Fort Ninigret - History

History

Archaeological excavations have shown that people lived on Fort Neck long before the Europeans arrived, although this was never a large village. But around 1620, many Niantic people (cousins and allies of the larger Narragansett Tribe) settled at this place—growing corn, making wampum (shell beads used as money by the Europeans), and trading with the Dutch and the English for such things as beads, pipes, and copper kettles. By the 1630s, the Niantics had a young and powerful sachem—Ninigret, for whom the fort was later named.

Some historians have alleged that the fort was built by the Dutch West India Company or by Portuguese explorers prior to 1637 (in addition to the earlier trading post on nearby Dutch Island). One of the first printed references to Dutch forts in Rhode Island was Samuel Arnold's 1858 "History of the State of Rhode Island." According to historian Manuel da Silva:

"The fort is rectangular with the corners terminating in five-sided bastions, except for the one facing the water. It measures 152 feet long (from bastion to bastion) and 137 feet wide. The angles of the bastions are approximately 130 degrees. No one doubts that the style in which the fort is built clearly shows the influence of European civilization."

In 1921-22 a European sword and cannnon were found, along with many other grave goods, at an Indian cemetery near the site, which some people believe adds credence to the theory that this was a European fort. The artifacts are now in the possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

King Philip’s War (1675–76) cemented English rule over most of the Indian lands of Rhode Island, but a reservation encompassing much of today’s Charlestown was set aside for the tribe. Many Narragansetts had joined Ninigret’s people for safety, and soon the name Niantic fell out of use. Here at Fort Ninigret, tribal members lived in wigwams into the 18th century. Nearby stood the European style house of the sachems, who sold off tribal property to Englishmen to pay their debts. By the 19th century Fort Neck was the last piece of land held in common by the Narragansett Tribe that had access to salt water.

In the 1880s, the state declared the Narragansett Tribe extinct. As part of this detribalization, the state transformed the remains of Fort Ninigret into a monument to the now ‘vanished’ tribe. They planted trees, reshaped the earthen banks of the fort, and put up the iron fence, and in the middle of the fort they set a boulder, inscribed with these words:

Memorial to the Niantics and Narragansetts Unwavering friends and allies of our forefathers.

Ironically, a member of the Tribe spoke at the monument’s dedication.

In 1983 the Federal Government acknowledged that the Narragansetts were still alive and well in Rhode Island, and they were once again recognized as a tribe. Today Fort Ninigret is maintained by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the Charlestown Historical Society.

Fort Ninigret was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. During the 1970s, archaeological excavations were conducted at Fort Ninigret by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission and by archaeologists from New York University.