THE DEATHS OF BOYD AND PARKER

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The Boyd-Parker killings have stoked moral outrage and controversy. On the one hand, they were killed, if not tortured, in captivity, and their bodies left and found in a mutilated state. On the other hand, Boyd’s scouting party meant to locate the Seneca capital - the Iroquois Western Door - and burn it down. They were killed on or about September 14 or 15th; at a time soon before Little Beard’s Town was totally destroyed on September 15th. Analysts disagree on whether they were disfigured before or after their actual deaths. Boyd and Parker are the only victims of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign, white or red, who are so individually as well as publicly memorialized. (Note: There’s this park near Cuylerville, plus a Monument at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester and the Ambuscade at Groveland.)

This shows part of Boyd-Parker Memorial Park and the “Torture Tree.” The monument plaque mentions that Little Beard’s Town, the Seneca capital, was once here…

The Torture Tree

This expresses the conflict among interpretations…

Historical Marker


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