In 1621, Squanto assisted in arranging a treaty, which bound the Pokanokets and Nemaskets to Plymouth. As a reward the Pokanokets, who had captured him previously, allowed Squanto to live among the English, at the site of his original Patuxet home. Even though the Massasoit and Pokanokets welcomed this treaty the Nemaskets did not. They disliked the authority the treaty gave to the English over Indians that the Pokanokets claimed the right to govern. In resistance to this treaty, the Nemaskets seized Squanto, causing heavily armed Plymouth soldiers to rescue their Indian friend.
Squanto next assisted the Plymouth Colony in securing treaties with some Wampanoags on Cape Cod as well as some Massachusett Indians who lived north of Plymouth.
Squanto had done all that he could to help the inhabitants of Plymouth but his powers were limited. He had no authority now among what Wampanoags remained, or any other local native groups.
The people of Plymouth, perhaps out of necessity or a total disregard for the assistance that Squanto had given them, in the summer of 1621, invited a Pokanoket called Hobbamock to live with them.
Squanto reacted to this intrusion and displacement by telling the Wampanoag that the colonial leaders looked to him, alone, for advice and leadership. He suggested that the Wampanoag should abandon Massasoit's leadership and follow himself.
Not leaving this situation as it now was, Squanto went further. His next step to reseat himself in his previous believed position among the Pilgrims was an attempt to convince the English that Massasoit, with the help of the Narragansetts and Massachusetts, where planning an uprising against them. But at last the tangled web that Squanto was weaving came unraveled when the English and Pokanokets discovered the true situation.
Massasoit's wrath could well have been a very bitter and final end for Squanto had the English not protected him and allowed him the safety of continuing to live closely among them. Ironically, this very closeness with the English may have, after all, caused the end of Squanto.
A few weeks after the bitter situation Squanto had stirred up he was stricken with a severe fever and soon died.
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. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1996.
