Mahaiwe

The Mahican called this place on the Housatonic River Mahaiwe, “the place downstream.” It lay on the New England Path linking the Hudson valley with Springfield and Massachusetts Bay, crossing the wooded hills of western New England. The settlement later known as Great Barrington grew in this broad river valley.

During King Philip's War in 1676, John Talcott's troops pursued a group of Mahican to the Housatonic, killing and capturing many. In 1724 a group of Indigenous leaders headed by Conkepot Poneyote sold land in the area to representatives of Massachusetts for money, cider and rum. Colonial settlement followed in 1726, and Great Barrington became a separate town in 1761. In 1774 local colonists forced the county court to close in protest against British policies.