In the tradition of the New York Times bestseller Empire of the
Summer Moon comes a spellbinding account of a forgotten chapter in
American history: the deadly confrontation between Native Americans and
colonists in Massachusetts in 1704 and the tragic saga that unfolded,
written by acclaimed historian James Swanson.
Once it was one of the most famous events in early American history.
Today, it has been nearly forgotten.
In an obscure, two-hundred-year-old museum in a little village in
western Massachusetts, there lies what once was the most revered but now
totally forgotten relic from the history of early New England--the
massive, tomahawk-scarred door that came to symbolize the notorious
Deerfield Massacre. This impregnable barricade--known to early Americans
as "The Old Indian Door"--constructed from double-thick planks of
Massachusetts oak and studded with hand-wrought iron nails to repel the
flailing tomahawk blades of attacking Pocumtuck Indians, is the sole
surviving artifact from the most dramatic moment in colonial American
history: Leap Year, February 29, 1704, a cold, snowy night when hundreds
of native Americans and their French allies swept down upon an isolated
frontier outpost and ruthlessly slaughtered its inhabitants.
The sacking of Deerfield led to one of the greatest sagas of adventure,
survival, sacrifice, family, honor, and faith ever told in North
America. Nearly 100 survivors, including their fearless minister, the
Reverand John Williams, were captured and led on a 900-mile forced march
north, into enemy territory in Canada. Any captive who faltered or
became too weak to continue the journey--including Williams's own wife
and one of his children--fell under the knife or tomahawk.
Survivors of the march willed themselves to live and endured captivity.
Ransomed by the King of England's royal governor of Massachusetts, the
captives later returned home to Deerfield, rebuilt their town and, for
the rest of their lives, told the incredible tale. The memoir of Rev.
Williams, The Redeemed Captive, became the first bestselling book in
American history and published a few years after his liberation, it
remains a literary classic. The old Indian door is a touchstone that
conjures up one of the most dramatic and inspiring stories of colonial
America--and now, finally, this legendary event is brought to vivid life
by popular historian James Swanson.
