DECEMBER 14:

Cecil Edward Denny 1850-1928 NWMP officer, Indian agent, author, born on this day at Hampshire, England, in 1850, the 6th baronet of Tralee Castle; died at Edmonton Aug. 24, 1928. Denny joined the North West Mounted Police in 1874 and served in the Whoop-Up country; resigned following a scandal involving a woman; served as Indian agent at Fort Walsh, in Treaty No 7 and as a special Indian agent during the North West Rebellion; worked as police scout, packer, guide and fire ranger; 1922-27 Assistant Archivist of Alberta; author of The Riders of the Plains: A Reminiscence of the Early and Exciting Days in the North West (1905) and The Law Marches West (1939). 

December 14, 1763:  Today, a band of almost five dozen frontiersmen, called "the Paxton Boys", will attack a peaceful Susquehanna Indian village in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. They will kill eight of the 22 inhabitants in this unprovoked raid. "The Boys" will continue their rampage during the next two weeks.
 
 
 

BACKGROUND:
 

From http://www.brokenclaw.com/native/susquehannock.html
 
 
 

Growing up in Pennsylvania in the 1960's, I remember studying the history of the Commonwealth in school. I  remember reading about the native Susquehannocks, who farmed the land, traded with settlers, and left their namesake on many landmarks. Even today, throughout the region there are numerous reminders of the tribe that so dominated central Pennsylvania. So where are they now? Were they driven west? Were they hoarded onto a reservation? No, the story is much more grievous. It begins with Captain John Smith of Jamestown fame, who, while exploring the upper Chesapeake Bay in 1608, had the first recorded European encounter with the native people known as the Susquehannock. That name, as well as the name for the Susquehanna River, is derived from the word Sasquesahanough, a descriptive term used by Smith's Algonquian interpreter to mean People at the Falls, or People of the Muddy River.

Historically, we often come to know tribal groups by the name that others call them, and not what they call themselves. Of course, this trend arises naturally from the fact that most tribes simply call themselves The People, and all others are The Others. How they differentiate among groups of Others is how a name becomes attached to a tribe. In the case of the Susquehannocks, colonial history records numerous names which can be associated with this tribe.

The true nature of their society, whether comprised of a single tribe in a single village, or a confederacy of smaller tribes occupying scattered villages, will probably never be known, since Europeans seldom visited this inland region during the early colonial period. It's likely that the Susquehannocks had occupied the same land for several hundred years. What is known is that at the time of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, the Susquehannocks controlled a vast territory, comprised of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, from what is now New York, across Pennsylvania, to Maryland. They had a formidable village in the lower river valley near present-day Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when Captain Smith met them. He estimated the population of their village to be two thousand, although he never visited it. Modern estimates of their population, including the whole territory in 1600, range as high as seven thousand. But the story of the Susquehannocks has a violent and tragic end. Within a hundred and fifty years, this once powerful tribe was completely obliterated.

During the 1600's, the Susquehannocks, like many eastern tribes, were constantly forming alliances and waging wars with their neighbors, both native and European, for control and profit. Historically, the Susquehannocks had always been allies of the Huron and enemies of the Iroquois. During this time they were known to combat other tribes as well, such as the Delaware to the east, the Powhatan to the south, and the Mohawk to the north. Besides control of their native land and its natural trading routes, the Susquehannocks were fighting for the profits of business with the European fur traders. They were perhaps the only tribe to achieve friendly relations with all the Europeans: the French, the Dutch, the Swedes, and the English, at one time or another. They signed treaties with colonial governors of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. But the price of constant warfare, along with the ravages of disease, took its toll. As warriors were killed in battle by the hundreds, their numbers quickly declined, and the social structure began to fail. Smallpox epidemics devastated their population at least twice. Many Susquehannocks left their homeland to join other tribes in New York, North Carolina, and Ohio. By the end of the 1600's, only a few hundred Susquehannocks remained as an identifiable tribe. After migrating as far away as Virginia, they returned to their ancestral home to build a new village, where they lived under the protection of the provincial government of Pennsylvania. Here they were known as the Conestoga, referring to the name of their village, Conestoga Town on the Conestoga River. Some historians have suggested that Conestoga may well have been what the Susquehannock called themselves all along, but the evidence is circumstantial at best.

Today, of course, Conestoga is most closely associated with the Conestoga Wagon, named for the same river valley in Lancaster County. Although it probably had origins in European draft wagons, the utilitarian design of the Conestoga Wagon was perfected by the Pennsylvania Dutch merchants. (Incidentally, the Pennsylvania Dutch are actually of German descent. The misnomer results from the mispronunciation of the German word for German, Deutsch.) From there the Conestoga Wagon made its mark in American folklore as the canopied moving van of western expansion. Ironically, it was just these same wagon trains, followed closely by the railroads, that ultimately led to the demise of the western native tribes.

Conestoga Town quickly became an important center for trade and treaty signings. William Penn himself visited in 1700, as did several succeeding governors of the Commonwealth. However, within two generations this small, isolated tribe had dwindled to a handful. The final chapter of the Susquehannocks is well documented in the historical record. In 1763, Chief Pontiac of the Ottawas led uprisings against settlers in the Great Lakes region, including western Pennsylvania. Although the Conestoga were peaceful farmers and craftsman, with no connection to the rebellion in the west, they were attacked by a group of vigilantes known as the Paxton Boys, who murdered the six people they found in the village. The provincial council ordered the rest of the Conestoga to be taken into protective custody, but the measures failed. The Paxton Boys broke into the workhouse and slaughtered all fourteen members of the tribe. Two residents of Conestoga, a husband and wife, survived the attack. They had been away, working at another farm. The Governor issued them papers of protection until their death. When they died, the history of the Susquehannocks died with them.
 

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>From http://www.obcgs.com/rebels.htm#PaxtonBoys
 

Paxton Boys Uprising, 1763-64. Pennsylvania frontiersmen - many of them from the town of Paxton - angered by the Eastern-dominated colonial Assembly's unwillingness to help in defense against Indian attacks, murdered some peaceful Indians (always easier than taking on warlike tribes) and marched on Philadelphia. They were persuaded to return to their homes by a group headed by Benjamin Franklin, who promised the Assembly would authorize paying bounties for Indian scalps.

A viewer commented on how much more there was to the Paxton Boy Uprising, (and not knowing anything about it -- did my education fail?), I proceeded to investigate via the internet.  At first references were few and far between, but persistence came up with the following (links included): Interestingly -- Paxtang Boys, Paxton Boys, Paxtang Rangers and Paxton Rangers seem to be interchangeable.

The Paxton Boys, Mr. Evans says: "They did not derive their name from a family, but from Paxtang (corrupted to Paxton) Township, a name derived from an Indian tribe. Paxton Township is in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, where no Paxtons of Irish family ever resided, and forty miles away from any Paxton home. [The Paxton Boys were a military company, and there was not a Paxton in it. A judicial investigation of the matter was made, and none of the name was found in the murderous band, and none were accused. The imputations that have been made, were based on no other foundation than the coincidence of name]."