Editing Dartmouth, Massachusetts (section)

=== Early colonial history ===
Before the 17th century, the lands that now constitute Dartmouth had been inhabited by the [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]] Native Americans, who were part of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian language]] family and had settlements throughout southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including [[Martha's Vineyard]] and [[Nantucket, Massachusetts|Nantucket]]. Their population is believed to have been about 12,000.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=February 3, 2020 |title=The Old Dartmouth Purchase {{!}} New Bedford Whaling Museum |url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/old-dartmouth-purchase |access-date=June 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203160505/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/old-dartmouth-purchase |archive-date=February 3, 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2021 |title=Evolution of Old Dartmouth - New Bedford Whaling Museum |url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/learn/research-topics/regional-history/evolution-of-old-dartmouth/ |access-date=August 21, 2021 |website=www.whalingmuseum.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Wampanoag]] inhabited the area for up to a thousand years before European colonization, and their ancestors had been there longer.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barboza |first=Robert |title=Genealogist brings 'missing' Wampanoag history in Westport, Dartmouth to forefront |url=https://www.southcoasttoday.com/special/20180116/genealogist-brings-missing-wampanoag-history-in-westport-dartmouth-to-forefront |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729024952/https://www.southcoasttoday.com/special/20180116/genealogist-brings-missing-wampanoag-history-in-westport-dartmouth-to-forefront |archive-date=29 July 2020 |website=[[The Standard-Times (New Bedford)|southcoasttoday.com]] |location=New Bedford |access-date=2 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref> In [[John Winthrop]]'s (1587–1649) journal, he wrote the name of Dartmouth's indigenous tribes as being the Nukkehkammes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glennon |first=Beverly |title=Dartmouth: The Early History of a Massachusetts Coastal Town |publisher=American Printing |date=October 2001 |isbn=978-0971459106 |location=New Bedford, MA |pages=49 |language=EN}}</ref> The English explorer [[Bartholomew Gosnold]] in the ship ''Concord'' landed on [[Cuttyhunk Island]] on May 15, 1602, and explored the area before leaving and eventually settling in the [[Jamestown Colony]] of [[Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Museum |first=New Bedford Whaling |title=Exploration & "Discovery" |url=https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/exploration-discovery |access-date=January 5, 2020 |website=New Bedford Whaling Museum |language=en |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729035255/https://www.whalingmuseum.org/explore/exhibitions/harboring-hope-in-old-dartmouth/exploration-discovery |url-status=dead }}</ref> Gosnolds explorations of the area took him to [[Round Hill (Dartmouth, Massachusetts)|Round Hill]], which he named Hap's Hill. Additionally he described the territories of Dartmouth as being covered in fields with flowers, [[beech]] and cedar groves. He picked wild strawberries, and noticed deer. He also saw the [[Apponagansett River]] which runs through Padanaram Harbor, and the [[Acushnet River]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Comiskey |first=Kathleen Ryan |title=Secrets of Old Dartmouth |publisher=Reynolds-DeWalt |year=1976 |edition=Revised |location=New Bedford, Massachusetts |pages=23–25}}</ref>

Settled sparsely by the natives, with the arrival of the pilgrims in Plymouth, the region gradually began to become of interest to the colonists, until a meeting was held to officially purchase the land.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=A Brief History {{!}} Dartmouth, MA |url=https://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/357/A-Brief-History |access-date=April 29, 2023 |website=www.town.dartmouth.ma.us}}</ref>