Settlers in Barnard were raided by Indians on this day in 1780. Three Barnard men and one Bethel man were taken hostage and brought to Canada. Such were the dangers of the Vermont wildnerness.

Barnard settlers decided to take immediate action. A fort would be built around Amos Bicknell’s log cabin to provide protection in the event of attack.

Captain Benjamin Cox, of Barnard, and his militia men began constructing the fort just four days later and finished it in slightly over a month. Settlers chose a name that reflected their attitude, and Barnard christened it Fort Defiance, in November that same year.

Image courtesy the Vermont Historical Society.

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