Shafts Of Sunlight At Glencoe

Glencoe is a beautiful place, but it is also infamous for what happened here to the MacDonalds in 1692. A branch of Clan MacDonald operated as cattle thieves in the area around Glencoe, and the government wanted to pacify them. They sent an army officer named Campbell to visit them, along with a detachment of his men. The MacDonalds entertained Campbell's party, putting them up for the night. By morning, Campbell and his men had turned on their hosts and killed dozens of them - men, women and children. Ever afterward, the MacDonalds and the Campbells remained bitter foes. But this event had repercussions even more far-reaching than that. A century and a half later, a descendant of these MacDonalds emigrated to the Canadian wilderness. Noting the similarity between the way Native Americans were treated and the fate of his own ancestors, Mr. MacDonald married one of their women and for all intents and purposes joined their tribe. Among white men he became their staunchest advocate, because as a Highlander he knew what it meant to be a native pushed out of his own land.