We may add, that it was confirmed by what is known incidentally of the character of Stone. Governor Winthrop, speaking of his arrival at Boston in June 1633, on board a small vessel loaded with "corn and salt," adds, that "the governor of Plymouth sent Captain Standish to prosecute against him for piracy." The particulars of the accusation need not be stated, for only a few months after this, we find the same person mentioned as charged with another infamous crime; "and though it appeared he was in drink, and no act to be proved, yet it was thought fit he should abide his trial," &c. He was fined a hundred pounds, and expelled from the Massachusetts jurisdiction.
As to the next proceeding recorded—the expedition of the English in 1635—we have only to remark, 1. That the demand of one thousand fathoms of wampum, with no justifiable nor even alleged reason for it, was an imposition and an insult. 2. The English should at least have taken time to see Sassacus himself, his subjects having no more authority than disposition to treat without him. 3. The English, with no apparent provocation, not only insulted but assaulted the Pequots, merely to see if they would "show fight;" and then burnt their towns and boats; not a hair of their own heads being meanwhile injured, and Sassacus himself being still absent.
With such inducement, the chieftain began a war of extermination; and then indeed it became necessary that one of the two nations at issue should be completely disabled. No, civilized reader entertains a doubt as to the result which, under such an alternative, was most to be desired. But he may nevertheless have his opinion, respecting the moral propriety as well as the state policy of the measures which brought on that horrible necessity. Let the whole truth, then, be exposed. If it shall be found, (as we believe it must be,) that under the influence of strong and sincere though fatal excitement, a rashness of the civilized party was the ultimate cause of the ruin of the savage, let that injustice be acknowledged, though it should be with shame and with tears. Let it be atoned for, as far as it may be.—in the only way now possible—by the candid judgment of posterity and history, upon the merits and the misfortunes of both.
[CHAPTER XIV.]
The Pequot territory claimed by Uncas—His tribe, family, and early history—Services in the Pequot expedition rewarded by the English—Effect of their favor—His contest with Miantonomo, and result—Subsequent wars and quarrels with various tribes and chiefs—Assistance rendered him by the English—Complaints brought against him to them—His Christianity considered—His morality—Evidence of his fraud, falsehood, violence, tyranny, ambition—His services, and those of his tribe to the English—Manner in which he met the accusations made against him—Cunning and servility—His treatment of neighboring sachems—Various negotiations with the English—His death—Fate of his tribe.
On the conquest of the Pequots, the whole of their territory, about thirty miles square, was claimed by the Mohegans. The best opinion is, that this tribe was originally a part of the Pequot nation; and that their subsequent name was derived from the place of their subsequent residence. The first chief sachem of the Mohegans personally known to the English, was Uncas, [FN] who was a Pequot by birth, and of the royal line, both by his father and mother. His wife was a daughter of Tatobam, one of the Pequot sachems. Probably he had been himself a war-captain under Sassacus. But when the English began their settlements in Connecticut, he was in a state of rebellion against him, in consequence of some misunderstanding between them, for which either he had expatriated himself; or Sassacus had expelled him from his dominions. At this time, his influence was inconsiderable; but his great address and ambition soon made him the leading Sagamore of the Mohegans, as they afterwards made that tribe the leading one in Connecticut.—[See Appendix No. 1.]
[FN]
| Onkos. | Mason's Pequot Expedition. | |
| Uncass. | Wolcott. | |
| Okack. | Roger Williams. | |
| Onkus and Okoko. | Winthrop. | |
| Uncus, Unquas, Unkowah, &c. | Hazard. |
The English were more indebted to Uncas for his zealous services in the Pequot war, than to all the other Indians together, though they at first entertained doubts of his fidelity. Governor Wolcott says: