USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 9
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BEFORE the advent of Columbus, geographical science was at a low ebb. The mind had not learned to expand in lofty speculations, to seek out the hidden resources and boundless extent of nature's do- mains. Its loftiest flights were limited ; its conclusions erroneous and absurd. Against the western shores of Europe dashed the majestic waves of the broad Atlantic, but all beyond was unknown, an un- fathomable abyss. "Darkness sat upon the face of the waters," and to the minds of men, " all was without form and void." They thought of what was beyond the western waters with superstitious dread. The earth in their view was an extended plain, from whose edges the incautious traveler must inevitably fall. The fearful mariner scarce- ly dared to trust his bark from sight of land, but, like the groping snail, took his slow course along the jutting coasts.
With Columbus the scene changed. Darkness began to fly away, and the mists of the mind to be dispelled. That bold adventurer came forth the advocate of new and strange doctrines. In energetic language, he urged " there is land beyond the blue waves of the
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mighty Atlantic. A new continent will be discovered in those un- known regions. After years of disappointment and difficulty, he takes his course across those fearful waters, where never mariner ventured before. Storms were on the deep, and the "sea was con- trary." Dangers from the elements, and the groundless fears of his men beset him, but he persevered ; and as the reward of his labors and trials, a new world burst upon his sight. A beautiful scene was before him, and novelties of every kind continually met his delighted gaze. A singular race of men inhabited these new regions, not liv- ing in comfortable dwellings, surrounded by verdant fields, which they cultivated, but wandering in small clans, in the dense forests, among the lofty mountains, by the murmuring streams, and along the meandering rivers. This people were destitute of the arts of eivili- zed life-had strange rites and unheard of customs. Notwithstand- ing this, in one part of their domains appeared mounds of eurious con- struction, in another ruins as of cities and temples, pyramids inseribed with hieroglyphics, and speeimens of rude statuary. In still another part, were found some of them enjoying a degree of civilization. All this appeared ; yet they had been hitherto unknown, and insulated from the rest of the world.
This rude and barbarous race was scattered throughout the whole extent of the continent. The Indians were less numerous in Con- nectieut and other northern territories, than in states farther south. Almost every early town in the State had more or less of these people within its borders, in the early part of its settlement. Woodbury was no exception to the rule in this respect. An important and numer- ous, though peaceful tribe, dwelt within its limits for nearly a century after its first settlement.
De Forest, in his interesting work on the " History of the Indians of Connecticut," dismisses the Indians of Woodbury in the following summary manner :
" North-west of the Paugussetts, within the limits of Newtown, Southbury, Woodbury, and some other townships, resided a clan known as the Potatucks. Their insignifieanee is sufficiently proved by the almost total silence of authors concerning them, and by their noiseless disappearance."
It is believed, if the author had made a somewhat more careful inquiry, he would hardly have placed the Pootatucks so mneh below the other tribes of Connecticut. If to live quietly and peaceably in imitation of their white neighbors, when well used by them, is a proof of " insignificance," then the Pootatucks richly deserved that epithet.
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If to make a "noiseless disappearance " by death, at the time ap- pointed by Providence, constitutes a title to "insignificance," then the people of this tribe were verily guilty. The whites ever culti- vated friendship with these Indians. They purchased their lands, from time to time, in good faith, and for considerations satisfactory to the parties. They allowed them to build wigwams, and live on the very lands which they had purchased of them, and ent their fire- wood on the uninclosed lands. They granted them the privilege of attending their schools and religious assemblies. These kind offers were by many of them accepted. Some of their children gained the rudiments of knowledge, many of them put themselves under the care of the ministers of the town, and some of them became approved members of the churches. Some of them cultivated their lands like the whites, and enjoyed the decencies of civilization. They, no doubt, were a race greatly inferior to the whites, and as such finally dwindled away, but in no manner different from the other tribes of the State. Such being the case, the " silence of authors " can prove very little one way or the other.
So far as can be learned, there were never any wars among the tribes of Indians in the western part of Connecticut, found there by the first settlers, or among those formed afterward. It was not un- usnal among the small tribes of the State, for the son of a sachem to leave the " old home" with a few followers, and form a subordinate clan under the former ; or for two brothers of the " blood royal " to agree on a division of the hunting grounds ; and thus form, in time, distinct tribes, which always remained in strict alliance. The Poo- tatueks in this way had clans at Nonnewaug, Bantam, Wyantenuck, besides their principal seat on the Housatonic. From a careful inspection of the scanty facts remaining in regard to these matters, there is little doubt that all the Connecticut, clans, except the Pe- quots, were only fragments of one great tribe, of which the principal branches were the Nehanties and Narragansetts, dispersed and bro- ken by some such process as this, aided perhaps by incursions from outside foes.
" The Nehanties of Lyme, for instance, were clearly related to the Nehanties of Rhode Island ; Sequassen, chief of the Farmington and Connecticut River countries, was a connection of the Narragansett sachems ; and the Indians of Windsor, subjects of Sequassen, were closely united to the Wepawangs of Milford. Thus various connec- tions might be traced between the Narragansetts and the tribes of western Connectient, while both united in holding the Pequots in
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abhorrence, and seldom bore any other relations to them than those of enemies or of unwilling subjects."' The Pangussetts2 of Derby, Stratford and other townships, and the Wepawaugs of Milford, were but one people divided into two elans. The names of the chiefs of both are appended to the various deeds of sale found on the records of both Milford and Stratford. As the Wepawaug clan waned, while a few joined the Six Nations, the larger part took up their abode with the Pangassetts, whose principal seat was in Derby, where they had a fortress on the Housatonic River, about half a mile above its junction with the Naugatuck. It is well established by record evi- dence, that there was a relationship between the sachems of the Pangassetts and those of the Pootatueks. and a elose alliance between them, although the latter were entirely independent of the former. After parting with most of their lands, a part of the former removed to Golden Hill in Bridgeport, a part to Naugatuck Falls under Chuse, and the remainder joined the Pootatucks, which was at the first settling of Woodbury in 1672, by far the most powerful clan in the western part of Connecticut. The names of their chiefs are appended to deeds of sale extending from " Pequonnock " in Bridge- port on the south, to Goshen and Torrington on the north, and from Waterbury on the east to the New York line on the west ; compri- sing the territory of fifteen towns surrounding and including Wood- bury. After selling a large part of their lands in " Ancient Wood- bury," many of the leading men of the tribe joined with others in forming the New Milford tribe, which had previously been but a clan under the former. Although other Indians joined with them, they constituted a leading element in that tribe, and later in the tribe at Kent. The Indians had then, as now, a tendency westward. It might in truth be said, that the Wepawaugs melted into the Pangas- setts, the Pangassetts into the Pootatucks, the Pootatneks into the Wyantenucks, and the Wyantenucks into the Scatacooks. While they maintained a separate existence as clans, they were in firm alliance in everything, offensive and defensive, and were closely linked by intermarriages. There was still another reason for their uninterrupted friendship and alliance. They were sorely harassed by the Pequots on the east, and the Mohawks on the west, especially before the coming of the whites. These oppressions continued in- deed till long after, those east of the Connecticut River being tributary
. 1 De Forest's Hist. of the Indians of Connecticut.
2 The name of this tribe is always spelled on the Woodbury Records, Pagasett.
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to the Pequots, and those west of it to the Mohawks. The Pequots, however, were soon broken up as a tribe by the whites. Two old Mohawks might be seen, once in every year or two, issuing their orders and collecting their tribute, with as much authority and aus- terity as a Roman dictator. Great was the fear of them in all western Connectient. If they neglected to pay the tribute, the Mohawks would come against them, and plunder, destroy and carry them away captive. They would come down upon their pleasant valleys with the fearful cry, " We are come, we are come, to suek your blood." When they made their appearance, the Connecticut Indians would instantly raise a cry from hill to hill, " A Mohawk, a Mohawk," and fly, without attempting the least resistance, to their forts, and if they could not reach them, to the houses of the English for shelter. Sometimes their enemies would pursue them so closely, that they would enter the houses with them, and kill them in pres- ence of the family. If there was time to shut the doors, they never forced an entrance, nor did they on any occasion do the least harm to the English, always being on the most friendly terms with them. It is said that on these occasions, all the tribes on the Housatonic for a distance of two hundred miles, could communicate the intelli- gence to each other within two hours, by a system of cries and sig- nals from the chain of " Guarding Hights," which they had estab- lished. One of these was Castle Rock in Woodbury, and Mount Tom in Litchfield was another. There were others, both interme- diate and lateral to these.
Bancroft, speaking of the Indians of New England, says :
" The clans, that disappeared from the ancient hunting grounds, did not always become extinct ; they often migrated to the north and west. The coun- try between the banks of the Connecticut and the Hudson was possessed by independent villages of the Mohegans, kindred with the Manhattans, whose few smokes once rose amidst the forests of York Island." .
The Indians of these villages spoke the same language, the Mohe- gan, which was, with some variation of dialect, the language common to all the aborigines of New England.
The Pootatucks were known as a tribe from the date of the set- tlement of Milford and Stratford in 1639. . At the date of the settling of these towns, Pomperang was the sachem of this tribe. He was a chief of note among the western clans, had a strong fortress on Cas- tle Rock, and gave his name to the river that runs through Wood- bury, which name it bears to the present day. Although the princi-
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pal seat of this tribe was the Pootatuck village, on the north-east side of the Housatonic, about two miles above Bennett's Bridge, in the present town of Southbury, yet Pomperaug on his death-bed, for some cause, chose to be buried by a small rock near the carriage- house of Hon. N. B. Smith. There was another village of the tribe in Nonnewaug, and a trail led from that village to Pootatuck village, by this grave, nearly on the line of the present street, as has been before stated. This trail had existed. some twenty-five years before the settlement of Woodbury. In accordance with an Indian enstom, each member of the tribe, as he passed that way, dropped a small stone upon the grave, in token of his respect for the fame of the departed. At the first settlement of the town, a large heap of stones had accumulated in this way, and a large quantity remain to this day. It is related that a brother of Pomperang, who was a medi- cine-man, or Powwow, was also buried at first in this place, near his brother; but was afterward disinterred, and buried in the Pootatuck burying-ground.
The next chief of whom we have any account, was Aquiomp, who ruled the tribe for a long period of years. His name appears in 1662, on a deed of some land at Pequonnock in Bridgeport, which had been previously executed by Wompegan, sachem of Paugussett, and to which he now gave his assent. In the same instrument it is stated that he is related to Wompegan. It is impossible now to state the exact time of the accession to office of each sachem, but we find from ancient documents Avomoekomge sachem in 1673, Coshushe- ougemy in 1679, Waramaukeag in 1685, Kesooshamaug in 1687, Wombummang in 1700. Nonnewaug in 1706, Chesqueneag in 1715, Quiump in 1733, and Mauquash in 1740. Manquash was the last sachem, and died about 1758. Ile was buried under an apple-tree in the " old chimney lot," so called, now belonging to Amos Mitchell, a short distance east of the old "Eleazer Mitchell house." There was still quite a mound remaining over him a few years since. Nearly or quite all these had been sagamores, and several others held this station who did not arrive at the supreme dignity. Some of them became so attached to the villages they governed while saga- mores, that they gave orders to be buried there. Such was the case with Nonnewang, who was buried under an apple-tree near Nonne- waug Falls. A large hillock or mound was raised over him, and remained, distinguishing his by its size from the other graves around him, till within two or three years, when the present owner of the field committed the sacrilege of plowing it down, much to the regret
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of every antiquarian. Weekeepeemee was a sagamore, and was buried somewhere near the village of that name in Woodbury ; but the locality is not now known. Shepaug, who gave his name to Shepaug River, Towecomis and Tummasseete, were sagamores among the Pootatucks before they joined the New Milford clan, and became so noted among them. Chesqueneag was for a time sachem before he removed to the Wyantenueks. Weraumang, or Raumaug, after- ward so distinguished a sachem at New Milford, was previously a counselor of note among the Pootatueks at their principal eouneil- fire. In short, the Wyantenueks were but a clan of the Pootatucks, as has been before stated.
All agree that at the coming of the English settlers, the Indians were a race of savages, eking out a subsistence by hunting and fish- ing, with small quantities of eorn, beans and squashes, which they raised, and nuts which they gathered. They lived for the most part in rude huts, and their morals were of a very loose character. They believed in one great and invisible deity, who was benevolent in his nature, and had given them their corn and beans, and instructed them in their cultivation. He, however, in their estimation, troubled himself very little about the affairs of men .. As they feared him not, they gave him very little of their veneration. But there was another powerful spirit, the author of all evil, to whom they paid the greatest respect. Fearing his power and supposed malignant disposition, they performed numerous dances in his honor, and made many sacri- fiees to ward off his wrath. It is believed that they went so far sometimes, as to offer human sacrifices. President Stiles, in his Itinerary, preserves an account of a great powwowing, which took place at the village of the Pootatueks, probably about 1720. An account of this is drawn from the president's manuscript by De Forest, which follows :
" The scene was witnessed by a Mrs. Bennett, then a little girl; and after her death was related by one of her children to the president. The ceremonies lasted three days, and were attended, she said, by five or six hundred Indians, many of whom came from distant towns, as llartford and Farmington. While the Indians, excited by their wild rites and dark superstition, were standing in a dense mass, a little girl, gaily dressed and ornamented, was led in among them by two squaws, her inother and aunt. As she entered the crowd, the Indians set up their 'high pow-wows,' howling, yelling, throwing themselves into strange postures, and making hideous grimaces. Many white people stood around gazing at the scene ; but sueh was the exeited state of the savages, that,- although they feared for the child's safety, none of them dared to interfere, or to enter the crowd. After a while the two squaws emerged alone from the
7
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press, stripped of all their ornaments, and walked away shedding tears and uttering mournful cries. The informant, deeply interested in the fate of one so near her own age, ran up to the two women, and asked them what they had done with the little girl. They would not tell her, and only replied that they should never see that little girl again. The other Indians likewise remained silent on the subject ; but Mrs. Bennett believed, and she said all the English then present believed, that the Indians had sacrificed her, and that they did at other times offer human sacrifices."
Bethel Rock has been before mentioned in these pages as the place where the first settlers convened for public worship, before the ercc- tion of their first meeting-house. But
" There is a tale about these grey old rocks, A story of unhappy love and sorrows, Borne and ended long ago,"
which will ever render this locality a most romantic spot. The legend has been variously related, both orally and in printed accounts, as is by no means uncommon in legendary matters. There are some historical facts, however, which go far toward rendering probable the version of the story which will follow. Waramaukeag, who figures as one of the characters in the affair, was a young Pootatuck, who became sachem of the tribe in 1685, and was succeeded in the sa- chemdom in 1687, the date of our story, by Kesooshamaug, so that he must have died about this date. The latter was the brother, and not the son of the former, who was never married. Sarah Walker, the heroine of the story, was the niece of Mr. Walker, the first minister. She was at this date, in her seventeenth year, having been born in 1670, and we have no other account, or further knowledge of her, except that given in the legend. From these and other considera- tions, he who believes the legend true, will doubtless be held excusa- ble by charitable minds.
Waramankeag, as the story goes, was an Indian of manly propor- tions, of a graceful figure, and finely molded limbs. He was highly intelligent, virtuous, and a fast friend of the whites. Ile constructed for himself a cabin of uncommon elegance, adopted many of the cus- toms of civilization, and cultivated a close acquaintance with his white neighbors. Among his friends he numbered the venerable pastor, Mr. Walker; was often at his house, and on terms of much intimacy with him ; while the latter embracing the opportunity thus offered, instructed him in matters of religious faith.
In the early part of 1687, a niece of the old pastor, his brother's child, came to the parsonage on a visit, which continued through the
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summer. Sarah Walker was at this time in her seventeenth year, and the possessor of great beauty, and rare personal attractions. Without descending to particulars, she seemed the "rare ideal of feminine loveliness, such as often haunts the dreams of the imagina- ative and young, but seldom meets us in the walks of life." She was the type of innocence and purity. She was possessed of unaffected piety, and loved to wander in the beautiful sylvan retreats about the village. The place she preferred, and to which she oftenest resorted. for the quiet contemplation of nature and private devotion, was Bethel Rock. This she could easily reach by ascending the south point of the Orenaug Rocks, immediately back of her unele's residence.
Being frequently at the pastor's house, Waramankeag became ac- quainted with his beautiful niece. He was instantly struck with her loveliness, and soon became madly enamored with her. In accord- ance with aboriginal custom, he endeavored to gain her favor by lay- ing at her feet many rich and rare presents, but she, understanding their import, in her kindest and blandest manner, declined them all. She, however, continued to treat him kindly, not wishing to arouse his anger. Meeting with no encouragement from the young lady, he pressed his suit upon her unele's attention, desiring him to intercede in his behalf. This the old pastor gently declined to do, striving to show him the impropriety of the alliance, and the hopelessness of attaining his desires.
Thus failing on all hands in the prosecution of his suit, he departed and was seen no more at the parsonage. The sachem was aware of the maiden's custom of retiring to Bethel Rock. One delightful eve in the glorious " Indian summer," she wandered out from the cot- tage, just as the sun set behind the western hills, and betook herself to her favorite resort for her evening devotions. She had not been long at the spot before she was surprised and startled by the appear- ance of Waramaukeag at her side. Supposing him to be angry, as he had not been at her unele's in a long time, and to have come with evil intent, she started back in alarm, and being near the edge of the rock, which in that place is precipitous, she fell with great violence upon the jagged rocks below, and was killed by the fall. The young chief hurried round by a more secure path to the scene below, where he evidently endeavored to reanimate the lifeless form of the fair maiden. When found next morning by her anxious friends, no evi- dence of violence appeared, except that received by the fall. Her disordered tresses were smoothed back from her brow, and her body lay, with her dress properly adjusted, a few feet from where she fell,
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in its final rest, an emblem of innocence and purity. At a short dis- tance from her body, lay the mangled corpse of Waramankeag. He had, after vain attempts to renew life in the sleeping maiden, and composing her form in a comely attitude, evidently ascended the rocks, thrown himself headlong from the height, and joined the maid- en of the silver hair, on the spirit shore.
Near South Britain is a beetling cliff, which received the name of Squaw Rock. It derived its name from the following circumstance. An Indian brave preferred his suit to a red-browed daughter of the forest, and was by her accepted, but by her parents expelled the lodge. They wished her to become the wife of another, and by threats had succeeded in obtaining a seeming acquiescence in their desires. The day for the marriage was appointed, and she made her simple preparations with apparent cheerfulness. She went so far as to be arrayed for the occasion, when she slipped out of the wigwam, and ascended this rock, hotly pursued by her incensed relatives. She allowed them to approach within parleying distance, when she upbraided them with their unkindness, sung her own brief requiem, and assuring them that "her own true brave" would have the cour- age to follow her to the " happy hunting grounds of the Great Kieh- tan," she threw herself from the rock, and was found a mangled corse below.
Nonnewang Falls1 were incidentally noticed in the opening chap- ter, but their romantic situation, and exceeding loveliness, together with a legend connected with them, demand a recurrence to them. The stream on which they are situated is not large, but when swollen with the spring floods, a large volume of water passes over them. They are enveloped and shaded by a vigorous growth of evergreens. They consist of three cascades, at a short distance from each other. The water, which falls over a projecting ledge of rocks, has worn a decp and smooth channel for its passage. At the foot of each cas- cade is a beautiful basin, forty or fifty feet in diameter, surrounded by high cliffs, or walls of rock, surmounted by lofty trees. Viewed as a whole, it is as wild and romantic a place as can anywhere be found in our country.
The legend referred to is only in the memory of the aged. The ac- tive, surging population of to-day takes little note of such matters.
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