Metacomet

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Philip, King of Mount Hope, 1772, by Paul Revere

Metacomet (c. 1639-August 12, 1676), also known as King Philip or Metacom, was a war chief or sachem of the Wampanoag Indians and their leader in King Philip's War.

1 Biography
- 1.1 King Philip's War
2 Namesakes
3 External links

[edit] Biography

Metacom was the 2nd son of Massasoit. He became a chief in 1662 when his brother Wamsutta (or King Alexander) died.

Wamsutta's widow Weetamoo (d. 1676), sachem of the Pocassets, was his ally and friend for the rest of her life. Metacom married Weetamoo's younger sister Wootonekanuske.

At first he sought to live in harmony with the colonists. As a sachem, he took the lead in much of his tribes' trade with the colonies. He adopted the European name of Philip, and bought his clothes in Boston, Massachusetts.

But the colonies continued to expand. To the west, the Iroquois Confederation continued expanding, pushing hostile tribes east, thereby encroaching on his territory.

Finally, in 1671 the colonial leaders of the Plymouth Colony forced major concessions from him. He surrendered much of his tribe's armament and ammunition, and agreed that they were subject to English law. The encroachment continued until actual hostilities broke out in 1675.

[edit] King Philip's War

Image:Kingphilip.jpg

The site of King Philip's death in Miery Swamp on Mount Hope

Image:Kingphilipseat.jpg

"King Philip's Seat," a meeting place on Mount Hope, (Rhode Island)

Main article: King Philip's War

Metacomet hurried to catch up with his warriors, to lead them in the uprising that would later bear his name. Mary Rowlandson, who was taken captive during a raid on Lancaster, Massachusetts, wrote about a meeting with Metacomet during her captivity.

When the war eventually turned against him, he took refuge in the great Assowamset Swamp in southern Rhode Island. Here he held out for a time, with his family and remaining followers.

Hunted by a group of rangers lead by Captain Benjamin Church, he was fatally shot by Praying Indian John Alderman, on August 12, 1676, on Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island. After his death, his wife and eight-year-old son were captured and sold as slaves in Bermuda, while his head was mounted on a pike at the entrance to Fort Plymouth where it remained for over two decades. In the short story The Devil and Daniel Webster Metacomet is fictionally shown to have been killed by a blow to the head (he was actually shot in the heart} and is shown to have been a villain to the United States-although in truth he never gave any alleigence to the United States!

[edit] Namesakes

The USS Metacomet, an 1863 United States Navy ship.

The Metacomet Ridge, a 100-mile long mountain range in southern New England.

The 51 mile Metacomet Trail in central Connecticut.

The 110 mile Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Metacomet Country Club, a Donald Ross Designed Golf Course.[1]

King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, Massachusetts.

Metacom Avenue, a road running through Bristol and Warren, Rhode Island, and Metacomet Street in Walpole, Massachusetts.

King Philip Mountain, a peak on Talcott Mountain, 3 miles west of Hartford, Connecticut

Phillips Pond and Phillipswood Road in Sandown, New Hampshire.

Metacomet Park in Medfield, Massachusetts.

King Philip. From Metacomet. The clipper ship built in 1856 that is periodically seen on Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California. Upon semi-retirement, it was sold as a lumber carrier. Its anchor gave way and the ship drifted into a sand bar on Ocean Beach. As the tide went out, the King Philip settled into the sand where it was left. It is considered the best preserved wooden shipwreck on the West Coast of North America.