The Story of the Thirteen ColoniesGuerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline)
History
The Story of the Thirteen Colonies
Guerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline)
United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
It is said that when one of the colonists once came to bid an
Indian chief to remove still farther from the white settlements, the
red man invited him to take a seat beside him on a log. Crowding
nearer and nearer his guest, the chief bade him move again and
again, until he forced him to the very end of the log. But when the
colonist declared he could not move another inch without falling
off, the chief calmly answered: "It is just so with us. We have
moved as far as we can go, and now you come here to ask us to move
farther still."
This feeling of unfair treatment made Alexander so angry, at last,
that he formed a secret alliance with the Narragansett Indians to
kill all the white men. But the Plymouth governor, hearing of this,
promptly sent for him, bidding him come and clear himself of the
accusation of treachery. Then, as the Indian did not obey at once,
Winslow quickly set out, with his men, to bring him by force.
Alexander, furious at being thus compelled to mind, fell seriously
ill from fever. The colonists then allowed his followers to carry
him home; but on the way back, the Indian chief breathed his last.
Ever after, his people were in the habit of saying that he had gone
to the Happy Hunting Grounds, where the palefaces could never come
to crowd him out.
XXXVII. KING PHILIP'S WAR.
At Alexander's death, Philip became chief of his tribe; and thinking
the English had poisoned Alexander, he began to plot revenge. After
brooding over his wrongs for several years, Philip was accused of
planning to attack the colonists. The governor of Plymouth sent
word to Philip to come and explain his conduct, but, we are told,
the Indian haughtily said to the messenger: "Your governor is but
a subject of King Charles of England. I shall not treat with a
subject. I shall only treat with the king, my brother. When he
comes, I am ready."
[Illustration: An Indian Attack.]
Still, Philip did come, and promised to keep the peace. But a few
years later, he was about to fall upon the colonists unexpectedly,
when a praying Indian warned them of their danger. This Indian was
murdered by three of Philip's friends, who were found guilty and put
to death for the crime. Not long after this, the Indians attacked
the colonists at Swan´sea, as they were walking home from church,
and killed all those who could not escape in time to the blockhouse.
As had been agreed beforehand, an alarm was sent right away to
Plymouth and Boston, where signal fires were kindled on what is
still known as Beacon Hill. An army of colonists hastily obeyed this
summons, and set out to attack Philip. But the latter was too quick
for them, and managed to escape from his camp at Mount Hope, with
about seven hundred Indians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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