By 1675, the founders of the New England Colonies had either died or been replaced in power by a younger generation did not place the same importance on the values that their elders had. An uneasy truce still existed between the colonists and Native Americans, but English encroachment into Indian lands and disease had stretched the peace to the breaking point.
Massasoit, the Wampanoag sachem that shared the first Thanksgiving with the Plymouth colony had died, leaving the leadership to his son Wamsutta, known to the Puritans as Alexander. (The Puritans traditionally called the Indian leaders by "Christian" names). In 1662, Alexander was called to Plymouth to answer charges that he was selling land that belonged to the English. Alexander sickened while at Plymouth and died shortly after returning to his home.
Alexander was succeeded by his brother Metacom, or King Philip. Metacom began to resist English encroachment into Indian territory, finally declaring in 1675 "I am determined not to live until I have no country". Prior to that, King Philip had been called before the English judiciary and subsequently humiliated over rumors that he was stockpiling weapons. Then, when the body of a Christian Native was found murdered, three Wampanoag men were identified as the killers. The Natives were tried at Plymouth as the victim was considered an English subject since he was a Christian.
Summer
The war actually began in mid-1675, not over land, but over cattle. English cattle often roamed into Indian cornfields, trampling the crops. Wampanoag braves killed some cattle near Bristol, Rhode Island and a farmer retaliated by killing an Indian seen running from his house. A native uprising ensued. The Nipmuck Indians from central Massachusetts joined the Wampanoags and the first great English casualty occurred, the siege and destruction of Brookfield.
Fall
Following Brookfield, the Nipmucks and Wampanoags turned to the Connecticut River Valley in the autumn of 1675. The Pocumtucks, Squakheags and Norwottocks, all tribes who resided in that area joined them. The English abandoned Deerfield to the attacking Indians, and Captain Lothrop lost his life and that of 71 of his men in an Indian ambush. This attack marked a low point for the English, who began to believe that God was punishing them for abandoning the strict religious adherence of their forebears. The towns of Hatfield, Southampton and Springfield followed the same fate as Deerfield. The Agawam tribe destroyed Springfield after settlers took some of their children as a pre-emptive measure against attack.
