PAGE 4
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
KING PHILIP
(Continued from page 1)
In 1671 Philip complained that the English were
not living up to the agreement they had made ten
years before. At Tounton the English made another
treaty with him, in which he was asked to give up all
his arms of war. Philip doubted the sincerity of the
English and hesitated to give up his arms. He was
asked why, and his reply was that his father, brother
and himself had made treaties of friendship with the
English, which the latter were trying to turn into
treaties of subjection.
In 1674 an Indian told the settlers that Philip was
trying to get all the Indians of New England to wage
war against the whites. A few days later that In
dian’s body was found in a lake. The English ar
rested three Indians, tried them for murder, and
executed them.
Philip thought that the English had done the In
dians a great injustice, but the question being too
deep for him to solve, he called all the sachems of the
Wampanoags together to talk over the matter. The
young warriors wanted war. Philip was opposed to
this. He saw that the time had passed when the
English could be driven from the country. Philip
succeeded in holding the young men in check for a
while.
On a pleasant Sunday in June, 1675, while the
people were in church, eight young warriors burned
a few houses in Swansea, the nearest town to Wam-
panoag’s headquarters at Mount Hope. The whites
immediately raised troops and had a little skirmish
with the Indians.
Philip was not with his warriors at the time. The
attack on the whites was against his expressed orders.
When he learned that the Indians and the settlers
really had had a battle he wept, something which an
Indian at that time rarely did.
From this on everything went wrong. Philip tried
to make peace with the whites, but they would not
listen. The young men kept on destroying property
and killing cattle. The English then raised troops
and the war that followed is known in history as
“King Philip’s War.”
Philip and some Indians swam Narragansett Bay
and went to the village of the Nipmucks, who had
never been friendly towards the whites. They joined
the warring Wampanoags.
Where Philip was during the war is not known.
He knew that he would be held responsible for it.
He was never once known to be connected with any
fighting. He was not once seen by the English dur
ing that time. Some thought he directed the war,
but it was really carried on by Indians that had not
been friendly toward the whites. The Wampanoags
really had very little to do with the war, which was
one of the most dreadful in the history of our country.
The Indians were very successful during the first
year of the war. They had lost but few warriors,
which led them to believe Philip was wrong in think
ing that the English could not be driven out. By
spring, however, many wished lor peace. The food
supply was getting short. They were being defeated,
for the English understood better their modes of fight
ing. Finally they gave up hope and then they real
ized that King Philip had been right in trying to keep
peace with the whites.
Philip was not seen from the time he swam across
Narragansett Bay until June, 1676, when he returned
to his old home on Mount Hope. His wife and son
had been captured earlier in the spring. He felt that
war was wrong, and that the young warriors had been
too hasty in starting it.
The Wampanoags were talking of surrendering.
Philip felt that surrender meant death for him. He
refused to think of it. When one warrior suggested
it to him he killed him on the spot. In August, 1676,
Philip was shot by the brother of the Indian he had
killed. Philip was unjustly blamed by the Plymouth
people. They thought he was in league with several
other tribes and intended to drive out the English.
Philip was a great advocate of peace. He was a friend
to the colonists. The English did not know this and
the result was that Philip was held responsible for a
war which he had opposed from the outset.
WHY THE BEAVER’S TAIL IS FLAT
Many years ago where Yakima and all its prosper
ous farms now are, was once said to be covered with
water, extending to the foot of the sage-covered
mountain ranges.
Beavers occupied the territory southeast of this
range in swamps and along the streams. For almost
a month during the hottest part of one summer it
hadn’t rained and springs and streams were drying
up. Many of the beavers had died.
At this time the beaver had a long tail, similar to a
dog’s tail. The oldest, and leader, of the beavers
could not stand to see so many dying. He called a
council, which was held on the highest peak of the
range. He said, “Now, my good people, the Great
Spirit is punishing us. We have mot been thankful
enough for our homes. I have called you together to
dance and pray to the Great Spirit so that we can
have rain.” So they danced and prayed for over a
week, keeping time with their tails, beating them
against the ground.
After they had finished dancing they noticed that
their tails were flat, and that the ground that they
had danced upon was almost at sea level.
At last it began to rain. It rained and rained. All
the while the sea was rising until at last it rushed
down through the mountain, making the Union Gap.
Now the Yakima River flows through it and down
through the valley to the Columbia River, and to this
day the beaver’s tail is flat.—M atilda F rench .