USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Northfield > History of the town of Northfield, Massachusetts : for 150 years, with an account of the prior occupation of the territory by the Squakheags : and with family genealogies > Part 5
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The existence of the fire-stained stone heaps, and numerous skeletons turned up on the plain below the brook, conclusively show that a large clan made this region their home.
There is an egg-shaped bluff, a half-mile below, on Pembroke- grant brook, known as Fort hill, which may have been fortified by them ; or they may have built a fort on the height of land 40 rods north of the falls. But neither was a strong position.
No mention of an Indian settlement here has been found in the early records. And the probability is that it was abandoned before the whites came to this part of the valley. All the relics and tools and other remains indicate an early occupancy. Iron utensils have not been found, to show evidence of traffic with the English.
This tract was not purchased by the white settlers, as were the lands further up the river. But this fact may not be sufficient proof for or against a cotemporaneous occupation. According to the declaration of William Clarke in 1685 (see his Petition of that date), the lands hereabouts were not of a character to attract settlers, being too broken, and without extensive natural grass meadows. Alto- gether, the preponderance of evidence favors the conclusion of the abandonment of the place by the Indians prior to any discovery of the territory by the English.
Passing to the north, we come to the sites of two important In- dian villages, situated on opposite sides of the river. The one on the west side is known as Natanis. It was built partly on Grass hill and partly on the high bluffs westerly of Bennett's meadow. The remains of granaries, and the usual relics, and some skeletons, have been found near the river, a little way below the mouth of Bennett's brook. Three-fourths of a mile to the north west, on the Holton farm, were still more remarkable remains. Stone chips were found " by the bushel ;" aukooks, pestles, and household utensils abounded. One of the Indian workshops was situated nearly east of the old Holton homestead, on the bluff next the meadow. And on the ex- treme point of this bluff, just below where the southerly branch unites with the main stream of Bennett's brook, are several small
! " The pots they seethe their food in, which were heretofore and yet are in use amongst some of the tribes, are made of clay or earth, almost in the form of an egg with the top taken off. The clay they are made of is very scarce and dear."- Gookin's Hist. Collections.
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The River Indians.
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but well defined granaries. Fifty rods north west of the present house of Jona. P. Holton, on the brow of the hill where the high plain skirts the brook, are the remains of 12 large granaries, the largest about 7 feet in depth. Fifty years ago, some of the larger of these excavations were not less than 20 feet in diameter and 10 to 12 feet deep; but they are now partially (some of them completely) filled in by successive plowings. Two of them are on the slope of the hill ; 6 of them are but a few feet back; and the others are scattered along a space of 5 or 6 rods. The family tradition is, that they were deer traps; but their peculiar location, and exact resem- blance to the circular excavations,. heretofore described, leave no room to doubt that they were huge granaries, used by the natives for storing corn. The main fort of the tribe must have been situated at the angular point of this bluff, 20 rods to the eastward ; and the granaries were placed handy to the fort. The plain back, as well as the next terrace towards the meadow, were favorable spots for plant- ing-fields. And on this lower terrace, was one of their burying places. When plowing down the bank, some years ago, just north of J. P. Holton's house, to lessen the grade of the road, a skeleton was discovered, buried in a sitting posture ; and on digging to the bottom of the grave, there were found a pipe, some wampum, a copper tomahawk, and a rude copper spoon.
Signs of Indian lodges are found all around Bennett's meadow ; and the fort on Philip's hill was in all probability once a part of a regular system of defences.
Taking these well defined remains in connection with attested facts of the early records, and the Indian deeds, the evidence is clear and conclusive, that the high plateau to the west of Bennett's meadow was the residence of Souanaett, a Pacomptock chieftain, who owned this part of the country. At the date of the first settlement of Northfield, it was known as Massapetot's land, from the chieftain who then held it, and who is elsewhere mentioned as a Pacomptock sachem and warrior. Sept. 9, 1673, Asogoa, the daughter of Souana- ett, Massapetot, and others, sold this part of the Indian possessions, including Bennett's meadow, to parties from Northampton, who in turn sold to the Northfield grantees. (See next chapter).
SQUENATOCK. - The Indian village situated on the falls of this name, opposite Natanis, and near the junction of Miller's brook with Saw-mill brook - has a special interest to us, not only from its size and defined limits, but because our written records cover the last period of its history ; and because, like its neighbor opposite, it came into
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History of Northfield.
possession of our fathers by purchase. And this was the point where the first white settlers began a plantation. The chieftain of this large clan was MASSEMET. It was with him and his under-chief Pam- mook, or Pompmohock, as he is more often called, that a bargain for land was made by Joseph Parsons and his company of explorers from Northampton, in the spring of 1671, which transaction, in all its details will be given in the next chapter.
Massemet's land extended from Merriman's brook to Coassock, or Mill brook, and took in a large tract on the west side of the river north of Bennett's meadow. He sold only that portion which lies between Mill brook and the Squenatock falls, as its north and south bounds, and extends out six miles on either side of the Connecticut.
The village was built in two parts, separated by the brook's. The southern cluster of wigwams occupied the largest part of Beers's plain ; the other part was located north of the falls, covering the higher ridge of the bluff as far as the north line of the Zechariah Field home-lot.
The lower planting-field was on Cow. plain ; the upper one on the back side of the original Janes home-lots, now known as the Dr. Mattoon and Joshua Lyman lots. And this division of the clan may have cultivated a patch on Great meadow.
Their fort was built on the high bluff east of the Janes mill-site, between the two brooks. This was an easily defensible position, and commanded a view of the whole region. And in case of an enemy's approach from either direction, it was only the work of an hour to strike their bark covered tents, and remove to this stronghold.
One of their work-shops was on the east side of Beers's plain, nearly opposite the homestead of Thomas J. Field. Large piles of stone chips were found here a half-century ago.
The granaries of the lower village were in the slopes on both sides of Beers's plain. The major part of such as were not obliterated till within the memory of men now living, were on the easterly side of the plain, and were of the larger sort.1
The upper family had their granaries in the meadow hill, near their corn field. A capacious one, not less than 16 feet in diameter, was preserved till a comparatively recent date. It was on the brow of the hill, near the south line of the Zechariah Field home-lot. The soil being rather tenacious it retained its outlines perfectly. Being some- what in the way, it was filled in by Mr. Timothy Field.
1 Capt. Ira Coy states that he could plainly distinguish the partially filled holes of 8 or 10 of these burns, so years ago. They were about 12 feet across, and were ranged in an irre -. gular row.
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The River Indians.
I
The principal tribal burial place, below the brook, was at the north-west corner of Beers's plain. Fifty years ago, when the sward was destroyed and the plow began to run deeper, and the winds blew off the soil, the half-acre here was found to be full of bones. Whole and broken skeletons appeared ; and the evidences that this spot had been the receptacle of the dead of successive generations were abund- ant. The frequent disturbance of the soil for interments was plainly one cause of its slight resistance of the wind. There was also a burying-ground on the east central part of the plain, where there is a little knoll near the site of the barns.
The families living north of the falls buried their dead on the high points of land where the Elmer house now stands, and just back of. the site of the Field fort. In leveling both these spots, the earth at the depth of a few feet was largely composed of human remains.
Scattered single graves, and what may be supposed to have been a family burial place, occur in all this neighborhood. And as the Indian buried his dead close beside his dwelling, a deposit of bones clearly marks a wigwam or village-site.
A careful review of all the facts collected on this subject by the writers of this volume, shows that the place and mode of burying their dead by the Squakheags has an important significance. Ordi- narily the body was put in a shallow grave, not over 3 feet in depth, and was laid at full length. Some have been found lying on the right side, and it is believed that this was a common practice with this tribe. Nothing visible marked the site of such graves. In the case of chiefs, the grave was dug about 5 feet deep, and the body placed in a sitting posture.
Enough graves have been opened to make it reasonably certain that both males and females of high rank were buried in an upright posture - the chieftain with a pile of stones above his head, and the others with only a raised mound of earth.1
This helps to determine the location of the chief's wigwam. In leveling off the ridge in the rear of the old Field fort, which was done in a hurry and without much observation, at least one skeleton, of the many brought to light, was observed in an upright position ; and a circular pile of flat stones carefully laid in clay mortar, was struck by the spade and removed for a couple of feet in depth, when the search was given up, as those below were out of the way of the plow. The exact resemblance of this pile to others that have been carefully
" To show the consideration paid to females of rank by the River Indians, it may be stated that the wives and daughters of chiefs were accustomed to sign the deeds, when land was sold to the whites ; and peculiar honor was accorded to them in the rites of burial.
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History of Northfield.
taken up, and the body beneath examined, leaves little room to doubt that this height of. land was a chief's home - perhaps Masseinet's family site.
COASSOCK .- The domain of Massemet extended up to a line run- ning east and west through the falls on Mill brook. A cluster of wigwams appears to have been placed to the south and west of the falls, reaching down to the steep hill of the first terrace. Cultivation has materially altered the face of things here; and these remains are not easily traced. Tradition locates their burial place on the flat where the old mill-house, at the lower privilege, stood.
There is good evidence that a family of high rank once lived on the west side of the river, just north of the mouth of Moose-plain brook. When the bank was excavated to make a road to the Horse- boat ferry, fifty years ago, a full sized skeleton in good preservation, was uncovered. Some years later three more skeletons were found near the same spot, and close together. These bodies were all buried in a sitting posture, facing the east, and were covered not more than three feet deep. This site was on Massemet's land, and was directly opposite Coassock.
NAWELET'S LAND .- North of Coassock up to Wanasquatok (Broad brook), the country belonged to the chieftain Nawelet. From the size of his possessions and the plain testimony of remains, it is evident that this tract was inhabited by a numerous and powerful tribe. Some were of gigantic stature - a skeleton measuring 6} feet having been disinterred. They were enterprising and warlike, as is shown by their extensive planting fields, and the strength and resources of their main fort. Their utensils indicate considerable traffic with the whites. And they were undoubtedly the last of the native clans to leave the valley. Indeed they are found here in considerable numbers as late as 1720, and were then of a character to command the respect of the English settlers.
The date of sale of this extensive tract of country to the whites, was August 13, 1687. The fact that a large portion of the land had been already appropriated by the Northfield planters, is evidence that at the period of the First Settlement the tribe was living elsewhere, and had become to some extent migratory.
In the time of their sole occupancy, they had scattered encamp- ments at different points on Pauchaughill. One was near where the highway descends to the meadow ; another, and larger one, was around
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The River Indians.
the falls of Pauchaug brook. They also occupied different points on Wells's plain above, as is attested by their numerous burial places.
A village of large size was located west of the river, near the pre- sent South Vernon rail road station. On the meadow hill, about 80 rods northerly of the state line, and near the old Ferry road, on land now owned by E. E. Belding Esq., are plainly to be seen the re- mains of above 30 Indian granaries. They belong to the small class, none of them being over 5 feet in diameter. They occupy a space 30 x 60 feet, and of course are crowded thickly together. The heights here, and still further back of Wells's plain, afforded good lookouts and hiding-places ; and the upper parts of Second Moose plain were good planting grounds.
There are signs of wigwams on the knolls and hill-sides, as far up as the Patterson farm. A number of large granaries have been found on land of Lorenzo Brown Esq. : two over the ridge west of his dwelling-house ; two or three about 30 rods north of the house ; and a number on the slope of Meadow hill some distance to the eastward. The planting-field of these families was probably on the plain east of Mr. Brown's house.
But the chief seat of this tribe was near the Great bend of the river. The plains and knolls back of the meadows here afforded favorable sites for wigwams, and all the requirements of their mode of life. The mouths of the Ashuelot, and of Cold brook and Salmon brook, and the islands and rocks adjacent, gave them superior facili- ties for catching their favorite salmon in the spring ; and the higher meadows, being enriched and mellowed by the annual over-flow, were easily tilled, and produced large crops of corn.
The peculiar advantages of this spot, for a permanent home, were plainly apparent to the ancestors of Nawelet. And at a later date, when King Philip and Canonchet found themselves in a strait, with a multitude of women and children to be defended and fed, no better place than this could be found. For there is no doubt that it was here - somewhere between Rock island and Pomeroy's island - where Mrs. Rowlandson found King Philip and his warriors March 9, 1676 ; and that these intervals, which afterwards attracted Capt. Stebbins and Ensign Stratton, were the memorable planting-fields of that fatal spring. The obkukes, or stone kettles, and hatchets, and pestles, and other tools and utensils for ordinary use, were formerly abundant, and are still found, in all this neighborhood ; and both upon Clary's island and the mainland, skeletons are common. Two skulls were lately turned up on the island - one of them (in 1872)
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History of Northfield.
had a hole in the backside as large as an ounce ball would make. . The teeth were sound and white. " August 17, 1869, as Mr. George M. Lee was digging up stumps and leveling the land on his farm, about four rods from the steep bank and west of the brook, he had occasion to plow two furrows deep, and struck a loose flat stone. As it evidently did not belong there, his curiosity was excited, and on lifting it up he found others under it. With the aid of a shovel he dug up 3 or 4 bushels of small flattish stones laid round in regular order in a circle 18 inches or 2 feet in diameter. Beneath the stones, at the depth of 4 feet, he found the remains of a large skeleton in a sitting posture, facing the north." The grave had evidently been dug perpendicular for its full depth on the south end, against which . the back was placed, as the prints on the earth indicated ; but from the bottom an excavation was made horizontally in which the feet and legs were thrust. The large bones were entire, but crumbled soon on being exposed to the air." (Letter of John Stebbins). This was probably the grave of a high chieftain.
There is no distinct tradition of any Indian fort on the west side of the river near this location ; though there are several eminences well suited for such defences. If they had forts here, it is probable that they were abandoned early ; and that, as their most formidable enemy, the Mohawks, lived to the west, the tribe, for obvious reasons, built, later, their principal defensive works on the east side.
The tradition in regard to' Fort Hill, (now in Hinsdale, N. H., though on the original Northfield purchase) as an Indian fortification and abiding-place, is familiar to all. It was naturally a position of great strength, and had all the requisites of a fort, except ready ac- cess to water. It is a steep bluff or point of the high plain, lying at the neck of the pear-shaped promontory known as Cooper's Point, and elevated about 150 feet above low water mark, and nearly 100 feet above the terrace which forms the present river-bank. In the olden time when the bed of the river was 50 feet higher than at pre- sent, the water covered what is known as the Point, and swept round the foot of Fort Hill. This old river-bottom, now the high bank, extends with varying width on three sides of the hill.
This was evidently the Indians' strong-hold. The spot where the fort stood commands a view (or did when the whole region was bare of trees, as was the case in Nawelet's day) of the interval lands to
" It was a custom of the earliest Erse or Irish people, to bury their chief warriors facing the point where the enemy were expected to make an attack - in the belief that the dead :hief still had power to resist his enemies. Did such a belief exist among our Indians - as his chief was set facing the fort, which was the main defensive reliance of the tribe ?
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The River Indians.
the north for 13 miles, and as far to the south - embracing Pome- roy's, Clary's and Elmer's islands, the fishing-places, and the planting- fields on either side of the river. The necessity for water was provided for, by building a covered way, underground, down the easterly side, to a living spring which is just at the foot of the hill. A wide trench was cut across the narrow neck of the hill, to serve as a defence from attacks from the plain back. Henry Hooker Esq., grandson of Rev. Bunker Gay, remembers when this trench was only partially filled, being then over 4 feet in depth. The site of the fort includes about one acre of land.
All the traditions speak of strong defensive works here. It is said that heavy logs were caught, in the spring freshet, and rolled to the top of the hill, where they were bound by withes to stakes, ready to be tumbled down upon the ranks of assailants. And tradition and the records agree, that a fierce and sanguinary battle was fought here, when the Mohawks made their famous incursion in 1663 or 4. A hundred years later, when the Rev. Bunker Gay was settled as pastor of the church in Hinsdale, he found, when plowing upon his farm, which included the fort ground, three kettles, one large and two small, carefully buried, one with some corn still adhering to the inside ; and he turned up many Indian skeletons on the plain near the old cemetery. Stone tools and weapons were found in abundance in the fields around.
There has existed an indistinct tradition that an Indian fort once stood at the mouth of the Ashuelot, on the Lieut. Elihu Stebbins farm. A careful examination of the location by the writers, disclosed traces of remarkable Indian remains, and the utensils and implements found only near their abiding-places. The truncated hill - which evidently was once washed on the north by the Ashuelot, and on the west by the united rivers - rises about 60 feet above the ordinary water level, and overlooks the valley to some distance below Pome- roy's island, and up to Clary's island, and the old Fort Hill. On the front the sides are steep ; and a ravine cut it off from the low hills to the east, and extended round to the meadow on the south. A spring, easily accessible, comes out at the foot of the hill on the north. Tillage has essentially modified the appearance of the surface, and the ravine in the rear. The most interesting works now visible are 33 granaries, situated on the southwesterly side. They occupy an off-set, just above the line of high water, and are included in a space of 90 x 45 feet. They vary in size, from 3 to 5 and 7 feet in diameter, and as the land has been kept in grass the outlines are perfectly preserved. Some of these basin-like depressions are now from 12 to 15 inches deep. On open- ing one, it was found to be about 4! feet deep, and lined with clay.
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History of Northfield.
Since the above was written, a communication has been received from John M. Stebbins Esq., who was born upon the place. He states that these granaries were much deeper and more distinct 35 years ago than now. He adds -" Directly west of the old barn, on my father's farm, on the same level with the house, and in the angle made by the fence as now built, the barn, and the brow of the hill, there were in 1840, many small mounds, which my grandmother said were Indian graves. The land had never been plowed, except by the first settler, and the mounds were readily traced, though the surface was tolerably smooth. Two of us boys mustered courage one day, and carefully moved the turf from one of the mounds, and digging down not more than four feet struck a skull, the very thing we were digging for. We found nearly the whole skeleton - in a sitting posture - some parts considerably decayed, but the skull was in good condition, and the teeth were large and perfect. A physician who examined it pronounced it to be the skeleton of a young woman."
The mounds were only a short distance to the south-east of the granaries and fort.
The fact is handed down in the Stebbins family - who have held the property for three or four generations - that Peter ( or John ) Evens, who removed hither from Northfield street in 1741, planted an orchard in this old burial-ground ; and that the Indians - during the wars that followed - repeatedly destroyed the trees. This would show that a peculiar sacredness was attached by the natives to this spot ; and the raised mounds, and the sitting posture of the body exhumed, indicate the burial-place of a chieftain's family." And it is a point of interest, to be noticed in this connection, that among the Indian relics found in the soil on this farm, weapons and ornaments predominate. Only last year ( 1872) a beautifully polished stone pendant, something in the shape of a carpenter's plummet, and about the size of a pullet's egg, was found here.
About 80 rods below this cluster of mounds, is another wigwam site. When the rail-road was constructed a few years since, as the workmen were excavating a cut, the earth caved in, and disclosed 13 skeletons lying close together. One of them indicated a man 63 feet in height.
PAUCHAUG .- This famous meadow has been already noticed ; but a few words in addition are in place here. From documents written
' It has been a disputed point whether this mode of burial indicated rank, or was evidence that such graves were those of another tribe. The fact that these graves were so jealously guarded by the remnant of the Squakheags, is pretty conclusive proof in favor of high rank.
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The River Indians.
by the Committee who were appointed by the General court to lay out the plantation, it appears that the name was not applied by the natives to the meadow as a whole; but either to some particular spot on or near this piece of interval, or to some public use to which it was devoted. According to Roger Williams (Key, p. 145), the Indian word pauchauog signifies, they are playing or dancing. And from the peculiar conformation of the land near where the brook de- scends from the plain, it is believed that one of the smooth knolls in this part of the meadow was the place where the two clans of Squak- heags were accustomed to meet for their public games.
It was quite common among all the tribes, in time of peace, for two or more friendly towns to meet for competitive trials of skill and strength. They had several kinds of games. Roger Williams speaks of two of their principal amusements, viz., arbor-playing, and long- house-playing. For the former they made "an arbor of long poles set in the earth, four square, sixteen or twenty feet high, on which they hang great store of their stringed money, which one town stakes against another. Two persons, one from each town, are chosen to throw the dice, with great shouting and solemnity, and the winner takes the stake. In the latter game, they set up a house sometimes 200 feet long upon a plain, where the men and women gather by thousands. The players were the chief men of the tribe ; and the play consisted mainly of dancing in the long house. When one succeeded in gaining special applause, he would distribute gifts of wampum, coats and knives among the multitude."
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