Mohegan Diplomacy & James Printer’s release
At the same time, colonists’ reliance on Native allies, like Attanwood’s Mohegan company, and scouts, like Job Kattenanit, intensified. When Lathrop and his forces were ambushed on the west side of the Great Beaver, as they attempted to retrieve both corn and colonists from Deerfield, it was a Mohegan company that came to their rescue, with reinforcements from Connecticut colony. The Mohegan delegation likewise used its invaluable position to argue for the fair treatment of James Printer and his kin. James's trial began on the same day as the ambush. The networks of alliance during the war were complex and always intertwined. The Mohegans’ recent conflicts with Native people of the Valley was a motivating factor for their participation, while their relationships of alliance and protection with Nipmuc towns led to their advocacy for James and his relations, who they knew to be innocent of the acts of violence for which they were accused. [1]
No signs at "Bloody Brook" acknowledge the assistance of Mohegan men in the battle on Pocumtuck land, nor are the stories and sacrifices of James Printer and his kin marked on the land at Marlborough or Boston.
[1] Gookin, Historical Account, 450. Schultz and Tougias, King Philip's War, 163. Oberg, Uncas, 178–9.