Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1923
Bronze plaque in Watertown. Another plaque describes the scene depicted:
Here landed Roger Clap and the Dorchester men, June, 1630.
We went up Charles River, until the river grew narrow and shallow, and there we landed our goods with much labor and toil, the bank being steep. And night coming on, we were informed that there were hard by us three hundred Indians. One Englishman that could speak the Indian language, (an old Planter) went to them and advised them not to come near us in the night, and they harkened to his counsel and came not. In the morning some of the Indians came and stood at a distance off, looking at us but came not near us. But when they had been a while in view, some of them came and held out a great bass towards us so we sent a man with a biscuit and changed the cake for the bass. We had not been there many days, though by our diligence we had got up a kind of shelter to save our goods in, but we had order to come away from that place which was about Watertown unto a place called Mattapan, now Dorchester, because there was a neck of land fit to keep our cattle on.
From Roger Clap’s narrative. Erected by the Historical Society of Watertown, 1947.
_____
The Dorchester Illustration of the Day (DIOTD) is sent weekdays. If you receive this e-mail by mistake, please reply to be taken off the e-mail list. If you know others who would like to receive the daily e-mail, please encourage them to join the group by going to http://groups.google.com/group/dorchester-historical-society. You may contact Earl Taylor at ERMMWWT@aol.com
If you value receiving the DIOTD, please express your appreciation by making a donation to the Dorchester Historical Society, either by regular mail at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, or through the website at www.DorchesterHistoricalSociety.org