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 THE PEQTJOT INDIANS. 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 BY RICHARD A. WHEELER. 
 
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THE PEQUOT INDIANS 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 BY RICHARD A. WHEELER. 
 
 The origin of the Pequot tribe of Indians must forever remain a 
 mystery. Some writers have supposed that not long before this 
 country was settled by Europeans they were an inland tribe, who, 
 by their superior numbers and prowess, fought their way !o the 
 seaside, and established their fortresses in what is now the town 
 of Groton. Others have supposed that they belonged to the Mo- 
 hegan tribe of Indians, who, under the leadership of Pequoate, the 
 father of Sassacus, seceded from the Mohegans, and established an 
 independent tribe, taking the name of their Sachem, and in time 
 overwhelmed the Mohegans, and held them as tributaries. 
 
 Not satisfied with their success, they sought to establish their 
 dominion over the surrounding tribes ; and had so far succeeded 
 as to extend their power and authority eastward to Wecapaug in 
 Westerly, Ehode Island, where they were met and held in check 
 by the powerful tribe of Narragansett Indians ; southward they 
 extended their sway to, and in some places beyond, the Connecti 
 cut river, and as far north as the town of Windsor. When these 
 events transpired cannot now be determined, or whether they ever 
 happened as here narrated is not certainly known ; but this we do 
 know, that when Adrian Block, a Dutch navigator, explored our 
 sea coast in 1614, the Pequot and Mohegan Indians were located 
 in the same places that they occupied in 1633, when our State was 
 first settled by the English. 
 
 The Pequots were governed by a powerful Sachem, whom they 
 idolized and regarded " as all one God." Under his leadership 
 they had become a terror to the neighboring tribes, with whom 
 they had frequently been engaged in deadly hostilities. 
 
 The various tribes and clans tributary to the Pequots hailed the 
 coming of the white man as an omen that foreshadowed their re 
 lease from the tyranny of Sassacus. The Connecticut river In 
 dians made the first effort to secure an alliance with the Massachu 
 setts and Plymouth colonies. 
 
 In the year 1631, an Indian Sachem by the name of Wah-qui-ma- 
 cut visited the Governors of the Plymouth and Massachusetts colo 
 nies, and offered them strong inducements to come and settle in 
 
 M149817 
 
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 the beautiful valley of the Connecticut, and proposed that two men 
 should be delegated to view the country and report to the Govern 
 ors. Gov. Winthrop declined the offer ; but Governor Winslow, 
 of Plymouth, held the matter under consideration, and soon after 
 visited the place, and on his return home gave a glowing descrip 
 tion of its fertility, which tempted many a Puritan to leave his 
 sterile home at Plymouth and explore this Indian paradise from 
 the mouth of the river far back towards its sources. 
 
 Meantime the shrewd and active Pequots were watching with 
 sleepless vigilance the movements of the Plymouth people, doubt 
 less foreseeing the danger that would result to them from a settle 
 ment of the English upon the Connecticut river, and sought to 
 counteract and prevent it by an alliance with the Dutch. For as 
 early as 1632 they sold lands at Saybrook to the Dutch . Governor 
 at New Amsterdam, and in June, 1633, Wa-py-quart, a Pequot Sa 
 chem, sold to the West India Company, through their agent Van 
 Culer, a tract of meadow land now covered by the city of Hartford, 
 on which h immediately proceeded to erected a fort, which he 
 called the "House of Good Hope." 
 
 During the month of September, 1633, John Oldham, with sev 
 eral others of the Dorchester plantation, visited Connecticut, and 
 were kindly received by the native chiefs, who gave them some 
 valuable presents of Indian hemp and beaver skins. During this 
 year the Plymouth people formed a trading company, and sent 
 William Holmes in October to erect a trading house at a place pre 
 viously selected on the west side of the Connecticut river, just be 
 low the mouth of the Farmington, or Tunxis river, in the present 
 town of Windsor. Captain Holmes reached the Connecticut river 
 in safety, and sailed up the same, and passed the Dutch fort at 
 Hartford in proud defiance, and erected the house at the place de 
 signated, and with the utmost haste surrounded it with palizadoes. 
 He carried back to their native place Attawanott and several other 
 Indian Sachems, who had been driven away by the warlike Pequots, 
 and of whom the Plymouth people purchased the land. The Dutch 
 fort at Hartford was a harmless affair, and soon ceased to exist as 
 such. 
 
 The Dutch Arms at Saybrook were torn down by the English in 
 1634, and replaced with a fool s head. Thus ended practically the 
 power of the Dutch in Connecticut, and the hopes of the haughty 
 Pequots in that direction were blasted forever. But they were so 
 incensed at Holmes for bringing back Attawanott and his Sachems 
 to Windsor, that they kept him and the friendly Indians continual 
 ly on the defensive, and at every opportunity attacked the English 
 settlers, and murdered such as they could lay their hands on. 
 
 In 1633, as two English traders, viz. Captain Stone and Captain 
 Norton, were ascending Connecticut river in a vessel, being unac 
 quainted with the channel, they hired Indian pilots to direct theno ; 
 but faithless and treacherous guides they proved to be, for they 
 murdered both officers atitl ciew. consisting of nine men. 
 
 Soon after the murder of Captain Stone, the old feud between 
 the Narragansetts and Pequots began to exhibit itself, which 
 alarmed Sassacus and his Sachems ; so that they sought an alii- 
 
ance, offensive and defensive, with the English in Massachusetts, 
 and sent a messenger to Boston to propose a treaty. But the 
 governor, distrusting the position of the ambassador, ordered him 
 to return, and say to the Pequots, that they must send men of 
 more consequence, or he would not treat with them. 
 
 Soon after two Pequots of royal blood appeared with an accept 
 able present. Negotiations were entered into which resulted in a 
 treaty by which the Indians were to give the English all their title 
 to the lands on the Connecticut river, if they would send men to 
 live there and trade with them ; they would also give them four 
 hundred fathoms of wampum, forty beaver skins, and thirty other 
 skins. 
 
 Soon after the conclusion of this treaty, and during the year 
 1635, four English plantations were commenced upon Connecticut 
 river, three of them by congregations that came with their minis 
 ters from the Massachusetts settlements, and the other was effect 
 ed by John Winthrop, Jr., at Say brook, under a commission from 
 Lord Say and Seal, Lord Brook, and others. 
 
 Notwithstanding this treaty, the government of Massachusetts 
 distrusted the friendship of the Pequots, and inasmuch as Sassa- 
 cus did not use his influence to procure the murderers of Captain 
 Stone and Norton, and deliver them to the English, as was promis 
 ed by the Pequots preliminary to said treaty, they sent instructions 
 to Mr. Wintbrop, then at Sav brook, to demand of the Pequots "a 
 solemn meeting of conference," and lay before them certain charges, 
 which, if they could not refute or render suitable reparation there 
 for, then all the presents made by the Pequots to the Massachu 
 setts government were to be returned to them, with a protest, 
 equi vale ut to a declaration of war. 
 
 Their instructions were dated at Boston, July 4th, 1636, and 
 were brought to Saybrook by Mr. Fenwick, Hugh Peters, and 
 Capt. Oldham, with whom came Thomas Stanton to act as inter 
 preter. 
 
 The Pequot Sachem was sent for, who appeared ; the conference 
 was held ; but no satisfaction could be obtained from him ; where 
 upon the presents were returned ; but war was not declared, though 
 they separated with unfriendly feelings toward each other. 
 
 About the time that Mr. Fenwick left Boston for Saybrook to 
 treat with the Indians, Capt. Oldham, while on a trading expedi 
 tion, was murdered by the Indians near Block Island, and all on 
 board his vessel perished with him. Another trader, Capt. John 
 Gallup of Boston, speedily avenged his death, and sent his murder 
 ers to the bottom of the deep. 
 
 The brutal murder of Capt. Oldham was traced to some of the 
 Narragansett Sachems, who had contrived the plan to murder him. 
 It is not probable that the Pequots had anything to do with it. It 
 is more probable that he was murdered by the Narragansetts be 
 cause he was supposed to favor peace with Pequots, having visited 
 them a short time before, with Mr. Fenwick, for that purpose. 
 
 The Governor, acting uuder the advice of the magistrates and 
 ministers of Massachusetts, resolved that the Block Island Indians 
 should be chastised. John Endicott, with ninety men, was order- 
 
ed to sail for Block Island, and put to death all the men, and take 
 the women and children prisoners, after which he was directed to 
 sail for Pequot harbor, and demand of the Pequots the murderers 
 of Captain Stone and his crew ; if the Pequots failed to comply, to 
 use force. 
 
 Endicott repaired to Block Island, killed fourteen Indians, de 
 stroyed their corn and burned their wigwams ; then sailed for Pe 
 quot harbor, via Saybrook, and reported to Lyon Gardener, who 
 commanded the fort there, what he bad done at Block Island. Gar 
 dener, who believed the Narragansetts, and not the Block Island 
 Indians, guilty of the murder of Oldham, complained bitterly of 
 this rash act. 
 
 Endicott lost no time in reaching Peqaot harbor, and took the 
 Indians by surprise. He landed on the east side, and ascended the 
 hill, where he found Indian cornfields, dotted here and there with 
 wigwams, and demanded the heads of the Pequots who had killed 
 Captain Stone, or he would fight. He demanded an interview with 
 Sassacus, and was told that the chief was at Long Island, and 
 could not be seen. After a fruitless attempt to find a responsible 
 Sachem with whom to confer, he advanced and burned all the wig 
 wams that he could find, and at night re-embarked his men. 
 
 The next day they landed on the west side of said harbor, prob 
 ably where the city of New London now stands, and burned and 
 desolated th country. Gardener, while disapproving Endicott s 
 expedition, furnished him with twenty men, and instructed them to 
 bring back corn, if not Indians. In undertaking to get the corn, 
 after Endicott and his men had left, they were attacked with such 
 force by the Indians that it was with the greatest difficulty that 
 they reached their vessel with their plunder. Endicott and his 
 men returned to Boston, and thus ended an unwise expedition, 
 fruitful of unhappy events. 
 
 The Ptquots lost but one man, which, with the destruction of 
 their wigwams and corn, made them all the more troublesome and 
 dangerous. They first attacked Saybrook fort, whither some of 
 their corn had been transported, and in October took one Butter- 
 field prisoner, and roasted him alive with horrible tortures. Soon 
 after, they captured a man by the name of Tilly, who commanded a 
 vessel. They killed his attendant outright, then cut off Tilly s 
 hands, amputated his feet, and then by the most infernal ingenuity 
 that devils could invent, tortured him to death. They invested the 
 Saybrook fort so closely that Gardener lost a number of his men, 
 who were ambushed and slain by the Indians. So closely was he 
 pressed, that daring the winter of 1636 and 37, Captain Mason and 
 twenty men were sent down to reinforce the garrison at Saybrook. 
 
 In March, the Indians took a shallop, as she was sailing down the 
 river with three men. One was killed in the fight, and the other 
 two were murdered, cut to pieces, and bung upon the branches of 
 the trees, to taunt and defy the power of the English. 
 
 In April following, the Pequots went up to Wethersfield and way 
 laid the planters. They killed six men, and took two girls captive, 
 whom they finally allowed the Dutch to ransom when they returned 
 home. 
 
About this time Massachusetts sent John Underbill to reinforce 
 the garrison at Saybrook. When he reached the fort, Mason and 
 his men returned to Hartford. 
 
 On the first day of May, 1637, the General Court of Connecticut 
 assembled at Hartford. These horrible Indian massacres had 
 aroused the English, and caused them to make a desperate effort to 
 save themselves from a like fate. The four English plantations on 
 the river consisted of less than three hundred souls, surrounded 
 by more than ten thousand savages resident within the present 
 limits of our State. The frequent secessions that had occurred 
 among the Indians had torn them into a large number of tribes 
 and clans, antagonistic to each other. 
 
 For a long time previous to the coming of the English, Uncas 
 and the Mohegans had been subject to the Pequots. They had 
 made four attempts to secede and establish an independent tribe, 
 but failed ; but as soon as the English had commenced their settle 
 ment on the Connecticut river, Uncas with his adherents seceded 
 and joined the Connecticut river Indians in the vicinity of Hartford 
 and Windsor, who had previously invited the planters to come and 
 settle among them. 
 
 The failure of the Pequots to make a satisfactory treaty with the 
 English, who had restored the Connecticut river Indians to their 
 rightful territory, and ousted the Dutch from the land sold them 
 by the Pequots, and finally had sided with and sheltered Uncas, 
 the arch rebel, who had so often defied them, was too much for the 
 proud, warlike Pequots to endure ; so they resolved to extirpate the 
 English, not by a bold, manly effort, but by cutting tbem up piece 
 meal, with fire and torture, the most diabolical and inhuman. 
 
 So, when the General Court assembled, they declared war, offens 
 ive war, against the Pequots, and raised an army of ninety men to 
 invade the territory of the most warlike and cruel of all the New 
 England tribes, and appointed Captain John Mason commander in- 
 chief of the expedition. The soldiers were enlisted, equipped and 
 provisioned in ten days, and sailed from Hartford, May 10th, 1637, 
 accompanied by Uncas and seventy friendly Indians. The fleet 
 consisted of three vessels, and the English being unacquainted with 
 the navigation of the river, ran their vessels aground several times, 
 but after five days they reached Saybrook fort. 
 
 Uucas and his men were so impatient of delay that they begged 
 to be set ashore, promising to meet the English at Saybrook, to 
 which Mason consented. Uncas kept his word, and on his way 
 down fell in with a clan of Pequots, killed some of them, and took 
 one prisoner, who happened to be a spy, whom he executed in true 
 Pequot style. 
 
 Capt. Underbill tendered to Mason his services, with nineteen 
 men, for the expedition, on condition that Capt. Gardener, the com 
 mander of the fort, would consent, which was cheerfully granted. 
 Mason then sent back twenty of his own men to guard the well- 
 nigh defenceless settlement during his absence. 
 
 His little fleet lay wind-bound near the mouth of the river until 
 the 18th, during which time Mason summoned and held a council 
 of war, which, after protracted discussions and advice of their chap- 
 
6 
 
 lain, decided to change the order of the General Court, and set sail 
 for Narragansett Bay. They left Friday morning, and reached 
 there Saturday evening, but were not able to land on account of the 
 weather before the next Tuesday evening, May 23d, when they im 
 mediately set out for the residence of Miantouomoh. 
 
 During the night, an Indian runner brought news to Mason, that 
 Capt. Patrick, with forty men from the Massachusetts colony, had 
 reached Providence, on their way to join in the expedition against 
 the Pequots. But Mason decided not to wait, but marched the 
 next morning, May 24th, for the Pequot fort. As he proceeded he 
 was joined by a large party of Narragansetts sent on by Miantono- 
 moh. 
 
 He reached the Niantic fort the next evening, which he surround 
 ed until morning, when, after a fatiguing march of twelve miles, he 
 reached the fording place in Pawcatuck river, when Mason and his 
 army halted and rested. After dinner, they marched on to Taug- 
 wonk in Stonington, where they found a field just planted with In 
 dian corn ; here they halted and held another council of war. Ma 
 son now learned for the first time that the Pequots had two forts, 
 both of which were very strong. At first it was decided to attack 
 both, but after learning that the one where Sassacus commanded 
 was too remote to be reached in time, they resolved to go ahead and 
 attack the fort at Mystic. 
 
 Their line of march all the way from Narragansett had been 
 along the old Indian path, traveled from time immemorial by the 
 natives, until they crossed Pawcatuck river, and reached Taugwonk. 
 But from Taugwonk onward they deployed to the north, to avoid 
 being discovered by the Pequots at Mystic fort, and at early eve 
 ning they reached a place now known as Porter s Rocks, in Groton, 
 where between two high ledges "they pitched their little camp." 
 The night was clear, with a shining moon, and after Mason had set 
 his guards he and his men lay down and slept. About two hours 
 before day, the men were called, and ordered to get ready, and after 
 commending themsevles to the keeping of the all-wise Disposer of 
 events, they set out for the fort, which was about two miles off. 
 
 There were two entrances to the fort, and it was decided that 
 Mason should enter on the northeast side, and Underhill on the 
 southwest side. Mason went forward, and when within a rod of 
 the fort was discovered by a Pequot, who cried out, " Owanux ! 
 Owanux !" 
 
 Mason and his men entered the fort through the northeast pas 
 sage, while Underbill and his men passed in at the southwest. A 
 hand to hand contest ensued on both sides of the fort. Mason 
 soon saw that his only hope of complete success lay in burning 
 their fort and wigwams, and immediately set fire to them, which 
 spread with wonderful rapidity. The scene which followed was 
 awful beyond all human description, the result of which was the 
 complete overthrow of the Pequots as a tribe, and the consequent 
 salvation of the English settlement on the Connecticut river. It 
 was the most fearful chastisement that any tribe of Indians ever 
 received ; but they were the Modocs of their day, and when we 
 consider the terrible cruelties perpetrated by them, the awful tor- 
 
tures that they inflicted upon their English captives, who shall say 
 that justice did cot overtake them ? 
 
 After the close of the battle, and while Mason and his men were 
 consulting what course to take, they discovered their vessels sailing 
 before a fair wind for Pequot harbor, and immediately resolved to 
 reach them by a march across the present town of Groton. But 
 before they were ready to move they were attacked by about three 
 hundred Pequots from the other fort at Weinshawks. Captain 
 Mason, with a file or two of his men, repelled the attack, and then 
 began his march towards his vessels. 
 
 As soon as he had left the scene of the battle, the Pequots visited 
 the site of the fort, and after beholding what had been done by the 
 English, stamped their feet and tore the hair from their heads, and 
 then pursued them down the hill with all the power that their 
 thirst for vengeance could inspire. 
 
 As soon as Mason discovered their approach, he ordered his rear 
 guard to face about and engage them, when, after a few volleys, 
 they retired, giving the little army time to rest and refresh them 
 selves by a brook at the foot of the bill on the top of which the 
 fort stood. Then, after a little while, they again commenced to 
 march, and on their way fell in with and burned several wigwams. 
 The Pequots followed, but kept at a distance, trying in vain to 
 reach and kill some of Mason s men with their arrows, receiving in 
 turn severe punishment, for every Pequot that fell by their deadly 
 aim was scalped by the friendly Indians. 
 
 Getting tired of their pursuit, and of its fatal consequences to 
 them, they abandoned it, when Mason was within about two miles 
 of the harbor, after which he was unmolested until he reached 
 Pequot river. 
 
 Captain Patrick, with his men, who reached Iljarragansett soon 
 after Mason left, and before the fleet set sail on their return, em 
 barked his men on board the shallop, and came in her to Pequot 
 harbor. 
 
 Some difficulty arose between Captain Underbill and Captain 
 Patrick about re-embarking Underbill s men, which, after high 
 words, was arranged so that Underbill, with all the Connecticut 
 men but about twenty, set sail for Saybrook, while Mason and 
 twenty of his soldiers, joined by Captain Patrick and his men, with 
 the friendly Indians, marched overland to the Connecticut river. 
 
 About midway they fell in with the Niantic Indians, who fled on 
 their approach, and being exhausted with their long march, they 
 did not pursue them, but passed on to the river, reaching it about 
 sunset, where they encamped for the night. The next morning 
 they crossed over to Saybrook, and were welcomed back by Capt. 
 Gardener. 
 
 After providing for the safe return of the Narragansett Indians, 
 Mason and his men returned to Hartford, where they were received 
 with great rejoicing and praising God. 
 
 After the Pequots abandoned the pursuit of Mason, they imme 
 diately returned to Sassacus s fort, and charged him with being tb 
 sole cause of all the troubles that had befallen them ; and would 
 have slain him on the spot but for the entreaty of their Sachems 
 
8 
 
 and counsellors. After a long consultation, they concluded to de 
 stroy their fort and flee from their homes into various parts of the 
 country. The largest portion fled to the westward, crossing Con 
 necticut river some ways above Saybrook, where they took and slew 
 three Englishmen that they captured in a shallop. 
 
 The Governor and Council of Massachusetts decided to follow up 
 Mason s success. They raised and sent forward one hundred and 
 twenty men, under the command of Mr. Stoughton, with instruc 
 tions to prosecute the war to the bitter end. They reached Pequot 
 harbor in June, 1637, and landed on the west side, where they en 
 camped, and from which they pursued the remaining Pequots with 
 unrelenting vengeance. 
 
 Captain Stoughton was joined by Miantonomoh, and one of his 
 Sachems called Yotash, with a band of Narragansett warriors, who 
 proved a most efficient aid in hunting out the concealed Pequots. 
 They drove a large number of them into a swamp in Groton, and 
 took about on hundred prisoners. One Sachem was spared on 
 condition that he would conduct the English to Sassacus. The 
 women and children were reserved for bondage, and the men, thirty 
 in number, were walked overboard on a plank from a vessel at the 
 mouth of the Thames river. 
 
 The General Court of Connecticut met at Hartford in June, and 
 ordered that forty men should be raised and put under the command 
 of Mason to prosecute the war. They soon joined the Massachu 
 setts men under Stoughton, at Pequot. A council of war was held, 
 which decided to pursue Sassacus in his flight toward the Hudson 
 river. They soon found traces of the Pequots, who were evidently 
 moving at a slow pace, doubtless encumbered with their women 
 and children. But it was difficult to tell, from the number of trails 
 they were pursuing, which was the trail of Sassacus band. So 
 they called up the Sachem that Stoughton had spared on condition 
 that he would point out the trail of the great chief, but he refused 
 to give any information, and was put to death. 
 
 They still pursued the flying Pequots, and drove them into a 
 swamp in the town of Fairfield, where they surrounded them ; and 
 after a severe conflict, they captured about one hundred and eighty 
 prisoners, twenty lay dead upon the field, and about sixty warriors 
 escaped. Most of the property that the Pequots were endeavoring 
 to take with them fell into the hands of the English. 
 
 Sassacus was not in the swamp, for he had previously fled to the 
 Mohawks for protection, but in vain. He had defied them in his 
 prosperity, and now in his evil days they avenged themselves. They 
 beheaded him, and sent his scalp as a trophy to Connecticut. 
 
 On the 21st of September, IJncas and Miantonomoh, with the 
 remaining Pequots, met the magistrates of Connecticut at Hartford. 
 A treaty was then entered into between Connecticut, the Mohegans 
 and Narragansetts, and by its terms there was to be a perpetual 
 peace between those two tribes and the English. Then, with im 
 posing ceremonials, the magistrates divided the remainder of the 
 Pequots among the Narragansetts and Mohegans ; to Uncas they 
 gave eighty, to Miantonomoh eighty, and to Ninigret they gave 
 twenty. 
 
9 
 
 They were to be called Pequots no more, but Mohegans and Nar- 
 ragan setts ; nor were they ever to dwell again in their old haunts, 
 or occupy their planting or hunting grounds. Nearly all of those 
 that were assigned to Miantonomoh left him almost immediately 
 after they went with him to Rhode Island, and sought a home on 
 the old territory of the Pequots, in what is now the town of Wes 
 terly. The most of the Pequots given to Ninigret remained with 
 him until 1654, when, upon the demand of the English, they were 
 given up. They located themselves on both sides of Massatuxet 
 creek, where they built a large number of wigwams, and when the 
 spring returned again they planted their Indian corn and lived 
 quietly, disturbing no one. 
 
 But the General Court of Connecticut, in 1639, sent Captain Ma 
 son with forty men, and Uncas with one hundred friendly Indians, 
 to break up this new settlement of the Pequots, burn their wig 
 wams, and carry off or destroy their corn ; claiming that it was in 
 violation of the treaty between the English, Narragan setts and 
 Mohegans, for the Pequots to occupy any of the old Pequot lands. 
 
 Mason and Uncas set sail from the Connecticut river for Pawca- 
 tuck river, and first landed their forces on the Connecticut side of 
 the same, then marched up to Pawcatuck rock, (so called,) where 
 they drew up their Indian canoes, and in them crossed the river, 
 and marched immediately up to the wigwams and corn fields of the 
 Pequots, which, after a parley with them, they burned and destroy 
 ed, carrying off all the corn they could, and twenty of the Pequot 
 canoes. 
 
 The destruction of their wigwams did not cause them to abandon 
 their new home, but as son as Mason and Uncas left, they com 
 menced rebuilding their wigwams, and from the corn that they had 
 stored, and the fish and game at hand, they managed to subsist 
 until another harvest gave them food in abundance. 
 
 Notwithstanding the displeasure of th@ Connecticut authorities, 
 they continued to reside at Westerly until some time after that 
 town was settled by the English, in 1661-2. They cultivated at 
 different times over a hundred lots. Their principal village was 
 located near Massatuxet creek. 
 
 It is not known that any Sachem was chosen by or placed over 
 these Indians by the English for several years. Wequash, who 
 guided Mason to the Pequot fort, was an Eastern Niantic Sachem, 
 who had a younger brother, known by the name of Harmon Garret. 
 They were the sons of Momojoshuck, a Niantic Sachem, who had a 
 younger brother, Ninigret or Ninicraft. 
 
 After the death of Wequash, Harmon assumed the name of We 
 quash Cook, and claimed to succeed his father as the sachemdo of 
 the Niantics ; but his uncle Ninigret, having married Wequash s 
 sister, outranked him, and became the recognized sagamon of the 
 Niantics. 
 
 Wequash Cook then mingled with the Pequots, and soon became 
 their recognized chief. Subsequently he was appointed, by the 
 commissioners of the United Colonies and the General Court of 
 Connecticut, Governor of the Pequots at Pawcatuck. 
 
 That portion of the Pequot Indians assigned to Uncas by the 
 
10 
 
 Hartford treaty of 1638, refused to live with the Mohegans. They 
 sought a home where they had formerly lived, on a portion of the 
 territory now embraced within the limits of the towns of New Lon 
 don and Waterford. They were known by the name of the place 
 they then occupied, viz : Nameaugs or Namearks. Another por 
 tion of the tribe, containing some that were given to Uncas, with 
 others who escaped from the fort under cover of the smoke, and 
 quite a number who were not there at the time of its destruction, 
 located themselves at Noank. They refused to amalgamate with 
 the Mohegans, for they could net bear the tyranny of Uncas, who 
 lorded it over them with a high hand. 
 
 In 1643, the Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New 
 Haven plantations, entered into a combination or confederation un 
 der the name of the United Colonies of New England, for purposes 
 offensive and defensive, mutual advice, protection and support, with 
 power to regulate and adjust all matters concerning the welfare of 
 the Indians. 
 
 In 1649, a missionary society was formed in England, under the 
 influence of Gov. Winslow, of Plymouth, and was incorporated by 
 an act of the Long Parliament, passed July 27th of that year, un 
 der the name of " The President and Society for Propagating the 
 Gospel in New England." 
 
 In March, 1650, this society appointed the Commissioners of the 
 United Colonies agents to assist them in disseminating the Gospel 
 among the Indians of New England. 
 
 When Gov. Winthrop begun the settlement of New London, in 
 1645, he found a small portion of the Nameaugs still occupying 
 their old haunts, with a nominal chief by the name of Cassasinamon, 
 whom the English called Robbin. They were not only held tribu 
 tary to Uncas, but subject to every indignity that his savage inge 
 nuity could invent. 
 
 Notwithstanding the Nameaug Pequots had so recently been at 
 war with the English, they now received them with open arms, and 
 extended to them every accommodation in their power. Cassasina 
 mon became the servant of Gov. Winthrop, and many of his sub 
 jects rendered the English all the assistance they could. 
 
 The English planters took the part of the Nameaugs against Un 
 cas, and labored to soften the severity of his treatment of them. In 
 consequence thereof, he became jealous of Gov. Winthrop, and 
 sought in various ways to terrify and intimidate the inhabitants of 
 the new settlement. 
 
 The first display of Uncas displeasure towards the planters, on 
 account of their partiality to the Nameaugs, took place in 1646. 
 The Rev. Thomas Peters, then residing at New London, had been 
 seriously indisposed, and with returning health his appetite craved 
 some venison, which he requested the Nameaugs to procure for 
 him. 
 
 Fearing that Uncas might interfere, they hesitated at first, for 
 he claimed the sole privilege of making a hunt in his dominions ; 
 but being encouraged, and wishing to gain the friendship of the 
 planters, they concluded to make the attempt. But before engag 
 ing in the sport they sought an alliance with the Pequots and East 
 
11 
 
 ern Niantics under Harmon Garret ; so Robbin, with twenty of his 
 men, accompanied by a number of the whites, crossed the river, and 
 joined their friends under Wequash Cook, and sallied forth with 
 high hopes of catching a fine deer for Mr. Peters. 
 
 But Uncas, who had obtained notice of their design, waylaid 
 them with about three hundred of his warriors. Watching a favor 
 able opportunity, they sprang forth from their hiding place, com 
 pletely surprising the sportsmen, whom they drove in every direc 
 tion, pursuing the Nameaugs back to the new plantation, wounding 
 several of them severely, and plundering some of their habitations, 
 and threatening to pillage the whites, who became alarmed at such 
 hostile demonstrations. 
 
 During the month of September, 1646, the Commissioners of the 
 United Colonies met at New Haven, and Mr. Peters complained of 
 Uncas for interfering with his huntsmen, who were peaceably en 
 gaged in hunting on the old Pequot territory, only a part of which 
 belonged to him, whereupon he was summoned to appear and an 
 swer for himself. 
 
 He went to New Haven, and asserted his right to control the 
 Nameaugs, under the tripartite treaty of 1638 ; and further, that a 
 large number of his ^subjects had been lured from him under the 
 plea of submitting to the English. He managed his case with so 
 much shrewdness and address before the Commissioners, that he 
 obtained their favor, ancl Mr. Peters with his coadjutors were un 
 ceremoniously dismissed ; so Uncas came off victorious. 
 
 At the next meeting of the Commissioners, which took place in 
 July, 1647, Gov. Winthrop put in an appearance, with a petition 
 signed by sixty-two Pequots residing at or near Noank, entreating 
 to be released from the tyranny of Uncas, and to be allowed to set 
 tle together in one place, under the protection of the English. Af 
 ter a full hearing, Uncas was fitly rebuked for his sinful miscar 
 riages, and fined one hundred fathom of wampum ; but the Pequots 
 were ordered to return to his control, and to amalgamate with the 
 Mohegans, an order which was never carried into effect. 
 
 By this time a large portion of the Indians under Robbin had 
 taken up their residence at or near Noank, where they had a good 
 opportunity to fish and raise corn for a living. 
 
 In 1648, the Commissioners again re-enacted their decree, and 
 ordered all the Nameaugs to remain under the sway of Uncas. The 
 Commissioners continued to favor his claims to the control of the 
 Nameaugs, and disapproved of their withdrawing from him ; but in 
 1649 consented that they might go and settle by themselves in 
 some place that would not prejudice the town of New London, and 
 also on condition that they would own Uncas as their chief Sachem. 
 
 About this time, and for several years after, the haughty Mohe- 
 gan had his hands full to keep clear of the grasp of his Indian foes. 
 From the time he executed Miantonomoh until 1660, and in fact 
 until Norwich was settled by the English, Uncas was repeated 
 ly driven from Mohegan, and compelled to seek shelter among the 
 western Niantics ; nor does it appear that he ever lorded it over 
 the Nameaugs after they were located in the vicinity of Noank, un 
 der the immediate control of Robbin, where for a few years only 
 
12 
 
 they were permitted to live in peace, and not again to be disturbed 
 by Uncas, but by the English. 
 
 It was during the year 1649, that Chesebrough began the settle 
 ment of Stonington, which was soon followed by grants of land by 
 New London to Winthrop, Mason, Stanton, Denison, Miner, Bur 
 rows, Gallup, and others, between the Thames and Pawcatuck riv 
 ers, covering the most eligible locations along the seashore, some of 
 which included lands planted by the Nameaugs. The Indians did 
 not confine their planting to their villages, but broke up land where- 
 ever they could hold control from planting to harvest time. 
 
 The English claimed all the Pequot territory as belonging to 
 them by conquest ; not only the jurisdiction, but the fee thereof. 
 They regarded these Indian settlements as only by sufferance and 
 for temporary purposes. It was the object of the English, after 
 the Pequot war of 1637, to merge the remnant of that tribe with 
 the Mohegans and Narragansetts, so as to uncover and open up all 
 their lands to the English for settlement. 
 
 It will be remembered, that by the treaties between the English 
 and Indians at Hartford in 1638, and at Boston in 1645, the Pe 
 quot s were required to pay tribute to the English, which for some 
 reason was not carried into full effect until 1650, when the Com 
 missioners appointed Thomas Stanton to demand and receive it, 
 and make a return yearly of the amount collected. 
 
 In 1651, Mr. Stanton reported to the* Commissioners at New 
 Haven, that he had collected three hundred and twelve fathom of 
 wampum from all the clans of the Pequots. When this tribute was 
 laid down before the Commissioners, Uncas and others, who claim 
 ed that the Pequots were tributary to them, demanded to know 
 why this tribute was required, and how long it would continue, and 
 whether it would be visited upon their children. The Commission 
 er, by Thomas Stanton, said that this tribute was by agreement 
 due yearly since 1638 ; that it was required of them for sundry 
 murders without provocation, committed by them upon several of 
 the English at different times, as they had opportunity refusing 
 to deliver up the murderers, or to do justice upon them ; hence the 
 tribute, which had nob been paid, and twelve years tribute was 
 then due. But on further consideration it was declared by the 
 Commissioners, " that upon the payment of the same for ten years 
 thereafter they should be free therefrom (unless they drew trouble 
 upon themselves.) " 
 
 During the years 1653 and 1654, Niuigret became involved in 
 war with the Long Island Indians, very much against the policy 
 and wishes of the Commissioners. He had neglected to collect 
 and pay the wampum tribute due the English from the Pequots 
 living with his tribe, and had also employed them in his expeditions 
 against the Long Island Indians. Upon his being called to account 
 by the Commissioners for the course he was pursuing, he answered 
 them defiantly ; whereupon they ordered a large number of men to 
 assemble and rendezvous at Thomas Stanton s in Stonington, and 
 with him to go and take the Pequots from Ninigret. The men were 
 mustered in as ordered, and marched to Ninigret s fort, and de 
 manded an interview with him ; but he was not there. After maneu- 
 
13 
 
 vering awhile, they learned his whereabouts, and finally succeeded 
 in making a treaty with him, by which he gave up the Pequots, 
 and they consented to the control of the English. 
 
 About eighteen years had now elapsed since the Pequot war, dur 
 ing which time the English had made every possible effort to merge 
 and amalgamate the Pequots with the Mohegan, Niantic, and Nar- 
 ragansett tribes, but in vain. So in 1655, the Commissioners de 
 cided to take a new departure, and adopt a different policy, by 
 which the Pequots should remain in two distinct tribes or bands, 
 one at Miequamicut (Westerly,) and the other at Noank (Groton.) 
 The Commissioners adopted certain orders and instructions for 
 their government, and then appointed Cassasinamon Governor of 
 the Groton tribe, and Wequash Cook of the Westerly tribe, com 
 manding them to obey their governors at their peril. The wampum 
 tribute was to be paid to Thomas Stanton, and by him reported to 
 the Commissioners. 
 
 In 1656, Cassasinamon and Wequash Cook were re-appointed 
 Governors of the Pequots, and at their request, for certain reasons, 
 Mr. Wmthrop, Major Mason, and Captain Denison, were appointed 
 to assist them in compelling the obedience of the Pequots. 
 
 In 1657, when Cassasinamon and Wequash Cook made their an 
 nual report to the Commissioners, they made application for more 
 land, for the use of their respective tribes, and after due consider 
 ation it was agreed and ordered by the Commissioners, that We 
 quash Cook and his company should have a meet proportion of land 
 at Squamicut, This was really an enlargement of the land then oc 
 cupied by them. It was also ordered that Cassasinamon and his 
 company should have a fit proportion of land allowed them at Ware- 
 mouke, near the path that leads from Mystic river to Moheag, 
 about five or six miles from the mouth of Mystic river, and advised 
 the General Court of Connecticut to appoint proper persons to 
 bound out the same for them. 
 
 Connecticut did not at first, nor until 1666, respond to the order 
 of the Commissioners to lay out land for the Pequots. 
 
 After the Pequot war, Connecticut claimed the entire conquered 
 Pequot territory. Massachusetts, which furnished men and means 
 for the war, also claimed a share thereof. The matter was referred 
 to the Commissioners of the United Colonies, who, in 1658, decid 
 ed that all of that territory lying west of Mystic river should belong 
 to Connecticut, and all east of that river should belong to Massa 
 chusetts. Prior to this, and as early as 1649, Connecticut had 
 asserted jurisdiction as far east as Wecapaug brook, and had made 
 liberal grants of land to the early planters there. 
 
 After the decision by the Commissioners in 1658, Massachusetts 
 granted land to Harvard College (including Watch Hill,) and made 
 liberal grants to other parties, covering the entire lands occupied 
 and planted by the Pawcatuck Pequots, and nearly half of the pre 
 sent town of Stonington. 
 
 In 1660, Sosoa, who claimed to be a valorous Narragansett chief 
 tain, but by some believed to be a renegade Pequot captain, sold 
 Misquamicut, or all the land between Pawcatuck river on the west 
 and Wecapaug brook on the east, to William Vaughn, Robert Stan- 
 
14 
 
 ton, and others, who took possession the next year, under the au 
 thority of the colony of Rhode Island, ousting the Massachusetts 
 claimants as well as the Pequots. A long and bitter controversy 
 ensued between the colonies, as well as among the planters and 
 Indians. 
 
 It will be remembered that the Commissioners, in 1658, had as 
 signed Misquamicut lands to Harmon Garret s company of the Pe 
 quots, and at their sension in 1660 advised said Indians to keep 
 their possessions, and urged the Connecticut colony to lay out lands 
 for Cassasinamon at Warramouke. 
 
 In 1661, the Commissioners, recognizing the Massachusetts and 
 Connecticut grants, sugges ed an arrangement which was agreed to 
 all around, which was that the Indians should occupy their grounds 
 for five years, and then go to new land, which was to be assigned 
 them by the Massachusetts General Court, reserving the right of 
 travel to the river and sea. 
 
 At the same time the Connecticut people were stirred up to lay 
 out lands for Cassasinamon. Complaint was also made against the 
 Rhode Island planters, who were then occupying some of the lands 
 in question, whereupon the Commissioners wrote a letter to the 
 Governor of Rhode Island, protesting against their doings. A 
 message was also sent to Harmon Garret forbidding him to sell 
 any lands near Wecapaug. 
 
 Soon after the Rhode Island men took possession of Misquami 
 cut (Westerly,) they drove the Pequots from their planting grounds 
 at Massatuxet over Pawcatuck river into the town of Southertown 
 (now Stonington,) where they broke up and planted lands belong 
 ing to the English planters, by whom they were not disturbed. 
 
 It was in view of this condition of affairs that the Massachusetts 
 General Court, instead of following the advice of the Commission 
 ers, that the Pawcatuck Indians should retain possession of their 
 lands at Misquamicut until 1665, granted them eight thousand 
 acres of land, the same to be located on the Pequot territory in 
 Stonington. 
 
 The next year the Commissioners ordered that this land should 
 be laid out at Cosattuck, now North Stonington, or in some other 
 place satisfactory to the Indians. They also wrote a letter to 
 Southertown, saying that three thousand acres would be as little as 
 could well satisfy them, also reminding the town that one thousand 
 acres had been promised the Indians at Cawsut Neck, before any 
 English grants were made. This land was finally laid out at Cosat 
 tuck in such a manner as to include some English grants, already 
 occupied by the planters. 
 
 As soon as the town ascertained the boundaries of the Indian 
 lands at Cosattuck, a meeting was called, in 1664, which refused to 
 assent to the settlement proposed by the Commissioners, and ap 
 pointed a committee to go and warn the Indians off of the town lands. 
 
 By the charter of King Charles II, of 1662, Southertown had 
 again become a part of the Connecticut colony ; so the town, in 1665, 
 appealed to the General Court of Connecticut for redress, who ap 
 pointed a committee to consider the matter and report back to the 
 Court. 
 
15 
 
 This committee decided against the towD, who remonstrated, and 
 the court ordered the committee to revise their work, which was 
 done, and after mature deliberation an agreement was reached in 
 October, 1666, and another committee was appointed to lay out 
 lands for the Pequots at Pachog, outside of the bounds of Ston- 
 ingtoo. 
 
 But no lands were laid out for them at Pachog, nor in any other 
 place, mainly because there was not at that time an unoccupied 
 tract large enough for their wants. And wherever a portion was 
 designated for them, it would be found intrenching upon some 
 English grants. 
 
 Pending all these proceedings, the Indians were dispossessed of 
 their land at Misquamicut ; but not so in Stonington, for they oc 
 cupied and planted land wherever they could find it unenclosed by 
 the English. When they first crossed the river in 1661, a majority 
 of them located themselves at Pawcatuck and Cawsut Neck, near 
 the salt water. Thomas Stanton and the heirs of Walter Palmer 
 held grants of these lands from the colony of Connecticut, and they 
 labored to have the Pequots removed to Cosattuck, which was an 
 inland place. 
 
 Catapeset, a son of Harmon Garret, with a considerable company 
 of the Pequots, located themselves on Taugwonk, on lands belong 
 ing at the time to Ephraim Miner. There they remained for a long 
 time, cultivating some of the best land in Stonington, and there 
 they had a village, and there to-day is their burial place. 
 
 Stanton and the Palmers did not succeed in getting rid of the 
 Indians for a number of years, though under their influence a large 
 part of them went up to Cosattuck to live, while a large part of 
 their young men lived with and worked for the English. Pawca 
 tuck river was their favorite fishing place, and after their removal, 
 for years and years, they would with every returning spring repair 
 to their old haunts, and remain during the fishing season, and carry 
 back to their inland wigwams an innumerable host of smoked 
 buckies. 
 
 For several years after their failure to secure eight thousand 
 acres of land at Cosattuck, they were none of the best of neighbors. 
 They were so much dissatisfied that in 1669-70 they lent a listen 
 ing ear to the wily messengers of King Philip, and their chief men 
 attended a big dance at Robbinstown, where were congregated a 
 large number of Indians hitherto hostile to each other. But 
 through the influence of Mason, Stanton, Denison, and others, they 
 were persuaded to remain friendly to the English, and finally took 
 up arms in their defense. 
 
 At the swamp fight in Rhode Island, in 1675, Captain John Gal 
 lup, of Stonington, commanded the warriors of Harmon s company, 
 and Captain James Avery, of New London, commanded the warriors 
 of Cassasinamon s company, where they distinguished themselves 
 for their bravery, and fidelity to the English. 
 
 They also joined the expeditions under Captain George Denison 
 against the Narragansett Indians and the remnant of King Philip s 
 men, and performed good service. 
 
 and Cassasinamon were present and assisted in captur 
 
16 
 
 ing Quonochut in Rhode Island, and aided at his execution at An 
 guilla Lands in Stonington, in 1676, for all of which they received 
 valuable presents from the English, and were afterwards treated 
 with more lenity by them. 
 
 In October, 1676, Harmon and his son Catapset gave to the Eng 
 lish a quit-claim deed of all their lands in Stonington bounds, on 
 condition that the General Court of Connecticut would restore to 
 them their old grounds at Misquamicut, which the court undertook 
 to do, and granted them more than one half of the present town of 
 Westerly. It is difficult to tell what sort of a title, if any, either 
 party had to the lands conveyed. The Indians did not undertake 
 to get possession of Misquamicut again, nor abandon their Ston 
 ington lands. 
 
 The year previous, the General Court enacted a code of laws for 
 the Pequot Indians under Cassasinamon and Harmon Garret, and 
 authorized the appointment of an Indian constable to execute their 
 laws. The General Court continued these Sachems in power as 
 governors of their respective tribes as long as they lived, and after 
 their death selected and appointed trustworthy Pequots to fill their 
 places, with English assistants to aid them in the discharge of their 
 duties until 1699 ; after which the Indian Governors were dispensed 
 with, and guardians and overseers were substituted in their places. 
 
 Harmon Garret did not live to see his tribe settled on land they 
 could call tbeir own, nor did he get even a glimpse of his promised 
 land. He died in 1678, leaving a Will, by which he bequeathed 
 land to Major John Talcott and John Allen, one hundred acres each. 
 
 After his death, Momoho, a noted Pequot, was appointed Gover 
 nor in place of Harmon Garret, whose first exploit was to lure Cas- 
 sasinamon s company away from him. He so far succeeded as to 
 cause a portion of them to ask the General Court for liberty to join 
 Momoho ; but before the matter came up for a hearing they with 
 drew their application and abandoned the project. 
 
 Notwithstanding the promises made to the Indians, no lands had 
 as yet been assigned to the Pequots in Stonington as a permanent 
 home for them to occupy, either by the General Court or the town 
 of Stonington. 
 
 Most of the Indians hired lands of the English to plant with 
 corn, paying the rent in labor for the owners. But this paying 
 rent for lands once their own, and being compelled almost every 
 year to change their habitations and break up new lands, was not 
 at all agreeable to the Indians, and they made repeated efforts to 
 secure for themselves a permanent home. 
 
 In May, 1678, they petitioned the General Court for lands for 
 that purpose. The court appointed Capt. James Avery and Captain 
 George Denison a committee to consider where may be found a 
 suitable tract of land for Momoho and the Pequots with him, and 
 to be as near the sea as convenient. 
 
 What was done by this committee does not appear ; but the 
 General Court, in May, 1679, advised the town of Stonington to 
 lay out a sufficient tract of land for the Indians to plant, on or as 
 near the sea as may be five hundred acres at least. 
 
 The town declined to act upon the Court s advice, and in October 
 
17 
 
 following the General Court appointed another committee, consist 
 ing of Mr. Willis, Major John Talcott, and Captain John Allen, to 
 treat with Mr. John Pyncheon, of Springfield, for lands for Momo- 
 ho and his company. 
 
 In 1680, the Court notes the fact that said committee had been 
 treating with Major Pyncheon for lands for Momoho near the sea, 
 and that Mr. Pyncheon had taken the same into consideration ; but 
 if that failed, then other lands as convenient as can be should be 
 procured and laid out for them. 
 
 In May, 1681, another committee was appointed by the General 
 Court to procure a commodious tract of land for Momoho and his 
 company, either by exchange or moderate purchase. 
 
 The town of Stonington had been from the outset opposed to the 
 location of these Indians within their boundaries, and in 1681 they 
 made an effort to purchase lands of Catapeset, situated in the town 
 of Westerly, Rhode Island, and the General Court granted liberty 
 to Nehemiah Palmer, of Stonington, to purchase said land on cer 
 tain conditions, and Catapeset agreed to sell a part of said tract to 
 the town of Stonington for 20 ; but Westerly men disputed Cata- 
 peset s title, and the town abandoned the purchase. 
 
 The next year, in May, the General Court appointed another com 
 mittee to buy lands for these Pequots, and to sell lands hitherto 
 reserved for them, and to apply the avails in payment thereof. 
 
 In May, 1683, the General Court appointed another committee to 
 move the people of Stonington to lay out a suitable tract of land 
 for them ; but if they neglected to do it, the Committee were to 
 use their best endeavors to suit the Indians with a commodious 
 tract of land, which they were to procure by exchange of colony 
 land, or by settling them on some unimproved or colony land, inti 
 mating that the law required every town to provide for their own 
 Indians. 
 
 But the town refused to make any provision for the Pequots that 
 looked to their permanent location in Stonington. So this com 
 mittee purchased a tract of land of Mr. Isaac Wheeler, containing 
 about two hundred and eighty acres, situated in said town, a little 
 way south of Lantern Hill. The deed was dated May 24th, 1683, 
 and conveyed the land to said committee in trust for the benefit of 
 said Indians, reserving the herbage for Mr. Wheeler, who received 
 in payment for said tract five hundred acres of colony land. 
 
 This purchase was confirmed by the General Court at its Octo 
 ber session in 1683, and so to remain during the Court s pleasure. 
 Momoho and his tribe reluctantly abandoned their claim to lands 
 by the seaside, and at last found an abiding place bordering upon 
 the sources of the Mystic river. 
 
 There they found a permanent home, and there, among those 
 grand old hills, they and their descendants have resided ever since ; 
 and the land is now held by the State in trust for their benefit. 
 The reservation of the herbage in Mr. Wheeler s deed led to a good 
 deal of trouble for the Indians, because it compelled them to fence 
 every patch they planted to protect it from his cattle, and prevent 
 ed the Indians from owning or keeping cattle for themselves. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler, in 1685, took up three hundred acres of his said 
 
18 
 
 colony land within the present town of Plainfield, and another tract 
 of three hundred acres at Pachog. Owaneco claimed the Pachog 
 land, which claim Mr. Wheeler purchased for 3. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler s youngest daughter, Experience, married the Kev. 
 Joseph Coit, of Plainfield, who, in 1713, petitioned the General 
 Assembly to lay out to him the three hundred acres of land grant 
 ed to Mr. Wheeler in Plainfield, which Assembly directed the sur 
 veyor of New London county to lay out said land to Mr. Coit, who 
 was the grantee of said Wheeler s right, and to lay it out at the 
 choice of Mr. Coit and the people of his charge. 
 
 Isaac Wheeler, by his last will and testament, dated 1712, gave, 
 with lands adjoining, his said right of herbage to his son, William 
 Wheeler, who, by his last will, dated 1747, gave the same to two of 
 his sons-in-law, viz : William Williams and Nathan Crary. 
 
 Some time before 1716, Samuel Miner, of Stonington, and his 
 brother-in-law, Josiah Grant, formerly of the town of Windsor, pur 
 chased four grants of land made by the General Court of Connecti 
 cut in 1671 and 1672 to certain Pequot soldiers, containing in the 
 whole just two hundred and eighty acres. 
 
 In 1716, Mr. Miner (having previously purchased Mr. Grant s in 
 terest in said land grants) laid out and located the same upon the 
 land sold by Mr. Isaac Wheeler to the colony for the benefit of the 
 Pequots, and laid claim on the same ; which claim was not only re 
 sisted by the Indians, but by Mr. Wheeler, because if allowed it 
 would extinguish his right of herbage on said lands. 
 
 After the death of Mr. Miner, his brother James Miner, as his 
 executor, brought, in 1723, a petition to the General Assembly, 
 praying that his late brother s grants laid out upon said tract of 
 land might be confirmed to him, saving to the Indians what might 
 be needful for them ; whereupon the Assembly appointed a com 
 mittee to investigate the matter, first giving notice to all parties 
 interested. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler also appeared and claimed the lands, or his right of 
 herbage in them. The committee were not called upon to fix the 
 rights of the parties, because Mr. Miner and Mr. Wheeler compro 
 mised the matter in 1723, Wheeler giving Miner 60 for his inter 
 est therein. Soon after, Mr. William Wheeler fenced in the entire 
 tract, and improved it for the herbage, thereby compelling the In 
 dians to fence in their gardens and such lands as they wished to 
 plant, and in this manner the land was occupied by the Indians 
 during the life of Mr. Wheeler, he taking all the hay and grass that 
 the land produced. 
 
 After his death, in 1748, his sons-in-law, Williams and Crary, and 
 their wives, divided the land between them, and Crary and his wife 
 sold a part of their share to Simeon Miner. These lands were now 
 claimed by Williams and Crary in fee, subject only to the right of 
 the Indians to plant corn, build wigwams, and live there. 
 
 The result was, that the Indians received but little benefit from 
 the lands, and became dissatisfied, and appealed to the General 
 Assembly, in May, 1750, for redress ; whereupon a committee was 
 appointed to inquire into the matter, who upon due consideration 
 reported to the October session, that another committee, with full 
 
19 
 
 power to act in the premises, should be appointed to visit Stoning- 
 ton and investigate the matter. 
 
 This committee proceeded to the discharge of their duty, and 
 finally agreed upon a compromise which was satisfactory to the In 
 dians, as well as to Williams and Crary, which compromise was ap 
 proved by the Assembly, and was as follows : The Governor and 
 Council agreed to release to Williams and Crary two strips of land, 
 one of thirty-five acres, on the south side of the original tract, and 
 the other of twenty acres, on the east side thereof, and permit 
 them to locate their ancient Pequot grants of two hundred and 
 eighty acres on any ungranted lands in the colony ; on condition 
 that the said Williams and Crary would release the balance of the 
 entire tract to the Governor and Council for the benefit of the In 
 dians, to which they agreed, and subsequently conveyed all their 
 interest in the main tract to the colony, receiving in turn an abso 
 lute deed to the two gore strips, with the assurance that their 
 ancient Pequot soldier grants should be laid out to them by Roger 
 Sherman, who subsequently located them in the town of Plainfield. 
 
 Cassasinamon and his company had lands laid out for them, un 
 der the authority of the General Court at Mashantuxet, in the pre 
 sent town of Ledyard, in 1665. Though this grant was made at 
 the request of Cassasinamon, it was not satisfactory to him nor his 
 company. They wanted their lands laid out at the head of the 
 Mystic river, nearer to their fishing places ; but the committee ap 
 pointed to locate it thought otherwise, and established their lands 
 at Mashantuxet, and the Court ratified their doings in 1666. 
 
 So great was the dissatisfaction of Cassasinamon with this grant 
 that he never occupied it. He continued his home at Noank until 
 he died in 1692. 
 
 Some portion of his company occupied and planted lands at Ma 
 shantuxet soon after it was granted to them ; but others, with Cas 
 sasinamon, lived at Noank, and even after his death continued to 
 reside there until 1712, when the town of Groton claimed the Noank 
 land, and contended that the Pequots had no title to the same, and 
 that the colony had given them a sufficient quantity of land at 
 Mashantuxet ; consequently the Indians were ousted from their 
 possessions at Noank, and reluctantly went to their inland home. 
 
 They brought a petition to the October session of the General 
 Assembly in 1713, complaining of the town of Groton for taking 
 their lands at Noank, in answer to which the General Assembly 
 ordered that a survey of both tracts of land should be made and 
 returned to the Assembly the May following, and further ordered 
 that no one should interfere with their hunting, fishing and fowl 
 ing at Noank. 
 
 When the Assembly met in 1714 a full hearing in the premises 
 was had, which resulted in an order that the Indians must not oc 
 cupy Noank any longer, but should have full liberty to improve the 
 Mashantuxet grant of two thousand acres, with the right to come 
 to the salt water upon Noank neck, for clamming, fishing and fowl 
 ing purposes, as theretofore. 
 
 These early grants by the colony to the Indians were not consid 
 ered as conveying to them the fee simple thereof, which of course 
 
20 
 
 remained in the colony, and which by the several patents subse 
 quently issued by the colony passed to the towns or proprietors 
 thereof. 
 
 So the town of Groton, in 1719, voted to divide their commons, 
 reserving to the Indians lands at Mashantuxet to live on, and ap 
 pointed a committee to carry said vote into effect, who, in 1720, 
 gave them a deed of one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven 
 acres, at Mashantuxet, reserving the herbage for the said proprie 
 tors, who brought a petition to the General Assembly in 1732 for a 
 final determination of all matters in controversy between them and 
 the Indians. 
 
 Whereupon a committee was appointed, which came to Groton, 
 and after hearing all parties concerned, reported that the Indians 
 at Mashantuxet consisted of sixty-six males, from fourteen years 
 and upwards, a large part of which lived with their English neigh 
 bors, and that the Indians do not require all the lands previously 
 granted them, and that the west half of the reservation or common 
 should be laid out in fifty-acre lots, and the proprietors allowed to 
 fence them, so as to secure their herbage and the Indians their 
 corn and apple trees, and the proprietors be allowed to clear the 
 said lots, leaving ten acres of forest on each lot of fifty acres for 
 fire wood for the Indians, with liberty for them to remove their 
 planting to other lots once in three years if they desire, leaving the 
 other half of the lands unsurveyed and unfenced as formerly. 
 
 The report was accepted and allowed, with this condition, " that 
 the liberty granted to the proprietors to fence said lands shall con 
 tinue no longer than this Assembly shall think proper." 
 
 This act of the Assembly did not satisfy the expectations of the 
 Indians, who repeatedly complained of encroachments on their lots 
 by the English, who really secured the lion s share of their pro 
 ducts. 
 
 To such an extent were the Indians defrauded, that the General 
 Assembly, in 1752, interposed in their behalf, and summoned the 
 proprietors of Groton to show reasons why the grant of 1732 
 should not be annulled, who appeared, and after a full hearing the 
 Assembly repealed said act. 
 
 The Indians remained in possession of the west part of their 
 lands until 1761, when the Assembly granted them the use of the 
 east part also. This grant was made in consideration of their ser 
 vices in the then late war with France. 
 
 A large proportion of the Pequots of both reservations entered 
 the Connecticut forces that were raised to join the expeditions 
 against Ticonderoga, Louisburg, and Crown Point, and suffered 
 severely in those campaigns. 
 
 So many of them were killed in battle and died of disease, that 
 the women and children at home were well nigh reduced to starva- 
 tioD. Their condition was made known to the General Assembly in 
 1766, by the Rev. Jacob Johnson, then preaching in Groton, where 
 upon a committee was appointed by the Assembly to visit them, 
 who repaired to Mashantuxet, and after a patient examination re 
 ported back to the Assembly, at the same session, that there were 
 one hundred and fifty persons of all ages, a large part under the 
 
21 
 
 age of sixteen years, and widows whose husbands were killed in 
 the late war, and they were too poor to provide decent clothing for 
 themselves, in vietf of which the Assembly granted them 20. 
 
 In 1773, they again complained of encroachments without redress. 
 
 In 1785, they again asked the Assembly for protection against the 
 encroachments of the English, which resulted in the appointment 
 of a committee to fix the bounds of their lands, which were subse 
 quently established by the committee. 
 
 After they recovered from the destitution occasioned by the loss 
 of so many of their warriors in the French war, they managed to 
 subsist by their own labor, either on their lands, or for their Eng 
 lish neighbors, and the colony was not further burdened with their 
 support. 
 
 It will be remembered, that the Commissioners of the United Col 
 onies were in 1650 appointed agents of the Society for Propagat 
 ing the Gospel among the Indians in New England. In pursuance 
 of which, in 1657, they proposed to Rev. Richard Blinman to be 
 come the missionary of the Pequots and Mohegans, offering him a 
 salary of 20 per annum, which he declined. 
 
 The same year they employed the Rev. William Thompson, son 
 of the Rev. William Thompson, of Braintree, Massachusetts, to 
 preach to the Pequots, at a salary of 20 per annum. 
 
 He came to Southertown in 1658, and began his labors with Har 
 mon Garret s company, and was assisted by Thomas Stanton as in 
 terpreter. He continued to preach to the English and Indians for 
 about three years, and then went to Virginia. 
 
 After this the Commissioners, in 1662, invited the Rev. Abraham 
 Pierson, of Branford, Connecticut, to remove his habitation to 
 Southertown, and to apply himself in a more special way to the 
 work of preaching the gospel to the Pequots, but he declined. 
 
 Previous to this, and in the year 1654, the Commissioners of the 
 United Colonies, at the request of the Connecticut members there 
 of, provided for the education of Mr. John Miner with the Rev. Mr. 
 Stone, who was to fit him as a teacher and missionary to the Pe- 
 quot Indians. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Thompson left, the Commissioners, in 1664, in 
 structed the Connecticut members to employ this Mr. John Miner 
 to teach the Pequots to read ; but whether he was so employed or 
 not does not appear. The Commissioners also, in 1654, offered, at 
 the expense of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, to 
 educate Thomas and John Stanton, sons of Thomas Stanton, the 
 Interpreter General, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The object 
 was to fit them as teachers for such Indian children as should be 
 taken into college to be educated. They accepted the Commission 
 ers offer, and entered college, but did not remain long enough to 
 graduate, nor does it appear that either of them was ever engaged 
 in teaching the Indians. 
 
 The efforts of the English to civilize and christianize the Pequots 
 were not very successful, the reasons for which may be more easily 
 imagined than described. The agents of the London Missionary 
 Society did not wholly neglect them, for as late as 1766 they em 
 ployed Mr. Hugh Sweatingham to teach the Pequots, at their 
 
22 
 
 schoolhouse at Mashantuxet, at 12 per annum. They also em 
 ployed Mr. Jacob Johnson to preach to them at 5s. 8d. per sermon. 
 
 The Assembly, in 1766, granted Mr. Johnson 5 for his labors, 
 and Mr. Sweatingham 4 for his services. During the great 
 awakening of the 18th century, and for a long time before and af 
 ter, the more peaceable attended the religious services of the Eng 
 lish, and some were baptized and united with their churches. But 
 they were mostly females, who worked for and lived in the families 
 of the whites. Now and then some stern old Pequot captain 
 would own the Christian covenant, and try to live up to the half 
 way communion. 
 
 It will also be remembered, that the Commissioners at first at 
 tempted to carry out the policy of merging the Pequots with the 
 Mohegans and Narragansetts. They at first refused to permit the 
 remaining Pequots to be relieved of the tyranny of Uncas ; but af 
 ter their connection with the London Missionary Society, they 
 adopted a different policy, and gradually favored the Pequots. 
 
 They exerted themselves to secure permanent homes for them, 
 with ample lands, and then labored to furnish them with religious 
 instruction. But the colonies preferred to hold and treat the In 
 dians as wards, subject at any time to their control ; keeping the 
 fee of their lands in the colony, and giving them only the use there 
 of ; which policy has been pursued by our State ever since, except 
 with the Mohegan Indians, who, by law enacted in 1872 and 1873, 
 had the rights of citizenship bestowed upon them, and their lands 
 set out to them in severalty as an absolute estate in fee simple. 
 
 So it appears that the descendants of Uncas and the Mohegans 
 have been more kindly treated in these later days than the de 
 scendants of the Pequots. The services of the Mohegans in our 
 early Indian wars have been recognized by the Congress of the 
 United States, which appropriated for their benefit a large sum of 
 money. 
 
 These Pequot reservations, though located in the ancient towns 
 of Groton and Stonington, were less than a mile apart, with two 
 small lakes or ponds between them ; each reservation had its vil 
 lage, called " Indian town," which consisted at first of a cluster of 
 wigwams built in the Indian fashion. 
 
 By-and-by framed houses came into vogue, and the old wigwams 
 passed away. The reservation at Mashantuxet was by far the larg 
 est, and the Indians more numerous than the tribe at Lantern 
 Hill. It was proposed at first to give Cassasinamon s company two 
 thousand acres at Mashantuxet, but when surveyed by the town it 
 amounted to only one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven 
 acres. 
 
 The subsequent controversies with the English had the effect of 
 reducing the area of this reservation. After the English ejected 
 the Indians from the Noank lands, the town of Groton divided the 
 same between the inhabitants thereof equally. 
 
 They were subsequently surveyed and divided into lots, and 
 assigned by lottery to the proprietors. Notwithstanding that the 
 bounds of these lands were established in 1785, no accurate survey 
 of them was made until 1793, which was preserved, and when the 
 
23 
 
 Legislature of 1855 ordered a survey and sale of a part thereof by 
 a committee to be appointed by the County Court of New London 
 county, all that was found remaining of the original two thousand 
 acres by said committee was a trifle less than nine hundred acres. 
 
 Under this authority, seven hundred and thirteen acres were sold 
 at public auction, bringing about seven thousand dollars, which is 
 now held by the overseer of that tribe for their benefit, or such as 
 may need support. 
 
 The reservation at Lantern Hill has not been reduced since Wil 
 liams and Crary were assigned in compromise settlement of their 
 claims two small strips on the south and east sides. 
 
 The Legislature, in 1873, ordered the overseer to survey and sell 
 all of this reservation but one hundred acres, and invest the avails 
 thereof for the benefit of the Indians. But owing to the great de 
 pression in real estate, nothing has been done in the premises. 
 
 It is well nigh impossible to ascertain at the present time how 
 many Pequots belong to, or have an interest in, these reservations. 
 The Indian towns of the olden time have run down to two small 
 houses on each reservation, which are now occupied by four fami 
 lies. How many are living elsewhere cannot be determined. 
 
 So, after two hundred and thirty nine years since the conquest 
 of Mason, only a small remnant remains of the once powerful and 
 haughty Pequots. No one can defend the horrible tortures that 
 they inflicted upon the English who fell into their hands as prison 
 ers. Their overthrow by Mason humbled their pride, and so far 
 subdued them that ever afterwards they were the friends of the 
 English. They joined our forces in King Philip s war, and in the 
 great swamp fight in 1675 performed prodigies of valor under Gal 
 lup and Avery. During the French war, they voluntarily joined 
 the expeditions that were raised to repel the invasions of the French 
 and northern Indians. 
 
 But who can successfully defend all of the acts of the English 
 towards the Pequots, especially after they had yielded to their 
 authority, and became subservient to their power ? It is not to be 
 wondered at, that the English failed in their efforts to christianize 
 the Pequots. 
 
 The Commissioners of the United Colonies, and nearly all of the 
 clergymen of New England, made praiseworthy efforts to afford the 
 Indians religious instruction. But, after all, the treatment that the 
 Pequots received from the authorities acting under the Colonies of 
 Connecticut and Rhode Island, in the assignment of lands for their 
 benefit, and in other matters, was so unjust and oppressive, that it 
 well nigh outweighed every consideration that was urged upon 
 them by Elliott and his co-workers to effect their conversion, and 
 make them believe in the white man s God. 
 
 Most of the Pequot warriors preferred the favor of their Good 
 Spirit Kritchian, and died believing that in the beautiful southwest 
 land were hunting grounds of boundless extent, and game of end 
 less variety, where no Hobomoke could charm the arrow from its 
 fatal plunge, nor mar their happiness in the Indian s summer land. 
 
 &. B. & J. H. Utter, Steam Printers, Westerly, JR. L 
 
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