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Walking on a warmer than normal day 33F/1C. Along the edges of the trail, Mountain Laurel gives the eyes and spirit a lift in winter. The evergreen shrub is a welcome respite from the leafless trees, brown lifeless fallen leaves and bare thickets. The nature preserve in Rhode Island is well marked with many trails and allows for some easy walking.

The Nature Preserve is named for the leader (sunksqua) of the Pocasset tribe of native Americans who lived in the Tiverton area of Rhode Island.

In 1675, Weetamoo allied with the Wampanoag chief Metacomet in the armed conflict between Native Americans headed by Metacomet and European colonists and their Native American allies. This conflict, which lasted 1675-1678, is known locally as King Philip’s War. Metacomet had taken the European name Philip earlier because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Mayflower Pilgrims.

Weetamoo and Metacomet’s warriors joined in battle against the colonists. King Philip’s War was one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history, with atrocities committed on both sides. When the English defeated the Wampanoag in a battle in August 1676, Weetamoo and some of her warriors were pursued to the Taunton river by the colonial militias. The Sachem was drowned when fired upon attempting to swim to her escape. Her corpse was taken by her enemies and her head was displayed on a pole in Taunton, Massachusetts. Many of the defeated Wampanoags had been killed, or sold into slavery in the West Indies, a sad chapter in early American history.