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Pequots were by far the most powerful and warlike among them. Their
territory spread over the present towns of New London, Groton, and
Stonington. Just north of them was a branch of the same tribe, called
the Mohegans, under their distinguished sachem Uncas. The Pequots and
the Mohegans, thus united, were resistless. It is said that, a few
years before the arrival of the English in this country, the Pequots
had poured down like an inundation from the forests of the north,
sweeping all opposition before them, and had taken possession of the
sea-coast as a conquered country.

Sassacus was the sovereign chief of this nation. The present town of
Groton was his regal residence. Upon two commanding and beautiful
eminences in this town, from which the eye ranged over a very
extensive prospect of the Sound and the adjacent country, Sassacus had
erected, with much barbarian skill, his royal fortresses. The one was
on the banks of the Mystic; the other, a few miles west, on the banks
of the Pequot River, now called the Thames. His sway extended over all
the tribes on Long Island, and along the coast from the dominions of
Canonicus, on Narraganset Bay, to the Hudson River, and spreading into
the interior as far as the present county of Worcester in
Massachusetts. Thus there seem to have been, in the days of the
Pilgrims, three dominant nations, with their illustrious chieftains,
who held sway over all the petty tribes in the south and easterly
portions of New England. The Wampanoags, under Massasoit, held
Massachusetts generally. The Narragansets, under Canonicus, occupied
Rhode Island. The Pequots, under Sassacus, reigned over Connecticut.
These powerful tribes were jealous of each other, and were almost
incessantly engaged in wars.

Sassacus had twenty-six sachems under him, and could lead into the
field four thousand warriors. He was shrewd, wary, and treacherous,
and with great jealousy watched the increasing power of the English,
who were now spreading rapidly over the principal parts of New
England.

In the autumn of the year 1634, just after William Holmes had put up
his house at Windsor, two English traders, Captains Norton and Stone,
ascended the Connecticut River in a boat, with eight men, to purchase
furs of the Indians. They had a large assortment of those goods which
the natives prized, and for which they were eager to barter any thing
in their possession. The Indians one night, as the vessel was moored
near th