Woods Runner, Massacre at Schenectady

Hatchets swung up and down. Blood spattered across the snow. Flames shot up from the burning buildings, sending sparks spiraling up into the darkness. Indian war cries split the night, sending shivers up the spines of attackers and victims.

One man, Jean Baptiste Giguere, stood in the middle of the chaos, questioning his role in the mayhem, his loyalties torn between the country who claimed this land, and his attachment to the new land itself.

Before there was Canada or America, there was New France and New England. In the late 17th century the French and British fought for territory and riches in the new lands of North America.

On the French side, among the soldiers and the Indians fighting for their country were men called the Woods Runners. Coureur de Bois, the men who became known as Voyageurs - tough, hard-bitten adventurers who shaped the course of two countries.