134 WINTER SKETCHES. 



the witty editor of the Danbury News, who 

 can be serious occasionally, and who in one of 

 his serious moods has done good service in 

 writing some interesting historical sketches, 1 

 obtained more information than I can com- 

 press into this chapter, pertaining to the events 

 of the Revolutionary war. 



To go back to the time when Danbury was 

 a mere protoplasm, existing under the Indian 

 name of Pahquioque, it was bought from the 

 natives and honestly paid for in trinkets, blan- 

 kets, and rum by some adventurous Yankees 

 who had found their way from the New Eng- 

 land coast first to the valley of the Connecti- 

 cut, and thence had come as near as they 

 dared to approach to their former enemies, the 

 Dutchmen, here establishing an outpost in 

 1684. They underwent the usual experiences 

 of border warfare, being often alarmed by 

 the demonstrations of the Indians, but never 

 having any serious conflicts, perhaps because 

 they were always in a condition of defence. 



But a small area of the Connecticut valley 

 was then occupied, and it is therefore difficult 

 to imagine any motive but that of Puritan 

 acreressiveness that could lead them to insti- 

 tute a war against nature in this rugged coun- 



