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Great Swamp Massacre Monument.

Great Swamp Massacre Monument

Field review by the editors.

West Kingston, Rhode Island

The Narragansetts, locked in a protracted war with white settlers, built their hideout in a Rhode Island swamp, but a deep freeze in December 1675 made it easy to walk in, and the colonists did, massacring everyone in sight. By the time the killing was over between 500 and 1,000 Indians had been shot, stabbed, or burned to death, most of them women and children.

In the 1930s the few surviving Narragansetts learned that white Rhode Islanders were hosting teas at the massacre site. That was stopped, and the Narragansetts now meet at the monument once a year for a ceremony that includes ritual wailing by women.

Great Swamp Massacre Monument

Address:
Great Swamp Monument Rd, West Kingston, RI
Directions:
From West Kingston drive east on RI-138 for about a mile. At the stoplight turn left onto RI-2. Drive south for 1.5 miles. Turn left onto Great Swamp Monument Rd. Drive until the road ends at a gate, then follow the road on foot to the monument. It's less than a mile.
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Nearby Offbeat Places

Hitler's Gravy Boat, Himmler's NightshirtHitler's Gravy Boat, Himmler's Nightshirt, Wakefield, RI - 5 mi.
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Scrap Metal ScorpionScrap Metal Scorpion, Exeter, RI - 8 mi.
In the region:
Eagle Rock, Amston, CT - 44 mi.

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