History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

The first white settlers of Norwalk named this stream Rooton Brook, Rooton being the name of the territory bordering uj)on it on the west. Its course from the cove is due north through Ely's Neck, and it forms the west bound of this city from Springwood to the west corner of Bouton Lane and the old Boston Turni)ike. This country, " butted on the sea," is the teiritory over which the " Cow- Boys" and Tories raided in 1778 and 1779, and is one of the most pieturesi)ue localities in Norwalk. It is surrounded on the north and west by promontories covered with oak, chestnut, walnut, maple, and the North American cedar, the slo])es of which and the plain west and south in olden times yielded good crojjs of the cereals and pasture of large herds of cattle, which were exchanged for mer- chandise with masters of vessels coasting between " Manhattan Island" and the settlements on the Con- necticut River. One mile west of this locality is sit- uated the "Cove in the Rocks," though now i>artially obliterated. In 1781 it wa.s in the parish nf Middle- sex, and in the town of Stamford, over which the Rev. Dr. Mather presided as its pastor. I never visit the " country butted on the sea" with- out reviving the thoughts and emotions experienced on my first visit to it in boyhood, when from cliff and tree came audible sounds, making the hairs to stand on end, questioning, " From whence and whither go- ing?" And !us the sun sank behind the hills the shadows of objects animate and inanimate would lengthen into fantastic forms. If I ran or walked the phantoms were present whispering, "This is sacred ground. ]Iero are the graves of the sachems and the tribe over whom they ruled, whose spirits for two huiulred years have made this place their abode. Tread lightly on their graves. If the tomahawks, arrows, mortars, pestles, wampum, or bones are dis- turbed, rebury them so deep that they shall never be molested again by sacrilegi<ms hands. The avarice of the white race robbed us of the right to life, liberty, and country. For a few valueless trinkets it took from us our heritage. By war and the intrnduotion of firo-water it depopulated our village as with the bc-som of destruction. The implements and the hu- num bones buried here are the seals that the title of the red man to the soil is still unrevoked." Upon the point of laud lying between the Pampas- keshank and Norwalk Rivers are the remains of the ruins of an Indian city of no mean dimensions of the NORWALK. 501 Naramakes, a clan of the once-powerful Mohepian nation, a remnant of wliirli were in existence after tlie settlement of Xorwalk in l(i"i!. Winne])anke, — wlio sold tu Kev. :\Ir. llanford, in IC'.KI, his island " Lying airainst Hooton," — C'aelienoes, and Karanuike wi're sachems of independent elans of the Mohegans, after whom their respective villages and the territory possessed hy tliem were named. JFaliackems, >Ia- touwacks, Swanoys.and othcndanswlio held sway over tlie country l)etween Norwalk and ^Fanhattan Island were also independent clans of tlie same nation. The " Mahackems," or " Makcntons," sold their lands to Capl. Patrick, as did Maraniacke a portion of his, all of which was conveyed in the same deed. The first named lay west of the Pampaskeshank, and the latter east of it. These varicrus elans, though inde- pendent, seem to have lieen under a sort of I'ederal government, similar to that of the I'niled States of America, for the common defense. Pancroft the his- torian says that the "country between the hanks of the (>)nneetieut and the Hudson was possessed hy in- dependent villages of the Moliegans." The Indian city referred to, without thi- least donht, was one of those independent villages, and was named after Nar- anuike, its founder, a descendant of whom was one of the signers of the deed to Patrick, llciu'e, may not Norruck, Xorthwalk, and Norwalk — names hy which the river and adjacent country were kno^i hy our ancestors — have heen a perversion of Xaramake? It is an error which those unacquainted with the Indian dialect nnght naturally have fallen into. Tradi- tion says that Xaramake, wliose nanu:' stands second in the deed conveying to "Daniell Patrick" certain lands in 1G40, was a descendantof a chief of the same name, whose possessions had heen n-iluced by con- quest to the small territory purchased hy Patrick. There is a reasonable certainty that tln' Indian name of the land "butted on the sea," at the date of the settlement of the town by the whites, was X'ara- make. Trund)ull says that the In<lians often named places after their princiiial men. But De Forrest de- nies that they did so. Nevertheless it was a fact as to certain localities in this town. For instance, Jlamachi- mon's and Chashenoe's Islands still retain the names of those sachems wdio sold them to the " Inhabitants of Norwalk." X'o historian has ever intimated that the Norwalk River derived its name from any pecu- liarity in the eidor or in the ebb and How of its waters into Long Island Sound, or the beautiful islands which guard its mouth, or the natural scenery of the coun- try bordering upon it, has any signitieanee from whicli it could have derived its name. Hence we conclude? that the Indian name of this town was Xaranuike, and that it was named after the ancestor of one of the sa- chems who deeded to Capt. Patrick " tlie ground called Sacunytenapueke, Meeanworth, Asumsowis, and all the land adjoining to the aforementioned, as far up in the country as an Indian can go in a day ;" probably to the south bound of the land po.sscssed by the Uam- ,, poos at Ridgefield, lying west of the X'aramake River. N'aranuike, after disposing of his lands to Capt. Patrick, removed to Ridgetield and joincil the tribe known in history as the Kampoos. When this tribe, in 1708, sold its possessions to a company of settlers from X'orwalk and Miltbrd, he went to the I'ar West and was lost sight of The Indian city of Xaramake was sitnateil upon IVlden's or Wilson's Point. Its boun<laries can now be more easily traceil than many of the landmarks of the (irst settlers of the town. lOast of the residence of the late Mrs. Wilson is a plot of land of several acres known as Piatt's Jleadow, ujion which were lo- cated the wigwams of the tribe, beneath the soil of whicli are found fragments of earthenware, shells, stone hatchets, mortars, iicstles, arnjw-heads, and stones laid by human hands. 8cniih of this is another jihit of land, which must have been used by the tribe as a feasting-ground, beiu'ath the surface of which are the bones of animals and birds and oyster-shells from two to si.K feet deep. To the left of this is a ]iiece of arable land used by them as a garden, in which they eultivatiMl every species of herbs for medi- cal purposes. The elder 1)1'. McLane's attention having been called to this field, he said that there was no disease to which the human race was subject but a remedy could there be found, (irasses an<l weeds cannot thrive in the soil, as it is thoroughly impreg- nated with shell-lime. The renunuder of the land in Ibis locality has the ajipearance of having lieen a common field for the sepulchre of their dead. Probably each head of a family had ai)|iortioneil to him a certain cpiantity of land for cultivation, which was also useil as a family burying-ground. X'umerous skeletons of the Xara- makes have been e.\hume<l, all of which were found in the same jiosition, with the head elevated and facing to tlie east. That this tribe was distini't from those buried in the Old Indian Field is evident from the fact that in the latter the skeletons are found in various ]iositions and I'acing north, S(uith, east, and west. I''roni this lact the inference i.s that previous ' to the time when our ancestors settled here Xaramake was a sort of city of refuge for fhe disaffected of the tribes in the surroumling country. The bones dis- covered in the vicinity of this ancient city indicate that they were of lan;e stature, and their skulls that I . . thev were of larger brain than the averajre of sava-res. There were indeed giants in the land. The bones of an Indian taken from a shell-grave on this held a few years since, wlien set mi, measured seven feet live inches. Though it may si'cm incredible, we have for it the word of C E. Wilson, who says that Dr. Mc- Lane also saw the skeleton. It may be asked, From whence came this i)eople'? No doubt they descended from the Five Nations, as both buried their dead facing the east. Further, the implements fouml in the shell-graves of Naramake are more elaborately wrought than those haind in the graves on the Indian 502 HISTOllY OF FAIHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. Field. As the Five Nations were superior to other tribes in artistic skill, in government, war, and the knowledge of the geography of the country, so it may be implied that the inhabitants of this Indian city, who showed equal skill [jarticularly in the finish of their implements, were of the same blood. Mr. C. E. AVilson presented to the writer several Indian relics found at Naranuike. The arrows and spear-heads formed from basalt are superior to anything of the kind yet discovered in the Old Indian Field or any other locality in this town.