The Boy Captive of Old Deerfield

Deereld Massachusetts was the northwestern most English settlement in New England during Queen Annes War (1703-1712). As such it was a threat to the French who contested the English for control of North America and the Indians who were alienated by English expansion. In the dead of winter in 1704 some 250 Frenchmen and Indians advance upon an unsuspecting English settlement. Silently they scale the palisades and overpower the sentinel. Before help can arrive from the neighboring towns the raiding party is already leading a hundred and nine settlers away as Captives to Canada. Such is the historic background for this classic novel about the grim attack of February Z9 1704 on the frontier town of Deerfield Massachusetts. History becomes very vivid when seen through the eyes of Stephen Williams the ten-year-old son of the village minister. At first the boy is over- whelmed by the tragedies that befall his family and friends but as the long trek to Canada continues he slowly adapts himself to a hopeless situation and begins to learn about Indian ways from his friend Kewakcum.