Massassoit ('great chief'; proper name, Woosamequin [Wasainegin, Osamekin, etc.], 'Yellow Feather').

A principal chief of the Wampanoag of the region about Bristol, R. L, who was introduced by Samoset to the Puritans at Plymouth in 1621. He was preeminently the friend of the English. Drake (Aborig. Races, 81, 1880) says of him: "He was a chief renowned more in peace than war, and was, as long as he lived, a friend to the English, notwithstanding they committed repeated usurpations upon his lands and liberties." He had met other English voyagers before the advent of the Puritans. While ill in 1623 he was well treated by the English. In 1632 he had a brief dispute with the Narraganset under Canonicus, and in 1649 he sold the site of Duxbury to the English.

His death took place in 1662. Of his sons, one, Metacomet, became famous as King Philip (q. v. ), the leading spirit in a long struggle against the English.

King Philip

King Philip, Metacom, second son of Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoag, who attained that office himself through the death of his father and elder brother in 1661-62, and to the English was better known as Philip of Pokanoket, or King Philip. He was the most remarkable of all the Indians of New England. For 9 years after his elevation to the chieftaincy, although accused of plotting against the colonists, he seems to have devoted his energies to observation and preparation rather than to overt actions of a warlike nature. He even acknowledged himself the king's subject. But war with the English teas inevitable, and the struggle called King Philip's war (1675-76) broke out, resulting in the practical extermination of the Indians after they had inflicted great losses upon the whites.

The ability of King Philip is seen in the plans he made before the war began, the confederacy he formed, and the havoc lie wrought among the white settlements. Of 90 towns, 52 were attacked and 12 were completely destroyed. The bravery of the Indians was in many cases remarkable. Only treachery among the natives in all probability saved the colonists from extinction.

In the decisive battle, a night attack, at a swamp fortress in Rhode Island, Aug. 12, 1676, the last force of the Indians vas defeated with great slaughter, King Phillip himself being among the slain. His body was subjected to the indignities usual at that time, and his head is said to have been exposed at Plymouth for 20 years. His wife and little son were sold as slaves in the West Indies. Widely divergent estimates of King Philip's character and achievements have been entertained by different authorities, but he can not but be considered a man of marked abilities. Weeden (Ind. Money, 12, 1884) says: "History has male him 'King Philip,' to commemorate the heroism of his life and death. He almost made himself a king by his marvelous energy and statecraft put forth among the New England tribes.

Had the opposing power been a little weaker, he might have founded a temporary kingdom on the ashes of the colonies."

King Phillip has been the subject of several poems, tales and histories. The literature includes: Church, History of King Phillip's War, 1836; Apes Eulogy on King Phillip, 1836; Freeman, Civilization and Barbarism, 1878; Markham, Narrative History of King Philip's War, 1883.

Squanto. A Wampanoag (Drake Inds of N. Am. 69, 1880) who is said to have been the only person in Patuxet that escaped the plague of 1619. He was a friend of the English, and did them much service besides acting as interpreter and guide, though he seems to have been also at one time the agent or spy of Caunbitant, sachem of Mattapoisett. He died at Chatham in 1622. The name Squanto was contracted from Tisquantum.