Harman Garrett (c. 1610 – c. 1678) (also known as Cashawashett or Wequashcook II or Herman Garrett or Harmon Garrett) was a

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' * Niantic Correctional Institution, now known as York Correctional Institution ...

sachem and then governor of the Eastern

Pequot The Pequot ( ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut includin ...

s slightly east of the

Pawcatuck River The Pawcatuck River is a river in the US states of Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 There are eight da ...

in what is now

Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly is a New England town, town on the Coast, southwestern coastline of Washington County, Rhode Island, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled by English colonists in 1661, and incorporated as a List of municipalitie ...

. His chosen English name (taken by at least 1654) was very similar to that of Herman Garrett, a prominent colonial gunsmith from Massachusetts in the 1650s.

Early life

Garrett was the son of Eastern Niantic sachem Wepitanock (also known as Momojosbuck or Wettamozo) and his unnamed wife (who may have been a Pequot and died in 1648) and the grandson of sachem Saccious. Garrett was also the half-brother of

Wequash Cooke Wequash Cooke (also known as: Wequash Cook or Weekwash or Weekwosh or Wequashcuk) (died 1642) was allegedly one of the earliest Native American converts to Protestant Christianity, and as a sagamore he played an important role in the 1637 Pequo ...

, who helped the colonial military to defeat the Pequots during the

Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot nation and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Na ...

in 1637 before forming marriage alliances with several captured Pequot women. Either Garrett or his brother married the Pequot widow of Tattaopme and became stepfather of Tausquonawhut, the brother or nephew of Sassacus. Tausquonawhut (Tassaquanot) eventually married Ninigret's daughter. After Wequash Cook's death in 1642, Garrett assumed his brother's name and attempted to assume his leadership role, but his uncle

Ninigret Ninigret (also known as Juanemo according to Roger Williams) (c. 1610 This source confirms 1662 as the date of his land sales.-1677 This source suggests a date of 1667 for his land sales and a 1647 war against the Mohegans.) was a sachem of the ea ...

contested this because Garrett's mother was not Niantic, making him only half Niantic.

Involvement with Pequot at Pawcatuck

In the 1640s, Garrett worked with John Mason of the

Saybrook Colony The Saybrook Colony was a short-lived English colony established in New England in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in what is today Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Saybrook was founded by a group of Puritan noblemen as a potential politic ...

to negotiate Garrett's territorial boundaries with the

United Colonies The United Colonies of North-America was the official name as used by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia for the newly formed proto-state comprising the Thirteen Colonies in 1775 and 1776, before and as independence was declared. ...

and his right to be a leader of some of the conquered Pequots and to some of their former territory. Despite opposition from the Narragansetts and Uncas who claimed he didn't fight the Pequots or py his proper share of the 1645 indemnity, he began hunting in Pequot territory in 1646, and by 1648 with Mason's support, Garrett formed a small community of Niantics and former Pequots on the west bank of the Pawcatuck River, which was somewhat forced to be allied to Uncas against Ninigret. John Winthrop, Jr. and Robin Cassacinamon briefly held Garrett in 1648/49 on house arrest for unclear reasons, but Winthrop then reversed course and became Garrett's ally and advocated for his Pawcatuck settlement. Garrett's personal home was in Pawcatuck, to the north of the modern bridge connecting

and

Stonington, Connecticut Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pa ...

. Around this time,

Uncas Uncas () was a '' sachem'' of the Mohegans who made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut, through his alliance with the New England colonists against other Indian tribes. Early life and family Uncas was born ...

allegedly paid an Indian named Wampushet to attack another Indian with a hatchet and then to falsely blame Garrett for ordering the attack. Wampushet gave testimony before the United Colonies with Uncas present, but it was unclear who ordered the attack.

Governorship of Eastern Pequots

In 1654 Captain Simon Willard led a mission from Massachusetts against

's Niantics and forced him to turn over control of the Pequots under his jurisdiction to the

. By at least May 18, 1654 Garrett had taken the name of former Massachusetts gunsmith Herman Garrett, who had been an associate of Simon Willard. Some Native Americans adopted the firearm related names as "another way for a man to call attention to his martial achievements." In September 1655, the Commissioners of the United Colonies appointed Herman Garrett governor over these Pequots and Niantics (at Pawcatuck and Wekapauge) to collect tributes (owed by the Pequots since the Pequot War) and to mediate disputes, and they appointed Thomas Stanton to work with him. In 1661, Massachusetts authorities mediated a territorial dispute between Garrett and his uncle

regarding the land in and around Westerly. By 1663 encroachments and land disputes occurred with nearby settlers, causing Garrett to move to Southertowne ( Stonington).

King Philip's War and later life

In 1676 Garrett, Oneco, and Cassasinamon jointly executed Narragansett Sachem

Canonchet Canonchet (also ''Nauntenoo'' or ''Cononchet'' or ''Quanonchet'', died April 3, 1676) was a Narragansett Sachem and leader of Native American troops during the Great Swamp Fight and King Philip's War. He was a son of Miantonomo. Canonchet was ...

during

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

, while fighting alongside colonial forces. Garrett's group of Indians were given land in northern Stonington in 1683 after Garrett's death. His will left his property to his son Cattepeset, but Garrett's deputy Mamaho took power after Garrett's death, and a power struggle ensued with Cassacinamon's group.Garrett's will is dated 1677 and states " He leaves all his land and business to his oldest son Cattapesett and instructs him to be faithful to the English despite the consequences he himself has endured in doing so." https://www.indianandcolonial.org/vewebsite/vex4/A822BDE4-B741-46FE-9AB6-168090924526.htm

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Harman 17th-century births 17th-century Native American leaders Native American people from Rhode Island Niantic people Year of death unknown