Today, the small town of Bristol, Rhode Island, hardly seems like a war zone.  The southern portion’s coast, overlooking Newport, boasts scenic views of Narragansett Bay and Fall River that show off the beauty of New England.  Amidst this quiet forest, however, lies the history of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the colonial period.  On land that is now an anthropology museum owned by Brown University, Metacom[1] launched a war against English colonists that now bears his name.   From June 1675 until the following August, the colonies of New England were engaged in a violent conflict with a coalition of native tribes, led by Metacom, or as he was called by the English, Philip.  After Philip’s death and the war’s conclusion, the native presence in southern New England was greatly reduced.  Most of the survivors were sold into slavery, forced to live in a “praying town” of Christian Indians, or moved to reservations.[2]  Not all native peoples disappeared, but they were reduced to a memory in the eyes of the colonists rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of the struggle.