Holdt, David. “George McLean & the George Family: A Bond with the Land”. McLean Game Refuge. http://www.mcleangamerefuge.orgGeorgeMcLeanAndTheGeorgesPhotos.pdf
Holdt writes a short history of the McLean Game Refuge. The author describes in detail the founding of the refuge, and how Amos George, a Pequot, came to work and live on the refuge for decades. This source is an important example of how native’s presence continues into modern day.
“River History” by Dr. Eileen Fielding. Simsbury, CT: The Farmington Watershed Association, 2014.
Dr. Fielding, Director of the Farmington Watershed Association, gave a presentation on the history of the Farmington River in 2014. She was kind enough to export that presentation on a disc for future use. Dr. Fielding provides facts on what types of fish live in the Farmington, and also the relationship the natives had with the Farmington River who lived alongside or near it.
Rudd, Malcolm Day. A Historical Sketch of Salisbury, Connecticut. New York, 1899.
Rudd writes a short history of Salisbury, CT. This town is potentially related to the Massacoes and Simsbury, because Rudd makes the interesting conclusion that the Massacoe moved to this area after King Philip’s War. The evidence behind this is that the natives that lived in Salisbury were called the “Weatogue Indians”, and that there is evidence these people arrived in Salisbury around this time period.
Young, William R. Connecticut Valley Indian. Springfield, MA: Museum of Science, 1969.
Young presents important connections between individual tribes/bands and larger native “nations” or loose groups. The Massacoes, and Tunxis, are placed within the Mattabesec-Wappinger group, one of the nine main Algonquian sub-tribes. Young’s conclusions help to imagine the socio-economic relationship these loosely related bands around Simsbury must have had with one another.
Walwer, Gregory Frank. Native American Mortuary Practices. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 1998.
Walwer studied archaeological evidence that gave details about the burial rituals of natives in Connecticut east of the Connecticut River. Although not directly related to the Farmington River Valley natives specifically, Walwer’s findings distinguish finds about general burial trends that might have in fact been more widespread than his region of study. The author’s analysis on burials over the course of thousands of years includes inferences about what this indicated of social society at certain times.
Spiess, Mathias. The Indians of Connecticut. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1933.
Mathias writes about Connecticut natives in pre-contact times in relation to dominating outside tribes, and then describes the history behind the different English settlements in the Connecticut and Farmington River Valleys. The author tries to connect each tribe, and is one of the only authors so far who have claimed the Massacoe had absolutely nothing to do with the Tunxis natives.
Roberts, George S. Historic Towns of the Connecticut River Valley. Schenectady, NY: Robson & Adee Publishers, 1906.
In this book, one can find a description of the histories of mostly every major town in the Connecticut River Valley. Roberts specifically provides the history of Farmington and Bloomfield, which used to be called Wintonbury, and included parts of Simsbury. The author mentions an Indian Deed of 1660 that describes the land as wilderness.
Guilette, Mary E. American Indians in Connecticut: Past to Present. Aetna Life and Casualty, 1979.
In her book, Guilette gives an overview of tribes and customs in Connecticut throughout time. The author does a great job at providing information about population estimates in Connecticut at the time of settler-native contact, distinguishes between the different tribes of Connecticut and then describes native ways of life.
DeForest, John W. History of the Indians of Connecticut. Hartford, CT: WM. Jas. Hamersley, 1852.
DeForest tells the history of the natives in Connecticut. Along with giving a greater historical context to the surrounding Farmington Valley region, DeForest includes important facts and speculations about the Tunxis and Massacoe tribes. This includes population and relationship between the two.
Barber, Lucius. The Burning of Simsbury. Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood & Brainard, 1876
Barber shares the details of the time Simsbury was burnt to the ground in 1676. His speech includes events leading up the event, the event itself and its aftermath. This includes information about where the Massacoes might have gone to after the burning.