Conestoga Town
Marks [signatures] of Sohay, Cuyanguerrycola and Saguyasotha or John - Letter from Conestoga Indians to John Penn, November 30, 1763
When the poor Wretches
saw they had no Protection nigh, nor could possibly escape,… they fell on their Knees, protested their Innocence, and in this Posture they all received the Hatchet! Men, Women and little Children—were every one inhumanly
murdered!—in cold Blood!
Can it be thought strange,
that disagreeable Burden of supporting, …, between One and Two Hundred Savages in the Heart of the Province should awaken
the Resentment of a People
grossly abused, unrighteously burdened, and made
Dupes and Slaves to Indians?
The Paxtons: A Declaration and Remonstrance;
Of the distressed and bleeding Frontier Inhabitants
Of the Province of Pennsylvania,
Overview
On two days in December 1763, a series of methodical murders committed in broad daylight in the middle of Pennsylvania destroyed the remnants of the once magnificent Conestoga-Susquhannock tribe. The Indians, living peaceably on Lancaster County farmland for generations, were targeted by a group of Scots-Irish settlers known as the Paxton Boys, whose mission was the extermination of all Indians in Pennsylvania.
How did this happen in a community and state that enshrined pacifism and sought to create a ‘peaceable kingdom’ on earth? Discover how the collision of these two groups triggered a political crisis, a media firestorm, and two parallel wars of independence - one Native, one Colonial. And how this massacre created the template for displacement, destruction and erasure that spilled across a continent and generations…and continues to this day.
Daniel Richter - Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols, Professor of American History Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, Author of Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America.
Matthew Kruer - Assistant Professor of History and the College, University of Chicago, Author of Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America,
Debbie Saylor - Archeologist and Historian at Indian Steps Museum
Jack Brubaker - Journalist and Historian, Author of Massacre of the Conestoga
Scott Paul Gordon - Andrew W. Mellon Chair, Professor of English, Lehigh University, Author of The Letters of Mary Penry: A Single Moravian Woman in Early America
Kevin Kenny - Glucksman Professor of History, New York University, Author of Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn's Holy Experiment
Michael Mantooth - (White Top, Conestoga-Susquehannock) is a historian and activist.
Molly Wolanski - Collections and Exhibits Manager, North Museum.
Will Fenton - Author and Historian Creator of Digital Paxton.
Lee Francis 4 - (Laguna Pueblo) is an educator, activist, poet, and comic creator, Author of Ghost River.
Guests
Images
Map of Mannor Twp c.1760 showing 'Indiantown' also known as Conestoga Town
Signatures/Marks of Conestoga men on John Penn letter
Medal Presented from Charles II to Cockacoeske 'Queen of the Pamunkey'
Lancaster County Wax Museum c. 1980's
Map of 1763 Royal Proclamation issued by George III showing 'proclamation line' separating coastal settler territory and interior land 'Reserved for Indians'
A map of Iroquoia, drawn by a Chesapeake Algonquian, from a similar map made using kernels of corn by Haudenosaunee ambassadors to Maryland. Individual nations are circles, straight lines show the paths and rivers that connected them. Proceedings of the Governor and Council (1678–1683). Collections of the Maryland State Archives. Reprinted from Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America (p. xv). Harvard University Press.
Letter from the Conestoga to John Penn November, 1763
The German bleeds and bears ye furs.
Murdered at Conestoga Town:
Sheehays
Wa-a-shen (George)
Tee-Kau-ley (Harry)
Ess-canesh (son of Sheehays)
Tea-wonsha-i-ong (an Elder)
Kannenquas
Murdered at the Lancaster Workhouse:
Koweenasee (Betty)
Kyunqueagoah (Captain John, husband of Koweenasee)
Quaachow (Little John, child of Koweenasee and Kyunqueagoah)
Kanianguas (Molly)
Tenseedaagua (Bill Sack, husband of Kanianguas)
Chee-na-wan (Peggy)
Saquies-hat-tah (John Smith, husband of Chee-na-wan)
Shae-e-kah (Jacob, a child)
Ex-undas (Little Sheehays, son of Sheehays)
Tong-quas (Chris, a child)
Hy-ye-naes (Little Peter, a child)
Ko-qoa-e-un-quas (Molly, a child)
Karen-do-uah (an infant)
Canu-kie-sung (Peggy, a child)
Survivors:
Michael (Husband of Mary)
Mary
Names of the Conestoga-Susquehannock Murdered in Lancaster County, December 1763
Resources
Massacre of the Conestoga, Jack Brubaker
Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn's Holy Experiment, Kevin Kenny
Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America, Matthew Kruer
Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America, Daniel Richter
Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America, Pekka Hämäläinen
The Rediscovery of American Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, Ned Blackhawk
First Pennsylvanians The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania Kurt W. Carr and Roger W. Moelle
A Note on Scalp Bounties in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania History vol. 24, no. 3, July 1957
The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America, Colin Calloway
The Paxton Boys and Edward Shippen: Defiance and Deference on a Collapsing Frontier, Author(s): Scott Paul Gordon Source: Early American Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Spring 2016), pp. 319-347 Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Pro Publica NAGPRA Reparations Database: Does Your Local Museum or University Still Have Native American Remains? Use this database to find out where Native American remains were taken from and which institutions report still having them.
Invisible Indians: Native Americans in Pennsylvania Author(s): David Minderhout and Andrea Frantz, Source: Human Organization, Spring 2008, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Spring 2008), pp. 61-67 Published by: Society for Applied Anthropology
Digital Paxton: Digital Collection, Critical Edition, and Teaching Platform, Will Fenton, Editor
The Light in the Forest - Conrad Richter