On the following Sunday, Samoset was on hand again. He brought with him five warriors as tall and pleasing in their looks as himself. He had been told that he and his companions must not come into the settlement with their weapons. Accordingly, they left their bows and arrows some distance from town. They were treated well, but the settlers would not trade with them because it was Sunday. When the five left, Samoset claimed he was ill, and stayed at Plymouth for three days. In fact, he had formed a stronger liking for the colonists than they had for him. The visitors had promised to come again to barter, and they kept their promise. The most important news, however, brought by them was that Massasoit, their great sagamore or chief, was only a short distance off, awaiting the chance for an introduction to the white men. An hour later the chief with sixty of his followers appeared on the crest of a hill not far away.
The settlers distrusted the meaning of the visit of so large a body. It might be they meant to massacre the whites, and were using their usual trickery to gain an advantage over them. Among the colonists was an Indian named Squanto, who had been kidnapped several years before, and kept for some time in England, where he learned to speak the language. He was now sent to Massasoit to ask the wishes of the sagamore. The reply was a request for one of the Englishmen to come out and have a talk with him. Edward Winslow did so, and gave a number of trinkets to the great chieftain, who showed childish delight over the presents. Through Squanto, Winslow told Massasoit that the King of England sent him words of peace and love, and that the Governor of Plymouth wished to make a treaty of friendship with him.
When the speechmaking was over, Massasoit left Winslow with the warriors as a hostage, while he and twenty of his men, leaving their weapons behind, walked forward for a talk with the governor. They were conducted to a house not then finished, where Governor Carver welcomed them and ordered refreshments, of which all partook. "Strong water" was a part of the dinner. It was new to the Indians, but they were pleased with the fiery stuff, of which they drank enough for its effects to show. The natives became quite merry, and it is to be feared that the Puritans reached a mellow mood. Be that as it may, no more favorable time could have been chosen for agreeing upon a treaty, and the important fact is that Massasoit made one treaty with the English which was kept sacred for more than fifty years.
It will help to understand the early history of New England, if we remember that the Indians of that section consisted at that time of five confederacies, or leagues, of different numbers and strength. The Pawtuckets lived mainly in southern New Hampshire; the Massachusetts around the bay of that name; the Pequots in eastern Connecticut; the Narragansetts to the east of the Pequots, Rhode Island and the other small islands in the neighborhood being within their territory, while the Pokanokets, more generally known as Wampanoags, embraced portions of Plymouth and Barnstable, and a good deal of the country between the Pawtucket tribes and the Massachusetts, with a part of present Bristol county, Rhode Island. The Wampanoags numbered nine tribes, each governed by its own sagamore, and all subject to Massasoit, the grand sachem, who generally lived near Mount Hope.
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. But he held the numerous tribes together without war, and ruled over a larger dominion and a more numerous people than Powhatan, Opecancanough, Pontiac or Tecumseh. True, the last two held full sway at certain times, but it was for purposes of war only.
HIAWATHA, FOUNDER OF THE IROQUOIS LEAGUE.
The Iroquois League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida,
Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations, who founded in
the New York wilderness a barbaric republic, with bonds of union that
might serve in many respects as a model for civilized nations of to-day.
THE INDIANS LISTEN TO A MISSIONARY.
The Indians often visited the colonists and listened to the
traveling missionary, but only a few converts were made among
the red men during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.