Relations between the early colonists of New England and the Indians were good in 1620 when the colonists arrived. As we all know, the Indians provided food to the puritans to help them through the first winter. It was Massasoit, sachem of the Pokanokets, a major tribe within the Wampanoag Federation of Indians, who brought them that food.

The colonists had a threefold relationship with the Indians: they traded with them; they fought with them; and they preached the gospel to them.

Strains in the relationship began to appear as the number of colonists increased, which led to a desire by the colonists to bring the Indians under colonial control. Inevitable conflict resulted and in 1675, the battle began as Massasoit's son, Metacomet, called Philip by the English due to his haughty mannerisms, led his tribe into a final struggle stating, "I am determined not to live until I have no country".

The incident that sparked the war took place in present Bristol, Rhode Island when several Wampanoag braves killed some English cattle. The farmer retaliated by killing an Indian and thus the war was set in motion.

The war began with an attack on Swansea in Massachusetts in which several men, women and children were killed. A cry of alarm quickly spread across the colonies. In Boston, three hours after receiving the message, troops were sent to the Indian town. The Indians never engaged the forces directly but rather attacked small settlements and lonely farmhouses.

Another early skirmish occurred in Brookfield, a frontier settlement deep within the territory of the Nipmucks. First the Nipmucks ambushed a company of soldiers, killing eight. The surviving soldiers barely made it back to the garrison at Brookfield, pursued by the Indians who burned every building in the town. The Indians then laid siege to the garrison, crowded with the presence of the surviving soldiers and the settlers. The Indians set fire to the walls of the garrison.

The settlers succeeded in slowing the blaze by pouring their last drinking water upon it. The English were favored with a miracle and a heavy rain shower fell upon them, dousing the flames. However, the town of Brookfield was then abandoned and lay in ruin for the next eleven years.

King Philip was an able foe and succeeded in enlisting the powerful Narragansetts in his war. He was also supported by the Nipmuck Indians of central Massachusetts. However, many of the tribes, especially those converted by the efforts of the devoted Pilgrim ministers, assisted the colonists. That summer, the Indians attacked Deerfield, Brookfield and Northfield.

King Philip

The series of skirmishes came to be known as King Philip's War and ranged from the Mt.Hope peninsula in Rhode Island to the furthermost settlement in Northfield, MA.

The Turner Falls Massacre of 1676

The falls, known today as Turner Falls, were known by the Indians as Peskeompscut and was a favorite fishing site of the local tribes. The narrow river plunges over a 40-50 foot drop at the falls and from thence continues its route to the ocean. In May of 1676, native warriors as well as women, children and elderly people had gathered at the river to catch and cure fish. The long months of war with the colonists had consumed great portions of their food supply. As some were fishing, others moved down river to the abandoned fields of Deerfield to plant seed, hoping to harvest a crop that summer.

Warriors organized a cattle raid on nearby English settlements. On the night of 13 May, warriors raided Hatfield and stole some cattle, driving them to the campsite by the falls. The settlers, determined to retrieve their stolen cattle, gathered a force to attack the tribes at Peskeompscut. From as far south as Springfield, the settlers came, joined by a few garrison soldiers and by 18 May, 150 men and boys assembled in Hatfield. Led by Captain William Turner, the force moved past Bloody Brook and the edge of Deerfield, where they crossed the Deerfield River. They then pushed the two miles of unbroken forest and crossed the Green River, pushing on to Mount Adams, about a mile of the falls.

At daybreak, the Hatfield force, leaving their horses behind, positioned themselves on a slope overlooking the Indian encampment.

The Indians, having feasted on the fish and cattle, had posted no sentinels and had not sent out any scouts. The Indians were still asleep as the English force moved closer to the encampment. Giving a pre-arranged signal, Captain Turner ordered the attack. The Hatfield force moved into the wigwams and began firing. Many of the Indians were massacred immediately, while some lept into the Connecticut River to escape but were carried over the falls and drowned. The Hafield force was ruthless, killing everyone they encountered, including women and children. No one was spared.

Trail leading to King Philip's town of Squakeag

Noise from the attack alerted the other Indian groups camped further along the river. One of these groups crossed the river below the falls and took a position opposite the track to Deerfield. Turner, having failed to secure his retreat, was successful at the encampment at the falls, killing several hundred Indians and losing only one English man. Growing numbers of Indians began to make their way towards the encampment. Turner and his men were unsure which retreat route to take. The Hatfield force divided into small groups and began their retreat. A few managed to escape to their horses and make their way back to Hatfield. Others were forced to make their way on foot, unable to get to the horses.

The warriors pursued the retreating Hatfield force. Captain Turner attempted to cross the Green River but was killed. Of the 150 members of the Hatfield force, at least forty were killed during the retreat. Some were separated from the main body and forced to make their way home alone.

About a month later, Captain Turner's body was discovered and he was buried on a bluff west of where he fell. Peskeompscut was renamed Turner Falls in his honor.

In Lancaster, Massachusetts, on Thursday, 10 Feb 1675, the town was on alert; prepared to crowd into the five or six houses at the fort if necessary. The minister of the small town, Joseph Rowlandson, was away in Boston, appealing to the colonial governement for protection but his appeal fell on deaf ears. Lancaster's danger was seen as only minor.

The Indians, driven from their territory by colonial troops were desperate for supplies. The settlers in Lancaster knew that they were undermanned and would be unable to resist an attack. As Reverend Rowlandson pleaded their case before officials in Boston, the Indians attacked Lancaster. In the Rowlandson garrison house, thirty-seven settlers had made crowded arrangements. At sunrise, they were awakened by the sound of gun shots, as three other houses were under attack. Soon the Indians turned to the Rowlandson house and amidst a flood of bullets, three men lay dead. The house was permeated by the smell of smoke, as the Indians had set fire to it.

King Philip

Escaping from the burning house, the settlers were attacked by Indians. Mrs. Rowlandson relates: "Then I took Children (and one of my sisters, hers) to go forth and leave the house: but as soon as we came to the dore and appeared, the Indians shot so thick that the bulletts rattled against the House, as if one had taken an handfull of stones and threw them, so that we were fain to give back." (p. 119, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson)

Upon exiting the burning house, Mary saw her brother-in-law fall dead; her nephew, with a broken leg, killed and the child she carried in her arms killed with that same bullet; and her sister shot.

Total killed in the attack was 13 with 24 taken captive. Among them was Mary Rowlandson, injured herself, with her injured child in her arms. Her child died in her arms 18 February and was buried on a hillside by the Indians. Her daughter was in the care of one of the warriors and she learned that her son was in another encampment. She was allowed to see her children and was even given a Bible when she asked for it.

After several moves with the Indians, Mary was finally ransomed for £20 at Redemption Rock on 2 May 1676.

On 2 September 1675. the settlers of Northfield, MA were pursuing their normal routine. Tales of attacks by the Indians had filled the long summer and Northfield had appealed for more soldiers for the military garrison at Hadley but no soldiers had yet arrived.

Shots suddenly rant out and the women and children ran for safety in the fort. The men, harvesting grain in the meadow were caught by surprise and eight were killed. Cattle were slaughtered and grain destroyed and a few buildings were burned. The survivors huddled inside the fort, listening to the gunshots and the attackers' yells and the cattle's moans.

Fortunately, Hadley was sending troops to Northfield and a troop of 38 soldiers under the command of Captain Robert Beers was enroute. When the soldiers were four miles from Northfield, they decided to stop for the night and early the next morning the soldiers continued their travel on foot, leaving the horses with an armed guard.

Suddenly they were ambushed and 22 soldiers, including Captain Beers were killed. The survivors returned to Hadley to sound the alarm.

On 5 Sept 1675, a relief troop of 100 soldiers rushed to Northfield with orders to accompany the settlers to the safety of Hadley. Under some protest, the settlers agreed to leave their crops and cattle behind and seek the security of the fort at Hadley. Following their departure, the Indians burned the village of Northfield, which King Philip used over the next several months as a rendezvous with other river tribes.

Battle at Hadley

Hadley itself was attacked and was saved by a man with a white beard and flowing hair, some said was an angel from heaven but later it was discovered that it was regicide Goffe, one of those men responsible for the death of the father of Charles II.

In the winter of 1675-1676, one thousand of the best men in New England marched against the Indians, surprising Narragansett fort and massacring some seven hundred in one night. The Indians were on the defensive by the spring of 1676 and Philip became a fugitive. He was overtaken in a swamp in Rhode Island by Captain Ben Church of Plymouth and was shot dead by one of his fellow Indians.

Philip's body was taken to Plymouth where his body was drawn and quartered and his head paraded in Plymouth in triumph. Thus, the generosity of Massasoit in 1620 brought about the enslavement of his grandson, sold into slavery in Bermuda in 1676.

The Indian casualty in the war was 3,000 men; their power utterly broken but the cost to the colonies was devastating. Thirteen towns had been burned to ashes; the wilderness was strewn with desolate farms and at every fireside there was mourning. The colonists were faced with a tremendous public debt, which fell most heavily upon Plymouth where the debt alone was £15,000. This debt was paid to the last shilling.

Though the war lasted a mere fourteen months, on a per capita basis, King Philip's War was the bloodiest in America's history, with at least 1/6th of all male colonists in New England losing their lives. The war could have ended the colonization of New England, the loss was so catastrophic.