Wolcott History – Indians

The following is a composite from several sources:

-          The History of Wolcott by Samuel Orcutt (1874)

-          The Indians of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Valleys by Samuel Orcutt (1882)

-          The Wolcott History website (wolcotthistory.org)

While the current politically correct term is “Native Americans”, I’m going to refer to them here as Indians as that is how all the sources above referred to them.

Prior to the arrival of European settlers in Farmingbury, this part of Connecticut was inhabited by Indian tribes. These tribes were all part of the larger Indian nation called the Algonquin Indians whose lands ran from the Mid-Atlantic region all the way up into Canada. The Delaware tribe was the largest of these tribes in the Algonquin nation.

The Tunxis tribe were the ones who “claimed” the area in what is now Wolcott, although the word “claim” may be misleading. These tribes were essential communists in that all lands were held in common. It was because of this that the concept of buying and selling land was a difficult one for them to understand.

Nonetheless, in the late 1600’s (1674-1684) a series of deeds were executed between some men who were living in Waterbury (then called Mattatuckoke which was the Indian name) and the Tunxis Indians. The sachem of the Tunxis, who primarily lived in the Farmington area, was Neashegon. The land was actually purchased multiple times over that period in order to satisfy the tribes. Even after this “sale”, the Indians retained their original rights to hunt on these lands.

One of the men who signed several of these deeds was Patucko. Those from Wolcott will probably be familiar with Potucco’s Ring Road which got its name from Patucko and the story of how he met his death during this period. I’m not going to recount the whole story here – an excellent narration can be found at http://www.tapr.org/~wa1lou/whs/oldnews200710.html. A brief mention of this story can also be found in The History of Wolcott.

Other names among the signatures included John Compound (a somewhat English name) and Warm Compound who was the son of the sachem, Nesaheag. Lake Compounce was originally called Compound’s Pond after John Compound who was the first proprietor of that body of water.

The families of the Tunxis tribe did not live in Farmingbury/Wolcott, but it was a hunting ground for them. Also, the Indian “trail” or path by which the people of Farmington reached Mattatuck, now Waterbury, lay across the northwest corner of what is now Wolcott, and became, probably, the first “traveled” road in this town. Tradition says this road passed Mr. Levi Atkins’ dwelling which was on Spindle Hill, and that the Indian trail at that point passed a little further north, near a large shelving rock called “Jack’s Cave.” The Indians encamped under this rock nights in passing between Farmington and Woodbury. It was near this cave that a large chestnut tree stood from which Mr. Timothy Bradley said he cut two hundred bullets, which were shot into the tree by the Indians while shooting at a mark.

Jack’s Cave is also one of the few dwelling places for these Indians. As the book on the Indians by Orcutt above recounts:

“Another like place is found in the northwest corner of the town of Wolcott, near the boundary between it and Bristol [actually Plymouth], where implements have been found, and which tradition as well claims to have been a resort of the Red man. The place is called Jack’s Cave, because an Indian by that name was the last, or among the last, to make it his home. In the forepart of the present century [the early 1800’s] it was occupied by four or five adult Indians and two or three children, for which purpose the shelving rock formed quite a secure and comfortable retreat.”

It was several decades after the Indians “sold” their land to the men of Mattatuck/Waterbury before anyone began to live in Farmingbury/Wolcott. However, once the European settlers began to move into the area (John Alcox being one of the first in 1731) and began to clear land to grow crops, it was more difficult for the Indians to continue to hunt on these lands. While the European settlers and the Indians lived peacefully side-by-side, the Indians eventually began to migrate westward to better (and less populated) areas. The Tunxis tribe was never very large, numbering perhaps only several hundred at its peak. But by the time of the incorporation of Wolcott in 1796, to encounter an Indian in town was quite rare.