 In May 1622 , a vessel named the Sparrow arrived carrying seven men from the Merchant Adventurers whose purpose was to seek out a site for a new settlement in the area . Two ships followed shortly thereafter carrying sixty settlers , all men . They spent July and August in Plymouth before moving north to settle in modern Weymouth , Massachusetts at a settlement which they named Wessagussett . The settlement of Wessagussett was short @-@ lived , but it provided the spark for an event that dramatically changed the political landscape between the local Native American tribes and the English settlers . Reports reached Plymouth of a military threat to Wessagussett , and Myles Standish organized a militia to defend them . However , he found that there had been no attack . He therefore decided on a pre @-@ emptive strike , an event which historian Nathaniel Philbrick calls " Standish 's raid " . He lured two prominent Massachusett military leaders into a house at Wessagussett under the pretense of sharing a meal and making negotiations . Standish and his men then stabbed and killed the two unsuspecting Native Americans . The local sachem named Obtakiest was pursued by Standish and his men but escaped with three English prisoners from Wessagussett , whom he then executed . Within a short time , Wessagussett was disbanded , and the survivors were integrated into the town of Plymouth . 
