Once Upon A Time In Connecticut | Page 7

tribe than the Pequots and more
peaceful and civilized, and their chief, Miantonomo, was friendly to the
English settlers and had been generous in his dealings with them. He
and his uncle Canonicus, who was at this time an old man over eighty,
governed the Narragansetts together and were on the best of terms with
each other. "The old sachem will not be offended at what the young
sachem doth," says the English record, "and the young sachem will not

do what he conceives will displease his uncle."
The Pequot War was soon over, for the bows and arrows of the Indians
had no chance against the guns of the English. Most of the Pequot
warriors were killed, their fort and wigwams were burned, and many of
their women and children perished in the flames. It is a pitiful story,
because the settlers felt it necessary for their own safety to put an end
to the Pequot tribe. The few poor Pequots who escaped this terrible
destruction were scattered among other tribes. The Narragansetts took
some, but more went to the Mohegans because they were related to
them. In this way the tribe of the Mohegans grew larger and stronger
and Uncas became an important chief. He showed great skill in
building up his tribe and he remained faithful to the English all through
his life, while they, on their side, protected him as a reward for his
services. As his power increased, however, his jealous and quarrelsome
disposition showed itself more plainly, and the Indians complained that
"the English had made him high" and that he robbed and oppressed
them. When the colonists demanded that he should give up to them any
fugitive Pequots who had murdered white settlers, Uncas put off
complying on one pretext or another, because he did not wish to
weaken his tribe, which was still much smaller than that of the
Narragansetts.
The year after the war he went to Boston with thirty-seven of his
warriors carrying a present of wampum for the governor. But the
governor would not accept the present until Uncas had given
satisfaction about the Pequots he was hiding. Uncas seemed "much
dejected" by this reception, and at first he denied that he had any
Pequots, but after two days he admitted the fact and promised to do
whatever the council demanded. Half an hour later he came to the
governor and made the following speech. Laying his hand on his breast,
he said:--
"This heart is not mine, but yours; I have no men, they are all yours;
command me any difficult thing, I will do it; I will not believe any
Indian's word against the English. If any man shall kill an Englishman I
will put him to death were he never so dear to me."

The governor in response "gave him a fair red coat, and defrayed his
and his men's diet, and gave them corn to relieve them homeward, and
a letter of protection to all men, and he departed very joyful."
Uncas had now become a dangerous rival of Miantonomo, and the
jealousy between them soon grew so great that it threatened to break
out in open war. In 1638 they were both called to Hartford by the
Connecticut authorities to settle the differences between them.
Miantonomo obeyed this summons at once and set out with a great
company, "a guard of upwards of one hundred and fifty men and many
sachems and his wife and children," and traveled through the forests
that lay between the villages of the Narragansetts in Rhode Island and
the English settlements in the Connecticut valley. On the way he heard
that the Mohegans had planned to attack him, that they had laid an
ambush for him, and had threatened to "boil him in a kettle." Some
Indians of a friendly tribe met him and told him that a band of
Mohegans had fallen upon them and robbed them two days before, and
had destroyed twenty-three fields of their corn. Miantonomo had
already come about halfway, and, after holding a council with his
chiefs, he decided to push on. "No man shall turn back," he said; "we
will all rather die."
He reached Hartford in safety, but Uncas was not there. Uncas had sent
word by a messenger that he was lame and could not come. The
Governor of Connecticut "observed that it was a lame excuse and sent
for him to come without delay." So Uncas decided that it was safer for
him, on the whole, to get well quickly and to go to Hartford.
In the council that followed, each chieftain stated his grievances and
made complaint against the other, and the English tried to reconcile
them. At last a treaty of peace was signed, and then Miantonomo
stepped forward