Mattabesset
Mattabesset was a region and settlement once occupied by Algonquian language-speaking Native Americans called the Wangunk, along the Connecticut River. The Mattabesset River reaches the Connecticut River near Middletown, Connecticut. European settler colonists established Middletown on the part of the region on the west side of the river, and a succession of settlements on the east side of the river, including Chatham and Middle Haddam, became East Hampton, Connecticut. Name Romanizations vary widely, including Mattabesec, Mattabeseck, Mattabessett, Mattabesset, and Mattabéeset. However, it is widely known to be pronounced “Matta-bess-ic” despite usually being spelled “mattabesset” History This region was occupied by the indigenous people named Wangunk. Dutch Europeans initially visited the region in 1614. At the time of English incursions into the area, the local sachem, or Native political leader, was Sowheag, also known as Sequin. After conflict with settlers, he moved from the village of Pyquaug, later known as Weathersfield, Connecticut, to Mattabesett. Nineteenth-century historian John Warner Barber wrote: The lands in this township were obtained from the Indians in connection with the lands in Middletown. But a reservation, laid out partly at Indian hill, and partly a little east of the Chatham meeting house, was held by them till