Part 1: Chapter 3, Into the Void Summary and Analysis

Massasoit, the most powerful Native American leader in the region, lived about sixty miles from Provincetown Harbor. Although he was in the prime of his life, he led a group who had been battling disease. From 1616 to 1619, as many as ninety percent of the region's Native Americans died from what may have been bubonic plague. Coastal New England, which had been as densely populated as Europe, emptied.

Massasoit led the Pokanokets and the group had been hard hit. Before the plague killed many, the group had around twelve thousand members and around 3000 fighting men. After the plague, Massasoit was left with only a few hundred warriors. Although his group struggled to survive, Massasoit had allies who also disliked his enemies, the Narragansetts, who had about five thousand fighting men.

The Native Americans in...