The Pequot Nation, Connecticut’s principal community of Native Americans, became increasingly hostile towards the new settlers from the north. On May 1, 1637, after several attacks by the Pequot, the 9th Session of the General Court of Connecticut decided to undertake an offensive war against them. The court appointed Captain Mason commander of a force of ninety men, drawn from the settlements of Wethersfield (18 men), Windsor (30 men), and Hartford (42 men). We know from later records that Aaron Stark was a participant in this war, and also that he had a close relationship with Mason, so it seems very likely that he was one of the soldiers recruited from one of these three towns.1,7 Mason later wrote A Brief History of the Pequot War, which was published in 1736. This narrative collaborates the statements in Aaron Stark's 1673 deposition, which asserts that he participated in Mason’s attack on the Pequot camp, and is our primary source for the events of the Pequot War. MURDERS BY THE PEQUOTS! John Stone was murdered by the Pequots on the Connecticut River. It may be that he was thought to be a Dutchman, and one of the murderers of Tatobem. Stone was known to the Bay Colony authorities as a privateer and rogue and may have provoked the Indians who claim to have acted in self-defense, but he soon became another statistic in the Colony's list of Pequot "crimes." The 1636, John Oldham, a respected trader and friend of the Narragansetts, was murdered in his boat off Block Island. The murderers were Block Islanders, tributaries to the Narragansetts, however, they escaped capture and were given safe haven by the Pequots. A punitive expedition, led by John Endicott, enraged the Pequots. They retaliated by raiding the unsuspecting settlement of Wethersfield on 23 April 1637. Thirty settlers were killed and two girls were kidnapped. They tortured many of their victims, as was the custom of some Eastern tribes, and reinforced their reputation for cruel savageryWWW.THEGREATLANDRUSH.COM WWW.USMAJORMALLS.COM WWW.INTERNATIONALDRIVE.COM
