1662 was a terrible year for the several English colonies and the dozens of Native tribes in New England. By that year the majority of the early founders and friends who had created both colonies and alliances had passed on, with “Good King Massasoit” being one of the last survivors.

(Above) Stan Svec of the Fishing Historic Places web channel relates in this episode how the Massasoit Ousamequin’s death, and the subsequent death of his heir and successor Wamsutta, would cast the region into a spiral that, when taken with the many differences between the cultures and the several incidents that had already passed between them that would make 1662 the point of no return. War was sure to follow…but how soon? Click here for a 17-minute video posted on June 24, 2025.

Roger Williams (above, left) was very capable of letting the native people have their own beliefs. While he proselytized Native people, as the Puritans also did by setting up praying towns throughout Massachusetts, Williams sought to understand them and their many gods. 

Following Ousamequin’s death in 1662, his son, Wamsutta was summoned to Duxbury to answer Captain Willett’s queries about possible war plans. On the way back to his home in Sowams, he died suddenly with his younger brother, Metacom (above, right), and his wife, Weetamoo, at his side.