It was an ordinary day. Reading Lancaster Newspaper's "The Scribbler" column which is written by Jack Brubaker and came across a very interesting story about the lawlessness that permeated Lancaster County in the mid-1700s. Started in 1763 when The Paxton Boys annihilated the remainder of the Conestoga Indians and seemed to have gotten away with it even after Pennsylvania's Governor had pledged to protect the native Americans who still lived in the state of Pennsylvania. Then along comes Frederick Stump and his servant, Hans Eisenhower who also go on an Indian-killing rampage in nearby Cumberland County. All eyes seem to have been blind to both massacres. Now, I mention both instances since Jack Brubaker writes about both in his recent article. Both stories have also been written about by Mr. Greg Grandin in his Pulitzer Prize winning book: "The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America." In his book he tells about the effort to press the American frontier toward the West by annihilating the Indians, Blacks and "others". His book tells how the effort to extend the nation's frontier ceased when former President Trump decided to withdraw from the world and build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Seems that the Frederick Stump that I mentioned earlier in my story, also founded the city known as Fredericksburg in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in 1755. Mr. Stump eventually moved across the Susquehanna River to Cumberland County where he gained the moniker of "Indian Killer." He and Hans Eisenhower found their way to the Susquehanna River in 1768 where they slaughtered close to a dozen more men, women and children by scalping and burning their bodies before throwing their bodies into the Susquehanna. When remaining Indians found out about the killings, they, as well as Pennsylvania Quakers, placed a bounty on Stump and Eisenhower. The two murderers were finally captured and placed in the old Carlisle, PA jail. Then along came some of the Paxton boys, as well as a mob of vigilantes who freed the two killers who went free. Mr. Gaudin tells of the life of Frederick Stump after he became a wealthy Nashville, Tennessee citizen and trader in slaves who served as a captain in the militia that annihilated the Creeks and Choctaws tribes in Mississippi. Now, Stump wasn't the only one who wanted to get rid of all the Indians so he could grab more land. In his book, Mr. Grandin also names one Mr. George Washington who was an investor in frontier land that once belonged to Indian tribes. Our future President wanted to delete all Indian rights. Eventually, American expansion to the west coast happened and if you care to read Mr. Grandin's book, you will learn more about when and how it happened. As for me, I would like to thank Mr. Brubaker for sharing with me, and all readers of the Lancaster Newspaper, the background information about Mr. Stump and Mr. Eisenhower and telling us a bit more about the part of history that many of us never knew. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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