An account that explores the raid from the conflicting viewpoints of the raiders, both French-Canadian and Native American, and the Deerfield villagers.

The picturesque town of Deerfield is located in the heart of historic Pioneer Valley. The town is famous for its beautifully preserved historic Old Main Street, its scenic fertile farmland, Historic Deerfield, Memorial Hall Museum, and the two-hundred-year-old Deerfield Academy. Many photographers and railroad fans are familiar with the East Deerfield Freight Yard, and many visitors enjoy going to see the Yankee Candle Company in South Deerfield. Deerfield's history is interesting not only to its guests but also to the many residents who spend their lives there. In Deerfield, vintage images encompass all sections of the town, including South Deerfield. The photographs reveal the early days of the railroad, historic houses, and important residents. They capture scenes of the Old Main Street in Old Deerfield, which retains much of its original character, and the agricultural landscape, which drew both the Native Americans and, later, the European settlers to Deerfield. The images in Deerfield reflect upon significant times of the past and celebrate that rich history.

"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 several attacking native tribes, 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. 112 survivors, including their fearless minister, the Reverand John Williams, were captured and led on a 300-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"--

Deerfield's first half-century, starting in 1670, was a struggle to survive numerous Indian attacks. But more than a site of bloodshed, Deerfield offers an extraordinary opportunity to study larger issues of colonial war and society.