Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991;
Roberts, Randy, and James N. Olson. Line in the
Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory.New York:
Free Press, 2001; Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de. The
Eagle: The Autobiography of Santa Anna.Austin,
TX: State House Press, 1988; Santos, Richard G.
Santa Anna’s Campaign Against Texas, 1835–1836.Waco, TX: Texian Press, 1982; Tuller, Shannon
B. “Santa Anna’s Legacy: Caudillisimo in Early Re-
publican Mexico.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Texas Christian University, 1999; Weber, David J.
The Mexican Frontier, 1821–1846: The American
Southwest under Mexico.Albuquerque: University
of New Mexico Press, 1982.SASSACUS
Sassacus
(ca. 1560–1637)
Pequot War Chief
M
ighty Sassacus headed the largest
and most aggressive tribe of Native
Americans in southern New En-
gland. However, once the Pequot nation be-
came embroiled in a war with both Puritans
of Massachusetts and their Narragansett
neighbors, they were nearly wiped out in a
war of annihilation.
In the early seventeenth century, the Pe-
quots (Killers of Men) were an important Al-
gonquin-speaking tribe that had migrated
from the Hudson River Valley to conquer and
cultivate the fertile region that is now Con-
necticut. Aggressive and numerous, they
carved out a niche that encompassed the Con-
necticut coast from present-day New Haven
to Rhode Island, as well as a large tract of
eastern Long Island. This expansion brought
them into contact—and conflict—with other
influential tribes, such as the Mohawks to the
west and the Narragansetts to the east. By
1600, the Pequots were also in contact with
Dutch settlements along the Hudson River
and soon gained awareness of Puritan
colonies in distant Massachusetts. Sassacus
(A Fierce Man) was born probably around
1560, the son of Grand Sachem Wopigwooit.
His father, a famous warrior, did much to con-
solidate Pequot influence in the region, but
mounting competition with Dutch traders led
to conflict. The sachem was killed by the
Dutch in 1632, and Sassacus succeeded him.
He had acquired by that time a reputation as a
fierce and cunning warrior, traits viewed as
essential for a war chief. As an indication of
Sassacus’s power, he is known to have subor-
dinated 26 sagamores, each with his own vil-
lage. The Pequots remained a regional power
to reckon with, but their lofty status fell in-
creasingly under siege. In addition to Euro-
pean encroachment, disease ravaged the
tribe, drastically cutting its manpower. Worse
still, internal dissent occurred when Uncas,
the chief’s son-in-law, was passed over as
sachem. He subsequently broke away from
the main tribe and formed his own, the Mohe-
gans. The early seventeenth century proved a
trying time for the Pequot nation, surrounded
by potential enemies and wracked by discord,
and drastic measures were needed to ensure
survival.
Sassacus was no friend of the whites, but,
being well-versed in diplomacy, he realized
that his tribe needed friends. In 1634, he sent
an embassy to the Puritan colony in Boston,
requesting that Governor John Winthrop Sr.
mediate peace between the warring Pequot
and Narragansett tribes. The Puritans were
willing to oblige, but only on the condition
that the Pequots become subject clients of the
English. This meant that the tribe was ex-
pected to cede valuable land in the Connecti-