However, in 1671 his son was accused of murdering an Englishman named Zachariah Smith near the Neponset River in Dedham,[1][2] and hanged, despite the fact that it was widely known that somebody else was responsible for the crime.
[3] When Metacom (King Philip) began organizing an armed movement against the English settlers in New England in 1675, Matoonas willingly joined and convinced other Nipmuc sachems to follow him.
In July of that year he led a raid on the town of Mendon, which decided Nipmuc participation in the war on the side of Philip.
[3] Shortly after the raid on Mendon, together with another Nipmuc sachem, Muttawmp, Matoonas successfully ambushed a party of colonial soldiers in what became known as Wheeler's Surprise at Brookfield.
[7] Some sources give the original Native American name of this person as Horowaninit,[8] Schultz and Tougias state in their work on the King Philip's War however, that "...Muttawmp and Shoshonin, who had delivered Matoonas to the English, likewise fell victim to Waldron's treachery and were executed by firing squad at Boston.