佩科特人和莫西干人（英語：Mohegan）以前是同一集團，但在17世紀，正當佩科特人在康涅狄格州控制更多地盤，莫西干人分離了。與新英格蘭殖民地（英語：New England Colonies）之間憋着的緊張局勢導致了1634年-1638年佩科特戰爭（英語：Pequot War），大大削減了佩科特人的人口和影響力；許多成員被殺害、奴役、或者流散。少數佩科特人仍然留在康涅狄格州，分別於1666年和1683年在馬尚圖克特和波卡塔克河（英語：Pawcatuck River）獲得保護區；其餘的人就與其他部落居住在其他區域。18世紀，一些佩科特基督徒加入了其他幾個團體的成員，形成布拉澤敦印第安人。他們在19世紀遷往紐約州西部並在後來遷往威斯康星州。[4]
一眾歷史學家在爭論佩科特人是否在大約公元1500年從上哈德遜河谷遷向康涅狄格的中部和東部。佩科特人遷到康乃狄克河谷的理論可以追溯到威廉·哈伯德大人（William Hubbard），他於1677年聲稱佩科特人在普利茅斯殖民地建立之前，已經入侵了該區域一段時間，而不是起源於該區域。在菲利普國王戰爭之後，哈伯德在他的著作《Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England》詳述其中一些新英格蘭的部落對英格蘭人作出殘暴的反應。哈伯德所描述的佩科特人為當地的「外來者」；不是從另一個海岸來的侵略者，而是「來自內陸」的人「用武力奪得鄰海一個適意的地方，並成為他們所有鄰居的惡夢。」[8]
1616年-1619年間的天花疫情害死了許多新英格蘭東岸的印第安人，但它未能蔓延至佩科特、奈安蒂克和納拉甘西特部落。1633年，荷蘭在哈特福設立了一個貿易站稱為好望屋（the House of Good Hope）。他們因違反協議而處決了佩科特人的首領（sachem）Tatobem。佩科特人支付荷蘭大筆贖金之後，荷蘭人交回Tatobem的遺體。他的繼任人是Sassacus（英語：Sassacus）。1633年，疫情毀了當地所有部落，而歷史學家估計佩科特人喪失了80%的人口。在佩科特戰爭（英語：Pequot War）爆發時，倖存的佩科特人可能只剩下大約3 000人。[10]
歷史上，佩科特人講莫西干-佩科特語的其中一種方言、一種東阿岡昆語支語言。1637年佩科特戰爭以後締結了《哈特福德條約（英語：Treaty of Hartford (1638)）》，當時殖民者列明講佩科特語是罪行。一代之內，該語言大程度上已經滅絕。東佩科特部落國裡的佩科特人和馬尚圖克特佩科特人用的是英語。
Dean R. Snow and Kim M. Lamphear, "European Contact and Indian Depopulation in the Northeast: The Timing of the First Epidemics," Ethnohistory 35 (1988): 16-38.
Salwen, Bert (1978). "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island: Early Period." In Northeast, ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 175
Jeff Benedict, Without Reservation: The Making of America's Most Powerful Indian Tribe and Foxwoods the World's Largest Casino Hardcover], New York: Harper, 2000, ISBN978-0060193676
"The Pequot Relationships, as Indicated by the Events Leading to the Pequot Massacre of 1637 and Subsequent Claims in the Mohegan Land Controversy", Archaeological Society of Connecticut Bulletin 21 (1947): 26-33.
For archaeological investigations disproving Hubbard's theory of origins, see Irving Rouse, "Ceramic Traditions and Sequences in Connecticut," Archaeological Society of Connecticut Bulletin 21 (1947): 25; Kevin McBride, "Prehistory of the Lower Connecticut Valley" (Ph.D. diss., University of Connecticut, 1984), pp. 126-28, 199-269; and the overall evidence on the question of Pequot origins in Means, "Mohegan-Pequot Relationships," 26-33. For historical research, refer to Alfred A. Cave, "The Pequot Invasion of Southern New England: A Reassessment of the Evidence," New England Quarterly 62 (1989): 27-44; and for linguistic research, see Truman D. Michelson, "Notes on Algonquian Language," International Journal of American Linguistics 1 (1917): 56-57.
Refer to Sherburne F. Cook, "The Significance of Disease in the Extinction of the New England Indians," Human Biology 45 (1973): 485-508; and Arthur E. Speiro and Bruce D. Spiess, "New England Pandemic of 1616-1622: Cause and Archaeological Implication," Man in the Northeast 35 (1987): 71-83.
Lion Gardiner, "Relation of the Pequot Warres," History of the Pequot War: The Contemporary Accounts of Mason, Underhill, Vincent, and Gardiner (Cleveland, 1897), p. 138; Ethel Boissevain, "Whatever Became of the New England Indians Shipped to Bermuda to be Sold as Slaves," Man in the Northwest 11 (Spring 1981), pp. 103-114; and Karen O. Kupperman, Providence Island, 1630-1641: The Other Puritan Colony (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993), p. 172.
"Thirteenth Census of the United States taken in the year 1910" United States Bureau of the Census,
(Washington, D.C. : Government Printing Office, 1912-1914).
See Laurence M. Hauptman and James Wherry, eds. The Pequots in Southern New England: The Fall and Rise of an Indian Nation (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990); Wayne J. Stein, "Gaming: The Apex of a Long Struggle," Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 13, No. 1. (Spring, 1998), pp. 73-91; Jeff Benedict, Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World's Largest Casino, Harper Books, 2001; Brett Duval Fromson, Hitting the Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History, Grove Press, 2004.
See Reagan's initial response in "Message to the Senate Returning Without Approval the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Claims Settlement Bill", April 5, 1983, University of Texas. （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）
Heller, Louis G. (1961). "Two Pequot Names in American Literature," American Speech 36(1): 54-57
參考書目
主要來源
Gardiner, Lion. Leift Lion Gardener his Relation of the Pequot Warres (Boston: [First Printing] Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1833).
Hubbard, William. The History of the Indian Wars in New England 2 vols. (Boston: Samuel G. Drake, 1845).
Johnson, Edward. Wonder-Working Providence of Sion's Saviour in New England by Captain Edward Johnson of Woburn, Massachusetts Bay. With an historical introduction and an index by William Frederick Poole (Andover, MA: W. F. Draper, [London: 1654] 1867.
Mason, John. A Brief History of the Pequot War: Especially of the Memorable taking of their Fort at Mistick in Connecticut in 1637/Written by Major John Mason, a principal actor therein, as then chief captain and commander of Connecticut forces; With an introduction and some explanatory notes by the Reverend Mr. Thomas Prince (Boston: Printed & sold by. S. Kneeland & T. Green in Queen Street, 1736).
Mather, Increase. A Relation of the Troubles which have Hapned in New-England, by Reason of the Indians There, from the Year 1614 to the Year 1675 (New York: Arno Press, [1676] 1972).
Orr, Charles ed., History of the Pequot War: The Contemporary Accounts of Mason, Underhill, Vincent, and Gardiner (Cleveland, 1897).
Underhill, John. Nevves from America; or, A New and Experimentall Discoverie of New England: Containing, a True Relation of their War-like Proceedings these two yeares last past, with a figure of the Indian fort, or Palizado. Also a discovery of these places, that as yet have very few or no inhabitants which would yeeld speciall accommodation to such as will plant there . . . By Captaine Iohn Underhill, a commander in the warres there (London: Printed by I. D[awson] for Peter Cole, and are to be sold at the signe of the Glove in Corne-hill neere the Royall Exchange, 1638).
Vincent, Philip. A True Relation of the late Battell fought in New England, between the English, and the Salvages: VVith the present state of things there (London: Printed by M[armaduke] P[arsons] for Nathanael Butter, and Iohn Bellamie, 1637).
第二手資料來源
Boissevain, Ethel. "Whatever Became of the New England Indians Shipped to Bermuda to be Sold as Slaves," Man in the Northwest 11 (Spring 1981), pp. 103–114.
Benedict, Jeff. Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World's Largest Casino. New York: Harper Books, 2001.
Bradstreet, Howard. The Story of the War with the Pequots, Retold. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1933.
Cave, Alfred A. "The Pequot Invasion of Southern New England: A Reassessment of the Evidence," New England Quarterly 62 (1989): 27-44.
Cook, Sherburne F. "The Significance of Disease in the Extinction of the New England Indians," Human Biology 45 (1973): 485-508.
Fromson, Brett Duval. Hitting the Jackpot: The Inside Story of the Richest Indian Tribe in History. Grove Press, 2004.
Hauptman, Laurence M. and James D. Wherry, eds. The Pequots in Southern New England: The Fall and Rise of an American Indian Nation. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
Kupperman, Karen O. Providence Island, 1630-1641: The Other Puritan Colony (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993).
McBride, Kevin. "The Historical Archaeology of the Mashantucket Pequots, 1637-1900," in Laurence M. Hauptman and James Wherry, eds. Pequots in Southern New England: The Fall and Rise of an American Indian Nation (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993), pp. 96–116.
______. Prehistory of the Lower Connecticut Valley. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1984.
Means, Carrol Alton. "Mohegan-Pequot Relationships, as Indicated by the Events Leading to the Pequot Massacre of 1637 and Subsequent Claims in the Mohegan Land Controversy," Archaeological Society of Connecticut Bulletin 21 (1947): 26-33.
Newell, Margaret Ellen. Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2015.
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Rouse, Irving. "Ceramic Traditions and Sequences in Connecticut," Archaeological Society of Connecticut Bulletin 21 (1947).
Oberg, Michael. Uncas: First of the Mohegans (Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press（英語：Cornell University Press）, 2003).
Simmons, William S. Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and Folklore, 1620-1984. Dartmouth, NH: University Press of New England（英語：University Press of New England）, 1986.
Snow, Dean R. and Kim M. Lamphear. "European Contact and Indian Depopulation in the Northeast: The Timing of the First Epidemics," Ethnohistory 35 (1988): 16-38.
Spiero, Arthur E., and Bruce E. Speiss. "New England Pandemic of 1616-1622: Cause and Archaeological Implication," Man in the Northeast 35 (1987): 71-83.
Vaughan, Alden T. "Pequots and Puritans: The Causes of the War of 1637," William and Mary Quarterly 3rd Ser., Vol. 21, No. 2 (Apr., 1964), pp. 256–269; also republished in Roots of American Racism: Essays on the Colonial Experience (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).
_______. New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians 1620-1675. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1980.
