The Harlowton news., 1911-01-13
Long Island Indians Once Man.
ufaCturers Of Wealth.
WAMpUM CAUSED STRIFE.
Pequots and Narragansetts Reduced
Number Of Sea Worshipers-An-
eient Land Holdings Taken From
Descendants After Long Litigation.
Valuable Tract Sold For Kiss.

The Montauk tribe Of Indians is Of
1cially and legally dead. 1t is so writ
in the records, and the waves beating
against the Long Island shore moan it
as a requiem.
Before Columbus or Cabot set sail
for the hemisphere somewhere far
away to the unknown west the ancient
Montauks, Indians alike of land and
sen, were wont to greet the sun as it
rose with smiling face from out the
deep or toss their weather tanned
heads when the waves welled in stormy
tumult. Now from the deck of the
passing liner one may picture the bent
figure that once typified the grandeur
Of race that was.
Long Island in the days before the
coming Of the Dutch was called Island
Of Shells. 1t was the aboriginal treas
ure house, the home Of that which
spelled wealth. Wampum grew there
on as the gold nestles in the rocks
Wampum was Indian money; it was
made from the stock or stem Of the
periwinkle. Paque was medium of
exchange Of lesser value. 1t was cut
from the purple heart Of the hard
clam shell. Some bronze face financier
gave the fat that the sand banks were
to be the tribal repositories, and from
that time on, for genera ton after gen.
Grafton, Montauk was at once the
bourse and the Wall street Of Indian
operations.
Pequots Found Easy Money.
One day when Long Island sound
lay warm and placid twoscore or
more Of Pequots who lived on the
Connecticut shore bundled into their
canoes and padded over to the head
lands Of Montauk for fight. 1t was
sad affair. The Montauks were
trimmed. That night when the Pc
quots pointed their barks for Connec-
ticut they carried with them a portion
Of their neighbors' bank roll.
1t didn't take long for the news to
get around that the Montauks had
most Of the ready cash. A consider
dians, known as the Narragansetts.
occupied. among other places. what is
now fashionable Newport. So they
sent part Of the naval reserve Of the
tribe to make a demonstration on the
island.
This time the Montauks weren't so
easy. They met the Narragansetts on
f1o rI,f bDv ,vJ,
Some time thereafter, or about 1641,
an understanding was arrived at by
which the Montauks and the Nara.
gansetts got along without further
fighting.
Sold Land For Kiss.
When the Indians began to dispose
of their lands on Long Island they at
first got real Dutch money or it's equal
in usable barter. But it wasn't al
ways so. Take the gallant old Chief
Smackatagh for example He held
considerable stretch Of wave washed
land on the ocean side of the island
One Sally Higbee, buxom young
maiden, was anxious to acquire tract
upon which she and her intended hus-
band might make their home Smack.
atagh-suggestive name, in view of the
1ncident-offered to sell the required
acres.
How much" asked Sally. leaning
against the door and rolling her hands
up in her apron.
The big chiefs solemn face broke
into grin as he replied that he would
sell 1t for kiss. What did Sally do?
Why. she sat down with her father
who knew thing or two about such
laws or contracts as obtained at the
time, and drew up contract, which
the chief signed. Then she turned her
plump cheek to the Indian, who kiss
ed 1t and went away satisfied.
In 1859. when all the Montauks OF
hghting age were summoned to coun-
Gil. their number exceeded 600. War.
fare and sickness made such great in
roads during the next three generations
that instead Of increasing In number
they had become less than 200 in 1850.
In 1929 tribal roll call was answered
by only thirty, and forty years there
after there were only twenty.
Tribe Now Extinct.
The last real council Of the tribe was
convened in the early seventies. Chief
David Pharaoh went to the council ar
rayed In all the ancient plumery Of the
Montauks and called his followers to
their places in semicircle around him,
lie passed the pipe from one to another
IN silence and then addressed them as
the father Of the tribe Could 1t be, he
asked. that the tribe. which had lived
Tor centuries in happiness on Long Is-
land. was doomed to extinction? What
mad the tribesmen to say? Nothing.
For half century more or less the
Montauk Indian lands have been in liti-
CATION. Deeds bearing date Of 1860
were shown In court during the sew.
eral hearings. What the tribe might
have succeeded in accomDliShinp had