Choppequonsett and the Mystery of “The Indian Fence”

One of the goals of the Friends of Passeonkquis Cove is to aggregate the rich local history of this tiny section of Warwick. With thousands of years of human occupation, and only about four hundred years of written documentation from colonists and historians, interpreting the local history can be challenging. However, we have quite a bit more information than many other places in the United States, thanks to the preservation of place names and a large amount of writing from Roger Williams and his contemporaries.

Thomas E. Greene, whose family developed much of colonial Pawtuxet and Warwick, created a map in 1661 of the deeds between the local Sachems and the English. Incredibly, this map survives to this day, and a photo was included in a 1973 report by the City of Warwick.

A 1973 reproduction of the 1661 plat map “Bounds of Warwick Towne” by Thomas E. Greene.

Later, in the 18th century, the region sometimes referred to as “The Gaspee Plateau” was documented as Choppequonsett and, importantly, as the word used by the Native Americans to describe the plateau area prior to colonization. There is a fascinating feature on Greene’s map. On the left side of the map, running vertically, is a tightly dashed line, with the words “the Indians fence” written alongside it.

In the absence of more sophisticated surveying, landmarks were used by colonists to identify the bounds of their territory. “The Indians Fence” runs from the top of Passeonkquis Cove to the Pawtuxet River, adjacent to the “wad shat” - reportedly translated as “high ground” in Henry A.L. Brown’s private publication, “Warwick Downs, a Sense of Place” in 1993.

This makes very little sense as the topography of this area is the opposite of “high ground” - in fact, it matches quite well with a very low part of the terrain. Perhaps this was mistranslated over the years, and instead refers to a low ground, or swampy area. See LiDAR image (note that the 1661 plat map is oriented South-North and the LiDAR image is North-South).

In our current landscape, the closest thing to “The Indian Fence” seems to be Warwick Ave, assuming that Greene’s map used the landscape, and not the water, for reference in Passeonkquis Cove. In the event that he used only the water, then Fair Street would be the closest landmark.

So just what is The Indians Fence? Hopefully, we can learn more through writings of the time but for now, it’s truly a local mystery.