Mayflower
known for his bravery in battle. Even the Puritans, who blamed him for the defection of the Narragansetts, had to admit that Canonchet âwas a very proper man, of goodly stature and great courage of mind, as well as strength of body.â At considerable risk, he and thirty warriors had succeeded in collecting the seed corn from storage pits just north of Mount Hope. The corn had already been delivered to the Connecticut River valley, where the women would begin planting in May. He was now leading the army of 1,500 Indians that had annihilated Captain Pierceâs company and had laid waste to Providence and Rehoboth.
On April 9, Canonchet was resting at the foot of a hill near the Blackstone River with nine of his warriors, trading stories about the attack on Captain Pierce and his company, when he heard âthe alarm of the English.â He ordered two of his men to go to the top of the hill and report back what they saw, but the men never returned. A third warrior was sent, and he too disappeared. Only after two more men ventured to the top of the hill did Canonchet learn that âthe English army was upon him.â Taking up his musket and blanket, the Narragansett sachem began to run around the base of the hill, hoping to sneak through the enemy forces and escape behind them. However, one of Denisonâs Niantic warriors saw the sachem moving swiftly through the woods, and the chase was on.
Canonchet soon realized that Denisonâs Indians were beginning to catch up to him. Hoping to slow them down, he stripped off his blanket, but the Indians refused to stop for the plunder. Canonchet then shook off his silver-trimmed red coat, followed by his belt of wampum. Now the Indians knew they had, in Hubbardâs words, âthe right bird, which made them pursue as eagerly as the other fled.â
Ahead was the Blackstone River, and Canonchet decided he must attempt to cross it. But as he ran across the slick stones, his foot slipped, and he fell into the water and submerged his gun. Canonchet still had a considerable lead over his pursuers, but he now knew that flight was useless. According to Hubbard, âhe confessed soon after that his heart and his bowels turned within him, so as he became like a rotten stick, void of strength.â Soon after crossing the river, a Pequot Indian named Monopoide caught up to the sachem, who surrendered without a fight.
The first Englishman on the scene was twenty-two-year-old Robert Stanton. When Stanton started questioning Canonchet, the proud sachem replied, âYou much child, no understand matters of war. Let your brother or your chief come, him I will answer.â
The English offered Canonchet his life if he helped them convince Philip and the others to stop the fighting. But he refused, âsaying he knew the Indians would not yield.â He was then transported to Stonington, where officials blamed him for dragging the Narragansetts into war. He responded that âothers were as forward for the war as himself and that he desired to hear no more thereof.â When told heâd been sentenced to die, he replied that âhe liked it well, that he should die before his heart was soft or had spoken anything unworthy of himself.â Just prior to his execution in front of a Pequot firing squad, Canonchet declared that âkilling him would not end the war.â When Uncasâs son responded that he was âa rogue,â Canonchet defiantly threw off his jacket and stretched out his arms just as the bullets pierced his chest.
Connecticut officials made sure that all three factions of their friendly Indians shared in the execution. According to one account, âthe Pequots shot him, the Mohegans cut off his head and quartered his body, and Ninigretâs [Niantics] made the fire and burned his quarters; and as a token of their love and fidelity to the English, presented his head to the council at Hartford.â
If the death of Canonchet did not end the war, it was, in Hubbardâs words, âa considerable step thereunto.â The Indians had lost a leader whose bravery and magnetism had briefly united several groups of Native peoples into a powerful and effective fighting force. In the days and weeks ahead, dissension began to threaten the Indians as the English belatedly came to realize that the Praying Indians were the best ones to drive home the wedge that might break apart the Nipmuck-Narragansett-Pokanoket
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