<P> Philip gradually gained the Nipmuck, Pocomtuc, and Narragansett as allies, and the beginning of the uprising was first planned for the spring of 1676 . In March 1675, however, John Sassamon was murdered . Sassamon was a Christian Indian raised in Natick, one of the "praying towns ." He was educated at Harvard College and had served as a scribe, interpreter, and counselor to Philip and the Wampanoag . But, a week before his death, Sassamon reported to Plymouth governor Josiah Winslow that Philip was planning a war against the colonists . </P> <P> Sassamon was found dead under the ice of Assawompsett Pond a week later; three Wampanoag warriors were accused of his murder by a Christian Indian and taken captive by the colonists; they were hanged in June 1675 after a trial by a jury of 12 colonists and six Christian Indians . This execution was a catalyst for war, combined with rumors that the colonists wanted to capture Philip . Philip called a council of war on Mount Hope; most Wampanoag wanted to follow him, with the exception of the Nauset on Cape Cod and the small groups on the offshore islands . Allies included the Nipmuck, Pocomtuc, and some Pennacook and eastern Abenaki from farther north . The Narragansett remained neutral at the beginning of the war . </P> <P> On June 20, 1675 some young Wampanoags trekked to Swansea, killed some cattle, and scared the white settlers . The next day King Philip's War broke out, and the Wampanoag attacked a number of white settlements, burning them to the ground . The unexpected attacks caused great panic among the English . The united tribes in southern New England attacked 52 of 90 English settlements, and partially burned them down . </P> <P> At the outbreak of the war, many pro-English Native Americans offered to fight with the English against King Philip and his allies, serving as warriors, scouts, advisers and spies . Mistrust and hostility eventually caused the English to discontinue Native American assistance, even though they were invaluable in the war . The English resented the Christian Indians "turning against them", ignoring their own part in the tensions . The Massachusetts government moved many Christian Indians to Deer Island in Boston Harbor, in part to protect the "praying Indians" from English vigilantes, but also as a precautionary measure to prevent rebellion and sedition from them . Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, an account of her months of captivity by the Wampanoag during King Philip's War, expresses English prejudice against the Christian Native Americans . She complains of their cruelties towards "fellow" Christians, singling Christian converts out for fierce verbal attacks . </P>

Who were the wampanoag what was their life like on the eve of english settlement