In 1763 Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the last surviving members of the Conestoga Indian nation, numbering less than two dozen (mostly seniors and children), were housed in the town’s workhouse and under protection of local authorities. Just days after their arrival a group of Scots-Irish vigilante frontiersmen known as the “Paxton Rangers” rode into Lancaster, found them and slaughtered them all, meeting no resistance from the Indians’ supposed protectors.
My guest, Jack Brubaker, a long-time Lancaster investigative journalist, columnist and historian. He shares how the brutal attacks unfolded, and explains how the complex political climate in Pennsylvania halted any justice for the murdered. His book is called “Massacre of the Conestogas: On the Trail of the Paxton Boys in Lancaster County”.
