CHAPTER VI

. [FN]

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[FN] Not to subject ourselves to the charge of plagiarism, it may be proper to remark here, that several passages in the following notices of the Pokanoket Sachems have been taken almost unaltered from an article on _Indian Biography,_ published heretofore in the North American Review, and written by the author of this work. The same is true of a part of the subsequent notice of Tecumseh and his brother.

Synopsis of the New England Indians at the date of the Plymouth Settlement--The Pokanoket confederacy--The Wampanoag tribe--Their first head-Sachem, known to the English--Massasoit--The first interview between him and the whites--His visit to Plymouth, in 1621--Treaty of peace and friendship--Embassy sent to him at Sowams, by the English--Anecdotes respecting it--He is suspected of treachery or hostility, in 1622--His sickness in 1623--A second deputation visits him--Ceremonies and results of the visit--His intercourse with other tribes--Conveyances of land to the English--His death and character--Anecdotes.

The clearest, if not the completest classification of the New England Indians, at the date of the settlement of Plymouth, includes five principal confederacies, each occupying their own territory, and governed by their own chiefs. The Pequots inhabited the eastern part of Connecticut. East of them were the Narraghansetts, within whose limits Rhode Island, and various smaller islands in the vicinity, were comprised. The Pawtucket tribes were situated chiefly in the southern section of New Hampshire, the Massachusetts tribes around the bay of their own name; and between these upon the north and the Narraghansetts upon the south, the Pokanokets claimed a tract of what is now Bristol county, (Rhode Island) bounded laterally by Taunton and Pawtucket rivers for some distance, together with large parts of Plymouth and Barnstable.

This confederacy exercised some dominion over the Indians of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and over several of the nearest Massachusetts and Nipmuck tribes;--the latter name designating an interior territory, now mostly within the boundaries of Worcester county. Of the Pokanokets, there were nine separate cantons or tribes, each governed by its own petty sagamore or squaw, but subject to one grand-sachem, who was also the

## particular chief of the Wampanoag canton, living about Montaup. [FN]

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[FN] This celebrated eminence (frequently called, by corruption of the Indian name, Mount-Hope) is a mile or two east of the village of Bristol. It is very steep on all sides, and terminates in a large rock, having the appearance to a distant spectator, of an immense dome.

The first knowledge we have of the Wampanoags, and of the individuals who ruled over them and the other Pokanokets, is furnished in the collections of Purchas, on the authority of a Captain Dermer, the Master Thomas Dirmire spoken of by John Smith in his _New England Trialls,_ as "an vnderstanding and industrious gentleman, who was also with _him_ amongst the Frenchmen." Dermer was sent out from England in 1619, by Sir F. Gorges, on account of the President and Council of New England, in a ship of two hundred tons. He had a Pokanoket Indian with him, named Squanto, one of about twenty who had been kidnapped on the coast by Captain Hunt, in 1614, and sold as slaves at Malaga for twenty pounds a man. [FN] Squanto and a few others of the captives were either rescued or redeemed, by the benevolent interposition of some of the monks upon that island. "When I arrived," says Dermer in his letter to Purchas, "at my savage's native country, finding all dead, I traveled along a day's journey to a place called Nummastaquyt, where, finding inhabitants, I despatched a messenger a day's journey further west, to Pacanokit, which bordereth on the sea; whence came to see me two kings, attended with a guard of fifty armed men, who being well satisfied with that my savage and I discoursed unto them, (being desirous of novelty) gave me content in whatsoever I demanded. Here I redeemed a Frenchman, and afterwards another at Masstachusitt, who three years since escaped shipwreck at the northeast of Cape Cod." One of these two kings--as the sachems were frequently entitled by the early writers,--must have been Massasoit, so well known afterwards to the Plymouth settlers; and probably the second was his brother Quadepinah. The "native country" of Squanto was the vicinity of Plymouth, where the Indians are understood to have been kidnapped. Thousands of them, there, as well as elsewhere along the whole coast of New England, had been swept off by a terrible pestilence.

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[FN] It is gratifying to learn from Smith that Hunt was punished, though not according to the baseness of his infamous crime. "He betraied foure and twentie of these poore Saluages aboord his ship, and most dishonestly and inhumanely for their kinde usage of me and all our men, carried them with him to Maligo, and there for a little priuate gaine sold those silly Saluages for Rials of eight; _but this vilde act kept him ever after from any more imploiement to these parts."_--Generale Historie of New England, published in 1632.

The first appearance of Massasoit, [FN] after the settlement of Plymouth, was upon the 22d of March, 1621, a week previous to which some information concerning him had been gathered from an Indian named Samoset, who entered the village with great boldness, and greeted the inhabitants with a "welcome." On the second occasion, he came in with four others,--having engaged to introduce some of the Wampanoags, to traffic in furs,--among whom was Squanto, at that time probably the sole remaining native of Plymouth. This party brought a few fish and skins to sell, and informed the English that the great sachem, with his brother and his whole force, were near at hand. Massasoit soon appeared upon the neighboring hill, with sixty men. As they seemed unwilling to approach nearer, Squanto was despatched to ascertain their designs; and they gave him to understand, that they wished someone should be sent to hold a parley.

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[FN] We have given the most simple orthography of this word. It is frequently written Massasoyt, Massasoiet, Massasowat, &c. Mr. Belknap says, (American Biography,) that contemporary pronunciation made it a word of four syllables, with the accent on the second,--Mas-sass-o-it. The sachem subsequently assumed another name, which has undergone still more various modifications,--Oosamequin, Woosamequin, and Ausamequin, are some of them.

Edward Winslow was appointed to this office, and he immediately carried presents to the sachem, which were willingly accepted. He addressed him also in a speech of some length, which the Indians listened to with the decorous gravity characteristic of the race, ill-explained as it was by the interpreter. The purport of the speech was, that King James saluted the sachem, his brother, with the words of peace and love; that he accepted him as his friend and ally; and that the Governor desired to see him, and to trade and treat with him upon friendly terms. Massasoit appears to have made no special reply to this harangue, for the sufficient reason, probably, that he did not precisely comprehend the drift of it. He paid more attention to the sword and armor of Winslow while he spoke; and when he had ceased speaking, signaled his disposition to commence the proposed trade forthwith by buying _them._ They were not, however, for sale; and so, leaving Winslow in the custody of his brother, he crossed a brook between him and the English, taking with him twenty of the Wampanoags, who were directed to leave their bows and arrows behind them. Beyond the brook he was met by Captain Standish and another gentleman, with an escort of six armed men, who exchanged salutations with him, and attended him to one of the best houses in the village. [FN] Here, a green rug was spread upon the floor, and three or four cushions piled on it for his accommodation. The Governor then entered the house, followed by several soldiers, and preceded by a flourish of a drum and trumpet,--a measure probably recommended by Standish, and which answered the purpose of delighting and astounding the Wampanoags, even beyond expectation. It was a deference paid to their sovereign, which pleased as well as surprised them. The sachem and the Governor now kissed each other, and after the interchange of certain other civilities, sat down together, and regaled themselves with what Neal calls an entertainment. It consisted, it seems, chiefly of "strong waters, a thing the savages love very well; and the sachem took such a large draught of it at once, as made him sweat all the while he staid." A treaty was concluded upon this occasion, the terms of which were as follows.

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[FN] A stone arch has in modern times been thrown over this brook, to point out the precise spot of the meeting. The hill where the chieftain first appeared was by the settlers of his time called "Strawberry-Hill."

1. That neither he, nor any of his (Massasoit's) should injure or do hurt to any of their people.

2. That if any of his did any hurt to any of theirs, he should send the offender, that they might punish him.

3. That if any thing were taken away from any of theirs, he should cause it to be restored, and they should do the like to his.

4. That if any did unjustly war against him, they would aid him; and if any did war against them, he should aid them.

5. That he should send to his neighbor confederates, to inform them of this, that they might not wrong them, but might be likewise comprised in these conditions of peace.

6. That when his came to them upon any occasion they should leave their arms behind them.

7. That so doing, their Sovereign Lord King James, would esteem him as his friend and ally.

"All which," says Morton,--and some other annalists agree with him,--"he liked very well, and withal, at the same time, acknowledged himself content to become the subject of our Sovereign Lord the King aforesaid, his heirs and successors; and gave unto him all the lands adjacent, to him and his heirs forever." This acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the King, if it really made a part of the agreement, certainly deserved a place as a distinct article; being by far more important than all the others. The grant of land,--and this grant constituted the entire title of the Plymouth settlers, as against the natives,--is confirmed by subsequent transactions, and especially by the acts of Massasoit. But his submission to the authority of King James, as a subject to a sovereign, is more doubtful; nor does it by any means accord with the seventh express article. That the treaty itself also was not preserved precisely as it was probably understood, may be inferred from the variations of it given by Mourt in his Relation. According to _his_ sixth article, for example, a just reciprocity is maintained, by providing that the English should leave their _pieces_ behind them in their interviews with the Indians. This distinction between alliance and subjection,--at least in the mind of one of the parties,--seems to have been too much overlooked.

Such, however, was the first treaty made with the Indians of New England,--a passage in its history of great interest. It was made upon peaceable and honorable terms. The Indians came in voluntarily to make it; and though they received as a consideration for the immense territory granted at the time, only a pair of knives, and a copper chain with a jewel in it for the grand sachem; and a knife, a jewel to hang in his ear, a pot of strong water, a good quantity of biscuit, and some butter for Quadepinah, [FN]--yet were all parties satisfied with the substance as they were gratified by the ceremonies of the agreement. It is pleasing to learn from history, that this simple negotiation was remembered and adhered to on both sides for the unparalleled term of half a century; nor was Massasoit, or any of the Wampanoags during his lifetime, convicted by the harshest revilers of his race, of having violated, or attempted to violate, any of its plain, just, and deliberate provisions.

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[FN] So minutely is the transaction described in _The Journal of a Plantation at Plymouth,_ preserved by Purchas, and re-published among the Historical Collections of Massachusetts. There is reason to think that Winslow was the author.

The two parties seem to have regarded each other on this occasion with a curiosity of equal interest and minuteness; for while the sachem was inspecting the armor of Winslow, and his Wampanoags exerting themselves to blow the trumpet in imitation of their hosts, [FN] the English by-standers, on the other hand, were making their own observations. The writer of the _Journal of a Plantation settled at Plymouth,_ describes Massasoit as "a very lusty man, in his best years, an able body, grave of countenance, and spare of speech." In his attire, he is said to have differed little from the rest of his followers, excepting that he wore a large chain of white bone-beads about his neck, which was, probably, one of the royal _insignia;_ and that he had suspended from it behind, a little bag of tobacco, which he _drank,_ says the writer, "and gave us to drink." His appearance otherwise does not seem to have been particularly elegant; his face being painted of a sad red, like murrey, and both head and face so oiled that he "looked greasily." His only weapon was a long knife, swinging at his bosom by a string. His attendants were probably arrayed for this great occasion with peculiar attention to etiquette; some of them being painted black, others red, yellow, or white; some wearing crosses and "other antick works;" and several of them dressed in furs or skins of various descriptions. Being tall, strong men also, and the first natives whom most of the Colonists had ever seen near at hand, they must have made to them a somewhat imposing, as well as interesting spectacle.

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[FN] "He marvelled much at our trumpet, and some of his men would sound it as well as we could."--_Journal._

Leaving a few of their number among the whites, as hostages, the Wampanoags retired to the woods about half a mile distant and spent the night; and Winslow acted as _their_ hostage. The English were not yet prepared, it would seem, to put faith in the professions of savages; for they kept strict watch all night, besides retaining the security just named. Their guests, on the contrary, enjoyed themselves quietly in the woods; and there were some of their wives and children with them, who must have come upon this courteous visit from a distance of forty miles. The sachem sent several of his people the next morning, to signify his wish that some of his new friends would honor _him_ with their presence. Standish and one Alderton [FN-1] "went venturously" among them, and were cordially, if not royally welcomed with an entertainment of tobacco and ground-nuts. "We cannot yet conceive," continues our still unsatisfied informant, "but that he is willing to have peace with us; for they have seen our people sometimes alone two or three in the woods at work and fowling, when they offered them no harm, as they might easily have done." They remained at their encampment till late in the forenoon; the Governor requiting the sachem's liberality, meanwhile, by sending an express messenger for his large kettle, and filling it with dry peas. "This pleased them well; and so they went their way;"--the one party as much relieved, no doubt, as the other was gratified. [FN-2]

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[FN-1] From whom the outer point of Boston harbor is said to have been named.

[FN-2] Such was the earliest visit, of ceremony or business at least, which the natives of New England paid to the Colonists. The account given of it, though _ex parte,_ as all such descriptions must be, is honorable to the former in the highest degree. They show that many, if not most of the savages, who were fairly dealt with, were at first as sensible and as prone to kindness as could have been wished. They went unarmed among the settlers without fear, disposed to be honest and friendly at all events, and as hospitable as their means permitted. It will appear in the sequel, that they continued so for a long course of years, as they also continued faithful to their express obligations.

We meet with Massasoit again in July, 1621; an embassy being then sent to him at his own residence, Montaup or Sowams. This embassy consisted of Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins; and the objects of it were, says Mourt, [FN] "that _forasmuch as his subjects came often and without fear upon all occasions amongst us,_" so the English went now to visit him, carrying with them a coat from the Governor to his friend the sachem, as a token of good will, and desire to live peaceably. It was farther intimated, though with great delicacy, that whereas his people came frequently and in great numbers to Plymouth, wives, children, and all, and were always welcome,--yet being but strangers in the land, and not confident how their corn might prosper, they could no longer give them such entertainment as they had done, and still wished to do; If Massasoit himself, however, would visit them, or any special friend of his, he should be welcome. A request was then made, that the Pokanokets, who had furs, should be permitted to dispose of them to the Colonists. The Governor wished him also to exchange some corn for seed with the Plymouth people.

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[FN] See Mourt's Relation, part of which is also preserved in the Collections. The name of the publisher only seems to be attached to it.

The remaining article in this message is more illustrative of the relations understood to exist and to be desirable between the parties. On the first arrival of the Colonists at Cape Cod, it seems they had found corn buried there in the ground. Seeing no inhabitants in the neighborhood, "but some graves of the dead newly buried," they took the corn, with the intention of making full satisfaction for it whenever it became practicable. The owners of it were supposed to have fled through fear. It was now proposed, that these men should be informed by Massasoit,--if they could be found,--that the English were ready to pay them with an equal quantity of corn, English meal, or "any other commodities they had to pleasure them withal;" and full satisfaction was offered for any trouble which the sachem might do them the favor to take. This proposal was equally politic and just.

The visitors met with a generous, though humble hospitality, which reminds one of the first reception of Columbus by the West-Indian islanders. They reached Namaschet about three o'clock in the afternoon; and there, we are told, the inhabitants entertained them with joy, in the best manner they were able; giving them sweet bread [FN] and fish, with a less acceptable accompaniment of boiled musty acorns. Various civilities were exchanged after this primitive and savory repast,--as ancient, by the way, as the early Greeks,--and some time was passed very pleasantly in shooting a crow at a considerable distance, to the vast astonishment and amusement of the Indians. They were then directed to a place about eight miles distant, (Middleborough) where, says the Journalist, they should find "more store and better victuals." They were welcomed, on their arrival, by a party who were catching great numbers of fine bass in Taunton river, and who gave them a supper and a breakfast in the morning, besides the privilege of lodging in the woods near by over night.

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[FN] Called _maxium,_ and made of Indian corn, no doubt. Gookin says, that a meal which they made of parched maize was so sweet, so hearty, and so _toothsome,_ that an Indian would travel many days with no other food.

Attended by six of their hosts the next day, they were assisted in passing the river; and here they met with the first indications of ill-will, in the persons of two old Indians upon the opposite bank. These two, espying them as they entered the river, ran swiftly and stealthily among the high grass to meet them; and then, with loud voices and drawn bows, demanded of the strangers who they were; "but seeing we were friends," it is added, "they welcomed us with such food as they had, and we bestowed a small bracelet of beads on them." The remarks which follow this, upon the conduct of the six attendants we cannot forbear citing at large, irrelevant to our main purpose as they are. "When we came to a small brook," says our accurate writer, "where no bridge was, two of them desired to carry us through of their own accords; also fearing we were, or would be weary, offered to carry our pieces; also if we would lay off any of our clothes [it being excessively hot,] we should have them carried; and as the one of them had found more special kindness from one of the messengers, and the other savage from the other so they showed their thankfulness accordingly, in offering us help and furtherance in the journey."

After one more entertainment on the way, our travelers reached Sowams. Massasoit was not at home, but arrived soon after, and was saluted by his visitors with a discharge of musketry. He welcomed them kindly after the Indian manner, took them into his lodge, and seated them by himself. They then delivered their message and presents, the latter comprisinig a horseman's coat of red cotton, embroidered with fine lace. The sachem mounted this superb article without delay, and hung the chain, which they also gave him, about his neck, evidently enjoying the unspeakable admiration of the Wampanoags, who gaze upon him at a distance. He now answered the message, clause after clause; and particularly signified his desire to continue in peace and friendship with his neighbors. He gathered his men around him, in fine, and harangued them; they occasionally confirming what he said by their customary ejaculations. Was not he, Massasoit, commander of the country about them? Was not such a town within his dominions--and were not the people of it his subjects--and should they not bring their skins to him, if he wished it?

Thus he proceeded to name about thirty of his small settlements, his attentive auditors responding to each question. The matter being regularly settled, he lighted tobacco for his guests, and conversed with them about their own country and King, marveling, above all, that his Majesty should live with out a squaw. As it grew late, and he offered no more substantial entertainment than this,--no doubt for the sound reason, that he had nothing to offer,--his guests intimated a wish to retire for the night. He forthwith accommodated them, with himself and his wife, they at one end and his visitors at the other, of a bed consisting of a plank platform, raised a foot or two from the ground and covered with a thin mat. Two of his chief men, probably by way of compliment, were also stationed upon the same premises; and this body-guard performed their pressing duty of escort so effectually, that no other circumstances were necessary to make the honored guests "worse weary of their lodging than they had been of their Journey."

On the following day, many of the petty chiefs, with their subjects, came in from the adjacent country, and various sports and games were got up for the entertainment of the English. At noon, they partook, with the sachem and about forty others of a meal of boiled fish _shot_ by himself, (probably with arrows.) They continued with him until the next morning, when they departed, leaving Massasoit "both grieved and ashamed" that he could not better entertain him. Very importunate he was, adds the Journalist, to have them stay with him longer; but as they had eaten but one meal for two days and a night, with the exception of a partridge, which one of them killed; and what with their location at night, the "savages' barbarous singing of themselves to sleep," mosquitoes without doors, and other trifling inconveniences within, could not sleep at all; they begged to be excused,--on the score of conscience, Sunday being near at hand,--not to mention that they were growing light-headed, and could hardly expect, if they stayed much longer, to be able to reach home.

Massasoit's friendship was again tested in March, 1622, when an Indian, known to be under Squanto's influence, [FN] came running in among a party of colonists, with his face gashed, and the blood fresh upon it, calling out to them to flee for their lives, and then looking hind him as if pursued. On coming up, he told them that the Indians, under Massasoit, were congregating at a certain place for an attack upon the Colony; that he had received his wounds in consequence of opposing their designs; and had barely escaped from them with his life. The report occasioned no little alarm; although the correctness of it was flatly denied by Hobamock, a Pokanoket Indian resident at Plymouth, who recommended that a messenger should be sent secretly to Sowams, for the purpose of ascertaining the truth. This was done, and the messenger, finding every thing in its usually quiet state, informed Massasoit of the reports circulated against him. He was excessively incensed against Squanto, but sent his thanks to the Governor for the opinion of his fidelity, which he understood him to retain; and directed the messenger to assure him, that he should instantly apprize him of any conspiracy which might at any future time take place.

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[FN] Which, it may be here observed, was quite considerable. Squanto was ambitious and meddlesome, though not malicious--well-disposed and serviceable to the English, but a little too anxious to have credit for that fact among his countrymen. He amused himself with telling them that the whites kept the plague barreled up in their cellars, that they intended war upon various tribes, &c. for the sake of being employed, sometimes hired, to act as mediator; and of course he always succeeded in settling the difficulty. Squanto died in November, 1622, on an expedition fitted out by Governor Bradford for obtaining corn among the Indians. His last request was, that the governor would pray for him that he might go to the Englishman's God in Heaven. He bequeathed, his little property to his English friends. So perished the last aboriginal of the Plymouth soil. He sometimes played "Jack upon both sides," as Hubbard says, but his death was justly considered a public loss.

That the declarations of Massasoit, upon this occasion, were far from being mere words of compulsion or of courtesy, is abundantly proved by his conduct during the next season, 1623. Early in the spring of that year, news came to Plymouth, that he was very sick at Sowams; and it was determined to send Mr. Winslow to visit him once more, in token of the friendship of the colonists. That gentleman immediately commenced his journey, being provided with a few cordials, and attended by "one Master John Hampden, a London gentleman, who then wintered with him, and desired much to see the country,"--no doubt the same character so eminently distinguished afterwards in the politics of England.

They heard, at various places on their route, that the sachem was already dead; and their guide, Hobamock, indulged himself all the way in the most unbounded grief. They found him still living, however, on their arrival; and the multitude of dependents and friends who thronged his lodge, made way as fast as possible for their admittance and accommodation. He appeared to be reduced to the last extremities. Six or eight women were employed in chafing his cold limbs, and the residue of the numerous company were exerting themselves to the utmost, meanwhile, in making what Winslow rather uncharitably calls "such a hellish noise as distempered those that were well." [FN] He had the good sense to wait for the conclusion of the ceremony; and the exhausted performers being then satisfied they had done all that in them lay for the benefit of the patient, one of them apprised him of the arrival of the English.

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[FN] Probably an Indian Powah was leader of the chorus. Of these barbarian quacks, Roger Williams says, that "the poore people commonly dye under their hands," for the very good reason that they "administer nothing, but howle, and roar, and hollow over them, and begin the song to the rest of the people about them, who all joyne (like a quire) in prayer to the gods for them." _Key to the Indian Language,_