Blog Post 4

The Gnadenhutten Massacre

            On March 8^th 1782, the Gnadenhutten Massacre occurred. A group of 165 Pennsylvania militiamen killed 90 unresisting men, women, and children. The massacre occurred because it was a retaliation for the deaths and kidnappings of Pennsylvanians; however, the Christian Indians were not a part of the previous attacks on the them. It was the Shawnee Raiders behind it. They attacked the Wallace’s Residents in Washington County in Pennsylvania, taking Mrs. Wallace and her three children. Later, the Raiders killed Mrs. Wallace and her children by impaling their bodies on the end of small tree trunks. The Savages went through Gnadenhutten and sold some of items including Mrs. Wallace’s dress. Some think that the Raiders planted that there. David Williamson was the leader of the force of the militiamen. They set out for the Moravian Villages including Gnadenhutten.

           

         The majority of the American Indians moved away from Gnadenhutten previous years. Although, some had return to plant and harvest crops. On March 7^th 1782, the Indians surrendered to the militiamen; they were locked up in two of the houses. The men where in one house and the women and children where in another. The village was searched, and they did find Mrs. Wallace’s bloody dress. They took a vote if they should put the Indians to death. There were only 18 out of 165 voted for mercy. The next day, March 8^th, the militiamen took the Indians into a cabin and killed them with tomahawks, mallets, and knives. They counted 90 deaths, but they took 96 scalps; only 2 boys escaped.

      

           The picture above is the burial site of the Indians. A missionary found the remaining skeletons about five years later and buried them in a big grave mass. This is located behind a museum still to this day. Some say you can hear screams of the victims. Some said they have seen ghostly figures walking around the area.