Uncas

Uncas , c.1588-c.1683, chief of the Mohegan . Uncas was a subchief of the Pequot , but because of trouble with the chief, Sassacus, he withdrew with his followers and formed a separate tribe, the Mohegan. These people flourished under Uncas's leadership. Uncas was ambitious and sought British support. He was constantly at war with Miantonomo , the Narragansett chief. Both sided with the British in the Pequot War, but despite a treaty of peace (1638) signed between them through the instrumentality of the British, trouble continued. Uncas finally captured Miantonomo in 1643 and killed him, with British acquiescence. For the remainder of his life Uncas was involved in various troubles with the British and other Native Americans.

Bibliography: See A. J. Peale, Uncas and the Mohegan-Pequot (1939).

Uncas (fl.1600–1683), chief of the Mohegan Indians, sided with the British in the Pequot War (1637), figures as the titular character in The Last of the Mohicans, and also appears in Cooper's Wept of Wish‐ton‐Wish. However, he has only his name in common with Cooper's hero. The historical Uncas was tolerated by the English colonists of Massachusetts and Connecticut because he made war on Miantonomo, the Indian protector of Roger Williams, who was anathema to their religious hegemony, but was later considered an “underminer of praying to God” because he attacked Massasoit, the friend of the Massachusetts colony. He is the subject of a biography by W.L. Stone (1842).