Norwich bulletin., 1913-10-21
The Nipmuck Trail

In 1ft3 when the first settlers fol- lowed the Nipmuck Trail which lead into the interior from the sea- they found what is now called Hampton, to be a rugged, craggy, forested ceun- try hiled with miry swamps; but also many pleasant fertile openings: For the Indians had kept the most fertile tracts burned over in order to furnish better hunting and also to grow their crops of cogn and beans. These Indi- ans were generally known as the Nip mucks, consisting of subject clans of little Warli1e spirit who spent their time chiefly in hunting, fishing and quarreling among themselves. Their numbers were few; they living mostly 1n small villages where there were fav- orable openings for their meagre crops Which were grown by the women, who also made mats and baskets. Their weapons and utensils were crude in the extreme.
 The Nipmuck Trail followed the Lit tie river up from Scotland on the East side; then it crossed the river at the point where John Skinner's GriBt and Cider Mill stnads now; following the West bank up to the flats on the Ben nett Homestead, it left the river Cros- sed between two of the timbered lSnolls winding on and on through Bigelow and Pomfret as far as Woodstock pond. It passed some two miles west of the
  brook, passed Prospect Hill up to Woodstock Pond or the WabbaquSsit country as it was then called; this pond was a favorite fishing ground for all Indians.
 The Wabbaquassit or Mat -Produc- ing country was so called by the Indi- ans for the marshes or meadows sur rounding it which furnished the reeds with which the Squaws made the F0as- kets and mats. 1t was frequently visited by the Cowhantic Indians of Hampton for material These Indi- ful chief of the Nipmuck tribe
 The first white settlers who pene- trated into this Great and Terrible Wilderness followed the Trail from Bigelow over Hampton Hill, past where the Catholic Church now stands, over the Burnt Cedar Swamp Road then on to Ashford Hill where it crossed the old Connecticut path, the one trail be- tween Boston and the Connecticut riV- CT. These two Indian paths were the main highways through the wilder ness. The Indians went into the Nah munsqeeg Country to obtain Whet- stones in a quarry of rock noted for it's sharpening properties, on Whetstone brook in Central Killingly. So they found their knives in Ktlingly and their mat and basket material in Wood stock. the latter were prettiIy striped
 
 coke berry.
 About 1870 new light came into the Indians lives for at that time a young Christian Missionary by the name of John Eliot canme into the heather wilderness preaching the blessed Gospel of Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Men" He went out into the Nipmuek region gathering the wilu natives into Praying Towns and Seven ChurCheS were formed, three of these being in Windham County These simple tratable natives were persuaded to form habits of civilization They kept the Sabbath, cultivated large tracts of land even raising forty bushels of corn to<the acre. Mission aries were sent among them and 1t seemed as if the Indians were becom- ing civilized, but the hopes of the Christian teachers were dashed to the ground when the Narragansett war broke out in 1875 and the Praying In dians' at once became saVages again. The Nipmucks joined the Narragan- setts and the timid Wabbaquasits, put themselves under the protection of Un- cas leaving their villages with their stately wigwams" and splendid fields of corn deserted.
 The Nipmucks were almost annihil ated by the war; the Wabbaquassits remained with Uncas at Mohegan, thus leaving a large part of Windham County open for settlement.
 The Pulpit Rock where John Eliot preached to the Inidans is suitably in scribed in Woodstock, and is a favorite spot for the residents of the town and the visitors alike. Standing on the rock, one can easily imagine the neigh boring fields filled with dusky saw ages listening intently to the words of the Gospel preached by John Eliot two hundred years ago.
 A few Nipmucl1s remained scatter ed over the country The only tribe of which we have record in Hampton were the few who made their home in the Cowhantic Rocks in the southern part of the town.
 The last known of them comes