Part 7

A large number of the Pequots now deserted Sassacus to his fate and took refuge among the Indians of New York. Some even threatened to destroy him for bringing down upon them the anger of the white settlers, and nothing but the entreaty of his chief counsellor prevented him from being killed by his own people. Realizing that he could no longer hold his own against the whites, he destroyed his fort, and, with several hundred of his best men, retreated towards the Hudson River. To kill or capture him was the main object of the Colonists, and, two captured Pequots having had their lives spared on condition that they would guide the English to him, a good-sized force now pushed on towards the retreating members of the once powerful Pequot tribe. At last the Indians were overtaken near Fairfield, Connecticut, and a fierce fight took place in a swamp. The red men fought with the courage of despair, and sixty or seventy succeeded in forcing their way through the ranks of their assailants; but about two hundred were captured. Sassacus, himself, escaped. Those Pequots who had not been slain were hunted like wild beasts by the other Indians of the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes, and weekly their heads were brought in to Windsor and Hartford. Finally, the entire tribe was obliterated, and the few remaining braves were permitted to live with those tribes which they had called "cowards" and "women."

Sassacus was driven from swamp to swamp, by night and by day. Even his own men hunted him and endeavored to take his life. One Pequot who was freed by the English, on condition that he would find and betray this great chief, finally succeeded in finding him. Creeping upon him in one of his solitary camps, he was about to fire his musket, when he was overcome by the majestic look of the great Sachem. "I could not pull the trigger," he told the English, "for my chief looked like all one God. I could not touch a hair of his head." Thus the once powerful redskin escaped and fled to the Mohawks in New York, where he arrived with five hundred pounds of wampum and several of his best captains and bravest men. But here there was to be no peace for the fugitive. He and his men were treacherously murdered by a party of warlike Mohawks, and his scalp sent to Connecticut as a present to the English. A lock of his hair was soon carried to Boston, where it was exhibited in a window upon the streets, as a sure proof of the death of this once powerful enemy to the whites.

Uncas--the Mohegan ally of the Connecticut settlers--continued to live at peace with the Colonists, although granting nearly all his land away for a very small consideration. Thus, in 1641, he gave away several thousand acres for the possession of four coats, two kettles, four fathoms of wampum, four hatchets and three hoes. In 1659 he gave all his lands, with all his corn, to his old comrade and friend, Major John Mason, with whom he had stormed the Pequot fort on the Mystic. He lived to be a very old man, and a remnant of his tribe still exists today near Norwich, Connecticut, and are the only natives still lingering upon the soil of the state.

Sassacus defied the English and was exterminated. Uncas befriended them and lived a peaceful existence. Of the two, he led the more quiet life, but one cannot but admire the fierce, fighting spirit of Sassacus and regret that he met such a miserable end. No direct descendants of either now exist, for, upon an old Indian gravestone at Mohegan, a genial carver has left the following inscription:

"Here lies the body of Sun-seeto Own son to Uncas, grandson to Oneko, Who were the famous Sachems of Mohegan: But now they are all dead. I think it is Werheegen" (which means "all is well" or "good news" in the Mohegan language).

Certainly, the whites were glad to see the race exterminated. It left the country to their own civilization, and they developed it according to their own desires. Now brick and wooden houses, great factories, and roaring mills stand where the red men once had their thin wigwams; and where they once battled furiously with the stout Colonists, jangling trolley cars rush by in cheerful indifference to the dim records of history.

MASSASOIT: THE GREAT SACHEM OF THE WAMPANOAGS AND FRIEND OF THE PURITANS

While the English were gradually settling their plantations on the James River in Virginia and were encroaching upon the land held by the Indians, other Englishmen, driven from home by religious persecution, and wishing to found a colony in the newly discovered country, had crossed the blue Atlantic to the rocky shore of Massachusetts, where they had landed, built their log houses, and had begun to wrest a living from a stern and unproductive soil. They were Pilgrims and were of a religious sect called Puritans, which was most unpopular in their native country. All were men of sturdy, vigorous natures.

These adventurers first went ashore upon the fifteenth day of November, and a few walked up and down until the sun began to draw low, when they hastened out of the woods in order that they might enter their boat which was drawn up upon the beach. By the time that they reached it, it was nearly dusk, so, after setting a watch, those who had landed lay down to rest.

About midnight they heard a great and hideous cry from out the woodland, and their sentinel called out, "Arm! Arm!" So they leaped to their feet, and, seizing some muskets which were beside them, shot them off. As they did so, again the terrible wail sounded from the forest.

"Woach! Woach! Ha-Ha-Ha-Hack--Woach!"

But this soon ceased, and all was quiet in the sombre woodland.

Nothing more occurred until about five in the morning, when one of the Puritans came running to the camp, shouting: "Men are coming to attack us! Indians! Indians!" And, as he spoke, a cloud of arrows came flying into the encampment. One savage was soon seen who fired at them from behind a tree, and an old Puritan took three shots at him with a musket.

The red man continued to shoot his arrows until suddenly he gave a terrific yell, showing that he had probably been hit. At any rate he retreated into the dense forest with the other braves, and nothing more was seen, or heard, either from him, or from them.

The Pilgrims breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the arrows--eighteen in all had fallen among them--and marveled at their make. Some were curiously headed with the horn of a buck deer, and others with the claw of an eagle. So they kept them, and, when the good ship Mayflower sailed for England, they sent these warlike tokens back with her to their friends upon the other side of the Atlantic. The Indians who had made this assault were Nansets, of whom Aspinet was the chief, but whether or not any of them were slain in the conflict does not appear in the ancient record of this combat.

After this affair the sober Puritans made their abode and sailed carelessly along the coast, looking for a good landing place, until December 11th, when they reached a spot which had a good harbor and some high ground beyond the beach which offered an excellent situation for a redoubt. So here they landed, built a long log house, and began their first settlement upon New England soil. They called their first home Plymouth.

With great toil and hard labor they erected other habitations for the settlers. Their first winter here was one of extreme hardship and suffering. Many died of starvation and exposure, and when spring came the survivors were so enfeebled that an attack by a strong band of Indians could easily have annihilated the entire settlement.

On March 16th, 1621, the chief men of Plymouth had assembled to discuss various matters of interest in connection with the welfare of the country, when an Indian was seen approaching. With long strides he walked down the village street, and, as the wary Puritans sprang to their guns, he held out his hands, and cried, "Welcome, Englishmen! Welcome!"

He was a tall, straight man, the hair on his head was black--short before and long behind--his countenance was open and friendly, while his carriage was graceful and imposing. He was thinly clad in deer skins, which must have afforded small warmth for the cold air of spring, and his moccasins gave scarcely any protection to his hardened feet. The Colonists laid aside their guns, when they realized that the savage was not armed, and grasped the outstretched hand of the friendly neighbor.

"We are glad to see you," spoke one of the hardy Englishmen, "and, as you have shown yourself to be friendly, we too shall be friendly."

"Come, seat yourself among us and partake of our humble fare!

"Ugh! Ugh!" grunted the savage, squatting down upon the ground, "I am Samoset, Pemaquid chief. My hunting ground on Island Monhegan, a day's sail toward the rising sun. Five days if go by land, near Penobscot River. Welcome, Englishmen, to country of Massasoit. I learn your tongue from white fishermen who come here not long ago."

This speech sounded as if it were true, so, feeling compassion for the poor, naked child of the woods, the settlers presented him with a hat, a pair of stockings, shoes, a shirt, and a piece of cloth to tie around his waist. They learned that the country around them was called Pawtuxet, and that, four years before their arrival, a terrible pestilence had swept off all the tribes which had inhabited this district, so that, as none were left to claim the soil, it would be perfectly possible for the English to do so. Samoset also told them that their nearest neighbor was a powerful Sachem called Massasoit, who was chief of the Wampanoag tribe, as well as head sachem of the Pokanoket Confederacy of thirty allied tribes. This mighty chieftain was disposed to be friendly, continued Samoset, but neighboring Indians, called Nansets, had been greatly angered by the English, because some years before, a certain Captain Hunt had kidnapped over twenty of their number and sold them into slavery. It would, therefore, be well for the settlers, said the obliging Samoset, if they had no dealings with this particular clan, but restricted their trade and intercourse with the followers of Massasoit. After a lengthy discussion of the climate, the country, and the people, the friendly savage departed with smiles and bows, which showed that he was apparently much pleased with the reception which the English had given him.

The unwarlike visitor soon returned with four others, who also professed to be friendly, and who sang and danced in an open space before the settlement to amuse the sturdy and determined Puritans. Among them was Squanto, an Indian who spoke excellent English, because he had been among those whom the English, under Captain Hunt, had kidnapped and sold into slavery in Malaga, for eighty pounds (four hundred dollars) each, but had been ransomed and liberated by kind-hearted monks and sent to England. Here, at Cornhill, he learned to make himself understood in very good English, and obtained the friendship and sympathy of a wealthy merchant, who housed him, fed him, and eventually shipped him back to his native shore in a sailing vessel, commanded by Captain Thomas Dermer. This stout old sea-dog found that all of Squanto's race had died of a pestilence (probably smallpox) and, therefore, delivered him to Massasoit, whose loyal subject he became, and with whom he was now living. The Indians disposed of a few skins and fish, and then departed, telling the settlers that the great chief Massasoit, with his brother and all his warriors, was near at hand.

The first appearance of the Chief of the Wampanoags was upon the 22d of March, 1621, when he arrived upon a hill opposite Plymouth, with sixty warriors gaudily arrayed in their best deerskin raiment. Massasoit is described by one of the settlers as being "a very lusty man, in his best years, with an able body, grave of countenance and spare of speech." In his attire he differed little from the rest of his followers, save that he wore a large chain of white bone beads about his neck which had suspended from it behind a little bag of tobacco. His face was painted a darkish red, and both his head and face were so oiled that he looked very greasy. The only weapon upon his person was a long knife swinging from his bosom by a string; although his attendants carried war clubs, knives, and bows and arrows. Some of his followers--all tall, strong men--were painted black, others red, yellow, and white. They were dressed in furs or skins of various kinds, and made a very good showing--such a good showing, indeed, that the English feared an attack and stood prepared for any sign of violence that the Wampanoags might offer.

The Indians seemed to be unwilling to approach any nearer, and, as they hesitated, the English determined to find out why they would not advance. As luck would have it, Squanto was in Plymouth, so he was dispatched to ascertain their designs, and they gave him to understand that they wished to have some one sent to hold a parley with them. So Edward Winslow was selected to go over to their position with presents to the sachem and with directions to endeavor to patch up a treaty of peace. Winslow was an excellent diplomat; he addressed them in a speech of some length, and, although the Wampanoags listened with much gravity, it is doubtful whether or not they understood it thoroughly, although an Indian interpreter explained the gallant Winslow's words, after he had spoken. The Englishman told them that King James of England sent his best and kindest regards to Massasoit, his brother, and that he hoped to have him as his friend and ally. Furthermore, that the Governor of Plymouth wished to see him and to treat with him upon terms of the greatest friendliness. Massasoit listened with polite attention, and seems to have made no special reply to this harangue, but to have gazed upon the sword and armor of the Captain with envious eyes.

"I wish to buy your iron breastplate and your war instruments," said the old chief, through the interpreter, as Winslow paused for breath. "What do you wish for them?"

The Captain smiled with good humor. "They are not for sale, my friend," said he. "For I need them sorely in my duties among my own people."

"I will go among them," said Massasoit, rising. "And I will leave you with my brother, while I and twenty of my men walk over to the English camp."

So saying, he crossed the brook between him and the English, taking twenty of the Wampanoags, who were directed to leave their bows and arrows behind them. Captain Miles Standish and another Puritan, with six armed men, met him beyond the water, exchanged salutations with the majestic Indian, and took him to one of the best houses in the village. A stone arch has, in late years, been thrown over this brook to show where this first meeting between the great chief and the whites took place, while the hill upon which the Indians camped--called "Strawberry Hill"--is still pointed out to those who are interested in the history of America.

In the cabin to which Massasoit was conducted a green rug was placed upon the floor and three or four cushions were piled upon it, in order to make it comfortable. After the noted chieftain had gone inside, the Governor of Plymouth entered the house, followed by several soldiers who beat a drum loudly and blared upon a trumpet, which delighted and astonished the Wampanoags. The Governor hurried up to the Sachem, and seizing him in his arms, kissed him upon the cheek, a salutation which was immediately returned by the chief, and, considering the fact that he was covered with both grease and red paint, it could not have been a very satisfactory affair for the Englishman. He made no grievance, however, and commanded that all seat themselves at a long table, upon which a feast was spread. After a sumptuous repast, in which "strong waters, which the savages love only too well," were served, a treaty was concluded, with the following terms:

1st. That neither Massasoit nor any of his people should do any hurt to any of the English.

2d. That if any Indian should injure an Englishman, the offender would be sent to Plymouth in order that he might be punished.

3rd. That if anything were stolen from the Indians, the Governor of Plymouth would cause it to be returned, and the Indian would do likewise toward the English.

4th. That if any unjust war were brought against the Wampanoags, the English would aid them in defeating their adversaries, and that if anyone unjustly warred against the English, Massasoit would aid them.

5th. That in case of actual warfare, the English Governor would send confederates to warn Massasoit of the fact.

6th. That whenever the English came to the camp of the Wampanoags, they should leave their arms behind them.

7th. That if Massasoit should do this, King James of England would consider him as his perpetual friend and ally.

This seemed to please the great Sachem greatly, for he not only agreed to it, but acknowledged King James of England to be his Sovereign, and gave him all his adjacent lands for his subjects to live on forever. It was a treaty upon peaceable and honorable terms; the Indians came to Plymouth to make it of their own free will, and, although for all the land which they granted to the English they received only a pair of knives and a copper chain with a jewel in it, a pot of "strong water," a quantity of biscuit and some butter for Quadepinah--the brother of Massasoit--it is pleasant to know that this agreement was unbroken for fifty years. Massasoit, himself, did well to obtain the friendship of the English, for the powerful tribes of Narragansetts were his enemies, and they were now afraid to attack his camps. The Puritans also benefitted from this agreement, as they obtained an opportunity for profitable trade in peace and seclusion.

There were about twenty different tribes in New England, at this time, and, although mainly independent of each other, they sometimes united for the purpose of making war upon a common enemy. The Pequots, Narragansetts, Pokanokets, Massachusetts, and Pawtuckets were the more powerful, although the Mohegans, the Nipmucks, and Abenakis of Maine were also prominent. The Pequots numbered only about four thousand, in all, while the Narragansetts of Rhode Island--with about one thousand warriors--were next in point of numbers. The other tribes were smaller still, so it can be readily seen that this band of hardy pioneers could, with their armor and firearms, have competed in battle with even the most powerful of these, although, should all have combined against them, their doom would have been sure. Massasoit's people, the Wampanoags, were a part of the Massachusetts Indians, and lived between Plymouth and Narragansett Bay. They were sometimes called Pokanokets. To the south they had the Nansets, as neighbors, on Cape Cod; the Pennacooks, on the northern frontier extending into New Hampshire; and the Nipmucks in central Massachusetts extending into Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Pawtuckets, who had been nearly destroyed by the great pestilence, were north of the tribes of Massachusetts, and included the Pennacooks and other small clans. Massasoit's home was at Mount Hope, where now stands the town of Bristol, Rhode Island, a seaport upon the wide waters of Narragansett Bay.

After the famous treaty between the Wampanoag Sachem and the English had been drawn and signed, Massasoit was conducted back to his own people by the Governor himself. Hostages were left behind and soon his brother Quadepinah came down the brook with a retinue of followers. He, too, was well entertained and so well pleased that, upon the day following, Standish and Allerton--two of the more prominent Englishmen--were invited to come to the Indian camp, where they were regaled with three or four groundnuts and some tobacco. In return for this kind treatment, the Governor of Plymouth sent for the chief's kettle and returned it filled to the brim with peas, a vegetable which the Wampanoags had never before seen. This pleased Massasoit mightily, and, next morning, he and his entire retinue returned towards their own homes, with laughter, smiles and many evidences of good feeling towards the Puritans.

Squanto--the only survivor of the tribe of Patuxets who had originally lived here--became an intimate and valued friend of the English. He taught the Puritans how to plant maize, or Indian corn, and how to enrich the soil, by spreading over it the remains of alewives--fish which ran up the brooks in April to spawn. This proved a great value to the Colonists, for the wheat and peas which they had brought from England with them, turned out to be almost worthless. Later in the year the Indian guided two ambassadors (Winslow and Hopkins) across the country to Massasoit's chief village of Pokanoket (now Warren, Rhode Island), in order that the treaty of peace which had been made with them might be confirmed. It was in summer--a period of softness and beauty in Massachusetts--and so the two Puritans, as they journeyed through the undulating country, studied its character and soil and became acquainted with the situation of the neighboring tribes. Game was plentiful, especially wild turkeys, which have long since disappeared from the Atlantic Coast, and those left behind by the hardy emissaries were busy with fishing, deer hunting, and watching the corn crop. This grew well, was cut and stored for the winter, and, with an abundance of dried fish and jerked venison, the Colonists looked forward to a much better winter than that of the year previous.

Shortly afterwards, the Narragansett Indians sent a bundle of arrows tied together with the skin of a rattlesnake to the Colonists, and--although these were known to be most warlike of all the surrounding tribes--in token of defiance, the skin was stuffed with powder and ball, and returned. An attack was now expected and so a palisade was erected outside the row of huts, but, although the Narragansetts were evidently at no loss to understand the meaning of the answer which the Puritans had sent, they left the settlement alone.

At the first Indian town to which the two ambassadors came, they were greeted by the Wampanoags with generous but humble hospitality. The Indians gave them cold cornbread, fish, and boiled, musty acorns. After the meal, Winslow shot at a crow with his musket, and, as he killed it at quite a distance, the natives were greatly astonished and amused. With a show of true kindliness, the two Puritans were directed to another Indian town, some eight miles distant, where they were welcomed by a party who were catching great numbers of fine bass in the Taunton River, and who not only gave them a supper but also a breakfast next morning. Attended by six of their hosts, upon the following day, they were crossing the river, when two old Indians upon the opposite bank ran swiftly and stealthily among the high grasses to meet them, and then with loud voices and drawn bows demanded who they were. Seeing that they were friends, their hostility turned to welcome, and, instead of shooting at them, the unfriendly braves gave them food. In return they received a small bracelet of beads. After one other stop the travelers reached Sowams, or Mount Hope--the home of Massasoit.