The chief sachem during the days of Massasoit was Canonicus, who after a time joined his nephew Miantonomah with him in the government of his tribes. This was probably due to the youth and wisdom of his relative. When Roger Williams was driven out of Salem because of his too plain preaching, he fled to the country of Canonicus. The chief, although a little distant at first, received him kindly, and gave him a large tract of land, which Williams divided among those who followed him into exile. Thus the city of Providence was founded and the settlement of Rhode Island begun.
This friendship on the part of Canonicus was the more notable because he disliked the English from the first. As early at 1622, he was determined to attack them, and sent a messenger to Plymouth with a bundle of arrows wrapped about with a rattlesnake skin. This was a challenge to war, and Governor Bradford could not mistake its meaning. He snatched up the rattlesnake covering, flung aside the arrows, and stuffed the skin full of gunpowder and bullets. He ordered the messenger to tell his chief that if the white ruler had a vessel, he would not wait for Canonicus to come to Plymouth to fight him, but would seek him out and give him all he wished of war. The chief was invited to come to Plymouth at once and start the fighting. The bold message had its effect. Canonicus decided to leave the white men for the present alone. It was Canonicus who led the attack on Massasoit in 1632, when he had to flee to an English house and Captain Miles Standish hurried to his rescue.
In 1636, the Pequots formed a conspiracy to slay all the English in their country. As a first step, they asked Canonicus and Miantonomah to make a treaty of peace with them, and to join in the war against the settlements. The temptation was a peculiar one to the Narragansett leaders. They had now the chance of striking a blow at their old enemies, the Pequots, or of joining with them against the English. Their inclination was to make common cause against the white men. Roger Williams was living among the Narragansetts when the Pequot messengers came to Canonicus, and he used all his powers to keep the chief out of the alliance. The Pequots were enraged and would have killed him had they dared, but Canonicus was a true friend of the exile, and they were afraid to offend the chief. Finally, he yielded to the prayers of Williams, and refused those of the Pequots, who entered upon the campaign alone, and, as a consequence, suffered destruction at the hands of the colonists. In this dreadful work the whites had the help of several hundred Narragansetts.
Another great Indian leader now appears on the stage. He was Uncas, who was born a Pequot, and was one of more than a score of the leaders of that unfortunate nation. During some domestic troubles, he rebelled against his sachem and became the head of a strong "Schism." This was just before the opening of the Pequot war. The territories of the Pequots were divided, and the part known as "Mohegan" fell to Uncas, who aided the English in their overthrow of the Pequots. It is said that he felt pity for the dreadful misfortunes of his old friends and neighbors, and, in more than one instance, did what he could to shield them from the fury of their conquerors. Moreover, he gave protection to a number of settlements, Norwich being one of the towns thus favored.
A PEQUOT MASSACRE
In 1638, the magistrates at Hartford asked Uncas and Miantonomah to come thither and agree upon the division of the two hundred Pequot captives (not including women and children). In the division eighty went to the Narragansett chief, twenty to a neighboring chief, while a hundred were turned over to Uncas. He and Miantonomah had long been jealous of each other, the feeling being strong on the part of the Narragansett. The two leaders pledged themselves to peace, but their mutual hatred was too deep for either to keep the letter or spirit of the agreement. Miantonomah was ambitious, and wished to become ruler of all the New England Indians. Uncas belonged to the branch with which the Narragansetts had always been at enmity, and the Narragansett leader determined to kill him on the first chance, believing that the way would thus be opened for a union of all the tribes against the English.
The first attempt to slay Uncas was made in the spring of 1643. The criminal caused only a slight wound, when he fled to the Narragansetts, telling every one he had slain Uncas. Learning after a time his mistake, he said that Uncas had made the wound himself and then told the story of the Pequot shooting him. A probing of the affair by the authorities at Boston removed all doubt of the guilt of the man who had been delivered to the court by Miantonomah himself. This chief removed all suspicion of his part in the matter, and the prisoner having been turned over to him at his request, he slew him with his own hand.
Almost at the same time, a sachem on the Connecticut killed a leading Mohegan, and, waylaying Uncas, shot several arrows at him. Uncas complained to the governor and court of the colony, who tried without success to settle the affair. The criminal refused to express regret, and insisted that Uncas should fight him. Uncas accepted the challenge and invaded the territory of the other to whom he gave a severe defeat. There seems little doubt that Miantonomah prompted both of these attempts at assassination. The baffled sachem was an ally, and the Narragansett set on foot a campaign against Uncas, hoping to strike his blow before the Mohegan could prepare for it. The spies of Uncas warned him of his danger, and he hurriedly gathered several hundred warriors to meet the invaders that were twice as numerous.