Squanto of the Patuxet

No, we're not going to rehash the story of the First Thanksgiving.  We're focusing on one man, his people, and what often went wrong when Natives made contact with Settlers.  Beginning in 1524, after the expedition of Giovanni da Verrezzano, English fishermen began coming to the Atlantic Coast of North America.  Their primary objective was the cod, herring and other fish that could be salted down and transported back to Europe for sale.  Though none of these fishing crews attempted colonization, they often landed on shore and made contact with Native groups, where they traded for other foodstuffs that they could not carry on their ships.  However, they soon discovered a more lucrative item for trade and began kidnapping Native men in particular to sell to Spanish traders as slaves.  In addition, epidemics of disease soon swept over the coastal villages and further inland.  In 1614-1620 alone an epidemic of either smallpox or leptospirosis wiped out the entire Patuxet tribe and devastated their close neighbors, the Massachusett, two members of the powerful Wampanoag Confederacy.  The only Patuxet to remain alive was far from home and having troubles and adventures of his own.

Squanto or Tisquantum was born c. 1585 in the Patuxet village in the vicinity of Plymouth, Massachusetts.  In 1605, he was captured by Captain George Weymouth, who was exploring the coastal area for wealthy backers in London.  Squanto was taken back to England and placed in the care of the Governor of Plymouth (in England), where he learned English.  In 1614, he accompanied Captain John Smith (yes, that John Smith), on a voyage of exploration of the New England coastline.  Squanto was again captured by another English sea captain, who sold him to Spanish slavers.  Squanto ended up in Malaga, Spain, where some Franciscan friars intervened.  They gave Squanto and some other Natives shelter, and instructed them in the Catholic faith.  Later, Squanto persuaded them to let him go and he returned to London, seeking work as a guide and interpreter on fishing expeditions to what would become New England.  He took part on a fishing expedition to Newfoundland, and from there intended to travel back home.  He was instead sent back to England.

In 1619, he again rejoined Smith for an expedition and finally returned home.  There, he discovered that his entire home village, indeed all of his people, had been wiped out by the recent plague.  Squanto took refuge with the Wampanoag under the Sachem known today as Massassoit, though that may not have been his real name.  In November, 1620, more Englishmen showed up near the area of modern-day Plymouth.  This time, they brought women and children and it was obvious they intended to stay.  An Abenaki Sagamore (sachem) named Samoset was visiting Massassoit at the time.  He'd picked up English from visiting the various fishing camps along the coast.  At Massassoit's request, Samoset visited the English encampment at Plymouth to find out more about the new arrivals.  When he learned that they intended to live in the area, he knew that they would need guidance getting through their first few months in their new home.  Samoset suggested to Massassoit that Squanto serve as the Pilgrims' guide and instructor on life in the New World. 

Scholars debate the extent of Squanto's help, but he did provide instruction in how to plant beans, corn and squash the traditional way, and how to hunt for game in the surrounding forest.  More importantly, he served as a translator when Pilgrim emissaries visited Massassoit.  Squanto was also used as a spy by both sides.  Governor William Bradford sent him on a mission to determine the intentions of a rival sachem, Corbitant.  Squanto was captured and it took Myles Standish and a few of his men to find and rescue their interpreter and guide.  Meanwhile, Massassoit was growing suspicious of the White men's true motives and Squanto's closeness to them.  He insisted that a Wampanoag named Hobomok (the name means spy and might not have been his real name, either), to watch Squanto.  Hobomok found nothing in Squanto's conduct that suggested disloyalty toward Massassoit. 

In 1622, after a visit to the Wampanoag, Squanto returned to Plymouth ill.  One of his symptoms was bleeding of the nose, which both Natives and Whites took to be signs of poisoning.  Whether he was poisoned, by whom and for what reason is up for debate.  He could have been ill for other reasons, as well.  Squanto died in November, 1622, requesting a Christian burial.  Peace between the Settlers and the Wampanoag continued for another fifty-plus years, until King Phillip's war, in 1675.