Bartlett High School - Chronicle Yearbook (Webster, MA)

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I' -nl -We il lfeairlribleerer 1Q 3 ttiniizonicms . 2. day the enemy penetrated more deeply into the forests, frightening away the red man's deer, cutting down his trees, building ugly wooden cabins where the Indian for years had pitched his tent of skins. The invader, on the other hand, beheld here a great country, how great no one at that time fully knew. Here were fertile valleys, wooded hillsides, navigable rivers, good harbors, all unoccupied save for a few wandering tribes of Indians. These savages could not long obstruct the march of civilization. They had not the power to develop the resources of this continent. It was their fate to vanish over the horizon, leaving manifold oppor- tunities to those better fitted than they to realize them in the succeeding years. Ernest Henault '3 4. Revenge fp, EPAHWIN, the slpirit of sleep, ruled over the Indian camp. All was quiet A VS lg in the lodges and throughout the surrounding woods, with the waters of the ,gf lake swollen by many days' rain. fx f Shan-Shaw, a. .beautiful Indian maiden with coppery skin, small dark eyes. and coarse black hair, tossed about on her hard bed. Had scrutinizing eyes fallen upon Shaw-Shaw, asleep in the camp of her father near the shores of a lake in the Nipmuck country, they would have observed varying expressions on the maiden's face, content, pleasure, surprise, wonder, horror, terror-all were there. For Shaw-Shaw was 'being visited by a spirit. Startin-g suddenly, she awoke, and, raising her tall form from her rude bed, she gave the loud war whoop of the Nipmucks. The whole camp awoke as if stricken by lightning. The-re were guttural murmurings, anxious questions of squaws, and the shrill bawling off pappooses, as the chief of the tribe. Ope-chee, came forward. S-haw-Shaw encountered him, her father, and swiftly told of the spirit that had visited her in a dream, the spirit of Koko-Koha. At the mention of his name all stirred, ibraves and souaws alike. Immediately Opechee ordered a council fire to be built, and at his command all scrambled forth to obey. There was news of the great Koko-Koha! For Kokc-Koha, named the Owl because of his sharp eyes on all occasions, was the great brave off the Nipunucks. He was- Shaw-Shaw's lover, toofthe reason. believed by the tribe, why Koko-Koha had appeared to that maiden in a dream. The story of Koko--Koha runs thus. While the Nipmucks were on a be-ar hunt, over a moon ago, Koko-Koha became separated from his companions. No anxiety was aroused at Hrs-t, for it was the custom of the red lmen to be gone for a few days at a time, but after ten days, when the brave did not appear, all ,prayed anxiously. They searched for traces off him, to no avail. Now forty suns had passed, and in two days a ceremony was to 'be held ,for the brave, believed by all to have been car- ried by the Great Spirit, 'Gitche Manito, into his happy hunting ground, the-re to be- come a servant to the Great One. News of him! The fire, having been kindled, iblazed wforth its red-orange -flames and lit up the surrounding spaces. The warriors and squaws, with grunts of approval and ex- citement, seated themselves. Soon, after a short conversation with Opechee, Shaw- Sh.aw, still quivering with excitement, stood in the midst of ther people and began her story. Nushka, Nushka, my people, listen, listen! News of the great Koko-Koha, our Koko-Koha! His spirit came to me. He spoke to me. I heard his voice. After he had been separated from the company, he came ulpon the village of the pale faces. He saw some fresh, ripe yellow corn and he took some. Just then he heard a step. He turned, only to feel a sharp pain in his side. It was from one of those long black instruments the white men carry. He fell. He could do nothing. He was dead, killed by a Tpale face. Then he gave me this warning: Chargoggagoggman- chaugagoggchaulbunagungamaugg-revenge my death, only then shall the waters of your lake grow calm. He will watch with his owl's eye till he is avenged. Let us hurry, my people. For three days our waters are high, growing higher all the time. If we delay, the waters will overflow and destroy our lodges. The tribesmen had listened to the account with extreme care and keen inter- est. Now they were as anxious as Shaw-Shaw to avenge her lover, their braveg so they prepared food and weapons. Before departing they qprayed to the Gitche Manito that He would aid them to aocomplish their task, to avenge the great Koko- Koha. In four days their revenge was gained, and the waters grew calm. Then the lake, up to that time, called Our Waters , became Chargoggagoggmanchauga- goggchauabunagungamaugg, in token of Koko-Koha's words. Emily Roberts.

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We llPe21laticiearfr 19 3 QEHRDNIGLE ' 2 John Elliot, the Puritan minister of Roxbury, first preached to the Nipmucks at Nonantum iNewtonb. Meeting with no opposition, he penetrated more deeply into their country. Everywhere he was kindly received. When he came to Chau- bunagungamaug, he had already established seven praying towns, as they were called, with Hassanamesitt f'GraftonJ as a center. He founded praying' towns at Manchaug COxfordJ, Chaubunagungamaug fWebsterJ, and Maanexit, Quantisset, and Wabquasset fWo0dstockJ. Elliot was assisted by Mayhew and Gookin. The Nipmucks were especially amenable to Christian teachingsg a great many were converted and subsequently educated. Dudley Hill, one of the praying towns, was inhabited by the Pegans, a sub- ordinate tribe of the Nipmucks, who, according to Gookin, were the most devout of the many red men whom he visited. Elliot printed the Bible and several other religious works in their language. The Pegans, as well as all the Nipmucks of central Massachusetts, visited the sacred spring of their nation, which was be- lieved to possess great healing properties. At certain seasons of the year they journeyed to this holy spot, which, by a symbolic twist of fate, lies today beneath the gymnasium of the Bartlett High School. In his own way the white man fortni- tously continues the quest of his red brother. In history the Nipmucks will be remembered chiefly for their connection with King Philip's War. Philip is said to have suspected the white men of poison- ing his brother, for years he plotted to avenge the murder. In 1675, thirteen years after Philip had succeeded Massasoit, his father, as chief of the tribe, began what is known as King Philip's War. The first of a long series of atrocities began at the little village of Swanzey, Massachusetts, not far from Philip's wigwams. Homes were destroyedg men, women, and children were murdered or carried off to be sub- jected to horrible tortures. In the Connecticut valley, town after town was simi- larly harassed. Wattascompanum, the chief ruler of the Nipmucks, a the lesser chieftains, became Philip's friends and aids. Thes they were called, rose to fight for their lands, their wigwams, previous to the attack on Brookfield, August 2, 1675, Philip lowers were received and sheltered in the neighborhood of months of 1676 were the period of the greatest activity on mucks. They shared in the destruction of the settlements at Marlboro, Mendon, and Groton, and in the burning of many within a. dozen miles of Boston. They made fierce attacks on nd Matoonas, one of e praying Indians, as their lives. The day and forty of his fol- Webster. The early the part of the Nip- Lancaster, Worcester, homes in Weymouth, Sudbury, Chelmsford, Springfield, Hatfield, Hadley, Northampton, Andover, Bridgewater, Scituate, and Middleboro. On April 18, 1676 five hundred of them surrounded and killed Captain Wadsworth and fifty of his men, but later in the day one hundred and twenty red- skins fell at the hands of Wadsworth's followers. On May 18, 1676 Captain Turner surprised and killed three hundred Nip- mucks in their hiding place near the falls that now bear his name. This unexpected defeat broke the strength of the tribe. In June of that year came the death blow. Major Talcott marched four hundred and fifty men from Norwich, Connecticut to punish the insurgents. At Wabquasset they destroyed a fort and many fields of corn nearbyg at Chaubunagungamaug they killed fifty-tiwo savages. The Nipmuck chief, Wattascompanum, was captured on this occasion. On June 26 he was shot on Boston Common. Can you picture his brother Christians there assembled to wit- ness this rare form of popular entertainment? On July 1 an Indian teacher called James the Printer, who taught at Chaubunagungamaug, surrendered, under promise of pardon, with one hundred and forty of his followers. Matoonas was captured and shot July 28, while three other Nipmuck chiefs were soon after hanged in Boston town. Philip himself was killed August 12, 1676. To the Nipmuck nation the results of the war were disastrous. The execution of so many of their leaders, along with the many losses incurred in battle, com- pletely prostrated them. Some fled to Canada or westward to the Mohegansg some scattered to the districts about the Hudsong others were deported as slaves to Bermuda and the West Indies. Only a feeble and spiritless remnant was found when the English commenced negotiations with them, preparatory to settlement in this region. The Nipmucks must not be condemned, without thought, for their attacks on the white man. For generations the red man had wandered in the forests, free as the birds carolling in the trees overhead, or the wolves prowling through the crackling underbrush. This beautiful land of green woods and golden sunlight had all been his. The meadows and hillsides had been his home, the forests his hunting ground: the streams, the rivers, the lakes he had long regarded as his own. Why should he, month after month, behold his brothers driven westward, relinquishing their territory to the strange white man from over the seas? Day by

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f-17-I tri? -3, ilibancriisiiscircir IQ 3 flgnnoniene fi . Chatanook QXJHN a land of gently rolling hills, of softly undulating valleys is a beautiful lake. if Tl1ree leagues in length and as wide as the distance that a swift runner may ill cover in one hour, this lake, whose name is Chargoggagoggumanchuggagogg- ,ees chaubunagungamaug, was once the peaceful meeting place of three great tribes: the Mo-hegaus, the Nipmucks, and the Narraganse-tts. These thfree powerfull nations came to the fair lake when the y-.Jung corn, newly risen above the ground, rustle-cl in the 'soft breezes of the day. There for two moons these tribes, which duning the rest of the year had each gone their .scepafrate way, fish-ed and rested, awaiting the ripening of the co-rn. These were dvay-sv of contentment for the warrior well as for the squaw. The first dreamed of his future conlqnestsg the latter, unhn-rried, her tasks lightened, had time to babble laughingly wlith he-r friends. Among the great 'Mohegan tribe were many tried and valorous warriorsg but on-e there was who, in his many erincvouirt-e'1':i, had always proved the vic-tor. Should a warrior throw the tom-ahawk, his thlrow and speed were lgrealterg slhoiuld a warrior of the tribe circle the lake in less time than that of the former runner, still would he, starting at the same momeinnt, arrive before this other, coulid a warrior place his arrow through a leaf, he would cut the stem. Far and wi-de among these tribes was the fame of Chatanook known, for such was the warrior's name. He was tall and lithe, his body o-f red-bronze hue. The bravery of Chatanook, his courage and daring, made of him a natural leaderg and after the de-ath of the Chief Hibawan, the tribe name-d him their rulefr. H-e lo-ved. the shores of the great lake, its silvery slheet reflectinlg the moon, the softly waving trees. The mysteries of the night enthralled him, for he knew that the attendant spirits 'were those watching o11t for his people. An-d there, musing by the shore off the .great lake with its three sheets of water, there came a d-reafm to Chatanook. This, great lake had once been three separate bo-diies cf water, but time, witl1 the kindly svpirits, had united them into the great wat-ers so beloved' by hlim and his people. Was it not the will o-f these spirits- that the three tribes who me-t by its shores should become one people? So Chatanook, having had his vision, foresaw reality. He called a counlfil of the tribes, and the great pipe of peace was solemnly smoked. Then srpoke Chatanook to tell them that whuich the spirits had ordained. All liste-ned gravely, and after three sunsets the word wasf spoken. As three lakes hald become -one, so the people of three tribes became one people. Chatanook was still the great chief. He saw the young corn ripen for many slum- mlers. Then, aged, 'he journeyed into the ha-ppy hunting grounds of his fathers. So rulnls tlhe legenfdm of Cha-tanoclk. He lies forgotten, unsung, unknown: .but 'sovmetimes when the corn is gently waving unlder the full moon, his spirit lglldes over the shores of the lake to s-ee that all is well. Jeannette Leboeulf The Lake Tihe bright summer moon Rises: o'er the tall trees, And the soft clear waters Ripple under a cool breeze. On the mossy green banks In t-he silence of the night Trees cast their shadows ln the bright lmoonlight. 'Twas on such an eve, That a young Indian spake, Still be the waters Of the beautiful Lake. Anna Nezuh