atiate and vindictive hate, and this peaceful
valley was once the scene of a bloody tragedy from which the Montauketts
never recovered. Wyandanch had pursued a party of Narragansetts to Block
Island, and killed a great number of them. To retaliate, Ninicraft (or
Ninigret) invaded Montauk, and on the night of the nuptials of the
chief's daughter fell upon the village, burned, sacked and slew, and, in
spite of Wyandanch's bravery, totally defeated his followers. Among the
fallen was the bridegroom, and beside his dead body the invaders found
the bride in a stupor of grief. She was hurried away, an unresisting
captive, but was ultimately restored to her father by the exertions of
Lion Gardiner. In 1659, Wyandanch died from the effects of poison, and
with him went out the glory of his tribe. Piece after piece, the lands
he had held were ceded to the whites, and the royal line of Faro came to
an end. In 1819 "King" Stephen died, and was buried by subscription. His
distinctive badge consisted of a yellow ribbon round his hat. After him
others reigned, and although the royal family long ago became extinct,
the name of king or chief is still retained. The late holder of the
title was David Faro, and he reigned over two families, his own and the
Fowlers. He will probably be succeeded by his cousin Stephen, an
athletic gentleman and a full-blooded Indian, who is said to have walked
in one day from Brooklyn to Montauk, and who thinks little of stepping
from Montauk to Bridgehampton, thence to Sag Harbor for dinner, and so
on back to Montauk. The late chief left a widow and five children. The
eldest is a boy named Wyandanch, who occasionally visits the few houses
on the peninsula and the nearest villages, selling berries. The queen's
mother and the rest of the tribe are basket-makers. The second of
David's children is Maggie Arabella, a pleasant-faced girl with
thick-set figure; the third and fourth are bright-eyed boys, Samuel
Powhattan and Ebenezer Tecumseh; and the fifth is a child of about six
months, Sarah Pocahontas. Besides these there are the present king,
Stephen, and his son Samuel. King Sylvester preceded David, so that we
are in possession of the likenesses of three of the line of sachems.
Ephraim Fowler, a son of Sylvester, also survives. Of the other family
of Fowlers, there are the husband and wife and their four children,
three sons and a daughter. Such, so far as I know, is a complete census
of the tribe of Montauket