Editing Deerfield, Massachusetts (section)

===Post-incorporation===

The Pocumtuck were much reduced in number by the time the settlers arrived, as they had been victims of infectious diseases and war with the more powerful [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]]. The settlers forcibly expelled the few Pocumtuck who remained; the Pocumtuck in turn sought [[France|French]] protection in Canada from the English colonists. At the [[Battle of Bloody Brook]], on September 18, 1675, during [[King Philip's War]], the dispossessed [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] destroyed a small force under the command of Captain Thomas Lathrop before being driven off by reinforcements. Colonial casualties numbered about 60. At dawn on May 19, 1676, Captain William Turner led an army of settlers in a surprise retaliatory attack on Peskeompskut, in present-day [[Montague, Massachusetts|Montague]], then a traditional native gathering place. Turner and his men killed 200 natives, mostly women and children. When the men of the tribe returned, they routed Turner's forces; Turner died after being wounded at Green River.

In the predawn hours of February 29, 1704, during [[Queen Anne's War]], joint French and Indian forces (including 47 [[Canadiens]] and 200 [[Abenaki people|Abenaki]], along with some [[Mohawk people|Kanienkehaka (Mohawk)]], [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]], and a few Pocumtuck, all under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville) attacked the town in what became known as the [[Raid on Deerfield]]. They razed much of the settlement and killed 56 colonists, including 22 men, 9 women, and 25 children. The attackers took 112 captives, including women and children, and forced them on a months-long trek to [[Montreal]], nearly 300 miles to the north. Many died along the way; others were killed because they could not keep up.

In this period, there was an active trade in ransoming captives among both the English and French. Deerfield and other communities collected funds to ransom the captives, and negotiations were conducted between the colonial governments. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony released the French pirate [[Pierre Maisonnat dit Baptiste]], Canada arranged redemption of numerous Deerfield people, among them the prominent minister [[John Williams (New England minister)|John Williams]]. He wrote a [[captivity narrative]] about his experience, which was published in 1707 and became well known.<ref name="demos">[[John Putnam Demos|John Demos]], ''The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994</ref> One of those captured and ransomed was Mehuman Kellog, the first white child born in Deerfield and a descendant of [[Robert Hinsdale]].{{Sfn|Hanson|1976|p=97}}

In addition to ransoming captives, because of losses to war and disease, families of the Mohawk and other tribes often adopted younger captives into their tribes. Such was the case with Williams's daughter [[Eunice Kanenstenhawi Williams|Eunice]], who was 8 years old when captured. She became thoroughly assimilated and at age 16 married a Mohawk man. They had a family and she stayed with the Mohawk for the rest of her life. Most of the Deerfield captives eventually returned to [[New England]]; others remained by choice in French and Native communities, such as [[Kahnawake]], for the rest of their lives.<ref name="demos"/>

As the frontier moved north, Deerfield became another colonial town with an unquiet early history. In 1753 [[Greenfield, Massachusetts|Greenfield]] was set off and incorporated. During the early nineteenth century, Deerfield's role in Northeast agricultural production declined. It was overtaken by the rapid development of the [[Midwestern United States]] as the nation's [[breadbasket]], as transportation to eastern markets and New York City was enhanced by construction of the [[Erie Canal]] and later railroads.
[[File:Sheldon Homestead, Deerfield, MA.jpg|thumb|right|Sheldon homestead, {{circa|1912}}]]

During the [[Colonial Revival Movement|Colonial Revival movement]] of the late nineteenth century, Deerfield citizens rediscovered the town's past. Residents founded the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in 1870 and erected monuments to commemorate various events, including the Bloody Brook and 1704 attacks. In 1890 Charlotte Alice Baker returned to Deerfield to restore her family home, the Frary House.<ref>Coleman, Emma Lewis (1912). ''A Historic and Present Day Guide to Old Deerfield'', p. 54. Boston: Emma Lewis Coleman</ref> Baker was assisted by the Boston architectural firm [[Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge|Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge]], and her project was one of the first in [[historic preservation]] in western Massachusetts.

Local historian George Sheldon wrote an account of the town's early history that was published in the late nineteenth century.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W2wWAAAAYAAJ Sheldon, George (1896). ''A History of Deerfield, Massachusetts''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229073532/https://books.google.com/books?id=W2wWAAAAYAAJ |date=February 29, 2024 }}, Greenfield, Massachusetts: E. A. Hall & Co.; full text online</ref> By this time South Deerfield and other New England villages were already absorbing a new wave of [[Eastern Europe]]an immigrants, particularly from [[Poland]]. The new people influenced Deerfield's demographics and culture. They were mostly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[peasant]]s, who built their own churches. Working first as laborers, they formed a community later known as Old Polonia. Twentieth-century immigrants from Poland tended to be more educated but settled in the larger cities. Immigrants in smaller communities followed different paths, and their descendants often moved to cities for more opportunities.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EpOeEETswywC Elzbieta M. Gozdziak, "Eastern Europeans"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206162648/https://books.google.com/books?id=EpOeEETswywC |date=December 6, 2021 }}, in David W. Haines, (ed.), (1996). ''Refugees in America in the 1990s: A Reference Handbook'', pp. 124-130. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group</ref>

Today, heritage tourism is Deerfield's principal industry and is important to the Pioneer Valley. "Historic Deerfield" has been designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] district, containing eleven house museums and a regional museum and visitors' center. It focuses on decorative arts, early American material culture, and history. Its eleven house museums offer interpretation through the late nineteenth century. The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association operates the Memorial Hall Museum, which opened in 1880; and the Indian House Memorial Children's Museum and Bloody Brook Tavern. Deerfield is a center of [[heritage tourism]] in the [[Pioneer Valley]] near the [[Connecticut River]]. The [[Yankee Candle Company]] is an example of one of many commercial businesses associated with this history.

<gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="130px">
Image:The Frary House, Deerfield, MA.jpg|Frary House {{circa|1905}}
Image:Old Main Street Looking North, Deerfield, MA.jpg|Old Main Street {{circa|1910}}
Image:Post Office, Old Deerfield, MA.jpg|Post office {{circa|1910}}
Image:Mountain Road, Deerfield, MA.jpg|Mountain Road {{circa|1910}}
</gallery>