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Exhibition Review
"1704 Colonial Encampment Weekend." Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Mass. http://www.historic-deerfield.org/index.shtml; and http://deerfield-ma.org/events.htm.
Commemoration, Feb. 29–March 2, 2008. Historic Deerfield Inc. and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, co-organizers.
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| On the frigid morning of February 29, 1704, the slumbering residents of Deerfield, Massachusetts, awoke to the sound of hatchets whacking through their doors. Most probably knew what was happening: a party of French and Native American raiders, numbering about 250 to 300, had descended on the town. Fighting between England and France during the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713) had extended into North America, and though they did not know when, the English colonists knew that raiders might strike southward from New France. Deerfield, which stood on the outer edge of English settlement in New England, had fallen prey to raiding in the past. But, for several reasons, 1704 was different. The raiding party was much larger than the groups who had attacked Deerfield in the seventeenth century, and it included an especially diverse cohort of Native American groups and their French allies. The 1704 raid was also especially deadly. The raiders, 11 of whom died in the attack, killed 50 English colonists and took 112 more captive, marching them to various Native American and French destinations in Canada. Deerfield's story has thoroughly gripped the American imagination ever since. (On the raiding party, see Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney, Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid, 2006). |
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A special event held in the winter of 2008 to commemorate the anniversary of the raid suggests there is still plenty of interest. The "1704 Colonial Encampment Weekend," co-hosted by Historic Deerfield Inc. and the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, drew significant crowds who braved the slush along Deerfield's Old Main Street. During the weekend, all the treats usually offered by Historic Deerfield were available, including twelve museum houses and an expansive collection of textiles, silver, and other material culture items displayed at the Flynt Center of Early New England Life. But the weekend also boasted an impressive array of special walking tours, lectures, demonstrations, interactive presentations, and reenactments, all delving into the experiences of the raiders and the raided. |
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Visitors, if willing to risk some slippery footing, had their pick of a wide range of family-oriented activities: two separate guided tours exploring the town of Deerfield from Native American and English perspectives, labeled "Pocumtuck Homeland" and "English Settlement"; snowshoe-making and open-hearth cooking demonstrations (and, in some cases, tastings); and a special exhibit of colonial firearms. In a particularly popular meet-and-greet session with the "characters" of 1704, reenactors spoke casually from their various adopted perspectives: French, Native American, and English. But for most, the main event was the "Skirmish," a reenactment of the North Meadows skirmish in which English townsmen chased the raiders into Deerfield's northern fields before being ambushed and driven back to the garrison. At the "Skirmish" hundreds of spectators stood patiently, squinting in the sun, as they watched this event—complete with gunfire, smoke, and shouting—re-created on a field of fresh, glittering snow. |
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