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Chapter V. King Philip's War. King Philip and His Associates. Their

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Chapter V. King Philip's War. King Philip and His Associates. Their Chapter V KING PHILIP'S WAR KING PHILIP AND HIS ASSOCIATES THEIR ACTIVITIES DURING HOSTILITIE S King Philip's War It is not my purpose in this chapter to tell a complete story of the Indian war, but rather t o make a brief resume of the warlike activities which took place within the territory to which thi s story relates and the activities of King Philip as the leader of the Pokonoket nation and of th e Indians who exercised leadership in the Pocasset and Sakonet tribes, including Squaw Sachem s Weetamoe and Awashonks and their subjects . Even here I shall not attempt to include all that is generally known about them, but to be rather exhaustive in the researches I have per- sonally made. The Indian war of 1675 interrupted the building of homes upon those lands which had been purchased from the natives along the shores of Narragansett Bay. While lands along the Providence River and on th e island of Rhode Island had been occupied by the colonists for almost two score years and dwellings there were numerous, and while lands on th e easterly shore of Narragansett Bay lying northerly of the falls river and south of Tiverton had been allotted to the proposed settlers, there had been very limited building operations in these sections . The land lying between the falls river and the southerly line of Tiverton and the vast hinterlan d extending to the Lakeville Ponds, as well as the Mount Hope lands and much territory to the west of the Taunton River as far northerly as the nort h line of Berkley, was still in the possession and control of the Indians and their ownership continued to the end of hostilities, at which time these lands came into the possession of Plymouth Colony and many were sold to pay the debts of the war . There is a tendency among historians to treat this Indian war as a n unjust war of persecution and conquest, and instances have been cited where the white man acquired land by improper means but no such infer- ence can be drawn from the treatment accorded to King Philip and hi s lands by the Colony of Plymouth which had a co-extensive territorial limi t with those of his Indian nation. Plymouth Colony always maintained a 30 THE PHILLIPS HISTORY OF FALL RIVE R fair and just attitude toward individual and tribal Indian rights . While individual wrongful acts on both sides can, of course, be cited, Indian mis- deeds were more frequently ignored and less severely punished in Plymout h Colony than those which were committed by the white men. The Indians, including Philip himself (Volume V, page 24) had become frequent liti- gants as petitioners in the Plymouth Courts and records show that the y invariably received justice . (Many instances of this character I have re- ferred to specifically in another chapter .) The first mortality of the Indian war which is recorded in the Plymout h Colony records occurred on the banks of the fall river stream when Thoma s Layton was killed there on June 24, 1675 (Volume X, p . 364) .1 He was a Portsmouth man and he and his brother George were both signers of the original compact there in 1639 . He had been at various times an oversee r of the poor, assessor, constable and commissioner but as he is not mentioned in Portsmouth records for several years prior to his death, it is believed that he had settled upon Plymouth lands and probably in Dartmouth when in 1652 those lands were bought. We find that an Isaac Layton and a Joh n Layton are referred to in the colony records relating to Dartmouth, th e former as a proprietor and the latter for not attending public worshi p (Vol. V, 169) . (John Layton was ordered to mend his ways or depart . ) Out of a total of twelve Indian tribes which were component parts o f the Pokonoket nation, headed by Sachem Philip, only three (the Pocassets, Sakonets and Wampanoags) took part in the war, and these three tribe s were the most remote from Plymouth. Philip had been pampered by th e Bay colony, had been prejudiced by his brother's widow (Squa Weetamoe ) and had listened to old Anawan, until he felt obliged to resort to massacr e to uphold his prestige. He saw that a large majority of his tribes had adopted the new civilization, saw their improved social condition, thei r easier lives, and at the same time knew that his authority and power were waning. Although he had adopted a certain measure of civilization himsel f (including the keeping of swine, see Portsmouth record of June 7, 1669 ) the praying Indians no longer recognized him as supreme, his winter life in the wigwam was severe when compared with the adopted home-life of Indian servants in the white men's houses, and he felt peeved, felt the ultimate end of his nation in world progress, and knew that it must be me t either by acceptance or war . Bad counsel pushed him into the contes t which he himself knew would most likely mean his banishment or death . Citations referring only to "vol . etc." refer to the "Records of Plymouth Colony" which were published b y the State of Massachusetts in 1855. KING PHILIP'S WAR 31 He entered the war in violation of his tribal treaties and contrary to his promises, brought massacre upon those who had risked their own lives to restrain his tribal enemies from eliminating his own nation . Philip 's first act as sachem was to complain about the relationship existing between Weetamoe and the Narragansetts . In this instance the Plymouth Court was palliative, for while advising Weetamoe to dismiss the Indians who were entertained by her "to Philip's offense", the Cour t also suggested that "unkindness be buried and that they live in peace and love". Almost immediately thereafter Philip began to claim further com- pensation for the lands which his elder brother and father had sold, and a series of readjustments followed ; he was given eleven pounds in good s "to continue peace and friendship" on account of a disputed boundary line at New Meadows Neck (in Barrington, R . I.) ; he was given ten pounds to prevent any claim of his" in marking out the bounds of Acushena an d Coaxet (Dartmouth, which also included the present city of New Bedford) . In July, 1664 the town of Plymouth offered him a "gratuity" for his "satis- faction, reward and encouragement " if he would confirm their title in the Puncatest lands . 3 (This was the land concerning which Weetamoe had filed complaint in 1662 .) Although the extension of the colony line s alarmed him, he evidently preferred money to his lands for in 1664 h e sold Mattapoiset, which was in the Pocasset territory and was the ancestral home of Corbitant, his daughter Weetamoe and of his own wife Woo- tonekamuske, to William Brenton of Newport. His wife joined in this deed . The Pilgrims seemed to have always been conciliatory to Philip' s demands, but when in June 1669 he put several swine on Hog Island , which was claimed by the "Antinomians" of Rhode Island to be a part o f Portsmouth, and which Massasoit had deeded away to one Richard Smith, the town brusquely informed him that he was intruding on the town's rights and directed him to "forthwith remove said swine ". On August 6, 1662 it having been brought to Philip 's attention that he was suspected of some plot against the English, he appeared before th e Court at Plymouth, and "earnestly desiring a continuance of amity and friendship" he signed articles indicating a continuance of the former treaty . He offered one of his brothers as a hostage until his fealty could be proved , but this offer was declined. His principal chieftains executed the treaty . 2 This was not an unusual thing for Indians to do . Pumham joined in the sale of portions of Warwick to Rev. Samuel Gorton "agreeably to the laws and usages of the Indians", yet he subsequently claimed owner - ship. Drake III . 71 . 73 . p . Town-Bk 1 Pl 3 . 4 Portsmouth, p. 149. 32 THE PHILLIPS HISTORY OF FALL RIVER He seemed to rely upon the Plymouth Courts to enforce his rights . In March 1663 he complained about certain inhabitants of Rehoboth fo r felling some of his swamp timber, and Captain Willet made a satisfactor y adjustment. Nothing further occurred to mar the friendly relationship betwee n Philip and the Plymouth colonists until he had been a sachem for fiv e years. In the spring of 1667 one of his captains reported to Plymouth that Philip had told his men that he was willing to join with either the French or Dutch settlements against the English in order to enrich his warriors wit h their lands and goods. Although little credence was placed on such Indian rumors, the Court set out to ascertain the facts and a party of prominen t colonial officials was sent to bring Philip and his captain to a conference . The captain reaffirmed his statement and Philip denied it, alleging that Ninigret had hired his captain to spread the rumor. On June 4, 16676 Philip came before the Court and produced a letter from a Narragansett sachem which tended to corroborate his statemen t about Ninigret, but the Court being suspicious of the letter sent two arm y officers to Narragansett who caused the sachem to be brought before the Warwick Court .
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