Native American immigration issues

Dear Editor,

Maps provide us with valuable information.

A map of Connecticut shows the Connecticut River cutting through the center of that state. It flows from the Long Island Sound to an outlet in the Atlantic Ocean.

My Hancock ancestors lived in Farmington, Connecticut, on land they purchased from the Tunxis Indians in 1645. They were Puritans who lived near Weathersfield.

Merchants in that area imported goods to settlers in the Connecticut River Valley.

My ancestor Thomas Hancock (1645-1734) owned a ship that carried various products to colonists living in the Connecticut River Valley.

Everything seemed to progress fairly smoothly for 50 years, because of the treaty with Chief Massasoit and the Pilgrims.

The old chief's sons remained in the background.

Then old Chief Massasoit died. His son, Metacon, nicknamed"King Phillip" because of his haughty attitude, waged war against white settlements in 1675-1676.

If the Indians openly attacked American colonists, they would have lost the battle. Instead, they zeroed in on lonely farmhouses or crept in during the middle of the night.

A thousand volunteers from the colonies clashed with Narragansett Indians in Rhode Island. Thomas Hancock (1645-1734) transported them in a ship that he owned.

Rachel Leonard, his future wife, lived in Springfield, Mass. Four of her family members were killed in an Indian raid.

A map by Dixie H. Krauss in 2006 shows the location of a well and a palisade fence in an area near the Mattabesset River in the Farmington area of Connecticut. Palisades were built to protect colonists from Indians.

Maps are valuable and clarify many facts. Notations on land records are also fascinating, including the phonetic spelling of Hancox instead of Hancock.

Question: I wonder if President-elect Donald Trump could use similar tactics along the Mexican border with tanks and planes.

Helen Ruth Arnold

Trenton, Neb.