The Treasure of Metacom’s Cave LbNA #40880
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jun 14, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| City: | ??? |
| County: | Bristol |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | Mahatma Dondi  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | ??? |
| Last found: | Aug 16, 2014 |
| Status: | FFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Jun 14, 2008 |
The Brown Bear thinks this adventure is an easy side trip going to or from the Cape on I-495 -- as long as you’ve done your research beforehand!
The Treasure of Metacom’s Cave
When the Pilgrims landed at the place they would call Plymouth in 1620, it was in the territory of the Wampanoag Federation. At that time, Wampanoag land extended to probably a third of Massachusetts, some of Rhode Island and part of Connecticut. The Grand Sachem, or chief, of the Wampanoag at that time was Massasoit, who initially welcomed the Pilgrims as allies to help protect his territory from the stronger Narragansett tribe.
Massasoit died of old age in 1661, with his eldest son, Wamsutta, taking over as leader of the Federation. Wamsutta died less than a year later, to be suceeded by his brother, Metacom, second son of Massasoit. At first Metacom sought to live in harmony with the colonists. As a sign of goodwill, he adopted the European name of Philip, and developed friendly trading relations with the colonies. But the colonies would continue to expand, encroaching on Wampanoag territory. As nineteenth century historian Ben Lossing recalls, the Wampanoag chief could see the writing on the wall:
“[Metacom] was a bold, powerful-minded warrior, and already his keen perception gave him uneasiness respecting the fate of his race. Year after year the progress of settlement had curtailed the broad domains of the Wampanoags, until now they possessed little more than the narrow tongues of land at Pocanoket and Pocasset, now Bristol and Tiverton; yet Philip renewed the treaties made with Massasoit [in 1662], and kept them faithfully a dozen years; but spreading settlements, reducing his domains acre by acre, breaking up his hunting-grounds, diminishing the abundance of his fisheries, and menacing his nation with the fate of the landless, stirred up his savage patriotism, and made him resolve to sever the ties that bound him, with fatal alliance, to his enemies” (Benson J. Lossing, “The Pictorial Field-Book of The Revolution,” Volume l, published in 1859 by Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York).
The encroachment continued until war broke out between the Wampanoag and the English colonists in 1675, a ferocious war now remembered as “King Philip’s War.”
Almost every drawing we’ve ever seen of Metacom has him wearing a striking five-point star pendant around his neck. We’ve included links here (at the bottom of the page) to a few of the most well-known drawings, including Paul Revere’s 1772 engraving (1); Ben Lossing’s 1850 rendering (2); or an unattributed engraving from the Library of Congress we found (3). In each of these, you can plainly see Metacom’s star necklace, a symbol of his authority within the Wampanoag nation.
One conspicuous exception is John Samuel Hill Fogg’s 1881 engraving, which depicts Metacom’s death at the hands of Praying Indian John Alderman, as part of an expedition led by Captain Benjamin Church of the Plymouth Colony (4). There’s no star pendant around the king’s neck. We wondered why the necklace was not pictured. More precisely, we wondered what happened to it. Had Metacom put it somewhere for safekeeping as he set out to lead his men to battle? If so, where? And then the Brown Bear wondered aloud, “Could Metacom’s necklace still be out there?”
We’ve been mesmerized by those “National Treasure” and “Indiana Jones” movies recently, and have allowed our imaginations to roam freely, if all in good fun. But the Brown Bear has the adventurer’s bug in a bad way, and insisted we try our hand at historical treasure hunting. “I will recover the lost treasure of the Wampanoag king!” What did we have to lose?
Our first stop was the library. We spent hours digging through archeological journals and the time-worn pages of centuries-old diaries and other historical chronicles. Much of it ended up not being very helpful, and we followed up on numerous false leads; but then we found something very interesting. We discovered that, as leader of the Federation, Metacom would regularly travel throughout Wampanoag territory to visit the various subtribes. One of his favorite places to visit, reportedly, was "the place of black geese," a community whose large pond and woodlands were renowned for their fishing and hunting. (The Brown Bear even came across an old map of the spot, and it would be VERY useful if you found a copy for yourself; in your quest the find this map, you might have to wander the atlas). Whenever Metacom visited the area, he stayed in a cave atop the Great Rocky Hill, a well-fortified and strategically secure sheltering site. As it turns out, archeologists did extensive excavations around the pond just south of Great Rocky Hill during the early 1940s [see Maurice Robbins, “The Ford Site, a Protohistoric Station in Norton, Massachusetts,” American Antiquity, Vol. 12, No. 2, (Oct., 1946), pp. 80-94.], but they never formally explored the area around the cave shelter. Guess what they missed!!
If you make your way to the top of Great Rocky Hill, you can still see Metacom’s hunting shelter. To find the site, you need to find the road that runs roughly parallel to Mulberry Meadow Brook. It takes its name from a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age (whew, that’s quite a mouthful!). You can safely ignore the unwelcoming sign at the bottom of the street: as you climb the hill, you’ll see another sign on the right-hand side of the rotary letting you know you’re here by rights. Park near that sign, and walk up the road, following the crude markers directing you to the path into the woods.
As you enter the path, you’ll see a number of giant boulders to your left, and a single boulder to your right. As you reach the clearing, Metacom’s lodge is directly in front of you. It’s definitely worth exploring, and kids will love to climb on the boulders. See if you can find the one Brown Bear and his brothers call Turtle Rock. Especially if you climb atop his shell, he looks like a giant snapping turtle with his head tilted to the left looking back at you.
When you’re done climbing, it’s time to resume the quest. Continue on the trail you came in on, following it through the young white pines. Go left when the trail forks. Proceed through (or is that over) the stone wall and left again at this second fork. Jog around the tree fallen across the path, and follow the trail over those buried boulders as it begins to go downhill.
About halfway down the hill, you’ll see a cluster of large boulders on your right. Pass them, circling back to the largest one by way of the large pine standing in front of it. Continue to circle around to the left, and when you reach the back side you’ll see three somewhat smaller boulders, with a smaller pine tree growing between two of them. The nearer of these forms a cave underneath -- a great spot for safeguarding royal treasure, no?
The integrity of Metacom’s burial vault has been preserved for well over 300 years. PLEASE take great care to make sure that you close the vault, returning the stones just as you found them, so that the treasure cache remains out of view. THANKS! The Brown Bear would love to hear about your adventure, and you can reach him at mahatma.dondi@yahoo.com.
(1) You can see the Paul Revere engraving here: http://www.authentichistory.com/diversity/native/savage/1772_Engraving_of_Metacom_by_Paul_Revere.html
(2) The Ben Lossing rendering is available here, about halfway down the page: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap28.html
(3) This one, from the Library of Congress, is one of our favorites: http://www.csulb.edu/~aisstudy/nae/chapter_1/001_002_1.33.jpg
(4) Finally, John Samuel Hill Fogg’s engraving is preserved digitally here: http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=16499&supst=enlarge
The Treasure of Metacom’s Cave
When the Pilgrims landed at the place they would call Plymouth in 1620, it was in the territory of the Wampanoag Federation. At that time, Wampanoag land extended to probably a third of Massachusetts, some of Rhode Island and part of Connecticut. The Grand Sachem, or chief, of the Wampanoag at that time was Massasoit, who initially welcomed the Pilgrims as allies to help protect his territory from the stronger Narragansett tribe.
Massasoit died of old age in 1661, with his eldest son, Wamsutta, taking over as leader of the Federation. Wamsutta died less than a year later, to be suceeded by his brother, Metacom, second son of Massasoit. At first Metacom sought to live in harmony with the colonists. As a sign of goodwill, he adopted the European name of Philip, and developed friendly trading relations with the colonies. But the colonies would continue to expand, encroaching on Wampanoag territory. As nineteenth century historian Ben Lossing recalls, the Wampanoag chief could see the writing on the wall:
“[Metacom] was a bold, powerful-minded warrior, and already his keen perception gave him uneasiness respecting the fate of his race. Year after year the progress of settlement had curtailed the broad domains of the Wampanoags, until now they possessed little more than the narrow tongues of land at Pocanoket and Pocasset, now Bristol and Tiverton; yet Philip renewed the treaties made with Massasoit [in 1662], and kept them faithfully a dozen years; but spreading settlements, reducing his domains acre by acre, breaking up his hunting-grounds, diminishing the abundance of his fisheries, and menacing his nation with the fate of the landless, stirred up his savage patriotism, and made him resolve to sever the ties that bound him, with fatal alliance, to his enemies” (Benson J. Lossing, “The Pictorial Field-Book of The Revolution,” Volume l, published in 1859 by Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York).
The encroachment continued until war broke out between the Wampanoag and the English colonists in 1675, a ferocious war now remembered as “King Philip’s War.”
Almost every drawing we’ve ever seen of Metacom has him wearing a striking five-point star pendant around his neck. We’ve included links here (at the bottom of the page) to a few of the most well-known drawings, including Paul Revere’s 1772 engraving (1); Ben Lossing’s 1850 rendering (2); or an unattributed engraving from the Library of Congress we found (3). In each of these, you can plainly see Metacom’s star necklace, a symbol of his authority within the Wampanoag nation.
One conspicuous exception is John Samuel Hill Fogg’s 1881 engraving, which depicts Metacom’s death at the hands of Praying Indian John Alderman, as part of an expedition led by Captain Benjamin Church of the Plymouth Colony (4). There’s no star pendant around the king’s neck. We wondered why the necklace was not pictured. More precisely, we wondered what happened to it. Had Metacom put it somewhere for safekeeping as he set out to lead his men to battle? If so, where? And then the Brown Bear wondered aloud, “Could Metacom’s necklace still be out there?”
We’ve been mesmerized by those “National Treasure” and “Indiana Jones” movies recently, and have allowed our imaginations to roam freely, if all in good fun. But the Brown Bear has the adventurer’s bug in a bad way, and insisted we try our hand at historical treasure hunting. “I will recover the lost treasure of the Wampanoag king!” What did we have to lose?
Our first stop was the library. We spent hours digging through archeological journals and the time-worn pages of centuries-old diaries and other historical chronicles. Much of it ended up not being very helpful, and we followed up on numerous false leads; but then we found something very interesting. We discovered that, as leader of the Federation, Metacom would regularly travel throughout Wampanoag territory to visit the various subtribes. One of his favorite places to visit, reportedly, was "the place of black geese," a community whose large pond and woodlands were renowned for their fishing and hunting. (The Brown Bear even came across an old map of the spot, and it would be VERY useful if you found a copy for yourself; in your quest the find this map, you might have to wander the atlas). Whenever Metacom visited the area, he stayed in a cave atop the Great Rocky Hill, a well-fortified and strategically secure sheltering site. As it turns out, archeologists did extensive excavations around the pond just south of Great Rocky Hill during the early 1940s [see Maurice Robbins, “The Ford Site, a Protohistoric Station in Norton, Massachusetts,” American Antiquity, Vol. 12, No. 2, (Oct., 1946), pp. 80-94.], but they never formally explored the area around the cave shelter. Guess what they missed!!
If you make your way to the top of Great Rocky Hill, you can still see Metacom’s hunting shelter. To find the site, you need to find the road that runs roughly parallel to Mulberry Meadow Brook. It takes its name from a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age (whew, that’s quite a mouthful!). You can safely ignore the unwelcoming sign at the bottom of the street: as you climb the hill, you’ll see another sign on the right-hand side of the rotary letting you know you’re here by rights. Park near that sign, and walk up the road, following the crude markers directing you to the path into the woods.
As you enter the path, you’ll see a number of giant boulders to your left, and a single boulder to your right. As you reach the clearing, Metacom’s lodge is directly in front of you. It’s definitely worth exploring, and kids will love to climb on the boulders. See if you can find the one Brown Bear and his brothers call Turtle Rock. Especially if you climb atop his shell, he looks like a giant snapping turtle with his head tilted to the left looking back at you.
When you’re done climbing, it’s time to resume the quest. Continue on the trail you came in on, following it through the young white pines. Go left when the trail forks. Proceed through (or is that over) the stone wall and left again at this second fork. Jog around the tree fallen across the path, and follow the trail over those buried boulders as it begins to go downhill.
About halfway down the hill, you’ll see a cluster of large boulders on your right. Pass them, circling back to the largest one by way of the large pine standing in front of it. Continue to circle around to the left, and when you reach the back side you’ll see three somewhat smaller boulders, with a smaller pine tree growing between two of them. The nearer of these forms a cave underneath -- a great spot for safeguarding royal treasure, no?
The integrity of Metacom’s burial vault has been preserved for well over 300 years. PLEASE take great care to make sure that you close the vault, returning the stones just as you found them, so that the treasure cache remains out of view. THANKS! The Brown Bear would love to hear about your adventure, and you can reach him at mahatma.dondi@yahoo.com.
(1) You can see the Paul Revere engraving here: http://www.authentichistory.com/diversity/native/savage/1772_Engraving_of_Metacom_by_Paul_Revere.html
(2) The Ben Lossing rendering is available here, about halfway down the page: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap28.html
(3) This one, from the Library of Congress, is one of our favorites: http://www.csulb.edu/~aisstudy/nae/chapter_1/001_002_1.33.jpg
(4) Finally, John Samuel Hill Fogg’s engraving is preserved digitally here: http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=16499&supst=enlarge