Page:Massasoit's town Sowams in Pokanoket, its history, legends and traditions (IA massasoitstownso00bake).pdf/43

Rh are in this vicinity, all of them in the ancient Indian style of signs and picture writing. One of these pictures represents four men rolling a heavy circular stone, by a stick placed through a hole in the centre, back and forth over a quantity of corn, and described as the Wampanoag national grinding mill, where corn was ground for war parties or for any large public gathering of the people.

"The locality of the place was so plainly stated that Mr. Loring had no difficulty in finding it. It is at the place called King's Rocks" in Warren, near the Swansea line about two miles from the village. On the west side of the mass of rocks is a nearly level smooth surface of rock about twenty-five feet by eight feet in width. In this level place are three regular, narrow, straight depressions. They appear evidently to have been worn into the rock by some forcible attrition, and are, in fact, just such hollows as might be made by the cause assigned.

"These worn places have heretofore attracted notice and speculation, but the true cause of their existence has not before been known by late generations, and the idea of a national grinding mill, or of pulverizing corn by a rolling stone in connection with Indian history will probably be new to every one.

"As confirmatory of the locality, Mr. Loring says the picture has upon it another hill of somewhat peculiar appearance (a large rock upon the summit) situated about a mile east of the grinding place, named, he thinks Wigwam Hill. Leading from this hill towards the setting sun are two hundred and forty human steps, the line of steps terminating in three skulls which denotes a burial place. Mr. Loring visited the hill (now called Margaret's Hill from the last Indian woman who resided there) and pacing off 240 steps