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"A Half Century of Conflict"- Vol. I

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Francis Parkman was one of the preeminent historians of the 19th century. This excerpt is drawn from his last book, published 1892. This excerpt describes the 1704 Raid on Deerfield by a mixed group of Quebec Indians: Mohawks from Kahnawake, Abenakis from St. Francois, and Hurons from Lorette, along with their French allies. Parkman finds little favorable to say about the Indians and hints that they were mere pawns of the French. However, later historians have shown that they operated with their own agenda, one as honorable and reasonable as any other player in this drama. Parkman's narrative became the standard text of the 1704 raid until at least the 1960s, and as such was remarkably influential.

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