Massasoit (Ousamequin)
c. 1581–1661 · Wampanoag sachem who made the 1621 peace with Plymouth and kept it through the rest of his life.
Massasoit, whose personal name was Ousamequin, was the sachem of the Pokanoket and the leading chief of the Wampanoag people when the Mayflower passengers settled at Patuxet, the place they called Plymouth. His birth year is uncertain; later writers have given dates around 1581 or 1590. In March 1621 he made a formal peace with the new colony, whose terms William Bradford later wrote down and said had lasted twenty-four years. In December 1621, according to Edward Winslow’s letter in Mourt’s Relation, he came to the harvest gathering with some ninety men and stayed three days. In March 1623, when word came that he was near death, Winslow visited him at Sowams and later wrote that he recovered quickly and called the English his friends. The peace did not erase later tension over land and power. Massasoit died in 1661. He did not live to see the death of his son Wamsutta (Alexander) the next year, or the war led by his son Metacom (King Philip) in 1675.
See also: Tisquantum (Squanto) · William Bradford · Edward Winslow
Key dates
- c. 1581 Born about this year according to some later writers; the year is uncertain
- 1621 Makes a formal peace with Plymouth Colony in March
- 1621 Attends the harvest gathering at Plymouth in December, with some ninety men
- 1623 Falls dangerously ill; Edward Winslow visits him at Sowams
- 1661 Dies; later succeeded in turn by his sons Wamsutta and Metacom
Fun facts
- His personal name was Ousamequin; English writers usually call him Massasoit. (Source: Massasoit (Wikipedia))
- Bradford later wrote that the peace made with him in 1621 had by then continued twenty-four years, and he listed its six terms. (Source: Of Plimoth Plantation, 1898 official edition (Project Gutenberg #24950))
Record-breaker
Firsts and records, worded as the sources give them ("first known", "at the time").
- The peace treaty with Plymouth was negotiated in March 1621 and bound him to leaders including William Bradford and Edward Winslow. (Source: Massasoit (Wikipedia))
In their words
““O Winslow, I shall never see thee again.””
“Now I see the English are my friends and love me; and whilst I live, I will never forget this kindness they have showed me.”
Read about them
Grades 9–12
- Mourt's Relation · In the library
- Good Newes from New England · In the library
- Of Plymouth Plantation · In the library
More lives
Francis Bacon · William Bradford · Oliver Cromwell · Niccolò Machiavelli · Thomas More · William Penn