On this day in 1637, colonists in Connecticut massacred an entire village of Pequot Native Americans, killing 500 women, children & elderly, burning the village to the ground & firing on anyone who attempted to flee the blaze. #MysticMassacre 
The massacre was an example of early American colonists’ willingness to wage ‘total warfare’ against Native Americans, making no distinction between civilians and soldiers. Most of the Pequot warriors were away when their village was massacred & the victims were mainly civilians.
During the “Pequot war”, US colonists massacred two more Pequot villages. Most of the surviving Pequot were sold into slavery and some were dispersed as captives to the victorious tribes assisting the colonists.
As a result of the war, colonist authorities believed they exterminated the Pequot tribe, ending residence to colonists theft of land. The Pequot numbers were so diminished that they could hardly be considered a tribe.
