On this ground, in August 1838, a monument was erected to mark the place where, on September 18th 1675 (old style), Capt. Thomas Lathrop and eighty four men under his command, including eighteen teamsters from Deer field, were ambuscaded by about 700 Indians while conveying stores from that town to Hadley, and the captain and seventy six men were slain. A contemporary historian called the fallen soldiers “a choice Company of young men, the very flower of the County of Essex none of whom were ashamed to speak with the enemy in the gate.” Their bloodshed was also evoked in the lines, “And Sanguinetto tells you where the dead Made the earth wet and turned the unwilling waters red.” The same of the slain is marked by a stone slab, 21 rods southerly of this monument.

Photo: Roger W. Sinnott

Photo: Roger W. Sinnott

South Deerfield, Massachusetts · USA