In 1661, Wamsutta, also known by the English name "Alexander," succeeded his father, Massasoit Ousamequin, as the Massasoit, or “great sachem” of the Pokanoket. Massasoit, Wamsutta inherited not merely leadership over the village of Sowams, but authority within a broader Indigenous alliance that stretched across southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This alliance, sometimes retrospectively referred to as the Pokanoket Confederation, was held together by kinship, diplomacy, and tribute. 

Before he was widely known as Wamsutta, and later by the English name Alexander, Massasoit’s eldest son first appeared in colonial records under the earlier name Moanam (also spelled Moannam or Mooanam). This name is found in key 17th-century land deeds, indicating his co-leadership with his father, Ousamequin, during the 1640s and 1650s. In the Rehoboth (Seekonk) Deed of 1641, “Moanam his son” is listed as a co-signatory with Ousamequin, signaling his emerging political role. He also appears in the Taunton North Purchase of 1649 and in early negotiations for the land that would become Bridgewater, Massachusetts.(1) These documents reflect Wamsutta’s rising authority in tribal diplomacy and land negotiations, well before his formal succession as Massasoit.

By 1661, now acting independently and recorded in English documents as Alexander, Wamsutta executed a major land transaction with the colonial settlers of Providence, ceding Moshoick, the site of Roger Williams original settlement. The agreement, known as the "Deed from Alexander to the Proprietors of Providence", bears his signature and solidified English claims to what became Providence, Rhode Island.(2) This document is a clear sign of his leadership following Ousamequin’s death.

That same summer, Wamsutta also demonstrated military leadership when Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans and a long standing rival of the Pokanokets, launched a violent raid against the Quaboag Nipmuc villages, territories politically aligned with the Pokanokets. In response, he publicly asserted his authority over the Quaboag people and declared that he had “waged war against Uncas” in their defense.(3) While no surviving colonial record confirms a formal battle or outright victory, the aftermath is telling as Uncas ceased his incursions into Quaboag territory, and the Quaboag never paid tribute nor submitted to Mohegan control. This episode illustrates Wamsutta’s active defense of his confederates and the continued political and military influence of the Pokanokets under his leadership.

As Massasoit Wamsutta's influence expanded through diplomacy, strengthening alliance building amongst Indigenous communities, and military action, Plymouth Colony grew increasingly suspicious of his leadership. In the early decades of colonization, figures like his father Massasoit Ousamequin had been viewed as essential allies, but by the 1660s, Plymouth's political posture had shifted. As the colony became more secure and territorially ambitious, its leaders began to treat Indigenous nations less as sovereign partners and more as subjects of English authority. Colonial expectations demanded that Indigenous leaders submit to their oversight, especially regarding land transactions, religious instruction, and political allegiance.

Massasoit Wamsutta defied these expectations. Seeking to assert Pokanoket sovereignty and expand his influence, Wamsutta initiated new trade relations with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, bypassing the political and economic control long held by Plymouth Colony over Indigenous affairs.(4) Plymouth leaders grew increasingly apprehensive of his assertiveness in these actions. 

Therefore, Governor Thomas Prence and the Plymouth Council ordered Massasoit Wamsutta’s arrest in August 1662, citing vague suspicions of unauthorized land sales and potential alliances with hostile tribes. Under flimsy allegations that Wamsutta was selling land without colonial permission and conspiring with the Narragansetts, Plymouth authorities ordered his arrest. This was not only a violation of Indigenous sovereignty but a profound betrayal as Wamsutta was the hereditary Massasoit, a sovereign Pokanoket leader and the son of Massasoit Ousamequin, whom the English had long claimed as a friend and ally. The irony of turning on the son of their supposed ally reveals a deep hypocrisy in colonial thinking. If the English viewed even their Indigenous allies as potential enemies, then the outbreak of King Philip’s War seems less like an inevitability and more like the result of a colonial worldview that refused to recognize Indigenous sovereignty, diplomacy, or trust. 

The task was executed by Josiah Winslow, the future governor of Plymouth Colony, who led an armed party to apprehend Wamsutta near Monponsett Pond. He was taken against his will and seemed destined to stand before the leaders of Plymouth for questioning.(5)  Wamsutta did not resist the arrest, despite its suddenness and the use of force. Traveling with a substantial escort of Pokanoket warriors, consistent with his status as a sovereign leader, Wamsutta’s party greatly outnumbered Winslow’s small contingent of colonial soldiers, likely fewer than ten men. Contemporary accounts and later historians have noted the remarkable nature of Winslow’s success in apprehending such a powerful figure under such unequal conditions.(6) This outcome was possible only because Wamsutta, still operating under the longstanding peace his father had established with the English, did not regard Plymouth Colony as an enemy and did not suspect hostile intentions until Winslow was close enough to draw his pistol and place him under arrest. Even then, it was through Wamsutta’s own mediation and restraint that violence was avoided. His warriors, though prepared to defend him, stood down at his command, preserving peace in the moment but at the tragic cost of his liberty and, ultimately, his life.

Though reportedly in good health at the time of his arrest, Wamsutta fell suddenly ill while in Josiah Winslow's custody. Colonial records state that he was administered a medical treatment, by a colonial physician soon after he was apprehended. He died shortly thereafter. Daniel Gookin, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, noted that Wamsutta “was taken sick and died, I think not without suspicion of evil dealing.”(7) Even an account from Reverend Increase Mather who witnessed the event acknowledged that Wamsutta had received some form of treatment just prior to his illness writing that a  “Dr. Fuller administered a ‘working physic,’ a purgative or medicinal concoction…”.(8)  Soon afterwards, he fell violently ill and died within days in the arms of his wife, the Pocasset leader Weetamoo. Though colonial accounts blamed illness, both the Indigenous oral histories of the Pokanoket and

Pocasset tribe state that he was poisoned by the English.

Modern scholars have echoed these suspicions. Maurice Robbins, in his analysis for the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, emphasizes that Wamsutta’s arrest was motivated by Plymouth’s growing fear of Native sovereignty. His diplomatic relations with various tribes, as well as rival colonies and refusal to submit fully to Plymouth’s authority were seen as signs of rebellion, not diplomacy.(9) This colonial rebranding of political independence as insubordination served to justify preemptive detentions and punitive policies.

The consequences were profound. Wamsutta’s younger brother, Metacom, known to the English as King Philip succeeded him as Massasoit. Unlike his father, who had maintained peaceful relations with Plymouth for over four decades, and unlike Wamsutta, who had sought diplomacy with the English as equals, Metacom increasingly viewed the English as deceitful and encroaching aggressors. According to a statement attributed to him by John Borden of Portsmouth, Metacom declared that “the English had murdered his brother under the cloak of friendship.”(10)

Wamsutta’s death became a pivotal moment in colonial Indigenous relations. It was not simply the loss of a leader, but the collapse of faith in peaceful negotiation. His death deprived the Pokanokets of a strong and politically astute leader at a pivotal moment and served colonial interests by removing a key obstacle to Plymouth’s ambition to subjugate rather than negotiate with Indigenous nations. The Pokanoket, like many neighboring nations, had come to understand that colonial diplomacy was a pretense, masking intentions of land acquisition, subjugation, and surveillance. Within thirteen years, these tensions would erupt into King Philip’s War (1675–1678), one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of colonial North America. The roots of that war can be traced, in part, to the suspicious death of Wamsutta in the custody of the Plymouth authorities.