Editing Deerfield, Massachusetts (section)

===Pre-colonial history===

For several decades during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Deerfield was the northwesternmost outpost of New England settlement. It occupies a fertile portion of the upper [[Connecticut River Valley]] now known as the [[Pioneer Valley]]. It was vulnerable to attack because of its position near [[the Berkshires]] highlands. For these reasons it was the site of intertribal warfare and several Anglo-French and Indian skirmishes during its early history.<ref name="quote">{{cite book |title=Exploring America's Historic Places |last=National Geographic Society |publisher=National Geographic Society |year=1997}}</ref>

At the time of the English colonists' arrival, the Deerfield area was inhabited by the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[Pocomtuc|Pocumtuck]] nation, who settled a major village by the same name.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Emma Lewis |title=A Historic and Present Day Guide to Old Deerfield |date=1907 |publisher=Plimpton Press |location=Norwood, MA |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3j1Y_wW6y_QC&q=pocumtuck |language=en}}</ref>