Editing Massasoit (section)

==English at Plymouth==
At the time of the pilgrims' arrival in Plymouth, the realm of the Wampanoag, also known as the [[Pokanokets]], included parts of [[Rhode Island]] and much of southeastern [[Massachusetts]].<ref name="hosm">{{cite book |editor1-last=Wright |editor1-first=Otis Olney |title=History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917 |date=1917 |publisher=Town of Swansea |page=19|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofswansea00wrig#page/19/mode/1up |access-date=11 June 2018|oclc=1018149266}}</ref> Massasoit lived in Sowams, a village at [[Pokanoket]] in [[Warren, Rhode Island]]. He held the allegiance of lesser Pokanoket sachems. In 1621, he sent [[Squanto]] to live among the colonists at Plymouth.<ref>Humins, John H. (March 1987). "Squanto and Massasoit: A Struggle for Power". ''New England Quarterly''. 60 (1): 54–70. {{doi|10.2307/365654}}. JSTOR 365654.</ref>

Outbreaks of an unidentified disease had devastated the Pokanokets, and Massasoit sought an alliance with the colonies of [[New England]] against the neighboring Narragansetts who controlled an area west of [[Narragansett Bay]] in Rhode Island. [[Samoset]] was a minor Abenaki sachem (''sagamore'') who hailed from the [[Muscongus Bay]] area of [[Maine]],<ref>Bradford, William (1952). Morison, Samuel Eliot (ed.). ''Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–1647''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 80, n.8</ref> and he learned to speak English from fishermen who plied those waters. Massasoit sent him to approach the colonists to find out whether their intentions were peaceful.

Massasoit forged critical political and personal ties with colonial leaders [[William Bradford (1590-1657)|William Bradford]], [[Edward Winslow]], [[Stephen Hopkins (settler)|Stephen Hopkins]], [[John Carver (Mayflower passenger)|John Carver]], and [[Myles Standish]], ties which grew out of a [[peace treaty]] negotiated on March 22, 1621. The alliance ensured that the Pokanokets remained neutral during the [[Pequot War]] in 1636.<ref name="Wampanoag">[http://pokanoket.us/Pokanoket-Leaders.html#MASSASOIT_OUSAMEQUIN "Pokanoket Leaders", Wampanoag Nation]</ref> According to English sources, Massasoit prevented the failure of Plymouth Colony and the starvation that the [[Pilgrims]] faced during its earliest years.<ref name="Wampanoag" />