So, were there Native Americans in Milford at one time? The answer is yes. But, remember that Milford was originally part of Mendon - first known as Squinshepauke and morphed through several versions of that to Quinshipaug Plantation and then Mendham - in the early days of our history. Quinshipaug means “Pickerel Pond,” seemingly after the bodies of water in the area. It appears that the local lakes and ponds were abundant with this type of fish.

There was also an abundance of land out this way. People from Braintree and Weymouth were interested in expanding west. In 1659, a petition from the Town of Braintree was made. Recorded history says nothing else about this until 1662 when 150 acres (eight square miles) of land was allotted and originally deeded to Moses Payne and Peter Brackett. Ironically, neither one of these men ever lived in Mendon. Later, the rights were assigned to the selectmen of the Town of Mendon. 

In his book on the history of Milford, Adin Ballou reports on the Native Americans. He says that the first people in this area were the Nipmuc (or Nipmuck) Indians, the word meaning “freshwater people.” Originally, this tribe was in a wide area, from close to Boston to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. At the time that property was first bought from this tribe (near Boston), they were governed by a squaw sachem (or chief), whose “regal home” was near Wachusett Mountain. 

The Puritans began, as more immigrants arrived, to look at the bountiful lands that existed in the central part of New England. It was encouraged that the natives be paid a fair price for their land, but the settlers undoubtedly “made shrewd bargains.” And one can only imagine the challenges of these early individuals in populating this wild, unsettled region. The pioneer settlers were setting out into the outpost of civilization in a westerly direction. The furthest west anyone had gone, at that time, was to Medfield. The entire area around present-day Milford was occupied by American Indians, who were not happy by this point, with the encroachment of these pioneers, and knew that these settlers showed no signs of retreating. And that was true; the incorporation of the Town of Mendon happened on June 7, 1667.

Of course, the “heathens” had to be Christianized. And that task was mainly accomplished by a man named John Eliot, who ambitiously translated the entire Bible into the native’s language. Eliot lived to be 86 years old (he died in 1690), having converted 1,100 souls to his religion. But King Philip’s War in 1675 saw most of those converts joining up with Philip. (Those who did not were still treated poorly by the White people.)

King Philip, also known as Metacom or Metacomet, was the son of Massasoit, who was known for maintaining peace with the Pilgrims who landed in Plymouth. He was responsible for saving their lives by teaching them how to hunt, grow, and fish to survive. In fact, he was among those who were present at the feast that later became known as Thanksgiving. King Philip and his brother, Alexander (originally Wamsutta), adopted English names as a gesture of goodwill toward their neighbors and to reinforce Massasoit’s legacy of peace. 

It was not peace but war that almost squashed the entire settlement of Mendon, which was one of the first towns to be attacked by King Philip and his fellow natives. There were six citizens murdered in Mendon and those who survived fled to the seacoast towns. February of 1676 saw the burning of every house, the meeting house, and almost all of the outbuildings. Twelve years of progress was destroyed. In the end, 1,000 colonists and 3,000 American Indians (about one-third of the total number in New England) perished in the battles of King Philip's War. When Metacom/King Philip was killed, he was only 37 years old. His wife and son were sold into slavery in the West Indies. His body was dismembered and beheaded. His head was displayed outside the Plymouth Colony for 25 years. 

When the war ceased after the overthrow of King Philip and his followers, some of the original settlers (about 20 families) returned. Ten years later, there were 50 families living in Mendon, according to Mendon’s Historical Society; but these people had been traumatized. That is deemed the main reason why there is very little in the way of firsthand accounts in the Mendon records. Although some returned, they were in a situation of poverty and had a “deep-seated dread” of the Native Americans. 

From other members of the Milford Historical Commission comes more information: many Native American artifacts have been found by farmers and other seekers in the area of Mendon and present-day Milford. And the fire station on Purchase Street was later used as a meeting place for the early American Indians for a short period of time, before they moved to New Hampshire to convene. We know little about this via written history or the internet, but we know that the building still shows “EAICC”  above the door, which a member believes stands for “Early American Indian Cultural Center.”

As in all areas of our country, the history of the Native Americans may have been inadequate to show all the details or the whole truth; there may be missing information and there are always two sides to any story and maybe that’s better than none. A Sioux proverb says as much, “A people without a history is like the wind over buffalo grass.”