The Romance of Norwalk

On the other hand, Roger Ludlow made his first business transactions with the Indians in Norwalk in 1640, finding large numbers of them here at that time. It may be that the transfer of Indian population from the Hudson river and from Long Island to Norwalk commenced before 1643 : it may be that there were goodly numbers of Indians here before 1640, Indians who, because of their quiet and peace¬ ful nature caused little commotion and therefore lived un¬ noticed. It is pretty safe to assume at any rate, that the “children of the forests” who greeted the first Norwalk settlers were of mixed population, probably wandering bands of Narragansetts and independent tribes of Mohegans, the greater number being Mohegans. CHARACTERISTICS The Indian men in this section of the country were tall, graceful and well developed with high cheek bones, thin INDIAN INFLUENCE 5 lips, black eyes, widely separated, coarse hair worn in greased coxcomb style, broad noses and of a skin color, tawny, in¬ clining to red. The women for the most part were short and clumsy. The slim graceful Indian maiden of whom so much has been written was of very short duration, that is to say, she didn’t stay slim and graceful very long. Heavy work and unceasing labors caused her to become dumpy and muscular at an early age. The women did the cooking, all the household tasks, the labor in the fields, the tanning of the hides, the making of the mats, the weaving of the cloth and countless other things. Erroneously enough, the Indian male has invariably been pictured as a lazy good-for-nothing who married in order that he might have all the comforts of home without working for them. Quite the contrary was the true state of affairs. He hunted and fished in all weathers and all dangers; he battled for his wife and family, and if necessary, gave up his life without a murmur. He provided the skins used for clothing and bedding; constructed the canoes; built the granary, where the tribal corn was stored; drew the maple sugar from the trees; worked in the quarries for the flint and stone for household utensils; made all his own war im¬ plements. The division of tasks was not unequal. In his home the Indian was kind. Custom rather than natural cruelty dictated that the woman should be a slave and a les¬ ser creature in the family circle. The brave who did not provide for his wife and children was an outcast from the ranks of all good Indians. Gentle was the Indian to his sons and daughters. Never did he beat them. Rather, he reasoned with them and at¬ tempted to persuade them into what was right. The colon¬ ists considered the red man very lax in his parental discipline, but they did not realize that in this one instance, the science of child up-bringing, if in no other, they were far outdis¬ tanced by the red man. A curious practice of many Ameri¬ can histories seems to be the omission of mention of many of the good deeds the Indian performed for the white. His- 6 ROMANCE OF NORWALK torians set forth the tales of the “bloodthirsty redskin” but are unusually silent when it comes to a record of the aborig¬ inal’s good Samaritan acts. The Indian taught the colonist how to plant corn, how to hunt, how to notch the trees for maple sugar, how to fish through the ice and countless other things. And when the white man’s supply of food touched the bottom of the barrel, the Indian offered a share of his own parched corn savings. DECLINE There were many reasons for the Indians’ decline in Con¬ necticut, one of the strongest being a lack of good doctors.. It is curious that nowadays it is very common to hear people remark: “Wonder why we have so much sickness? Look at the Indian how healthy he was!” As a matter of fact he had both rheumatism and appendicitis, though they may have been known under different names. In addition, he suffered from sore throat, pleurisy, quick consumption and acute stomach trouble, the latter caused by overeating. Toothache was very common, the only remedy being extrac¬ tion. Roger Williams said that although the Indian might endure unmentionable torture in wartime, a toothache con¬ verted him into a perfect baby and made him cry like a child. Among the other causes of the Indians’ decline in num¬ bers were: Coming of the white man with his destruction of the Indian home; dangers of the hunt; cruelties of the winter with its ghost of starvation; continual warring and fighting, one tribe with another; lack of sanitation; domes¬ tic animals occupied a place in the wigwam; attendance of women in the hunting and fighting parties; Indians, being poorly fed into the bargain, like wild animals, each succeed¬ ing generation was less active and less productive. * The women’s work in the fields also contributed to this end. It is not clear how the children of the forest attained the great numbers which they boasted of at one time. COMING OF THE WHITE MAN Chapter II Block Discovers Norwalk Islands — Connecticut Towns Set¬ tled— War With the Indians — Great Swamp Fight Near Here — End of Pequots — Sassacus the Hero and Uncas the Traitor. Antagonistic though the Pequots and Narragansetts were, hating each other with the most intense hatred, yet the two tribes might have continued to live on in Connecticut for many centuries, had not England decided to colonize America. In 1614 Adrien Block, Dutch navigator, sailed up the Long Island shore in the good ship “Restless.” He passed the Norwalk river and named the group of islands at its mouth the “Archipelagoes.” The Housatonic river he named “The River of the Red Mountain,” and the great Connecticut, “Fresh River.” In such manner was Connecti¬ cut “discovered.” In June, 1633, Governor Van Twiller of the New Nether¬ lands sent Jacob Van Curler and party into the Connecticut valley. They sailed up the river as far as what is now Hartford and Windsor and purchased land from the In¬ dians, from Wopigwooit, Grand Sachem of the Pequots, and father of our own Sassacus. The trading post “Good Hope” was erected and the Indians made an agreement that they would trade with the Dutch, live peacefully and stop fighting among themselves. This was a rash promise on the part of the Indians who could no more keep from fighting among themselves than they could give up eating. Everything would have been lovely, only the Narragansetts who right¬ fully belonged in the territory sold by the Pequots to the Dutch, and who had been ousted by the Pequot intruders, 7 8 ROMANCE OF NORWALK felt that they might at least be accorded the right to trade with the Dutch. The Pequots, however, greedy as usual, felt differently about it and squabbles ensued. The Pequots ended by killing some of the Narragansetts who came to the post to trade. As a punishment for this breech of faith, the Dutch put to death, Wopigwooit, grand sachem of all the Connecticut Pequots. As a result, Sassacus, his son, of whom a great deal will be heard later, since he played a large part in the early history of Norwalk, ascended to the noble post of sachem of all sachems. Then followed the settling of several towns, for many preceded Norwalk. In 1633, William Holmes from the Plymouth colony took charge of a trading post established right near the Dutch post “Good Hope” by a group of Plymouth colony explorers. Holmes purchased his property not from the Pequots but from the Narragansetts, whom he considered the rightful, though ejected owners of the land. This was a fine thing for Holmes to do, but a very undiplomatic one, as events will prove, for it offered a distinct though unintentional insult to the most powerful tribe of Indians in the country. In the fall of 1634, the first log cabins were raised in what is now Wethersfield; in the summer of 1635, Windsor was settled; in October, 1635, Hartford; and a little later, Say- brook. In the bitter winter that followed many of the Connecticut colonists perished. Ill prepared for the struggle which they had to face, they died by the score from the in¬ tense cold, from starvation. During this time, the white men were having their first taste of Indian troubles. In the summer of 1633, Captain Stone, a dissolute young Virginian, who had anchored his ship in the Connecticut river, was murdered. Although the real motive of the crime was never revealed, it was thought by the English that Stone’s death was in retaliation for the death of Wopigwooit, the Pequot’s sachem. From that time on, there were constant killings, first on one side and then on the other between the Pequots and the English, both trying to avenge themselves. COMING OF THE WHITE MAN 9 WAR WITH THE INDIANS Meantime, the Narragansetts made peace with the Eng¬ lish. Not so the Pequots. Their hatred aroused, they de¬ termined to fight to the bitter end. In face of such an atti¬ tude, the general court at Hartford decided then and there to declare war against the Pequot Indians. May n, 1637, the court called a levy of 90 men on the three towns : Hart¬ ford was to furnish 42; Windsor, 30; and Wethersfield 18. John Mason was named commander in chief. Each town was to provide a certain amount of food for the warriors and in addition there was to be: “one hogshead of beer for the captain and the Mr. (perhaps minister) and sick men. If there be only three or four gallons of strong water, two gallons of sack” (variety of wine). It is said that many found themselves able to get on the “sick list” at least for a time. Provision was made for the payment of the soldiers, although this was not done until after the war. Sunday fight¬ ing was not paid for, yet it is doubtful if any real fighting took place on the Sabbath. The common soldier received about $9 a month; sergeant, $12; lieutenant, $20; captain, $40.