CHAPTER II 



FIRST SETTLERS AND EARLY HOME LIFE 



HEN we write about the first settlers we 

 naturally think of those brave white men 

 and women who sought homes in "The 

 Wilderness," as Litchfield County was 

 designated in those early days. But be- 

 fore we attempt to trace the gradual settlement and 

 subduing of the wilderness it may be well to give a little 

 time and thought to those who possessed the land even 

 earlier. While the Indians of the East were, of neces- 

 sity, of roving habits — the various bands moving from 

 place to place as game became scarce — yet, according 

 to the old records, they did have semi-permanent 

 homes. Along the fertile river valleys their wigwams 

 were clustered in the summer-time, and here the friable 

 soil was doubtless "tickled" by the rude implements of 



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