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After many failed attempts at building a
lasting colony in North America, the

English settlement of Jamestown was
built.

On May 9, 1607, Captain Christopher
Newport sailed into the Chesapeake Bay

with 117 English colonists and the
supplies needed to start a new

They built a fort that was triangular in
shape.

and within it, a storage building for
supplies and weapons, small residential

structures, and even a small church.

The settlers would face their share of
struggles, not unlike those who had come

before them.

The quick dwindling of supplies, harsh
weather conditions, poor choice of

location, and the constant threat of
attacks by local Indians being just a

of those hardships.

Newport would have to return to England
for more supplies within a short amount

of time in order to help his colony
survive.

The absence of their leader and the
known but unexplained disappearance of

Roanoke colony gave the new settlers
good reason to be fearful.

At the time of the settlers' arrival in
Jamestown, the population of the

Palatine Indians who were already in the
area near the settlement numbered

around 15 ,000.

They had conquered the neighboring
Cacoftan tribe in 1597 and eliminated

the Chesapeakes.

The Powhatans were a powerful tribe with
their hierarchical ruling structure

consisting of a head chief at the top,
then district chiefs and priests, war

leaders at the next level, and then
commoners at the bottom.

Those who held higher positions were in
control of high -status items, such as

copper. And as with many other tribes,
the women managed the crops.

By 1607, the Powhatans had more than 30
villages with plans to

continue expanding their empire.

The English came to Jamestown.

They had similar ideas of geographical
expansion, and this, among other

clashings of interest, caused immediate
unease between the settlers and the

Powhatans.

Like those who had come to the New World
before them, the settlers had hopes of

finding a wealth of gold, that elusive
route to Asia, and cultural and

dominance.

But because they were ill -prepared and
ignorant of all they might face during

their relocation, the survival of the
colonists greatly depended on trade with

the native tribes.

It didn't take long for the settlers to
create additional friction in their

relation with the Palatans.

And the natives did not hide their
displeasure with the colonists'

fend for themselves.

The settlers had chosen a swampy
location in which to build their town,

they were not adept at farming and
lacked the proper tools for such things,

took more corn from the Indians than
they actually traded for.

Because these settlers, like many
others, did not fence in their

of the wild game that the natives
depended on for food was run out of the

The livestock also trampled and ate
Indian crops, which brought about

unnecessary hardship for everyone.

In December of 1607, the Powhatans
captured Jamestown's Captain John Smith,

keeping him for two months at the
Powhatan capital of Werowocomoco, where

interrogated him.

When they finally released Smith,
somewhat peaceful relations were re

-established. though it was more of a
farce than a solid agreement.

Palatine chief, Wahun Sonakak, had
adopted John Smith into his tribe as a

of absorbing Jamestown into existing
Palatine lands.

When Captain Newport returned from
England with more supplies and a fresh

consignment of settlers, he returned the
mock honor to Chief Palatine by

declaring him a vassal to the Crown.

It was for no other reason but in the
hope of expanding the English colony

Powhatan territory.

This conflict of interest would be the
catalyst for a violent eruption of

hostility between the two people.

Chief Wahunsunukak Powhatan was born
sometime around the mid -1500s.

In his lifetime, He became a powerful
and respected leader of more than 30

tribes in the area of Jamestown,
Virginia.

As a new chief, he ruled six tribes, the
Powhatan, the Pamunkey,

the Arohatec, the Appomattoke, the Yonge
-Tonund, and the Mattapani.

The territory ruled by Powhatan
stretched over approximately 6 ,000

miles.

This included the Chesapeake Bay area,
from north of the Mattaponi River to the

land south of the James River.

It is unknown at what age Powhatan
became chief, but this power enabled him

have several wives and children, one of
his daughters being the legendary

Pocahontas.

Captain John Smith, who claimed in his
writings to have been rescued on more

than one occasion by Pocahontas, also
wrote an account of her father.

He is of parsonage at all, well
-proportioned man, his head somewhat

age near sixty, of a very able and hard
body to endure any labour.

What he commandeth they dare not disobey
in the least thing.

It is strange to see with what great
fear and adoration all of these people

obey this Powhatan.

For at his feet they present whatsoever
he commandeth, and at the least frown of

his brow their greatest spirits will
tremble with fear.

And no marvel, for he is very terrible
and tyrannous in punishing such as

him.

While it was clear that Powhatan didn't
care for the settlers coming close to

his land, he had been tolerant of them
at first.

But as the settlers became more and more
demanding of land and Powhatan

resources, amicable relations were
quickly strained.

In late 1609, John Smith returned to
England to recover from an injury

to a gunpowder explosion.

He would not return to America.

Around the same time, Chief Powhatan
moved from Werowocomoco to his new

or a pox, and invited several of the
English to discuss their trade

relationship.

But instead of a peaceful exchange, most
of his English guests were killed.

Powhatan ordered that there be no more
trade with the English settlers, and for

Jamestown to be attacked.

The first round of unstable peace was
over, and a volley of small attacks

ensued.

In 1610, The Palatans trapped the
colonists within their own settlement,

to force them out or keep them hostage
there until they ran out of food.

This was known as the Starving Time, and
though it nearly worked, another ship

soon arrived from England with roughly
150 more settlers and more supplies,

thereby pulling Jamestown from near
starvation and reviving the community

to get it back on its feet.

Though the strength of Jamestown and its
people was restored, this period of

unrest between them and the Powhatans
did not end until 1613, when the English

kidnapped Chief Powhatan's daughter,
Pocahontas, and brought a fourth

cooperation between the settlers and the
natives.

Much in the way that Columbus had first
encountered the Arawaks, The settlers

who followed him and other explorers to
the New World referred to the natives as

naturals.

Here was a population of people who did
everything as naturally as possible.

They worked with the land to create
food.

They worked with timber to build
housing.

And they used animal pelts and skins to
clothe themselves against the elements,

and not out of a sense of shame.

They worked with each other to structure
their tribes and communities.

There were no kings or gods to control
them, but rather a group of chiefs, and

the women were also involved in making
important tribal decisions.

Children were guided in natural
development and learned about their

they grew, rather than being broken down
and rebuilt according to religious

laws.

The lives of the natives were
constructed according to the land and

simple natural needs, not greed,
religion, or power.

Intertribal warfare existed, but it was
nothing compared to the large -scale

conflict found amongst the Europeans.

In addition to wanting to own the land
belonging to the natives, the English

also aspired to convert the Indians in
every way possible.

They did not have an appreciation for
this natural way of life, but rather

found it vulgar and ungodly.

This conversion of natives to Christian
civility would be one of the greatest

causes of the destruction of many native
cultures.

With Pocahontas taken captive by the
English, Chief Powhatan had little

but to comply with the demands of the
settlers.

He returned some of the imprisoned
colonists, along with some of the guns

Powhatans had confiscated.

But this was not enough for the English,
and Pocahontas remained in their

possession.

During the year that she was in
Jamestown, Pocahontas converted to

and drew the interest of one of the
settlers, a widower by the name of John

Roth.

Chief Powhatan agreed to the marriage
between his daughter and Roth in 1614.

This interracial union put a temporary
end to the years -long feuding between

the settlers and the Powhatan.

Following the marriage, John Roth
developed a new tobacco strain.

which caused the crops to flourish.

After realizing what sort of fortune
could be made from it, the town's

sponsors demanded that the settlers
obtain more land for larger crops.

Because the tobacco made the soil
unusable after harvest, the colonists

into greater territories in an effort to
create more and bigger crops, and in

turn to bring a heftier profit.

This expansion meant taking more and
more land from the Powhatans, and soon

divide between cultures was reopened,
only this time it was worse than before.

Shortly after her marriage to Rolf,
Pocahontas returned with him to England,

where she stayed until her death in
1617.

Chief Powhatan died shortly thereafter,
in April 1618.

Without the chief there to uphold peace
between the settlers and his people,

discord erupted once again on both
sides.

England continued to send colonists who
overtook native lands and persisted in

converting the natives to Christianity.

A good many of the settlers wanted to
adopt Powhatan children, civilizing them

by stripping away their customs and
giving them an English and Christian

upbringing.

The natives were rightfully resistant of
further cooperation with these new

invaders and justly cautious about
handing their children over to a society

had continuously and relentlessly
murdered their people and stolen their

property.

In 1620, another group of English
colonists sailed into New England and

on the coast of Massachusetts.

They were separatists, or pilgrims, who
had left England for the sake of

religious freedom.

They chose to settle in an abandoned
Indian village, likely deserted due to

disease.

The settlers renamed this village, once
called Patuxet, as Plymouth.

Many of the remaining native survivors
of Patuxet joined the nearby Wampanoag

tribe. One such survivor, was a former
Indian slave named Squanto.

He had been taken from his tribe and
sold in Spain in 1614 by an English

captain. In 1618, Squanto made his way
to England, where he gained passage back

to America.

With his entire family dead from
disease, Squanto joined the Wampanoag,

the time were under the rule of Chief
Massasoit.

When the pilgrims arrived in Patuxet and
found that it was deserted, they

believed that God had purposely cleared
the territory of savage natives and had

therefore provided this land solely for
their arrival.

This superior attitude did not change
once the pilgrims had established

with the Indians.

And like the settlers in Jamestown, the
residents of Plymouth felt they should

have as much land as was necessary to
expand their colonization.

As part of their ploy to gain this land,
the Pilgrims sealed a friendship treaty

with the Narragansett Indians.

This tribe had a motive for wanting
peace with the English, as the Pequot

Indians were in possession of the land
between them.

The Pequots were another of the most
powerful tribes in the area.

They did a great deal of trade with the
Dutch of New Amsterdam, rather than with

the English colonists, taking away
access to items that the English wanted

needed.

With the Connecticut and Massachusetts
Bay colonies, as well as rival tribes,

the Mohegans and Narragansetts
surrounding them, the placement of the

was a rather precarious one.

They also had access to the precious
wampum found in whelk shells, which the

other tribes used to record important
events and diplomatic meetings by

them into memory belts.

Once the Puritans had learned the value
of wampum to the neighboring tribes,

they used it as leverage in trading with
the natives.

The greedy desire to possess this prized
resource quickly created hostile

relations between the English and the
Pequot, as the English would force their

way into Pequot land to take whatever
they could find.

As the Puritans had no tolerance for
those who were different from them, they

did not feel that this invasion and
theft was unwarranted.

Shortly after the arrival of the
pilgrims, at Plymouth the weakening

between the natives and colonists living
near the James River reached an end.

By spring of 1622 the colonists in
Virginia had expanded their settlement

into Powhatan lands pushing the natives
further away from the river and forcing

them into the outlying lands.

Without access to this major water
resource

the Palatans were met with additional
hardships to the ones they were already

facing.

After the death of Chief Palatan, his
brother, Opecancanof, took control of

tribe.

He'd had enough of the English
forcefully pushing into native lands,

was little left to do but to try and
take it back.

It was the morning of March 22, 1622.

when a group of natives visited the
English who were settled along the

They arrived bearing gifts for the
settlers and expressed wanting nothing

than friendly interaction.

The natives were then invited in to the
colonists' homes and to their tables to

dine, until they were all well scattered
throughout the settlement.

Then, in a unified manner and completely
without warning, They attacked the

colonists.

Surviving Englishman Edward Waterhouse
later described the event in his

They came unarmed into our houses
without bows or arrows or other weapons,

deer, turkeys, fish, furs, and other
provisions to sell and truck with us for

glass, beads, and other trifles.

Yea, in some places they sat down at
breakfast with our people at their

whom immediately, with their own tools
and weapons either laid down or standing

in their houses, they baselessly and
barbarously murdered.

In only a few hours, at least a quarter
of the settlers were dead.

Their counterattack came swiftly to a
level of even greater devastation.

The colonists leveled nearby Indian
villages, destroyed the crops and all

food sources that they could find, while
indiscriminately killing Indian men,

women, and children. Though the
Powhatans had hoped to send a message to

settlers with their attack, the number
of English colonists far outweighed that

of the Powhatan population, and the
ruinous attack made on the Indians saw

end of the Powhatan legacy.

The massacre on March 22nd would not be
the end of colonist versus native

bloodshed.

In 1633, an Englishman and pirate named
John Stone was killed

on the Connecticut River after
kidnapping several Indians for ransom.

The English insisted that it was the
work of the Pequots, but they were

proof, and Stone's death resulted in
nothing more than a deepening.

In 1636, Captain John Oldham was found
dead.

Though it's uncertain who had killed
that first boatman, the Narragansetts

admitted to being responsible for the
death of Captain Oldham.

While it wasn't the Narragansetts the
English primarily wished to eradicate,

these deaths gave them the excuse they'd
been waiting for, to make an attack on

the Pequots.

Pequot leader, Sassacus, realized that
war against his people was looming, and

he sought to build an alliance with the
Narragansetts.

He was unsuccessful in persuading them
to join him against the English, as the

Narragansetts were equally after the
possession of Pequot lands.

Once the battle had started under the
command of Captain John Endicott, the

Pequots counterattacked the outlying
English settlements.

including Fort Saybrook in Connecticut.

But with the majority of the Pequots out
fighting, their main village of Fort

Mystic was left with very little
defense.

The villagers attacked in the night, and
within an hour the battle was over.

The fort was in the process of burning
to the ground.

Captain John Underhill, who was present
for the attack, Describe the battle in

his journal, News from America.

Down fell men, women, and children.

Those that escaped us fell into the
hands of the Indians that were in the

of us.

Not above five of them escaped out of
our hands.

Our Indians came with us and greatly
admired the manner of Englishmen's

but cried, Much it, much it, that is, it
is not, it is not, because it is too

furious and slays too many men.

Great and doleful was the bloody sight,
the view of young soldiers that never

had been in war, to see so many souls
lie gasping on the ground, so thick in

some places that you could hardly pass
along.

According to Dr.

Cotton Mather, a Puritan theologian, it
was supposed that no less than six

hundred Pequot souls were brought down
to hell that day.

Nearly six hundred Pequot Indians.

mostly women, children, and men too old
to fight.

Those who tried to escape were caught
and killed.

Chief Sassacus was able to flee to
Mohawk territory, but he was executed.

The Mohawks wanted to make it clear to
the English that they did not get

involved with war and cared little for
non -Iraquoian people.

Within two months, the English had
defeated the last of the Pequots.

Those they did not kill were sold into
slavery or divided between the Mohegans

and the Narragansetts as payment for
their involvement in the mystic

Both Captain Endicott and Captain
Underhill believed that their attack on

natives was part of their duty to God
and ridding the lands of such heathens,

matter how they did it.

was completely justified in the eyes of
their lord.

After the complete destruction of
Mystic, the Narragansett and Mohegan

expressed their surprise at how brutal
and quick to kill the English were,

while no doubt harboring new
apprehensions towards the colonists.

Some of the conflicts and violence
between the settlers and the natives

other reasons, reasons other than greed
and the intolerance of cultural

differences.

Sometimes it was nothing more than the
desire to find a scapegoat on which to

blame the poor outcome of crops, a
decrease in crop profits, or any other

general misfortune experienced by the
English.

In the case of Bacon's Rebellion,

The struggle didn't stem from troubled
alliances between the English and the

natives, but rather between two stubborn
and selfish leaders.

Governor Sir William Berkeley was a
playwright and scholar, a favorite of

king, a veteran of the English Civil
Wars, and a known Indian fighter.

This 70 -year -old governor of Virginia
was well respected in his community.

In contrast, Berkeley's young cousin,
through marriage, Nathaniel Bacon,

Jr., was a recognized troublemaker.

He had been sent from England to
Virginia to live with Berkeley in the

that Bacon would mature through some
honest, hard work.

But Bacon wasn't a fool.

He was intelligent and eloquent, and
even though Berkeley treated Bacon

respectfully,

even provided him with a substantial
land grant and a seat on the 1675

it wasn't long before Bacon began to
plot some mischief.

The colony was already facing more than
enough tribulation.

With the rising costs of general goods,
repercussions from the most recent war

with the Dutch, and with Maryland and
the Carolinas competing for profit

the commercialization of tobacco,

the Virginians were suffering some heavy
losses.

Severe and damaging weather only further
complicated matters by reducing useful

harvests.

This seemed like a plausible enough
excuse to turn on their neighboring

who had next to nothing to do with the
colonists' troubles.

In the summer of 1675,

The Doeg Indians raided a plantation
belonging to Thomas Matthews near the

Potomac River.

The initial cause for the raid had been
in regard to a petty disagreement over

non -payment, but several Doegs died
during the altercation.

To make matters even worse, when the
colonists decided to retaliate, they

after the natives in the same determined
and wayward manner.

They ambushed the wrong tribe.

The attack on the innocent
Susquehannocks was the incentive to

-scale Indian raid.

Berkeley stepped in, and in an effort to
calm the chaos, he ordered an

investigation on the matter.

A meeting was also called to try and
quiet the brewing storm, but it only led

further disaster.

when several Indian chiefs were killed
in response.

Berkeley's attempt at restoring any kind
of compromise between the irate Indians

and the bloodthirsty settlers was by
relieving the local Indians of their

gunpowder and ammunition.

It was a futile move in trying to
convince the settlers that the Indians

hostile.

This was followed up by the Long
Assembly, held in March 1676.

which openly declared war on all bad
natives.

For many settlers, all natives were
considered bad, and they took it as an

invitation to obliterate the Indians.

The warring that followed led to a
greater discontent for the colonists as

drastically hiked the taxes required to
pay for the fighting.

The long assembly also caused several
restrictions

on desperately needed trade between the
Indians and the colonists.

Berkeley favored certain traders and
allowed business to continue, while

were suddenly cut off completely and
forbidden to engage in independent

Great resentment within the settlement
resulted, and the tension continued to

build. In addition to this, trade became
strictly monitored in an effort to keep

ammunition. and guns from going back
into the hands of the Indians.

One of the traitors to be adversely
affected by Berkeley's orders was Bacon,

this greatly fanned the flames of an
impending rebellion.

Bacon was also against having peaceful
relations with the natives, which

Berkeley was struggling to maintain.

To try and curb a negative and
potentially violent eruption from his

Berkeley rode on to Bacon's land, with
300 men, but Bacon had fled into the

nearby woods to avoid possible
detainment.

Berkeley followed this up with two
petitions, one of them declaring Bacon a

rebel, and the other pardoned Bacon's
men, under the condition that they

home without conflict.

Bacon was promised that he would receive
a fair trial for his insubordination,

but his seat on the council would be
revoked.

Instead of complying with these
measures, Bacon attacked the Okanichi

who had thus far been friendly toward
the settlers.

Berkeley was quickly running out of
options for handling his defiant cousin.

Berkeley realized that he was going to
have to take different measures if peace

and calm were to be maintained in what
was quickly becoming an unmanageable

situation.

Berkeley agreed to overlook Bacon's
attack on the Okaniches and proposed

would pardon Bacon if he turned himself
over to be sent back to England for

trial.

None of this was to come about, however,
as Bacon was elected into the House of

Burgesses by those who supported his
manner in dealing with Indians.

Because of this, he was also able to
attend the assembly of June 1676.

where he was unduly given credit for the
reform of laws dealing with the

reconstruction of the voting regulations
and limits on term years held in

certain political offices.

While these were rather important
changes with high political impact,

only concern was in his campaign against
the natives.

On the day of the June assembly, Bacon
was captured and taken to Berkeley.

After receiving Bacon's forced and
likely insincere apology, Berkeley

his cousin and permitted him to return
to his seat on the council.

Despite any hopes that Berkeley may have
had in stopping Bacon's plans, things

would only get worse.

It was in the midst of a heated debate
over issues with the natives that Bacon

left subtly and without explanation.

He returned.

with an army of followers that Berkeley
had not anticipated his cousin having,

and the governor found himself and the
statehouse surrounded.

Insistent on getting what was owed to
him, Bacon once again ordered that he be

given his commission.

Berkeley once again refused, and went as
far as to call Bacon's bluff.

Here, shoot me before God.

Fair mark, shoot.

But Bacon refused, and a volley of
bantering demands followed.

Berkeley granted Bacon his previous
volunteer commission, but Bacon further

insisted that he be made general of all
forces against the natives.

To this, Berkeley stubbornly refused.

Once again, Bacon stood his ground and
threatened to attack the statehouse and

everyone in it if he did not get what he
wanted.

Full power.

to act against the Indians without
interference from the government.

Having no other choice in the matter,
Berkeley caved, and Bacon took immediate

control. In the following month, Bacon's
rebellion saw more struggle than

triumph.

Berkeley had left the area around the
same time that a nearby settlement was

making its recovery from a surprise
Indian attack.

This left the aftermath an unwanted
reconstruction

in Bacon's hands.

Berkeley also removed supplies and
weapons from Gloucester, making the

vulnerable to further attacks.

He then returned to Green Springs and
left Bacon to deal with the entire mess

his own.

Despite this added chaos, Berkeley's
absence gave Nathaniel Bacon control of

Jamestown between July and September of
1676, during which time Berkeley

attempted and failed in a single
takeover.

On July 30, 1676, Bacon issued his
Declaration of the People, in which

he declared Berkeley to be corrupt.

While Bacon's following had been too
great for Berkeley to successfully

overthrow, it didn't take long before
Berkeley found a way to infiltrate

army.

It gave his forces enough strength to
retake Jamestown.

but not before Bacon made desperate
attempts at maintaining control by

kidnapping the wives of Berkeley's
supporters.

On September 19, 1676, with his
popularity waning and many of his

lost to Berkeley, Bacon made his final
attempt to regain control by burning

Jamestown to the ground.

It was just over a month later that
Nathaniel Bacon, Jr.,

evaded the hangman's noose, and died of
tuberculosis.

His fellow leaders in the rebellion were
not so lucky, and once Berkeley had

regained full control, 23 persons were
executed for their roles in the

This mess came to a final closing when
the matter was investigated by an

committee and reported back to King
Charles II.

As a result, Berkeley was stripped of
its title as governor.

He died the following year after
returning to England.

While the nearby Native Americans were
drawn into this seemingly pointless

rebellion, they were no more a part of
it than a means to an end, an excuse to

escalate the political struggle between
two stubborn and power -hungry

Englishmen.

Not all violence between natives and the
settlers was in the grand scale of war.

As more natives were being pressed to
convert to Christianity, and by that,

meaning being forced to give up their
cultures entirely, in the cutting of

hair, living within English praying
towns, and dressing like the colonists,

vengeful retaliation began to grow to
new heights within these communities.

English courts convicted and ordered the
executions of three Wampanoag men for

killing John Fasemont, a Christianized
Indian.

Sassamon had warned the English that
fellow natives were planning an attack

the settlement.

This was the first ever Indian against
Indian crime to be held in a Puritan

court.

Instead of setting an example, it opened
the way for more killing.

Indians were slain for attacking English
livestock.

Colonists killed fellow colonists who
had taken Indians for their spouses.

Hundreds of Narragansetts, who had been
allies to the Puritans during the Pequot

War, suddenly fell victim to them
instead.

The one -on -one violence escalated,
eventually avalanching into one of the

bloodiest European versus Indian wars to
take place in New England.

Already thinking themselves far superior
to the natives, English pilgrims found

Medicom, a young leader of the
Wakanakets.

to be arrogant and a complication in
their quest for greater expansion, and

nicknamed him King Philip.

Medicom was the son of Massasoit, the
Indian chief who had generously helped

Plymouth pilgrims endure and survive
their first winter in New England.

During the fifty -five years between the
arrival of the pilgrims and the

beginning of what would be known as King
Philip's War, The English had overcome

their struggles and grown in both
population and prosperity.

At the same time, the natives
experienced a slow decline in power and

thanks to the spread of European
disease, consistent destruction of

through conflict, and the constant
annexing of their lands by the English.

By 1675, there was more than enough
cause for rebellion.

Philip had grown tired of seeing his
people fall to the mercy of the settlers

and made his intentions known.

I am determined not to live until I have
no country.

That declaration was not the tipping
point for war, but rather the occasion

during which a few Wampanoags killed
cattle belonging to an English farmer

were repeatedly trampling their Indian
crops.

The act was answered by the farmer then
killing an Indian and thereby opening

the floodgates for war.

The Nipmuc Indians joined up with the
Wampanoags, creating a rather fearsome

army.

They attacked Brookfield, a settlement
set deeply within Nipmuc territory, by

first ambushing English soldiers.

Eight soldiers were killed, while the
rest of the company retreated to the

garrison.

They were followed there, and the town
was burned down, with Indians

and barricading the settlers inside.

It would seem that the English had only
two grim options, risk burning to death

within the garrison, or running and
facing certain death at the hands of the

natives.

It was a well -timed heavy rainstorm.

that saved them from either face, and
soldiers from settlements to the east

showed up just in time to rescue those
trapped in Brookfield.

The Torch settlement would be abandoned
for more than a decade and remain a pile

of ashes until 1686.

Following the failed attack on
Brookfield, the Nipmucs and the

closer to the settlements along the
Connecticut River Valley, a fertile

there was a major source of New
England's food supply.

The natives were well aware that the
English population was much lower here

in the Boston area, and with the
Wacomtooks, Squawkigs, and Nowatoks

them on their warpath against the
English, the settlers would be grossly

outnumbered.

In fall of 1675, these tribes attacked
the town of Deerfield and forced the

English to abandon it.

Shortly thereafter, Captain Lothrop was
ordered to return to Deerfield to

recover remaining supplies.

Together, the soldiers and farmers
filled several wagons with food and

without native confrontation.

It was on their return trip, as they
paused for a short rest, abandoning

weapons in the wagons, that their luck
made a turn for the worst.

They had reached a brook.

and discovered that trees felled by the
natives blocked their path.

Before weapons could be retrieved, the
natives struck, and within moments, 71

English soldiers were dead.

Bloody Brook earned its title as it ran
red with the blood of the English.

Writer William Hubbard would declare
this attack the saddest day that ever

befell.

The attack at Bloody Brook did not end
with the death of the soldiers.

Having heard the sounds of muskets being
fired, Captain Mosley led his troops to

the scene and was recognized by the
natives who supposedly gave him a

welcome.

Come, Mosley, come.

You seek Indians?

You want Indians? Here is Indians enough
for you.

Mosley's counterattack and a large army
of natives was unsuccessful, forcing him

and his men to retreat.

The deaths resulting from the attacks
sent the Puritans into a religious

As they believed that these attacks were
punishment from God for not abiding by

His strict religious codes, they began
persecuting Quakers and both neutral and

Christian Indians with imprisonment or
hanging.

None of this helped.

as the hostility of natives continued
through the raiding and burning of the

towns of Patfield, Northampton, and
Springfield.

The Indian chief Philip's army continued
to grow.

He gained warriors from the Agawam
tribe, once peaceful but bent on revenge

after English settlers saw to kidnapping
and holding Agawam children hostage.

This poor choice of tactics by the
English as a precautionary measure,

in the Agawams setting fire to
Springfield.

By the time winter set in, the native
attacks began to lessen.

Because so many had abandoned the
tending of crops in lieu of the campaign

against the settlers, the Indians were
faced with starvation.

The English were no better off, with
central Massachusetts under the

control of Indians.

and the threat of the Narragansetts
joining in against them. While the

Narragansetts had peaceful relations in
Rhode Island, that was of little

consolation to the rest of New England.

In December of 1675, the colonists, in
their paranoia over a Narragansett

attack, cast the first stone and started
a battle that would later be known as

the Great Swamp Massacre.

General Winslow, and Indian fighter
Benjamin Church took a thousand soldiers

from outlying areas directly into
Narragansett territory and set upon an

unsuspecting Narragansett winter camp.

While many English were shot by the
Narragansett's defense, more and more

in their place, eventually overwhelming
the Narragansett with their attack.

Over 500 natives, mostly women and
children, were killed.

and those who survived joined with King
Philip for their last chance at revenge.

The warring continued back and forth
between the peoples, all who were now

bloodthirsty for revenge.

In February of 1676, Chief Philip and
his followers successfully

raided the town of Lancaster.

A barely surviving captive, Mary
Rowlandson, gave an account of the

At length they came and beset our own
house, which served as the garrison, and

quickly it was the dolefulest day that
ever my eyes saw.

The house stood upon the edge of a hill.
Some of the Indians got behind the

hill, others into the barn, and others
behind anything that would shelter them.

From all which places they shot against
the house, so that the bullets seemed to

fly like hail. Some in our house were
fighting for their lives.

others wallowing in their blood, the
house on fire over our heads, and the

bloody heathen ready to knock us on the
head if we stirred out.

Rowlandson was among those taken by the
Indians and forced to travel back and

forth across Massachusetts for the next
six weeks.

Her eventual ransoming, back to the
English, was an indicator of the

weakening power against the colonists,
who, by this point, greatly outnumbered

the natives.

They were also facing starvation and
lacked the weapons necessary to keep up

fight.

In May, Captain Turner and Captain
Holyoke launched an attack on an Indian

along the Connecticut River.

A young English boy who had escaped
native captivity disclosed the location

the camp.

At dawn, Turner and Holyoke struck.

killing the unsuspecting Indians as they
fled.

Many drowned while trying to cross the
river.

News spread quickly of this massacre,
and warriors from surrounding areas

responded with an attack of their own.

Turner was killed as he and his men fled
back to Hadley, but the forces of the

Wampanoag and the Nipmuc Alliance
suffered irreparable damage.

Of those who survived, Some fled north,
while even fewer remained to continue

fighting for a cause they had already
lost.

After this last great battle, Philip
returned to Mount Hope with a handful of

warriors.

He continued making quick, smaller
attacks on some of the more isolated

the area, but none of them were enough
to recover his previous power.

Benjamin Church tracked Philip during
these raids.

and eventually caught up with him in
August.

It was an Indian soldier under the
command of Church who shot and killed

As a token, or perhaps as a warning to
Indian warriors who might have had

notions of future attacks, King Philip's
body was quartered and hanged for all

to see.

His hands were sent to Boston, and his
head to Plymouth.

where it remained on a pole for years.

With more than 3 ,000 Indians killed as
a result of King Philip's War, the few

hundred who remained, including Philip's
wife and one of his sons, were sold

into slavery.

The Wampanoags, Nipmucs, and
Narragansetts were all but wiped out of

existence.

When looking back on the invasion of the
English colonists into Native American

lives, it is difficult to understand how
a population of newcomers could claim

to lead a civilized existence.

The many wars and genocide of those
already living on American soil, the

forceful stealing of land, supplies and
food, and the annihilation of cultures

unlike their own, speaks volumes to the
characters of the people who could in

fact be considered less civilized than
their declared enemies.

What if the English had truly understood
the ways of the natives, and instead of

succumbing to the need to take wealth by
force, had instead lived quietly

alongside them?

If the colonists had abided by the words
of neighboring tribes, and conformed

with customs already existing with the
natives, instead of forcefully imposing

English ways upon those they
encountered, how different would things

Even as many Europeans took natives as
husbands or wives, and native children

were adopted into English families, the
full acceptance of these established

cultures was rare.

In the case of Pocahontas and John
Rolfe, the Union was used as a political

tactic to temporarily stave off more
war.

The necessity for European settlers to
expand and obtain greater wealth under

the threat of religious and royal
retribution brought the destruction of

lives for which no justice can ever be
granted.

Despite continuous warfare, loss of land
and resources, and the forced

reconstruction of their lives, some
Native American tribes still found ways

resist, rebuild, and carry on.

Their staying power and their
willingness to share parts of their

us now to appreciate what many others
from centuries ago chose to take,

quite tragically, for granted.