Conestoga near Lancaster. The Scotch-Irish had worked
themselves up into a strange belief that these small remnants were
sending information, arms, and ammunition to the western tribes; and
they seemed to think that it was more important to exterminate these
little communities than to go with such expeditions as Bouquet's to
the West. They asked the Governor to remove these civilized Indians and
assured him that their removal would secure the safety of the frontier.
When the Governor, not being able to find anything against the Indians,
declined to remove them, the Scotch-Irish determined to attend to the
matter in their own fashion.

Bouquet's victory at Bushy Run, much to the surprise of the
Scotch-Irish, stopped Indian raids of any seriousness until the
following spring. But in the autumn there were a few depredations, which
led the frontiersmen to believe that the whole invasion would begin
again. A party of them, therefore, started to attack the Moravian
Indians near Bethlehem; but before they could accomplish their object,
the Governor brought most of the Indians down to Philadelphia for
protection. Even there they were narrowly saved from the mob, for the
hostility against them was spreading throughout the province.

Soon afterwards another party of Scotch-Irish, ever since known as the
"Paxton Boys," went at break of day to the village of the Conestoga
Indians and found only six of them at home--three men, two women, and a
boy. These they instantly shot down, mutilated their bodies, and burned
their cabins. As the murderers returned, they related to a man on the
road what they had done, and when he protested against the cruelty of
the deed, they asked, "Don't you believe in God and the Bible?" The
remaining fourteen inhabitants of the village, who were away selling
brooms, were collected by the sheriff and put in the jail at Lancaster
for protection. The Paxtons heard of it and in a few days stormed the
jail, broke down the doors, and either shot the poor Indians or cut them
to pieces with hatchets.

This was probably the first instance of lynch law in America. It raised
a storm of indignation and controversy; and a pamphlet war persisted
for several years. The whole province was immediately divided into
two parties. On one side were the Quakers, most of the Germans, and
conservatives of every sort, and on the other, inclined to sympathize
with the Scotch-Irish, were the eastern Presbyterians, some of the
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