Massasoit's Town Sowams in Pokanoket, Its History Legends and Traditions — John Shaqi
Massasoit's Town Sowams in Pokanoket, Its History Legends and TraditionsBaker, Virginia
History
Massasoit's Town Sowams in Pokanoket, Its History Legends and Traditions
Baker, Virginia
Massasoit, 1580-1661; Sowams; Wampanoag Indians
“Mr. Editor: An interesting discovery in reference to the
aboriginal history of this town has recently been made. Mr.
Francis Loring, an intelligent Indian, and a member of the
Penobscot tribe, who has been in this vicinity for several
weeks, informed the writer that the tribe had in their
possession, and which they carefully preserved among their
national archives, an ancient book made of skins, containing
many descriptions of important historical localities, some
of which are in this vicinity, all of them in the ancient
Indian style of signs and picture writing. One of these
pictures represents four men rolling a heavy circular stone,
by a stick placed through a hole in the centre, back and
forth over a quantity of corn, and described as the
Wampanoag national grinding mill, where corn was ground for
war parties or for any large public gathering of the people.
“The locality of the place was so plainly stated that Mr.
Loring had no difficulty in finding it. It is at the place
called King’s Rocks in Warren, near the Swansea line about
two miles from the village. On the west side of the mass of
rocks is a nearly level smooth surface of rock about
twenty-five feet by eight feet in width. In this level place
are three regular, narrow, straight depressions. They appear
evidently to have been worn into the rock by some forcible
attrition, and are, in fact, just such hollows as might be
made by the cause assigned.
“These worn places have heretofore attracted notice and
speculation, but the true cause of their existence has not
before been known by late generations, and the idea of a
national grinding mill, or of pulverizing corn by a rolling
stone in connection with Indian history will probably be new
to every one.
“As confirmatory of the locality, Mr. Loring says the
picture has upon it another hill of somewhat peculiar
appearance (a large rock upon the summit) situated about a
mile east of the grinding place, named, he thinks Wigwam
Hill.[27] Leading from this hill towards the setting sun are
two hundred and forty human steps, the line of steps
terminating in three skulls which denotes a burial place.
Mr. Loring visited the hill (now called Margaret’s Hill from
the last Indian woman who resided there) and pacing off 240
steps west came to an Indian cemetery, which he verified by
digging, and finding human remains.
F“
Mr. Francis Loring, known also by the name “Big Thunder” is now
living, at an advanced age, on Indian Old Town Island, Maine, and is
the custodian of the Penobscot tribe. The writer recently learned from
him that the “ancient book made of skins” alluded to by General
Fessenden was, a few years ago, accidentally destroyed by fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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