Massasoit

“ They were the product of the toil and care of generations of Iroquois. "A wigwam can be built in two or three days," the Indians sadly said; "but a tree takes many years to grow again."
One can not help but contrast the indications of great abundance found here with the abject poverty of the "great and good Massasoit," mentioned in another chapter. But Massasoit lived in an inhospitable country and his career was near the beginning of the intercourse between the white and red races. ”

“ Massasoit kept his word and was a good and true friend to the Pilgrims until he died.
"One time news came to Plymouth that Massasoit was very sick. Some of his white friends went to see him. They found him stretched on a rough bed in his little hut. He had a fever. The hut was almost filled with Indians. The medicine men were there. They were making a fearful noise. They thought an evil spirit had taken hold of Massasoit. They were trying to drive it away with the noise. Then the chief would get well.
"The Indians have great faith in their medicine men. ”

“ Massasoit (măs'sȧ-soit') , a chief of the Pokanoket or Wampanoag Indians, ruled over most of southern Massachusetts from Cape Cod to Narragansett Bay. His tribe, once some 30,000 in number, shortly before the landing of the English had lost all but about 300 by pestilence. In 1621, three months after Plymouth had been founded, Massasoit and 60 warriors, armed and painted, came to the settlement and made a treaty of peace. This treaty was kept for 50 years, and Massasoit always was friendly to the settlers. ”

“ From 1652 until the death of Massasoit in 1660, peace between the white men at English Sowams and the red men at Indian Sowams remained uninterrupted. The civilized farmer and the savage warrior appear to have each dwelt quietly under the shadow of his “own vine and fig tree.” Doubtless the inhabitants of Massasoit’s town were more or less affected by every day intercourse with their white neighbors. They must have learned many things unknown to the savages of districts remote from English settlements. ”

“ The case of Massasoit, therefore, is the more remarkable, for no man not gifted by nature with fine ability and tact, could have held peace for so long a time among the fierce tribes, not only under his direct rule, but that belonged to the confederacies surrounding his own people. ”

“ He was then in no condition to resist any of the demands of the victors, and there can be little doubt that he submitted to them as a tributary or subject chief. The arrival of the English, however, gave him allies, and enabled him to set the Narragansets at defiance. Hence the hostility of the Narragansets to the Whites; and hence Massasoit’s uniform adherence to them. That Massasoit was considered [p. 197] by the Narragansets a tributary chief, and bound to comply with the requisitions of their sachems, is rendered very probable by the following passage in Winthrop’s Journal. ”

“ During the white men’s stay at Sowams many of Massasoit’s friends and allies came to visit him, “some by their report from a place not less than a hundred miles.” To all comers one of the sachem’s chief men related the story of Massasoit’s illness, “how near he was spent; how, amongst others his friends the English came to see him; and how suddenly they recovered him to this strength they saw; he being now able to sit upright by himself.” But it was not by words alone that the “good folk” of Sowams showed their appreciation of the Englishmen’s services to them. ”

“ Governor Carver died a few weeks after the signing of the treaty named, and was succeeded by William Bradford, who held the office for many years. To him, more than to any one person, is due the success of the first colonies planted in New England. The most striking tribute to the greatness of Massasoit lies in the fact that while it was a rule among his race that the foremost warriors attained their fame through personal courage and deeds, yet he was a man of peace. ”

“ The Narragansetts who were so fortunate as to escape the plague, took advantage of the weakness of their ancient foes, wrested from them one of the fairest portions of their domain the island of Aquidneck, (Rhode Island) and compelled Massasoit to subject “himself and his lands,” to their great sachem Canonicus. In 1620, the Pokanoket chieftain could summon to his aid only about 300 fighting men, sixty of whom were his immediate followers. Yet Massasoit, despite his weakness, contrived to maintain his supremacy over the petty sachems of the various clans of the Wampanoag confederacy. ”

“ Its terms had already been discussed, but the Indians listened attentively to Squanto's interpretation of Mr. Hopkins's reading of them. They promised, on the part of Massasoit, perfect safety to the settlers from danger of the Indians' harming them, and, on the part of the pilgrims, aid to Massasoit against his enemies; on the part of both savage and white men, that justice should be done upon any one who wronged his neighbour, savage or civilized.
The gifts that bound both parties to this treaty were exchanged, and the treaty, that was so important to the struggling colony, was consummated. ”

“ Massasoit was Chief of the Wampanoag Indians, in whose country the Pilgrims settled, and through his kindness, for more than fifty years, they were able to survive and prosper.
Price of replica $8.00 by insured mail. ”

“ The Narragansetts feared and disliked the white men. The Old Indian Chronicle states that they were jealous of Massasoit “because he had, from the first, been in high favor with the English.” Naturally they would have viewed the establishment of an English trading post at Sowams with displeasure. Whether their hostility to the whites led to the “broil” at Sowams, or whether, as has been suggested, [9] they invaded Pokanoket for the purpose of compelling Massasoit and his warriors to assist them in repulsing the Pequots, may be only conjectured. ”

“ And now to speak somewhat of Massasoit’s stature. He is as proper a man as ever was seen in this country, and very courageous. He is very subtle for a savage, and he goes like the rest of his men, all naked but only a black wolf skin he wears upon his shoulder. And about the breadth of a span he wears beads about his middle. ”

“ KING PHILIP'S WAR.—During the life of Massasuit, Plymouth enjoyed peace with the Indians, as did Jamestown during that of Powhatan. After Massasoit's death, his son, Philip, brooded with a jealous eye over the encroachments of the whites. With profound sagacity, he planned a confederation of the Indian tribes against the intruders. The first blow fell on the people of Swansea as they were quietly going home from church on Sunday (July 14, 1675) . The settlers flew to arms, but Philip escaped, and soon excited the savages to fall upon the settlements high up the Connecticut valley. ”

“ But in the mean time, the great Massasoit sent to Patuxet for some physic, because he was fallen very sick, and so, by God’s help, he was cured. And upon his recovery, he made known the plot of the Indians of Massachusetts against us, and told us that if we would not go fight with them, he would. ”

“ Here the two chiefs saluted each other, kissed hands, and entered into a league of friendship, commerce, and mutual defence. This treaty gave peace to all that part of the country, and Massasoit always continued to be a firm friend to the colonists.
The first attack on the Europeans, by the Indians of New England, was at Connecticut, in 1636, by the Pequod tribe. They felt jealous of the strangers who had come upon their ancient soil, over which they had so long roamed as the sole possessors. ”

“ It was about a year from the time when Hobomok’s wife went over the trail on her diplomatic errand. The Dutch ship had gotten away, but Massasoit was decidedly ill. Among Winslow’s talents was skill in doctoring and nursing, so with some remedies and food he had carried with him, he was able to improve the condition of the Chief. Massasoit’s delight and gratitude manifested themselves in an important piece of information, which was that an Indian conspiracy was in the making against Plymouth. ”

“ Coll. iv. 123; Potter’s Early History of Narragansett, ibid. iii. 1, and Hutchinson’s Mass. i. 457.
[13] “Since the death of so many Indians, they thought to lord it over the rest, conceive we are a bar in their way, and see Massasoit already take shelter under our wings.” Bradford’s Hist. quoted by Prince, p. 200.
[14] Canonicus, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, though hostile to the Plymouth colonists, probably on account of their league with his enemy, Massasoit, showed himself friendly to the first settlers of Rhode Island, who planted themselves within his territory. ”

“ He came early in the spring to their settlement of New Plymouth, attended by a mere handful of followers, entered into a solemn league of peace and amity, sold them a portion of the soil, and promised to secure for them the good-will of his savage allies. Whatever may be said of Indian perfidy, it is certain that the integrity and good faith of Massasoit have never been impeached. He continued a firm and magnanimous friend of the white men, suffering them to extend their possessions and to strengthen themselves in the land, and betraying no jealousy of their increasing power and prosperity. ”

“ Upon the death of Massasoit, his eldest son Alexander was invested with the chieftainship. The lands of the Indians were now very rapidly passing away from the native proprietors to the new-comers, and English settlements were every where springing up in the wilderness. The Indian power was evidently declining, while that of the white man was on the increase. With prosperity came avarice. ”

“ Bribery and corruption are almost as common in barbarian as in civilized courts. Canonicus had brought over to his cause one of the minor chiefs of Massasoit, named Corbitant. This [Pg 81] man, audacious and reckless, began to rail bitterly at the peace existing between the Indians and the English. Boldly he declared that Massasoit was a traitor, and ought to be deposed. Sustained as Corbitant was by the whole military power of the Narragansets, he soon gathered a party about him sufficiently strong to bid defiance to Massasoit. ”

“ The other tribes were smaller still, so it can be readily seen that this band of hardy pioneers could, with their armor and firearms, have competed in battle with even the most powerful of these, although, should all have combined against them, their doom would have been sure. Massasoit's people, the Wampanoags, were a part of the Massachusetts Indians, and lived between Plymouth and Narragansett Bay. They were sometimes called Pokanokets. ”

“ He promised also that if anything was stolen by his people from us, he would make sure it was sent back, and if, which is by no means likely, any of us living in Plymouth took from the Indians aught of their property, our governor should send it straightway to the savages.
Massasoit said that if any Indians came to fight or kill our people, he would send some of his men to help us, and if any tried to hurt his people, our fathers must take sides with him. Both Sarah and I think this is wrong, for why should Englishmen fight for the savages? ”

“ But with the lapse of time the wholesome feeling of dread began to fade away, and as the Indians came to use musket instead of bow and arrow, their fear of the English grew less, until at length their ferocious temper broke forth in an epidemic of fire and slaughter that laid waste the land. [ [Sidenote: It is remarkable that peace should have been so long preserved]
Massasoit, chief sachem of the Wampanoags and steadfast ally of the Plymouth colonists, died in 1660, leaving two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom, or as the English nicknamed them, Alexander and Philip. ”

“ But it was at the moment of his guests’ departure that Massasoit demonstrated the depth of his gratitude to his preservers. Calling Hobbamock, the guide, aside he, in the presence of two or three of his most trusted counsellors, charged him to acquaint Winslow with the existence of a plot originated by the Massachusetts Indians against Weston’s colony at Wessagusset and the settlement at Plymouth. ”

“ Several attempts to hold a general meeting had been prevented by the appearance of red men, including an agreeable visit from Samoset, a chief from the north who had learned sufficiently from English fishermen to enable him to converse with the Pilgrims and give them much valuable information. And within a week from that, the head of all the Old Colony tribes, Massasoit, came with about sixty men, forty of whom tarried outside while he and the others approached unarmed into the midst of ready firearms and within the secure walls of a house. ”

“ The feebleness of the colonists could not be hidden from the Indians, but Massasoit checked the enmity of the surrounding tribes, and by uniting with Roger Williams in 1637, the other red men were kept from joining the Pequots in their war against the colonists. Thus more than once, and through many years, this great man really saved the settlements from destruction.
There are few American Indians whose fame is not wholly due to their military skill. ”

“ But not all of the Indian neighbors were so friendly as Massasoit and his tribe. Canonicus, chief of the Narragansetts, sent to Plymouth an insolent greeting in the form of a number of arrows tied with a snake's skin. The Pilgrims on their part stuffed the snake's skin full of powder and bullets, and in defiance sent it back to Canonicus. So deeply impressed were the Indians by this fearless act that they let the whites alone. ”