280 



PEQUOT 



[b. a. e. 



the Narraganset, whilethe western branch 

 became subject to the Pequot and were 

 settled on their w. border. The conquer- 

 ors rapidly extended their dominion over 

 theneighboringtribes, so that just previous 

 to the Pequot war Sassacus was the head 

 over 26 subordinate chiefs and claimed 

 control over all Connecticut e. of Con- 

 necticut r. and the coast westward to the 

 vicinity of Guilford or New Haven, while 

 all of Long Island except the extreme w. 

 part was also under his dominion. Nearly 

 all of this territory, excepting Long Island, 

 was claimed by Uncas, the Mohegan chief, 

 after the conquest of the Pequot. At the 

 period of theirgreatest strength the Pequot 

 probably numl)ered at least 3,000 souls, 

 but have been estimated much higher. 



By the murder of a trader who had 

 treated them harshly, followed by several 

 other acts of hostility, the Pequot became 

 involved in a war with the colonists in 1637. 

 Through the influence of Roger Williams 

 and of Uncas the English secured the as- 

 sistance, or at least the neutrality, of the 

 neighboring tribes, and then marched 

 against the Pequot. Their principal fort, 

 near Mystic r., was surprised and set on 

 fire, and probably 600 Pequot men, 

 women, and children perished in the 

 flames or were shot down while trying to 

 escape. This terrible slaughter so crip- 

 pled the Pequot that after a few desper- 

 ate but unsuccessful efforts at resistance 

 they determined to separate into small 

 parties and abandon their country. Some 

 went to Long Island, others fled to the 

 interior, while a large party headed by 

 Sassacus attempted to reach the Mohawk, 

 but were intercepted near Fairfield, Conn. , 

 and almost the entire party were killed 

 orcaptured. The prisoners becameslaves 

 to the colonists or were sold into the 

 West Indies. The few who escaped to 

 the Mohawk, including Sassacus, were put 

 to death by that tribe. The scattered 

 fugitives were shot down wherever found 

 by the neighboring tribes, until the sur- 

 vivors at last came in and asked for 

 mercy at the hands of the English. A 

 party of 70 had previously made submis- 

 sion to the Narraganset and become a 

 part of that tribe. 



In 1638 thesurrendered Pequot weredis- 

 tributed among the Mohegan, Narragan- 

 set, and Niantic, and forbidden longer to 

 call themselves Pequot. Although it has 

 been customary to regard the Pequot as 

 exterminated in this war, such was far 

 from being the case. They numbered 

 3,000 or more at the beginning of the 

 war, and only about 700 or 800 are known 

 to have been killed. The rest joined 

 other tribes or finally submitted to the 

 English. Several years afterward a Pe- 

 quot chief was found living on Delaware 

 r., and there can be no question that 

 many others had found refuge with the 



Mahican and other western tribes. In 

 June 1637, after the dispersion of the 

 tribe, those about New Haven and on 

 Long Island were reported to number 350 

 warriors, or about 1,250 souls. Those por- 

 tioned out among the friendly tribes in 

 September 1638, numbered 200 warriors, 

 with their families, or about 700 in all. 

 Of these, one-half went to the Mohegan, 

 80 warriors to the Narraganset, and 20 

 warriors to the Niantic. They occupied 

 six separate villages among these tribes, 

 in addition to those villages which were 

 occupied jointly. At the same time there 

 were a large number on Long Island who 

 remained there in subjection to the Eng- 

 lish; others were in the vicinity of New 

 Haven and among the Nij^muc and neigh- 

 boring tribes; many were scattered as 

 slaves among the English settlements, 

 and others had ])een sent to the West 

 Indies. 



The Pequot who had been given to the 

 Indian allies of the colonists were treated 

 so harshly by their masters that it was 

 finally necessary, in 1655, to gather them 

 into two villages near Mystic r., in their 

 old country, and place them under the 

 direct control of the colonial government. 

 Here they numbered about 1,500 in 1674. 

 They decreased rapidly, as did the other 

 tribes, and in 1762 the remnant num- 

 bered 140 souls, living in Maushantuxet, 

 at Led yard , Conn. In 1 832 these were re- 

 duced to about 40 mixed-bloods, who still 

 occupied their reserve and cherished the 

 old hatred of the Mohegan, who lived a 

 few miles distant. It appears from an 

 article by Prince and Speck (Am. 

 Anthrop., Apr. 1903) that there are still 

 in Connecticut about 100 persons of 

 Pequot-Mohegan blood. A colony of 

 about 50 individuals of this group are 

 employed chiefly as farm and factory 

 workers a few miles s. of Norwich; the 

 others live in adjacent towns. About 25, 

 according to Speck (inf'n, 1907), are still 

 on the old Groton tract near I.,edyard 

 and keep themselves distinct from the 

 Mohegan, but they retain practically 

 nothing of their former culture. The fol- 

 lowing were Pequot villages: Aukum- 

 bumsk, Cosattuck, Cuppunaugunnit, 

 Mangunckakuck, Maushantuxet, Mystic, 

 Nameaug, Paupattokshick, Pawcatuck, 

 Sauquonckackock, Stonington, Tatuppe- 

 (|uauog, and Weinshauks. (j. m.) 



Maquot.— Randolph (1676) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., 

 Ill, 242, 1853. Pakauds.— McKenney and Hall, 

 Ind. Tribes, in, 79, 1851. Paquatauog.— Trumbull, 

 Ind. Names Conn., 50, 1881. Peacott.— Record of 

 1645 quoted by Drake, Bk. Tnds., bk. 2, 91, 1848. 

 Peaquitt. — Parker (1654) in Mass. Hist Soc. Coll., 

 4th s., vn, 446, 1865. Peaquods.— Johnson (1654), 

 ibid., 2d s., iv, 28, 1816. Peaquots.— Doc. of 1638 

 quoted bv Drake, Bk. Inds., bk. 2, 61, 1848. Pe- 

 coates.— Dudley ( 1631) in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., iv, 

 225, 1834. Pecoats. — Winslow (1637) in Mass. Hist. 

 Soc. Coll., 4th s., VI, 164, 1863. Pecods.— Johnson 

 (1654), ibid., 2d s., ir, 66, 1814. Pecoites.— Stanton 

 (1676) ill N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., xiv, 715, 1883. Pe- 



