Once Upon A Time In Connecticut | Page 8

and held out his hand to Uncas and invited him to a
feast. But Uncas would not eat with him, and the two chiefs parted no
better friends than before.
Not long after this, Miantonomo was accused of trying to unite all the
Indian tribes against the English settlers. It was said that he had made a

speech to the Long Island Indians in these words:--
"Brothers, we must be one as the English are, or we shall soon all be
destroyed. You know our fathers had plenty of deer and skins, and our
plains were full of deer and of turkeys, and our coves and rivers were
full of fish. But, brothers, since these English have seized upon our
country, they cut down the grass with scythes, and the trees with axes.
Their cows and horses eat up the grass, and their hogs spoil our beds of
clams; and finally we shall starve to death. Therefore, I beseech you to
act like men. All the sachems both to the east and west have joined
with us and we are resolved to fall upon them."
The English were much alarmed on hearing this. It was quite true that
the Indians had sold their lands without realizing that the settlers would
use them for anything else than for hunting grounds and for fishing
places, as they themselves had done. They could not know that the
forests would be cleared, that farms would spread over the countryside,
and towns grow up along the river courses, and they themselves be
driven farther and farther back into the wilderness. But Miantonomo
denied that he had planned a united attack on the settlements. He told
the messengers who were sent to him from Boston that all such reports
came from Uncas, and he agreed to go to Boston and appear before the
court of Massachusetts. He said, too, that he would like to meet his
accusers face to face and prove their treachery.
Miantonomo was a tall, fine-looking chief with serious and stately
manners, and he made a favorable impression in Boston on the
magistrates who were not very well disposed toward him. "When he
came in, the court was assembled and he was set down at the lower end
of the table over against the governor." A Pequot interpreter was given
him. Now, in his own country he had refused to make use of a Pequot
as interpreter because he was not on good terms with that tribe and
could not trust them, but here, "surrounded by armed men," he could
not help himself. He protested, however, saying gravely, "When your
people come to me, they are permitted to use their own fashions and I
expect the same liberty when I come to you."
The sessions of the court lasted for two days, and every one was

astonished at the wisdom and dignity of the great sachem of the
Narragansetts. He answered all the questions put to him deliberately,
and would not speak at all unless some of his councilors were present
as witnesses. At meal-times, when a separate table was set for him, he
was not pleased and refused to eat until some food was brought to him
from the governor's table. In the end he convinced the council of his
innocence and he returned in peace to his own country.
Meanwhile, Uncas, who was both feared and hated for his sudden rise
to power, had several narrow escapes from death. One of the captured
Pequots in his own tribe shot an arrow at him and wounded him in the
arm. Uncas complained to the English that Miantonomo had engaged
this Pequot to kill him, and Miantonomo retorted that Uncas had cut his
own arm with a flint to make it appear that he had been wounded, and
no one knew where the truth lay. Soon after this an attempt was made
to poison him. Then, at last, one day as he was paddling down the
Connecticut River in a canoe, some Indians who were friends of the
Narragansetts sent a shower of arrows at him from the bank. He at once
made a raid into their country, killed seven or eight of their warriors,
burned their wigwams and carried off the booty.
This brought matters to a climax, for their chief, Sequassen, was related
to Miantonomo and Miantonomo took up his quarrel. The trouble,
which had so long been smouldering between the Mohegans and the
Narragansetts, broke out in earnest. Miantonomo collected all the
Narragansett warriors and led them swiftly and secretly through the
forests toward the land of the Mohegans, which lay along the banks of
the Pequot, or Thames, River. He hoped in this way to fall upon Uncas
while he was unprepared.
But Uncas was on his guard. His watchmen on