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The Uplands

The surface of New England is generally made up of inequalities," or so Timothy Dwight, an early geographer, described the region in 1821.¹ Apart from the Central Valley and some coastal regions, Dwight's words accurately assess Connecticut. In the Eastern Uplands and Western Uplands, the land is seldom content to remain at one level for long. Hills alternate with valleys in a seemingly unending sequence of ups and downs. Jedidiah Morse likened New England's Uplands to an "ocean of woods, swelled and depressed in its surface like that of the great ocean itself."' Frequently, the hilly swells are crowned by a farm, a white colonial farmhouse, a church with a tall spire. Stone walls line the fields and run through the woods. Old mill towns with their Victorian-era homes and storefronts occupy the valleys. But most characteristically, the land rolls.

Today, the rolling hills of the Uplands give the impression of a friendly landscape. Milk cows graze contentedly in pastures, young forests blanket the hillsides. The lights from the many villages and towns warm even the dreariest of nights. Paved roads make almost the entire region easily accessible. But in the late 1600s, the Uplands were the frontier and the few colonists living there were pioneers.

The colonists were not alone in this wilderness. As early as 9000 years ago, "Indians" already were living in a Connecticut freshly freed from its glacial interment. Ancestors of Connecticut's native Americans

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