This is my photo of the Monument on Sachem St. in Norwich, Ct.

To see the image scanned from a Postcard of this Monument to Uncas, a Native American Sachem Chief who lived in Connecticut in the early colonial period click on my photo. The monument base was dedicated by President Andrew Jackson and the monument was placed later.

 

This image is in the public domain in the United States and many other countries, because (as printed on its face), it was published in 1905.

A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of past events. They are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location.

Please do not dig under this monument Uncas is not buried there!

 

In fact there are no members of the royal family buried in or around this site.

Uncas (c. 1588 - c. 1683) was a sachem of the Mohegan who through his alliance with the English colonists against other Indian tribes made the Mohegan’s the leading regional Indian tribe.

Uncas was a Pequot by birth and became the first leader (Sachem) of the Mohegan people.

He was born near the Thames River in present day Connecticut the son of the Pequot Sachem Owaneco.

He Sachem Owaneco was a descendant of the principal sachems of the Mohegan’s, Pequot’s, and Narragansett’s.

Owaneco presided over the site known as Montonesuck.

Uncas knew at least some English and possibly some Dutch. Uncas was known as Le Cerf Agile (The Bounding Elk).

In 1626, Owaneco arranged for Uncas to marry the daughter of Tatobem of a royal Pequot family to secure an alliance with the Pequot’s.

When Owaneco died, shortly after this marriage, Uncas had to submit himself to Tatobem authority. When in 1633, Tatobem was captured and killed by the Dutch, Sassacus became his successor.

After the death of Owaneco the balance changed in favor of the Tatobem, Uncas was unwilling to challenge the power of Tatobem, but when he died Uncas began to contest Sassacus authority over the Pequot’s.

 

 

Kiehtan, Woonand and Cantantowit are Eastern Woodland American Native words for Creator

As described in this as well as many other old books of our past history.

 

Wadsworth or Charter Oak

By

W.H. Gocher

“The traditions of a nation are part of its existence”—Disraeli

Hartford, Conn.

Published by W.H. Gocher-1904

 

 

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/other/abl/etext/Wadsworth/wadsworthcomplete2.html

 

 

104

The Suckiag Indians, who were here when what they called the big canoes with white wings were first seen on the river, and from whom the Hooker company purchased the site of Hartford, asked Will­iam Gibbons to spare it, as in addition to being a landmark the oak was the peace tree of the tribe.

The sachem Sequassen said that the tree was planted by the great sachem who led his people from the land of the setting sun as a pledge of per­petual peace with those whom they found here and from whom they received the land. At the planting their tomahawks1 were buried under it and the acorn adopted as their totem. For centuries the Suckiag Indians lived in peace, fishing in the great river and its branches and hunting in the forest, while the squaws and the old men planted the corn and beans which Kiehtan sent them from the southwest. Ac­cording to the Indian tradition, the corn2 was

1 The English, when adopting the name of the Indian hatchet, called it tom-my-hawk. The Indians say tume-hegan, the e being short, and scarcely sounded, with the short sound of a and the h has a full aspirate as hee. The gn is sounded short. This word is com­pounded of the Indian verb tume-ta-mun, to cut, and the noun hegun, a sharp cutting instrument. In com­pounding this word half of the verb is clipped off and joined with the noun. 'The Southern Indians have the following tradi­tion concerning the origin of corn, beans and tobacco: "Two youths, while pursuing the pleasures of the chase, were led to an unfrequented part of the forest, where, being fatigued and hungry, they sat down to

105 brought by the sacred blackbird and the bean bv the crow, the former being first seen in the slender branches of the peace tree when the leaves were the size of a mouse's ear, and by this they fixed the time for placing the corn in the ground.

As the generations of Indians were gathered to their long sleep, the oak increased in size and was known as a landmark and meeting place for all the tribes on the river. In the fourth generation before the coming of the white man, Wawanda, the sach­em's favorite wife, bore him male twins, and in the year of their birth a sprout appeared on the north­east side of the oak. It was permitted to remain, and as the boys, who were named Saweg- and No-washe, each of them being given a portion of their

rest themselves and to dress their victuals. While they were in this employ the spirit of the woods, at­tracted by the savory smell of the venison, approached them in the form of a beautiful female and seated her­self beside them. The youths, awed by the presence of so superior a being, presented to her in the most respectful manner a share of their repast, which she was pleased to accept, and eat with satisfaction. The repast being finished, the female spirit informed them that if they would return to the same place after the revolution of twelve moons they would find something which would recompense their kindness, disappeared from sight. The youths returned at the appointed time and found that upon the place on which the right arm of the goddess had reclined a stalk of corn had sprung up; under her left, a stalk of beans, and from the spot on which she had been seated was growing a flourishing plant of tobacco."

106

father's name, Sawashe, grew in years, the sprout became a twig and finally a branch as large as a man's arm. In this limb the powwows and a few of the sagamores saw the sign of a split in the tribe. At different times they urged its removal, but Sa-washe, proud of the skill and rugged strength of the twin brothers, although they were almost oppo-sites in disposition, would never consent, as he be-lieved that the great father Kiehtan1 placed it there

1The Connecticut Indians believed in one great and invisible Deity, who was known in the different tribes as Kiehtan, Woonand and Cantantowit. The Indians placed the dwelling of Kiehtan in the southwest be-cause the wind from that quarter is the warmest and pleasantest that blows in this climate and usually brings fair weather. They also believed that the soul existed after death and that the spirits of the good would go to the house of Kiehtan. Then they would be delivered from sorrow and enjoy pleasures similar to those which they had indulged in here, only in abundance and in perfection. They also believed that the wicked would go to the door of Kiehtan and knock for admittance; but upon his telling them to go away, they would be obliged to wander forever in a state of horror and discontent. The Narragansett In-dians believed that Cantantowit made a man and woman of stone, but not liking them he broke them to pieces and made another pair of wood, from whom all human beings were descended. Another tribe, when questioned as to their creation, said that two squaws were once wading in the sea; the foam touched their bodies and they became pregnant; one brought forth a boy and the other a girl; the two squaws then died and their children became the progenitors of the hu-man race.-Massachusetts Historical Collections, Vol. III., and De Forest's History of Indians of Connecti-cut.

 

 

 

History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest Known Period to 1850

 By John William De Forest, Felix Octavius

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=4OwNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=Kiehtan&source=web&ots=7OyDVzEjML&sig=oE047Cz9fm6sphtk-55ZPVNOscA&hl=en&ei=gAmXSYKuNMyatwejp8iwCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPP1,M1

Page#23

 

 

The Plymouth Colony Archive Project

http://www.histarch.uiuc.edu/plymouth/goodnews7.html

 

Good Newes from New England
Chapter 7, 1624

A few things I thought meet to add hereunto, which I have observed amongst the Indians, both touching their Religion, and sundry other Customs amongst them. And first, whereas my self and others, in former Letters (which came to the Press against my will and knowledge) wrote, that the Indians about us are a people without any Religion, or knowledge of any God, therein I erred, though we could then gather no better: For as they conceive of many divine powers, so of one whom they call Kiehtan, to be the principal and maker of all the rest, and to be made by none: He (they say) created the heavens, earth, sea, and all creatures contained therein. Also that he made one man and one woman, of whom they and we and all mankind came: but how they became so far dispersed that know they not. At first they say, there was no Sachem, or King, but Kiehtan, who dwelleth above in the Heavens, whither all good men go when they die, to see their friends, and have their fill of all things: This his habitation lyeth far West-ward in the heavens, they say; thither the bad men go also, and knock at his door, but he bids them Quatchet, that is to say, Walk abroad, for there is no place for such; so that they wander in restless want and penury: Never man saw this Kiehtan; only old men tell them of him, and bid them tell their children, yea, to charge them to teach their posterities the same, and lay the like charge upon them. This power they acknowledge to be good, and when they would obtain any great matter, meet together, and cry unto him, and so likewise for plenty, victory, etc. sing, dance, feast, give thanks, and hang up Garlands and other things in memory of the same.

 

 

 

 

SQUAW CAVE

The black hole to my left is more than man-sized and seems to extend far back into the notch before turning out of sight. This is one of the three caves we have found and there could be six cave entrances altogether. In the summer, if you do not know where it is, you could walk within 20 feet of this immense entrance without seeing it. Even in winter, it cannot be seen from the highway, about the cave and Wunnee and Peter Hager.

GHOSTS OF BOLTON PAST AND PRESENT

by Hans DePold, town historian

(February & June, 2003)

A few years ago I was telling a Hartford Courant writer about a Bolton Quarryville ghost story. I told her we had left out stories about the ghosts of Bolton for fear they could affect the Bolton real estate market. She explained that ghosts are no problem. Her house in Mansfield was haunted until she told the ghost he frightened her and she wished he would stop appearing. He never appeared again! Ghosts are described as being in a state of denial, unable to accept the fact that they have died and should move on. You'd think they would notice their clothing was very much out of fashion.

If you encounter a ghost or a ghostly phenomenon in Bolton, keep your wits about you. But before you read further, are your doors and windows locked? Are all the lights on? Are you sitting in the middle of your bed with your feet off the floor so that if something is below the bed it can't pull you under?

The Gay City ghost town rested at the south side of Bolton. It was begun about 1796 by a religious order whose members believed in serving the male members whiskey before their two weekly services. This promoted good attendance and tended to enliven the meetings. Their preacher did not preach Puritan hell and brimstone; no, he was always in good spirits. The religious order built a channel where water is said to have flowed uphill from a pond to a waterwheel that powered their mills. That frightened some workers away. Many strange things occurred in Gay City, where they made such good fun of Puritan preaching that the regular Bolton folk generally stayed away. Abandoned by the religious order shortly after the War of 1812, the mills continued to be operated until fires mysteriously burned everything to the ground. Today, Gay City State Park has one of Bolton's favorite swimming holes at the site of the pond built to collect the water that flowed uphill.

Now to the ghosts of Notch Hollow... What causes the seeming rapid weather changes that occur just at the Notch? Drivers have reported their car windows misting over and sometimes freezing solid white as they pass over the abandoned railroad line in the deepest part of the Notch. I know that to be a fact for it has happened more than once to my family. Who watches over the painted rock? Who painted the flag there after 9-11? Who puts the Christmas tree and flag up on the rock? Whose eerie voice is heard singing up on the rocks when the moon moves across the sky on some lonely summer nights? There are ghostly stories of quarrymen, the Dutchman, and Chief Miantinomah, all of whom died untimely deaths in Notch Hollow.

Former Bolton historian Larry Larned showed me that of the 26 Notch Hollow buildings that still existed as late as 1913 only one remains today. Notch Hollow is now a specter of the past, a part of old Quarryville that no longer exists. Most people now call it Bolton Notch from the deep trench left by more than 200 years of quarrying. But in the 1600s the Mohegan Indians knew the area to be the highest land in the region, dominated by an enormous sacred flat rock, Wiashguagwumsuck, at the northwestern border of their territory.

Intermarriage in the Massachusetts Bay colony was illegal. The first recorded untimely death at Wiashguagwumsuck was that of Peter Hager, a young Dutchman who lived there with his Podunk Indian wife Wunnee in a cave on the southwest side. Peter was fatally wounded at Wiashguagwumsuck but his body has never been found. Later, in 1643, at the conclusion of the Pequot war with the British, Mohegan Chieftain Uncas had his prisoner, the Pequot Chief Miantinomah, executed as they passed sacred Wiashguagwumsuck. Miantinomah's body, with a tomahawk protruding out the back of its skull, also has never been found. Quarrying also claimed several lives over the years. These are all possible suspects in the old Notch ghost tales.

The railroad executives built a clubhouse for themselves and their influential friends at the west end of Notch Hollow. The trains would stop there when signaled, as well as at the usual stop at the station in the Notch. Steam from the train would condense and in the winter sometimes frosted over nearby windows. The story goes that four lawyers who were wheeling and dealing in the booming thread mill industry had met at the clubhouse to strategize. A big hulking man entered from the howling snowstorm and silently stood before the fire rubbing his enormous hands, trying to warm himself. They could not see his face but worried that the stranger may have heard some of their schemes and wondering if he was from Willimantic, they demanded, "Where are you from, sir?" Suddenly the room was as cold as all outdoors. The man spun around, and with eyes like burning coals he snarled, "From Hell, where you four are going." Then he threw open the door and disappeared back into the swirling snow and was never seen again.

The ghost train has been reported in many places along both abandoned and operating rail lines. The legend says that the ghost train's steam, wheels, and carriages make not a single sound as they sweep along on invisible rails. Sometimes people in Bolton have seen a white steamy mist sweep down the greenway trail as though it was from an old ghostly steam train. Could the sudden condensation on car windows in the summer, and the sudden winter frosting over of car windows as they cross the abandoned rail line at the Notch, be caused by the steam of Bolton's passing ghost train?

Martin Luther, the Catholic priest who started the Reformation, one night threw a bottle of ink at a ghost. Today you can visit his room and still see the ink splatter on the wall. But today, seeing ghosts doesn't look good on your job resume, unless perhaps your name is Ed or Lorraine Warren. This husband and wife team of ghost hunters, most associated with the Amityville horrors, has recently visited Bolton.

The January 2001 meeting of the Bolton Historical Society brought out spontaneous discussion of the past and present ghosts of Bolton. One house in town boasts of a ghost who is dressed as a soldier who sometimes descends the staircase on moonlit nights. Residents of another house have seen a Civil War-era woman wearing an outfit complete with hoop skirt and bonnet. Still another house has unexplained old gravestones in the walkway around the house.

But the most recent story is that of recent Bolton homebuyers who purchased a historic home and decided to have it checked out by the well-known ghost hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren. The jaw of the real estate agent dropped when she met them. The Warrens walked all around the house, and then suddenly Lorraine stopped and said she felt something strange in the sitting room. She told everyone to wait outside and she went in and closed the door behind her. The hair on the back of the homebuyer's neck stood up. Lorraine then emerged from the room and said there was no ghost but a presence. The owners later learned that the previous owner, an elderly woman, spent much of her time in that room before she died.

Perhaps these stories have unsettled you or perhaps one of them seems close to home and you suddenly noticed your clothing is very much out of fashion. For those Bolton ghosts reading this over your shoulder right now, I leave this Irish blessing, "May you be three days in heaven before the devil knows you're dead!"