No less sad: 4 historic massacres in which few people died

Massacre: Just hearing or reading the term in history books makes us feel a little bit cornered. When we think of massacres, we already imagine dozens, hundreds or thousands of people killed by some tragic event, which usually involves wars, explosions and a lot of violence.

Despite the common notion we all have of a massacre, there is no definition that limits the number of deaths to be considered such an event. Therefore, massacres can encompass deaths of five, ten, one hundred or one thousand individuals - it is often up to people to judge whether or not an event was considered a massacre, depending on the context. Below are some examples of the genre, which are considered the smallest in the world:

1 - The Whitman Massacre

In 1836, Presbyterian missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman began missions in the US state of Oregon to help local Indians called the Cayuse. Religious differences between the two sides caused barriers in relations between the missionaries and the Indians, and in 1842 the older Presbyterians wished to end the mission there.

However, Marcus asked for more time to stay with the Indians. After an epidemic struck the region and nearly all indigenous children died and whites survived, the Cayuses became suspicious of missionaries. On November 29 of the same year, the Whitmans were murdered by the Indians, revolted for losing their lands and their children.

2 - The Frog Lake Massacre

Frog Lake, or Frog Lake in the original, is Canada's place with the largest massacre in the country's history in 1885, although it is small compared to others. The Cree Indians were starving due to the lack of buffalo in the region, and the white settlers who arrived on the land broke all initial settlements that had been formed between Indians and Europeans.

It was then that a group of Cree Indians broke into stores in the Frog Lake area in search of food. They captured some of the village men as hostages, including the people who always abused them. In total, eight people were murdered by the Cree at the time of the invasion. Subsequently, all identified Indians were hanged.

3 - The Boston Massacre

This massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, when British Army soldiers shot at a group of civilians, resulting in the deaths of five men and injuries in six others. Tensions between the British and the Americans had been going on for some time and culminated in the fateful event, and according to historical records, what started the fights were the offenses fired at the English Crown.

4 - The St. Valentine's Massacre

Also known as "The Valentine's Day Massacre", took place on February 14, 1929, in the United States. In total, seven people were killed in a conflict between two rival Chicago gangs, led by Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Gang interests were pretty much the same, such as prostitution, smuggling and gambling.

It was then that Moran wanted to reverse the situation and had people murdered who were associated with his rival Al Capone, to give a message to the enemy. Two men dressed as police raided an establishment where the victims were and shot all of them. No one has ever been arrested for the crime, and while everyone blames Moran, the lack of evidence proved insufficient to arrest him at that time.

* Posted on 6/9/2014