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| Before June, 1676, the southern
Indians, scattered and pursued from their tribes and homes, and fearing
extermination, had hidden themselves amongst these Eastern Indians, and
hoped to escape thus the vengeance of the English. In the mean time the
Eastern tribes themselves, through the mediation of Wannalancet and
Major Walderne, were trying in various ways to atone for past crimes.
June 3, 1676, Wannalancet came in with several others of his sachems and
brought some English captives, and also the Indians who had been engaged
in the killing of Thomas Kembal of Bradford, a month before, and the
capture of his family. This Indian was called "Symon" in the
petition of Kembal's widow for redress, August 1, 1676. Two others were
taken and delivered up at this time, "Andrew" who was
implicated (1 See Council Minutes, Mass. Archives, vol. 68,
p. 122.) with Symon, and Peter, engaged in another crime; these were
delivered by Wannalancet and his chiefs, and the captives, among them
Kembal's family, were offered as a token of their repentance and as an
atonement for their crime. But our magistrates, a little doubtful that
the price was sufficient, threw these three Indians into prison at Dover
for the time, from which they soon escaped, and going to the Eastward
joined the Kennebec and Ammoscoggins in the renewed hostilities later
on.
The following is the treaty of July 3d, 1676: Pascataqua River, Cochecho 3: July [1676] 1ly That henceforwards none of ye said Indians shall offer any Violence to ye persons of any English, nor doe any Damage to theyr Estates in any kind whatsoever. And if any Indian or Indians shall offend herein they shall bring or cause to bee brought ye offender to some English authority, there to be prosecuted by ye English Lawes according to ye Nature of ye Offence. 2ly That none of said Indians shall entertain at any Time any of our Enemies, but shall give psent notice to ye Comittee when any come among them, Ingaging to goe forth wth ye English against them (if desired) in order to ye seizing of them. And if any of sd Indians shall themselves at any time bring such or Enemies unto us, they shall for their Reward have ś3, for each they shall so bring in. 3ly The Indians performing on theyr part, as is before expressed, wee ye Committee doe ingage in ye behalfe of ye English not to offer any Violence to any of their persons or estates, and if any injury be offered to said Indians by any English, they complaining to Authority, ye offender shall be prosecuted by English Lawes according to ye nature of ye offence. In witnes to each & all ye pmises we have mutually shaken hands and subscribed or Names. The mark + WANNALANSET1 Sagamr It is not known how much influence the captive Indians, who (1 Each of these made his own mark before his name, which was written by a clerk. The original paper is preserved in Mass. Archives, vol. 30. Of the Indians here signing, except Wannalanset and Squando, not much is known. Sampson is supposed to have been from the East as far as Kennebec. Mr. Wm Sagamore was probably a teacher of the "Praying Indians." Dony was of the Ammoscoggins; Serogumba perhaps of the Ossipees, and Warockomee of the Pequakets, though the assignment of these two last is scarcely more than a guess. Samll Numphow was a ruler of the Wamesits, a Christian Indian, escaped from Dover, exercised on the Kennebec Indians in the renewal of hostilities, but it is certain that "Simon" was at the head of those who struck the first blow at Casco (now Portland, Me.), in which attack the Brackets and others to the number of thirty-four were killed or captured. And this party immediately after joined those who had surprised Arrowsick and the settlements adjoining; and subsequent events showed that both parties were acting in conjunction.)These hostilities were renewed August 11th, 1676, a little more than a month after the treaty at Cocheco, which had included all the tribes as far as the Kennebec. None of the tribes whose representatives signed that treaty were implicated in these attacks upon Casco and Arrowsick, and therefore considered themselves upon a peace footing; so that, when at the beginning of September some four hundred of these, the men of the tribes, came in to Major Walderne's at Dover, under the leadership of Wannalancet, it was, perhaps, to prove themselves not engaged in the hostilities at the eastward, since they were present now with the Pennacooks and the others who had kept the peace since the winter before. It was known, however, to the General Court that many of the Indians of the south and west who had been engaged with Philip formerly had now found a retreat with these peaceful tribes. It is not probable that Wannalancet and his chiefs understood the treaty to impose upon them the duty of investigating the previous career of those Indians who might wish to join themselves to his tribe, nor to have considered themselves responsible for hostile acts done at Narraganset or on the Connecticut River. But the authorities determined upon the immediate suppression of these Eastern Indians, and sent Capts. Sill and Hathorne, as related in a previous chapter, with two companies and full commission to "kill and destroy" all hostile Indians wherever found. These companies, as above related, came to Dover in September, and there found the great gathering of Indians at Major Walderne's house. I have not found anywhere any attempt at an explanation of the presence of so many Indians at Dover, other than that which has been intimated above. It was known to all the Indians that the English had made overtures to the Mohawks to make war upon the Eastern and other hostile Indians. The Mohawks were regarded by all the Indians of the New England colonies with a dread which was almost insane; there seems to have been no thought of resistance to these dreaded foes. Many tribes and remnants of tribes began to sue for terms of peace; and a general proclamation was issued about this time in answer: That treacherous Persons who began the War and those that have been barbourously bloody must not expect to have their lives spared; but others that have been drawn into the War, and acting only as Souldiers, submitting to be without Arms, and to live quietly and peaceably for the Future, shall have their Lives spared. A contemporary writer of a pamphlet (written in Boston and published in London, 1676), who signs himself "R. H." (perhaps Richard Hutchinson), and gives a "True Account of the most considerable occurrences" in the war, from May 5th to August 4th, 1676, publishes the above decree of the Council, and evidently confounds the treaty of July 3d with the affair of September 7th; as he says, that "upon the 10th day of July there were about 300 Indians at the Eastward, that surrendered themselves to the English and their sachems with them." He mentions Wannalancet and Squando, and says the dread of the Mohawks drove them in. He says nothing of a "sham-fight," or of a capture. Mr. Hubbard is silent as to the "sham-fight;" but says that the Indians, "hoping to shrowd themselves under the Wings of some honester Indians about Quechecho, under Pretence of a Declaration sent out by the Governour and Council of the Massachusetts in July last;" and in this mention relates that our forces under Capts. Hathorne and Sill, with the help of Major Walderne and Capt. Frost, and others residing in those parts "being then in Readiness," separated the vile and wicked from the rest and sent them down to the Governour at Boston. And in the other mention, in the account of the war with these Eastern Indians, he says that these officers mentioned above mutually agree to seize upon all those Indians that were gathered "about Major Waldern's Dwelling in Quechecho," and that "the contrivement succeeded." Lacking proof contrary, it would seem that the Indians were gathered, through the influence of Major Walderne and Wannalancet, to accept the terms of the General Court's proclamation of amnesty. The forcible capture of four hundred Indians even by the stratagem of a sham-fight seems highly improbable; and it is far likelier that the surrender was full and entirely peaceful, while the separation of the bad from the good was made after all were quietly surrounded by the English, possibly under the pretence of a "training." Mr. Belknap, the eminent historian of New Hampshire, many years minister at Dover, gives some detail of the sham-fight, and says that Major Walderne planned this method to secure the "bad" Indians without bloodshed. The Indians were set on one side the field and the English on the other, and after considerable manoeuvring, the Indians were induced to fire the first volley, after which the four companies of Walderne, Sill, Hathorne, Frost, and probably Capt. Hunting's company of friendly Indians, surrounded and disarmed them. Whatever the method, it is certain that the Indians captured on September 6th, to the number of some two hundred, were sent down to Boston in vessels. September 10th a letter was sent by Major Walderne, Nicholas Shapleigh and Thomas Daniel, containing some explanations in regard to the prisoners and the charges against certain of them. The following is the letter: Dover, 10th Septembr 1676 Yor Humble Servnts This letter shows that orders had come from the Council for all the Indians taken to be sent to Boston. There is no doubt that very many of those sent down considered themselves, and were considered by the above committee, as having accepted and fulfilled the terms of peace agreed upon in the treaty with Major Walderne the winter before. The Pennacooks and the Wamesits were the only tribes mentioned as included in the treaty, south of the Merrimac. It is evident that some of the "Praying" Indians were sent down also, as we find Mr. Eliot and Major Gookin at once advocating their cause and the claims of those who had accepted the terms of the treaty and supposed it covered and condoned past offences. A good view of the condition of affairs at this Eastern part, where the war was now being waged, is gained from this letter from the chief citizens of "Northfolk and Yorkshire" Counties. Portsmo: 19: 8br: 1676 Mch Hond Yor Humble Servts A reference in Major Gookin's history of the "Praying Indians" proves the intimation in the following letter that a second company of Indians was sent down, including those who came in after the army had passed to the Eastward, and also that Major Walderne himself went to Boston to assist in the "disposal," and sold some of them; and probably Wannalancet and his men, and the Wamesits, went with the Major, by the requirement of the General Court. Major Gookin complains that some of his most trusted praying Indians, and especially Sam Numphow, with difficulty cleared themselves from the accusations of English who had been captives and swore against them, when, he says, it is not easy to identify Indians under even the most favorable conditions. Cochecha, 2. 9ber 1676 I am Sr yor Humble Servtt RICHARD WALDERN. (1 The Indian woman referred to in
Major Walderne's letter was Mary Nemasit, wife of John, who had been in
the army with the English under Capt. Hunting during the summer, and now
comes armed with a letter from Major Gookin and demands his wife and
child, who were in Boston Prison, and had been bought by Messrs. Tho:
Deane and James Whetcomb. Nov. 23d, 1676, the Council gives order to the
prison-keeper to deliver the woman and child to her husband. There is no doubt that the general voice of the colony highly applauded the action of Major Walderne, and gave him the credit of the capture, while Major Gookin questioned the method sharply. The following list of credits is all that appears in Hull's Treasury accounts; and these men were those who served under him personally, the others being credited under their respective captains, and those after August 24th placed in a later journal now lost. |