Page:History of Barrington, Rhode Island (Bicknell).djvu/148

 XIII. The story of the Northmen in New England as told by Mr. Joshua Tolmin Smith is one of the most valuable contributions as to the location of Sowams. His opinion that the Northmen discovered Narragansett Bay, named Mount Hope, and visited the lands along Narragansett Bay and Providence River is well sustained by his argument and story. The map accompanying the book and illustrating the voyage locates the peninsula of Barrington, across which from Nayatt to Hundred Acre Cove is printed in large letters the word SOWAMS. Had there been doubt as to the location of the residence of Massassoit in the mind of the author, so clear testimony would not have been given.

XIV. The Rhode Island Historical Society, through the agency of Prof. Wilfred H. Munro, of Brown University, a native of Bristol, and the author of "," has caused a tablet to be erected on New Meadow Neck, at the railroad station, in honor of John Hampden, who made the visit to Massassoit with Edward Winslow in 1623, and at the request of the Historical Society the name of the railroad station was changed from to. This is high authority in favor of the position that Massassoit had his residence on New Meadow Neck, where these distinguished visitors made their memorable visit in 1623, as described in a previous chapter. The inscription on the tablets will be found on page 57.

The chapter would not be complete without a reference to the spring in Warren called Massassoit's Spring. There is no denial of the existence of such a spring and of many other springs in the towns of Warren, Bristol, and Barrington, from all of which probably Massassoit and his tribe drank. The Sowams records refer to two springs in Barrington, Scamscammuck, and Tom's Springs, and to the great spring at Kickemuit, but no reference is made to any others. So far as I have been able to learn, the theory as to Massassoit's Spring in Warren is founded only on tradition and as there is only slight probability that the Indians ever