A Brief History of the Pequot War (1736)

JOHN MASON
A Brief History of the Pequot War (1736)
John Mason’s posthumously published account is the most
complete contemporary history of the Pequot War of 1636–
1637. Written around 1670, and published in part in 1677 (although
misattributed by Increase Mather to John Allyn), the
complete text was issued by Thomas Prince in 1736. That text
is reproduced here in a corrected and annotated edition that
includes Prince’s biographical sketch of Mason and various
dedicatory and explanatory documents.
John Mason (c.1600–1672) commanded the Connecticut
forces in the expedition that wiped out the Pequot fort and village
at Mystic and in two subsequent operations that effectively
eliminated the Pequots as a recognizable nation. He was
among the original settlers of Windsor, Connecticut, and afterwards
resided at Saybrook and Norwich. Little is known of
his antecedents, except that he had served in the wars in the
Netherlands before emigrating to Massachusetts.
This online electronic text edition includes the entire
12,000-word Brief History and runs to 49 pages, including
notes and bibliography; it can be printed out on 25 sheets of
letter-sized paper.
Major Ma¢on’ s
Brief HIS TORY
OF THE
Pequot War.