Answer: The Paxton Boys

The 1763 Conestoga Massacre was the brutal murder of 21 Susquehannock men, women, and children by a vigilante group of Scotch-Irish frontiersmen from central Pennsylvania known as the Paxton Boys. These frontiersmen and their families had settled on American Indian lands in violation of established agreements between the Quakers and various tribes. Several tribes raided frontier settlements in response to this encroachment and in retaliation the Paxton Boys attacked the Susquehannock, who they claimed had passed “secrets” to hostile groups.
Afterward, many writers and politicians wrote pamphlets either condemning or supporting the Paxton Boys. A month after the attack, the Paxton Boys and hundreds of their supporters marched to Philadelphia to defend their actions.

For scores of pamphlets, broadsides, political cartoons, and more, check out the Digital Paxton project. In addition to images and political cartoons from the era, HSP has in its possession Apology of the Paxton Volunteers (unpublished draft) (Am .283), along with pamphlets, broadsides, and other published sources on the event and its aftereffects. Further 18^th century contemporary resources can be found in the collections of the Library Company of Philadelphia.