five hundred of his men,
on a large plain; both prepared for action, and advanced within
bow-shot. Before the conflict commenced, Uncas advanced singly, and
thus addressed his antagonist: "You have a number of men with you, and
so have I with me. It is a pity that such brave warriors should be
killed in a private quarrel between us. Come like a man, as you
profess to be, and let us fight it out. If you kill me, my men shall
be yours; but if I kill you, your men shall be mine." Miantonimoh
replied: "My men came to fight, and they shall fight." Uncas had
before told his men, that if his enemy should refuse to fight with him
personally, he would fall down, and then they were to discharge their
missiles on the Narragansets, and fall upon them as fast as they
could. This was accordingly done. Uncas instantly fell upon the
ground, and his men poured a shower of arrows upon Miantonimoh's army,
and with a horrible yell advanced rapidly upon them, and put them to
flight. Uncas and his men pressed on, driving them down ledges of
rock, and scattering them in every direction. Miantonimoh was
overtaken and seized by Uncas, who, by a shout, called back his
furious warriors. About thirty Narragansets were slain, among whom
were several noted chiefs. Finding himself in the hands of his
implacable enemy, Miantonimoh remained silent, nor could Uncas, by any
art, force him to break his sullen mood. "Had you taken me," said the
conqueror, "I should have asked you for my life." No reply was made by
the indignant chief, and he submitted without a murmur to his
humiliating condition. He was afterwards conducted to Hartford, by his
conqueror, and delivered to the English, by whom he was held in duress
until his fate should be determined by the commissioners of the
colonies. After an examination of his case, the commissioners
resolved, "that as it was evident that Uncas could not be safe while
Miantonimoh lived, but either by secret treachery or open force his
life would be constantly in danger, he might justly put such a false
and blood-thirsty enemy to death; but this was to be done out of the
English jurisdiction, and without cruelty or torture." Miantonimoh was
delivered to Uncas, and by a number of his trusty men was marched to
the spot where he was captured, attended by two Englishmen to see that
no torture was inflicted, and the moment he arrived at the fatal
place, one of Uncas' men came up behind, and with his hatchet split
the skull of the unfortunate chief. The body was buried on the spot,
and a heap of stones piled upon the grave. The place since that time
has been known by the name of _Sachem's plain_, and is situated in the
town of Norwich, in Connecticut.[20]
The Narragansets, as was to be expected, ever afterwards bore an
implacable malice against Uncas and all the Mohegans, and also for their
sakes secretly against the English, so far as they dared to discover it.
But the death of Miantonimoh, and the preparation for the invasion of
the Narraganset country by the English which had been made, put an end
to hostilities for a period in the eastern part of Connecticut.
In continuing the Narraganset history, _Ninigret_ now properly comes
into view. As already mentioned, he was sachem of the Nianticks, a
tribe of the Narragansets. In 1644, the Narragansets and Ninigret's
men united against the Mohegans, and for some time obliged Uncas to
confine himself and men to his fort. The Indians, however, afraid of
the English, abandoned the siege, and came in to Boston to sue for
peace. This was granted; but a short time after, it became necessary
to again terrify them. With twenty men, Captain Atherton marched to
the wigwam of Ninigret, entering which, he seized the chief, and
threatened his life. This step had the desired effect. The Indians
begged for life, and promised submission.
[Illustration: Captain Atherton in the Wigwam of Ninigret.]
Some time after this occurrence, Ninigret again grew troublesome, and
again had to be quieted by an armed force sent against him. In the
panic with which he was affected, he submitted to the demands that
were laid upon him. Ninigret passed the winter of 1652-53 among the
Dutch of New York. This circumstance awakened the suspicions of the
English, especially as hostile feelings existed at that time between
the Dutch and English. The report from several sagamores was, that the
Dutch governor had attempted to hire them to cut off the English. The
consequence was, a special meeting of the English commissioners of the
several New England colonies, to consult in reference to this subject.
Their object was to ascertain the truth of the rumor, that the
Narragansets had leagued with the Dutch, to break up the English
settlements. Several of the chiefs of the Narragansets were
accordingly questioned by a letter, through an agent living at the
Narraganset, in regard to this plot; but their answers were altogether
exculpatory. As to any positive testimony that Ninigret was plotting
against the English, there appears to be none.
In the year 1652, a war having commenced between England and Holland,
it was apprehended that hostilities would take place between the
colonies of the two nations in America. A threatening attitude was
indeed held for some time by the Dutch of New Netherlands, and forces
were raised by the four New England colonies; but no collision
occurred. In the event of hostilities, it was believed that the
sachem, Ninigret, would lead the Narragansets to the aid of the Dutch,
and that he had held a conference with them at Manhattan, in the
winter of 1652. Whether that was the case or not, he refused for some
time after to treat with the English for a continuance of the peace.
Under these threatening appearances, the commissioners of the colonies
met, and resolved to raise two hundred and seventy infantry, and forty
cavalry, for the purpose of chastising Ninigret's haughtiness, and
bringing the Narragansets to terms. The forces were duly apportioned
among the colonies. Massachusetts had been at first reluctant, but
finally assented to the measure. The commissioners nominated Major
Gibbons, Major Denison, or Captain Atherton, to the chief command;
leaving it, in complaisance, to the general court of Massachusetts to
appoint which one of the three they should please. But, rejecting
these, who were men of known courage and enterprise, they appointed
Major Simon Willard. The commissioners instructed him to proceed, with
such troops as should be found at the place of general rendezvous, by
the 13th of October, directly to Ninigret's quarters, and demand of
him the Pequods who had been put under him, and the tribute which was
due. If Ninigret should not deliver them, and pay the tribute, he was
required to take them by force. He was instructed to demand of the
sachem a cessation from all further hostilities against the Long
Island Indians. Receiving these and some other instructions, he
proceeded into the Narraganset country. When he arrived at the place
of rendezvous, he found that Ninigret had fled into a swamp about
fifteen miles distant. The latter had left his country, corn, and
wigwams, without defence, and they might have been laid waste without
danger or loss. He, however, returned without ever advancing from his
head-quarters, or doing the enemy the least damage. About a hundred
Pequods took this opportunity to renounce the government of Ninigret,
and come off with the English army, putting themselves under the
control of the whites.
The commissioners in favor of the expedition, were dissatisfied with
the conduct of Major Willard, and charged him with having neglected a
fair opportunity of chastising the Indians, by the destruction of
their dwellings, and their fields of corn. He, however, pleaded in
excuse, that his instructions were equivocal, and the season for
marching unfavorable. By many people in Connecticut and New Haven, it
was believed that the commander was secretly instructed by the
government of Massachusetts to avoid depredations on the property of
the Indians, and thereby prevent a war, which the latter colony
considered to be of doubtful policy. However this may be, it is
certain that Major Willard received no censure from the Massachusetts
court, and no one doubted his firmness as an officer.
After the return of the English troops from the Narraganset country,
Ninigret assumed his former spirit of defiance, and continued the war
against the Indians upon Long Island. Both the Indians and the English
there were soon thrown into great distress. It became apparent that
these Indians could not hold out much longer, but that they must
submit themselves and their country to the Narragansets, unless they
should receive speedy aid. In consequence of this state of things, and
as these Indians were in alliance with the colonies, measures were
taken to aid them against Ninigret. An armed vessel was stationed off
Montauk to watch his movements, and forces were held in readiness at
Saybrook and New London, to move on the shortest notice, should the
hostile chief again attempt to invade the island. Hostilities,
however, continued some time, and the tribes in various directions
exhibited a strange, changeable conduct. Uncas, in this exigency, was
so pressed by the Narragansets, that Connecticut was obliged to send
men to his fortress to assist in defending himself against them. The
Narragansets, in several instances, threatened and plundered the
inhabitants of Connecticut.
In 1657, some mischief was done at Farmington, in which the Norwootuck
and Pocomotuck Indians were supposed to be accomplices. Even the
Mohegans under Uncas also partook of the hostile spirit, and an
assault was made by them upon the Podunk Indians at Windsor. At length
the Long Island Indians turned against their friends on the island,
and Major Mason was ordered with a force for the protection of the
English in that quarter. At last the war, and the difficulties in
regard to the Narragansets, having ceased for a period, the English
were once more left to pursue the arts of peace, and consummate their
labors for colonizing the country.[21]
FOOTNOTES:
[20] Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches.
[21] Book of the Indians.
VI. PEQUOD WAR.
TERRITORY OF THE PEQUODS--Their Character--Sassacus--His hatred of
the English--Cruelties practised towards them--War declared by
Connecticut--Expedition of Captain Mason--Surprise and
destruction of the fort--Further prosecution of the war--Happy
consequences resulting from it.
The Pequods are supposed to have emigrated from the interior parts of
the country, towards the sea-shore of Connecticut. They inhabited more
or less of the territory now constituting that state, as well as a
part of Rhode Island, and New York as far west as the Hudson river. At
what time this emigration took place, is not known. Being a fierce,
cruel, and warlike people, they made all the other tribes stand in awe
of them, though they were fewer in number than their neighbors, the
Narragansets. The principal seat of the Pequod sagamores was near the
mouth of the Pequod river, now the Thames, where New London is built.
There was said to be one principal sagamore, or sachem, over the rest.
He who sustained this distinction, at the time of the English
settlements in Connecticut, was Sassacus. His name alone was a terror
to all the neighboring tribes of Indians. At the height of his power,
he had twenty sachems under him.