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46-519: Of the non-Mohawk survivors, 27 were taken captive, including five Africans. Three captives were later redeemed; another two men returned to the village after three and 11 years with the Mohawk, respectively. The remainder of the surviving captives were dragged through the snow, tied to horses, and left hungry for weeks before arriving in a Mohawk town north of Montreal. Those who survived were fed and clothed by Mohawk families and began new lives as members of

92-607: A national church in 1560, its aim was to have a university-educated schoolmaster in every parish . The minister sometimes served as the dominie. Over time this came to be used as a term for a minister, schoolmaster or university student. In the United States and in South Africa the same word is used to describe a pastor in the Dutch Reformed Church . This Christianity -related article

138-525: A diplomatic route. Numerous attacks from both sides followed, but none was fatal, and the two groups quickly realized the futility of their attempts to drive the other out. In February 1690, the French began peace negotiations with the Iroquois. The French returned captured natives in exchange for the beginnings of peace talks. Throughout the 1690s, there were no major French or native raids, and even against

184-506: A few converted Mohawks. They marched the 200 miles overland in about 22 days. Taking Fort Orange would have been a major blow against the English. At what is now Fort Edward , the French officers held council on the plan of attack. The leaders were Jacques le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène and Nicolas d'Ailleboust de Manthet . The second-in-command was the explorer and naval officer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville . The expedition made its way across

230-600: A means to replace the dead within a native community. In wartime, natives would capture members of another group and adopt them to rebuild their society. When new diseases such as smallpox killed large numbers of native people within their communities, survivors were motivated to warfare to take captives to rebuild. What the Iroquois wanted was not war but a better share of the fur trade. To serve as punishment for attacks on French fur fleets, New France ordered two expeditions under Courcelles and Tracy into Mohawk territory in 1666. The expeditions burned villages and destroyed much of

276-402: A result, the Iroquois regularly raided trading parties in the western frontier, which was under French protection, and took loot from them. After a military confrontation in 1684, the Iroquois negotiated a peace treaty with French governor Antoine Lefèbvre de La Barre , but it stated the Iroquois were free to attack the western Indians. The French objected to the treaty and replaced La Barre with

322-619: A substantial portion of the Lachine settlement by fire and captured numerous inhabitants, killing around 240. The Mohawk people and other Iroquois tribes attacked the French and their indigenous allies for a variety of reasons related to both economic and cultural circumstances. Europeans settlers in the American Northeast developed a fur trade with Indians, including the Iroquois, and beaver furs were most desired. During

368-744: Is a Scots language and Scottish English term for a Scottish schoolmaster usually of the Church of Scotland and also a term used in the US for a minister or pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church . It comes from the Latin domine (vocative case of Dominus 'Lord, Master'). When the Church of Scotland began to introduce universal provision of education in Scotland after it became established as

414-405: Is estimated that more than two hundred persons were butchered outright, and one hundred and twenty were carried off as prisoners." Other sources, such as Encyclopædia Britannica , claim that 250 settlers and soldiers lost their lives during the massacre. In line with Iroquois tradition, prisoners would have been tortured and cannibalism of some prisoners would have taken place. It is claimed that

460-463: The Jesuits for destroying traditional native society but could not do anything to stop them. Traditionalists reluctantly accepted the establishment of a mission to have good relations with the French, whom they needed for trade. That cultural invasion increased tensions between the two factions. The relationship between the French and the Iroquois had been strained long before King Philip's War , as

506-596: The Marquis de Denonville . He was less sympathetic to native relations and did not pay attention to the Iroquois-Algonquian tensions. The Iroquois attacked the French partly because they were not willing to accept constraints against their warfare related to traditional Iroquois enemies. "Mourning wars" were also an important cultural factor in native warfare. Natives fought war to "avenge perceived wrongs committed by one people against another." They were also

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552-468: The massacre . In commemoration, the mayor of Schenectady repeats the ride every year. Most mayors have done so on horseback, but a few have preferred the comfort of an automobile. A party of Albany militia and Mohawk warriors pursued the northern invaders and killed or captured 15 or more almost within sight of Montreal. Of the surviving captives, three males were redeemed: Johannes Teller and brothers Albert and Johannes Vedder. Jan Baptist Van Eps escaped from

598-593: The 17th century, French encroachments as part of the Beaver Wars contributed to an erosion of Franco-Indian relations. The French mission to assimilate natives required the abandonment of native traditions, which was met with resistance. By 1667, large numbers of Hurons and Iroquois, especially Mohawks, started arriving at the St Lawrence Valley and its mission villages to escape the effects of warfare. Many traditionalists, including some Mohawks, resented

644-540: The English colonists to the south "in Canadien style" by attacking during the winter months of 1690 such as the Schenectady massacre . According to the historian Jean-Francois Lozier, the factors influencing the course of war and peace throughout the region of New-France were not exclusive to the relations between the French and Iroquois or to those between the French and English crowns. A number of factors provide

690-532: The English colony of New York, and hoped to detach them while reducing English influence in North America. In much of the late 17th century, the Iroquois and the colonists of New France engaged in a protracted struggle for control of the economically important North American fur trade , known as the Beaver Wars . The Iroquois also fought other Native American nations to control the lucrative trade with

736-708: The French maintained relations with other tribes as well for both trade and war alliances, such as the Abenaki . In 1679, after the end of the Iroquois war with the Susquehannock and the Mahican , the Iroquois raided native villages in the West. Pushing out Sioux tribes to the west, they claimed hunting grounds in the Ohio Valley by the right of conquest . They were kept empty of inhabitants to encourage hunting. As

782-489: The French victims, their reports of cannibalism and parents forced to throw their children onto burning fires may be exaggerated or apocryphal. The Mohawk and the Iroquois have used ritual torture after warfare, sometimes to honour the bravery of enemy warriors, as was then common practice among native tribes. 45°25′53″N 73°40′32″W  /  45.43139°N 73.67556°W  / 45.43139; -73.67556 Dominie Dominie ( Wiktionary definition )

828-443: The French. In August 1689, the Iroquois launched one of their most devastating raids against the French frontier community of Lachine . This attack occurred after France and England had declared war on each other but before the news had reached North America . New France's governor, Louis de Buade de Frontenac , organized an expedition from Montreal to attack English outposts to the south, as retaliation for English support of

874-504: The Iroquois and as a general expansion of the war against the northernmost English colonies. He intended to intimidate the Iroquois and try to cut them off from their trade with the English. The expedition was one of three directed at isolated northern and western settlements, and it was originally directed against Fort Orange (present day Albany ). It consisted of 114 French Canadians, mostly frontier-savvy coureurs de bois but also some marines , 80 Sault, and 16 Algonquin warriors, with

920-423: The Iroquois lack names. According to Canadian historian John A. Dickinson, although the cruelty of the Iroquois was real, their threat was neither as constant nor terrible as the contemporary sources represented although the residents felt under siege. European accounts of the Lachine massacre come from two primary sources: survivors of the attack, and Catholic missionaries in the area. Initial reports inflated

966-483: The Iroquois wanted to avenge the 1,200,000 bushels of corn burned by the French, but since they were unable to reach the food stores in Montreal, they kidnapped and killed the Lachine crop producers instead. Lachine was the main departure point for westward-traveling fur traders, a fact that may have provided extra motivation for the Mohawk attack, though the simple exposure of Lachine at the upper end of Montreal island

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1012-399: The Iroquois. They defended some of the fleeing colonists from their Mohawk pursuers, but just prior to reaching Lachine, the armed forces were recalled to Fort Rolland by the order of Governor Denonville, who was trying to pacify the local Iroquois inhabitants. He had 700 soldiers at his disposal within the Montreal barracks and might have overtaken the Iroquois forces but decided to follow

1058-460: The Lachine death toll significantly. Colby arrived at the total number of dead, 24, by examining Catholic parish registers before and after the attack. French Catholic accounts of the attack were recorded. François Vachon de Belmont , the fifth superior of the Sulpicians of Montreal, wrote in his History of Canada : After this total victory, the unhappy band of prisoners was subjected to all

1104-474: The Mohawk after three years and returned to Schenectady. Lawrence Vander Volgen lived with the Mohawk for 11 years and then returned and served as provincial interpreter. The attack forced New York's political factions to put aside their differences and focus on the common enemy, New France. As a result of the attack, the Albany Convention , which had resisted Jacob Leisler 's assumption of power in

1150-595: The Mohawk nation. The French raid was in retaliation for the Lachine massacre , an attack by Iroquois forces on a village in New France. These skirmishes were related both to the Beaver Wars and the French struggle with the English for control of the fur trade in North America, as well as to King William's War between France and England. By this time, the French considered most of the Iroquois to be allied with

1196-573: The Mohawk winter corn supply. In addition, Denonville's 1687 invasion of the Seneca nation country destroyed approximately 1,200,000 bushels of corn and crippled the Iroquois economy. That kind of aggression served as fuel for the Iroquois' retaliation that would come. After two decades of uneasy peace, England and France declared war against each other in 1689. Despite the 1686 Treaty of Whitehall in which both France and England agreed that European conflicts would not disrupt colonial peace and neutrality,

1242-639: The attack should begin. They attacked the homes, broke down doors and windows, and dragged the colonists outside, where many were killed. When some of the colonists barricaded themselves within the village's structures, the attackers set fire to the buildings and waited for the settlers to flee the flames. According to a 1992 article, the Iroquois, wielding weapons such as the tomahawk, killed 24 French and took more than 70 prisoners. Justin Winsor in Narrative and Critical History of America (1884) stated that "it

1288-522: The bitter cold before they reached safety. The raiders departed with 27 prisoners, including five Black slaves, and 50 horses. John Alexander Glen, who lived in Scotia , across the river from Schenectady, had shown previous kindness to the French. In gratitude, the raiding party took the Schenectady prisoners to him and invited him to claim any relatives. Glen claimed as many survivors as he could, and

1334-441: The city of Schenectady commissioned composer Maria Riccio Bryce to create a musical work to commemorate the tricentennial of the massacre. The resulting piece, Hearts of Fire, followed the lives of Schenectady townspeople through the seasons of 1689, set against the backdrop of the French march from Montreal to Albany. Though the settlers' losses were great in deaths and also captives taken, they elected to stay and rebuild, honoring

1380-435: The coals and ate them. Surviving prisoners of the Lachine massacre reported that 48 of their colleagues were tortured, burned, and eaten shortly after capture. Further, many survivors showed evidence of ritual torture and recounted their experiences. After the attack, the French colonists retrieved several firearms that English colonists had given to the Iroquois, all of which the Mohawk had left behind during their retreat from

1426-594: The context for the Lachine Massacre. Sources of information regarding the victims of the Iroquois in New France are the writings of Jesuit priests; the state registry of parishes in Quebec, Trois-Rivieres, and Montreal; letters written by Marie Guyart (French: Marie de l'Incarnation ); and the writings of Samuel Champlain . The accuracy of those sources and reports varies. For instance, in the town of Trois-Rivieres, approximately one third of deaths attributed to

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1472-454: The gate ajar, according to tradition, the raiders silently entered Schenectady two hours before dawn and launched their attack. They burned houses and barns and killed men, women, and children. Most of the victims were in night clothing and had no time to arm themselves. By the morning of February 9, the community lay in ruins, and more than 60 buildings were burned. Sixty residents were killed, including 11 Black slaves (referred to as "negroes' in

1518-484: The ice of Lake Champlain and Lake George toward the English settlements on the Hudson River . They found Fort Orange to be well defended, but a scouting party reported on February 8 that no one was guarding the stockade at the small frontier village of Schenectady to the west. Its residents were primarily Dutch Americans and held numerous Black slaves . Schenectady and Albany were so politically polarized in

1564-401: The island. Evidence of the English arming the Mohawk incited a longstanding hostility towards the colonists of New York as well as demands for revenge among the French. Iroquois accounts of the attack have not been recovered, as they were recounted in oral histories . French sources reported that only three of the attackers were killed. Because all of the written accounts of the attack were by

1610-402: The memory of their relatives. 42°49′08″N 73°56′53″W  /  42.8188°N 73.9481°W  / 42.8188; -73.9481 Lachine massacre The Lachine massacre , part of the Beaver Wars , occurred when 1,500 Mohawk warriors launched a surprise attack against the small (375 inhabitants) settlement of Lachine , New France , at the upper end of Montreal Island , on

1656-415: The morning of 5 August 1689. The attack was precipitated by the growing Iroquois frustration with the increased French incursions into their territory and the ongoing concern about French Marquis de Denonville 's attack of 1687, and it was encouraged by the settlers of New England as a way to leverage power against New France during King William's War . In their attack, the Mohawk warriors destroyed

1702-455: The rage which the cruellest vengeance could inspire in these savages. They were taken to the far side of Lake St. Louis by the victorious army, which shouted ninety times while crossing to indicate the number of prisoners or scalps they had taken, saying, we have been tricked, Ononthio, we will trick you as well. Once they had landed, they lit fires, planted stakes in the ground, burned five Frenchmen, roasted six children, and grilled some others on

1748-566: The raiders took the rest to Montreal. Typically, the captives who were too young, old, or ill to keep up along such an arduous 200-mile journey were killed during the way. As was the pattern in later raids in New York and New England, many of the younger captives were adopted by Mohawk families in Canada. Some survivors had fled as refugees to the fort at Albany; Symon Schermerhorn was one of them. Although wounded, he rode to Albany to warn them of

1794-736: The records). The French noted that about 50-60 residents survived and that 20 Mohawks had been spared so that the Natives would know their targets were the English, not the Mohawks. The 60 dead included 38 men, 10 women, and 12 children. Among them were Dominie Petrus Tessemacher, the first Dutch Reformed Church pastor to be ordained in the Americas , and pastor of what became the First Reformed Church of Schenectady . The French had intended to take him captive to question him, but he

1840-466: The southern parts of the colony, acknowledged his authority. With the assistance of Connecticut officials, Leisler organized a retaliatory expedition the next summer from Albany to attack Montreal. Led by Connecticut militia general Fitz-John Winthrop , the expedition turned back in August 1690 because of disease, lack of supplies, and insufficient watercraft for navigating on Lake Champlain . In 1990,

1886-685: The wake of the 1689 Leisler's Rebellion that the opposing factions had not agreed on the setting of guards in the two settlements. The village of Schenectady (its name came from a Mohawk word meaning "beyond the Pines") was on a land patent to farm on the Great Flats of the Mohawk River originally granted by the Dutch in 1661. It was about seven miles beyond the western border of Rensselaerswyck . Finding no sentinels other than two snowmen and

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1932-561: The war was fought primarily by proxy between New France and the New England Colonies . English colonists in the Province of New York encouraged the Iroquois to attack New France's undefended settlements. While English settlers were preparing to carry out raids against French targets, the settlers of New France were ill-prepared to defend against Indian attacks because of the isolation of their farms and villages. Denonville

1978-582: The will of the English, peace talks continued. The time of relative peace eventually led to the Montreal Treaty of 1701 by which the Iroquois promised to remain neutral in case of war between the French and the English. Following the events at Lachine, Denonville was recalled to France for matters unrelated to the massacre , and Louis de Buade de Frontenac took over governorship of Montreal in October. Frontenac launched raids of vengeance against

2024-434: Was killed in his house. Reynier Schaets and a son were among the dead. Schaets was a son of Gideon Schaets, dominie of the Dutch Reformed Church at Albany. He was a surgeon , who had been appointed Justice at Schenectady by Leisler on December 28, 1689. His wife Catharina Bensing and three other children: Gideon, Bartholomew and Agnietje, survived. Of those who escaped from Schenectady to seek shelter, many died of exposure in

2070-426: Was likely more a factor. Word of the attack spread when one of the Lachine survivors reached a local garrison three miles (4.8 km) away and notified the soldiers of the events. In response to the attack, the French mobilized 200 soldiers under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase , along with 100 armed civilians and some soldiers from nearby Forts Rémy , Rolland , and de La Présentation to march against

2116-596: Was quoted as saying, "If we have a war, nothing can save the country but a miracle of God." On the rainy morning of 5 August 1689, Iroquois warriors launched a surprise nighttime raid on the undefended settlement of Lachine. They traveled up the Saint Lawrence River by boat, crossed Lake Saint-Louis , and landed on the south shore of the Island of Montreal. While the colonists slept, the invaders surrounded their homes and waited for their leader to signal when

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