"A Journiall of our Ranging. Given by me, David Strahan, Lieutenant of ye Rangers of Pottomack. June the 17th; We ranged over Ackoquane, and so we Ranged Round persi-Neck and ther we lay that night. And on ye 18th came to Pohike, and ther we heard that Capt. Mason's Servt-man was missing. Then we went to see if we could find him, and we followed his foot abut a mile, to a house that is deserted, and we took ye tract of a great many Indians and we followed it about 10 miles, and having no provisions we was forced to return. June 26th: We Ranged up to Jonathan Matthews hs. along with Capt. Masone, and ther we met with Capt. Houseley, and we sent over for the Emperor, but he would not come, and we went over to ye towne, and they held a Masocomacko and ordered 20 of their Indians to goe after ye Indians that carried away Capt. Masone's man, and so we returned. July the 3d ... July 11th; We ranged up to Brenttowne and ther we lay.... The 19th we ranged up to Ackotink, and discovered nothing.... So we Ranged once in ye Neck till ye 20th Sept^{br}, then we mercht to Capt. Masone's and ther we met with Capt. Houseley and his men; so we draved out 12 of our best horses, and so we ranged up Ackotink and ther we lay that night. Sept 22^d ... Sept. 23^d We marcht to the Suggar Land[7].... And the 24th we Ranged about to see if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we could not see any fresh signe ...; the 26th marcht to Capt. Masone's, and ther dismissed my men till ye next March." [Footnote 7: Suggar Land was named for the sugar maple trees that at that time grew in the region of what was later Fairfax and Loudoun counties.] PART II Eighteenth Century _MURDERS IN STAFFORD_ Thomas Barton, of Stafford County, asked a neighbor to stay with his children while he and his wife went away for a day. The obliging neighbor, his wife and three children, came to the Barton plantation on a Sunday, June 16, 1700. There were three children in the Barton family, and an orphan boy. On that peaceful June day all must have been drowsy contentment at the wilderness plantation--six children at play in the house, and the neighbor and his wife trying perhaps to take a nap. Only the orphan boy was outside, playing alone. Suddenly the peaceful Sunday afternoon was turned into a nightmare. A party of Indian warriors swooped down in a sudden attack on the Barton place. All was over in a few minutes no doubt. Only the orphan boy escaped and ran to a neighboring plantation. Meanwhile Barton was on the way home. His wife had probably decided to stay overnight wherever they had visited for he was alone. He stopped by a mill where he had left some corn to be ground and picked up his bag of meal. When he was almost home about twenty Indians started up from the woods and closed in about him in a "half-moon." They were naked and unarmed.