Rondinones' Adventures: Macabre Memorials Part #3

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Macabre Memorials Part #3 - Hannah Dustin the Scalper

America's southern states hog most of the attention when it comes to politically incorrect memorials, but here in New Hampshire we have a statue that I'd put up against the best any of them have to offer when it comes to eliciting a reaction out of people. For some, that reaction would be to cringe and avoid the thing entirely, while for others - like myself - that reaction would be to make a two-hour round trip drive just to spend five minutes looking at it.

From a distance it looks quite nice

Keep in mind the era we're dealing with while I tell this story, as these events took place long before such luxuries as the 5-day workweek, a Starbucks on every corner, or face-swapping apps for our phones. This was the late 1600's, and when people weren't dying from starvation or disease there were plenty of Native-Americans around, whose party we'd crashed 200 years earlier, that were eager to bring the colonists life expectancy down a few more years. One such group was the Abenaki Tribe out of Canada, who during King William's War in 1697 raided the city of Haverhill Massachusetts, killing 27 residents and taking over a dozen more hostage as gifts to be given to the French. A forced march north for these hostages ensued, and weeks later this group of Native Americans and Haverhill prisoners found themselves on a small island in the town of Boscawen, New Hampshire.

Having witnessed the murder of her days-old child at the hands of the Abenakis, Hannah and two other prisoners planned their escape. One night as their captors slept the three prisoner stole the tribes weapons and attacked, killing ten of the Abenakis before escaping the island in canoes. Hannah didn't leave without a prize either, she brought with her ten scalps as proof of their victory, something her group was generously rewarded for upon their return to Haverhill.

Over time the legend of Hannah Dustin was glorified by the American government and retold in literature by the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, popularizing her to the point that in 1874 the town of Boscawen erected this memorial on the island of Hannah's scalpings. This was a proud moment for the town, and far from downplaying the more gruesome aspects of the story they chose to emphasize them, starting with the fact that Hannah was depicted holding the scalps in one hand of the statue.

And wielding the hatchet she used to collect them in the other.

So there you have the macabre portion of this memorial, now buckle up for the politically incorrect stuff. I marvel that there was a point in history when people not only dictated what is carved into the back of this statue, but on the day of its unveiling stood around shaking each others hands on a job well done. Those were different times, and their words I present to you in terms of history only. Read them as such.