Action along the coast of Vinland
The travels of Roger Williams in 1635
Very early in American history, indeed, at the time of England's civil war, Roger Williams escaped with his head from enemies at both Salem and Plymouth. Escaped from charges of heresy and insurrection, to say nothing of the horrendous idea of actually paying Native Americans for seized lands.
His life, writings, and chronicles have been a subject of intense interest to historians from that day to this. But no one seems to have addressed the size and placement of the two grants that are shaded in above - it represents a huge territory and seems to have been simple gifts from the Narragansetts for the Providence grant, and the Wampanoags for the Pawtucket one. The latter was deeded (generally overlooked nowadays) by the same Massasoit whom we celebrate at our Thanksgiving festivities. While closely associated with the Plymouth Colony, in fact his home and background was in the Rhode Island area and that grant was of lands to North of his own territory.
The Wampanoag grant appears larger than it may have been. Historians say that consisted of the present day City of Pawtucket, which is generally what is shown. Viewing the grants in this manner might give one an impression of considerable political sophistication on the part of the Indians. for that area might have been one of contention and periodic cultural clashes between the two tribes. Giving the lands to the settlers might have seemed a good idea as "buffer" lands between. This might well be the rationale for the facile grant of Aquidneck (Rhode) Island just about in its entirety with the proviso that Indians might remain if they agreed to fence their fields
Williams is known to have arrived near the Seekonk River (projected between the two grants) and settled thereafter along another N/S River at a little distance.
At this time the European colonist subsisted not too securely only in enclaves directly upon the coastlines. They were enabled to expand Westward toward Narragansett Bay because the occupant Wampanoags had been seriously decimated by one of the first epidemics occurring in the Northern sectors of invasion. The two grants are unique not only by their size but by their inland placement - their heyday was not to come for another hundred years. Newport became the capital of the colony until 1776 and Williams traveled between Providence, Newport, his granted island Prudence and his trading post at Cocumcussok (Boy, do I ever like that name!).
RI 1000 is but three miles from that post - most assuredly Roger Williams must have known some of the people buried there intimately. Ninegret burial ground, also important to us is about 12 miles distant from RI 1000.
Roger Williams friendship and his recordings of them are invaluable sources for both us and any scholar of American history.
Refer to: Roger Williams and the Separation of Church and State
Back: Narragansett territory. Still to come: Crossannes.