In October 2017, local surveyor, land preservationist, and historian Mr. E. Otis Dyer donated to the Rehoboth Land Trust (RLT) an approximately 433-acre land tract comprising a substantial portion of the Squannakonk Swamp. Centrally located in eastern Rehoboth, this undeveloped area lies north of Old County Street and borders Maple Lane. This generous donation, named the “Roy Wheaton Horton Preserve,” ensures the preservation of an area of remarkable historic and geographic significance for the enjoyment of the Town’s residents and visitors. RLT’s acquisition of the R.W. Horton Preserve stands as an achievement central to our mission, embracing our objectives to protect and preserve land that: enhances the rural character of our locale; supports the quality of natural habitats and water resources; and offers historical resource value. For this great gift, RLT and the Rehoboth’s residents will remain ever grateful to E. O. Dyer.

In donating the Horton preserve, Mr. Dyer has made a singularly important contribution to the conservation of Rehoboth’s natural and cultural heritage. This accomplishment exemplifies his life’s work in acquiring such land of special significance and documenting our local history. In his book, Swamp Yankee (William S. Sullwold, 1994), Mr. Dyer honored the life and times of Roy W. Horton (1899-1989), a farmer he befriended in the late 1950s. Swamp Yankee chronicled Roy Horton’s lumbering activities in Rehoboth’s swamps and woodlands during his working years. The approximately 800-acre Squannakonk Swamp, one of the Town’s largest wetland areas, figured importantly as a timber resource for Horton and generations of other local woodsmen.

Occupying a depression plucked by a glacier from the lee of a bedrock promontory nearly 20,000 years ago, Squannakonk Swamp represents a landform commonly found in Southeastern Massachusetts, but whose importance is often underappreciated. The primordial placename “Squannakonk” probably meant “goose swamp” to the region’s original Algonquian inhabitants. What some might otherwise regard as unproductive land, truly merits preservation for its historical interest and water resource value. The flow from the swamp feeds Bad Luck Pond and the east branch of the Palmer River, and supplies critical aquifer recharge for our groundwater supply. In addition, Squannakonk provides beneficial habitat for a variety of plants, amphibians, birds, and other wildlife.

Squannakonk Swamp’s recorded history extends back to the 17th Century, the time of the earliest European settlers in our region. At that time, Squannakonk consisted of a mature Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) swamp full of straight-grained towering trees that eventually would yield countless board feet of planks, strakes, posts, rails, pilings, clapboards, and shingles for local use and export. This resource, like other white cedar swamps in the vicinity, supplied nearby mills and the local populace.

At the northern end of Squannakonk Swamp, where it approaches Winthrop Street, stands the site of a pivotal event in King Philp’s War (1675-1678), memorialized by the Annawan Rock historical landmark. There, following the death of Metacomet (King Philip) of the Wampanoags in 1676, one night a small stealthy party of Sakonnets and magistrate Benjamin Church succeeded in surprising a Wampanoag encampment and securing the peaceful surrender of the elderly Annawan, Metacomet’s distinguished war chief and close advisor.

The white cedar swamp that had provided temporary refuge for Annawan’s band became an integral part of the local Yankee economy for at least another 250 years. During this time, the Atlantic white cedar resource gradually dwindled, and through ecological succession the area developed predominantly into red maple swamp and pine forest, as it exists today. Nevertheless, Squannakonk Swamp continued to supplement small-scale lumbering operations such as that of the Horton family, with hardwoods and pine providing winter harvests of cord word, lumber, and charcoal for local distribution. With each successive generation, the woodlots became narrower, forming elongated strips just wide enough for woodsmen to sled felled trees over the frozen ground to the landings, areas that were sufficiently dry and accessible to permit loading the timber for transport.

Swamp Yankee recounts the harrowing adventure of Roy and Elwood Horton during the St. Valentine’s Day Blizzard of 1940 while they were cutting wood in Squannakonk Swamp. Roy managed to escape the heavy snowfall in his truck, which he had parked at a landing, but his brother Elwood found himself lost in the blinding snowstorm with their team of oxen, and no way to find his bearings. A resourceful Yankee, Elwood unhitched the oxen from their load and safely followed them through the blizzard as they instinctively found their way back to the farm in West Dighton.

Today, Squannakonk Swamp remains relatively undisturbed by human activity except the occasional hunter or hiker. The boulders, briars, and wet ground throughout much of the year make passage through the area difficult. As a water resource and wetland habitat, this area continues to have critical importance for Rehoboth.

Through Mr. Dyer’s diligent work and gracious donation, RLT has acquired an area of quintessential significance to our local history and landscape. The Roy W. Horton Preserve honors the memory of its namesake and the swamp Yankee heritage that he personified and, at the same time, conserves a place unique to Rehoboth’s character. With the support of our membership, we can enhance public access to the Horton Preserve for the benefit of all those who would like to explore this special place. Please donate and volunteer to help us complete this new chapter in the ongoing story of Squannakonk Swamp!

A Swamp Yankee Tale: E. Otis Dyer and The Roy Wheaton Horton Preserve