Part 13

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.

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.

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.

Sassacus ever regarded the English with feelings of jealousy and hatred. As he considered them, intruders on his domains, he was determined to expel them, if possible. Fired with rage, he breathed nothing but war and revenge. The utmost effort and art were employed by him to produce a combination of Indian power against them. The Narragansets, as related in another place, barely escaped the snare. But though unable to effect any extensive union, Sassacus was firm in himself, and inspired all the Indians under his influence with the resentment that burned in his own bosom.

Finding war with this powerful and exasperated chief unavoidable, the Connecticut people prepared for it with such means and resources as they could command. A court was summoned to meet at Hartford on the 1st day of May, 1637, at which it was resolved, that an offensive war should be immediately commenced against the Pequods. Ninety men were ordered to be raised from the three towns on Connecticut river, and Captain John Mason was appointed to command an expedition into the heart of the Pequod country. At the same time, the report of the slaughter and horrid cruelties, committed by this savage tribe against the people of Connecticut, roused the other colonies to exertions against the common enemy. Massachusetts resolved to send two hundred men, and Plymouth forty, to assist the sister-colony in prosecuting the war. Captains Stoughton, Trask, and Patrick, were appointed their commanders.

The troops embarked at Hartford on the 10th of May, and sailed down the river to Saybrook. They consisted of ninety Englishmen, and about seventy Mohegans and river Indians. While at Saybrook, forty of the Indians under Mason, being out at some distance from the place, fell in with about forty of the enemy, killed seven and captured one, who was brought to the fort, and executed by the English. Here the little army was joined by Captain Underhill with nineteen men, who had some months before been sent by the governor of Massachusetts to strengthen the garrison at Saybrook. This accession to his forces permitted Mason to send back twenty of his original number for the protection of the infant settlements on the river, which were peculiarly exposed at this crisis. The whole force, including the Indians, was embodied and directed by Mason. After remaining several days at Saybrook to complete his arrangements, he sailed, with his Connecticut forces, for Narraganset bay, where he arrived on the 19th of May. At this place, two hundred of Miantonimoh's warriors were engaged to accompany the English forces on the expedition. Information was now received from Captain Patrick, that he had arrived at Providence with forty Massachusetts' men, under orders to join the troops of Connecticut. For various reasons, but chiefly from an apprehension that the Pequods might gain intelligence of the expedition, Mason commenced his march, without waiting for Patrick's company, and soon reached Nehantick, the seat of the Narraganset sachems. Here he was joined by an additional company of Indians--the whole army, including the English, amounting to more than five hundred.