Back in London once more after getting as far as Newfoundland, Squanto was introduced to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and was told of the man's desire to begin a colony in the New World. Gorges had previously used captured Indians to advance his colony desires, however each attempt had failed. But after meeting Squanto and hearing his obvious knowledge of the region, as well as learning of the Indian's advanced position among his people, Gorges was ready to try once again.
At last in 1619, one year before the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower arrived at Provincetown Harbor in present-day Massachusetts, with Thomas Dermer at the helm, Squanto once again saw the beloved shores of home. But, for Squanto who had been gone some five years, home had undergone disastrous changes beyond any he could have imagined.
During Squanto's absence the coast of New England, from Cape Cod northward, had been ravaged by several epidemics brought by visiting Europeans. They were diseases that the Native Americans possessed no immunity for.
Now, to Squanto's dismay, Patuxet and most of the other Wampanoag villages stood vacant, their inhabitants dead or scattered with some 10 to 25 percent of the population joined with smaller communities. And these smaller communities were having extreme difficulty in defending themselves against the Narragansetts and the Micmacs, as well as hostile English and French. The homecoming that Squanto had dreamed of was not to be.
Understandably, the Indians in New England were extremely hostile towards the English and other Europeans at this time. However, Squanto did manage to smooth the way for Dermer, for a time, with the Wampanoags, which included the Pokanoker sachem Massasoit who was at present the most prominent of Wampanoag leaders. But this peace was temporary.
The following year Dermer returned and was attacked at Martha's Vineyard. Dermer was mortally wounded and Squanto, once again, was captured. This time he was turned over to the Pokanokets.
Recommended Reading:
Sources:
Athearn, Robert G. The New World: American Heritage New Illustrated History of the United States, Volume 1. Dell Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1963.
Hoxie, Frederick E., Editor. Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life from Paleo-Indians to the Present. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1996.
