“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.
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.
Vibert, William M. Three Centuries of Simsbury: 1670-1970. Simsbury, CT: Simsbury Tercentenary Committee Inc, 1970.
Vibert covers almost all areas of Simsbury and Massacoe history. He gives details on Massacoe territory, villages, burial grounds, food, weapons and native legends.
Lavin, Lucianne. “The Morgan Site, Rocky Hill, Connecticut: A Late Woodland Farming Community in the Connecticut River Valley”. ASC 51 (1988): 7-22
Dr. Lavin does not provide information on Simsbury or the Massacoes in this essay, but does give insight into finds at a comparable site along the Connecticut River. This work is important because Lavin provides comparisons between inland finds and coastal finds.
Banks, Marc & Kenneth Feder. “Archaeological Survey of the McLean Game Refuge, Granby and Simsbury, Connecticut”. ASC 59 (1996): 39-52.
Written in 1996, this Archaeological Survey is very important to understanding the natives who lived in Simsbury and Granby. Banks and Feder provide details of their finds from the McLean Game Refuge, which includes conclusions that the natives used the area as a seasonal, repetitive campsite.
Banks, Marc. “Aboriginal Weirs in Southern New England”. ASC Bulletin 53 (1990): 73-83.
Bancs writes a brief, yet informative essay about what fishing weirs are, how they were used, and how they were built in pre-contact and post-contact times. The essay provides details on known locations of old weir sites, what natives might have caught and the complexity of finding the ruins of an old weir today.
Trocchi, Jim. Connecticut Indians. Windsor Historical Society.
Trocchi writes informatively about the natives of the Farmington Valley, and in Connecticut. Included are details about types of food, housing structure, language, individual tribes and possible sites in the Northwest corner on Connecticut.
Lavin, Lucianne. Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013.
Dr. Lavin provides an important source of ancient Native American history based largely on archaeological finds. Although Simsbury is not specifically mentioned, Lavin discusses in length about finds in Farmington, Windsor, South Windsor and other surrounding towns that give clues to what life must have been like for the indigenous peoples over the course of thousands of years up until contact. Specific finds, such as food and tools, suggest what the natives in the Farmington Valley ate, and how the acquisition of complex tools through development and trade led to an evolving lifestyle.