\nTucked away in an old issue of a scholarly magazine is an interesting article that concerns Indian encampments on our section of the Kennebec. It was written by Maine historian Charles Wilson for the American Antiquarian in 1888. Let us now see what Wilson had to say.<\/p>\n
“At the junction of the Sebasticook and Kennebec rivers is a long, low hill of clay and sand. Locally known as Sand Hill, it has been the scene of many a conflict between native Indians and the white intruders. On the hill stood two redoubts of Fort Halifax, the largest fortress in Maine during the 18th century. The fort proper stood on lower ground nearer the meeting point of the rivers. The fort was built in 1754, but a hundred years earlier John Hammond, a Pilgrim trader, had erected there a blockhouse, which served as a sort of advanced post for his larger trading establishment on Arrowsic island at the mouth of the Kennebec. Hammond was foolish enough to rob the Indians of their furs, so they destroyed his blockhouse and killed Hammond himself in 1676. For fifty years after that, there was almost continuous warfare with the tribes. In 1691 Major Church, military commander at Falmouth (now Portland) ascended the Kennebec and had a skirmish with the Indians at Ticonic Falls. The Indians fled, after burning their huts.”<\/p>\n
Wilson’s account then continues: “Evidence of that prolonged warfare is abundant all around the old site of Fort Halifax. Removal of the soil still reveals skeletons. They are usually single, never more than two or three in a place. Occasionally with them is found an old flint-lock gun. Everywhere are numerous arrowheads. The bones are found near the surface and indicate death by violence. Signs of scalping are usually evident. Apparently the bodies had just been rolled into shallow holes.<\/p>\n
“Sand Hill itself seems to have been a camping site for several centuries before the white men arrived. Domestic utensils are found all along the brow of the hill. Knives, chisels, gouges, axes, pestles, spear and arrow heads, all crudely made from stone, have been found in considerable numbers. This especially occurred when the tracks for the Somerset and Kennebec railroad were laid right through the center of what had once been the large palisaded area of Fort Halifax. Fragments of pottery are also abundant.”<\/p>\n
Wilson commented about a discovery that had been made as late as 1886 on the crest of Sand Hill. He wrote: “Under a single foot surface of loam is sand twenty feet thick and a layer of blue clay which has been bored to 60 feet below the surface I saw an outcrop of loam which the rains had left. Digging into the bank, I found there had been a circular hole dug down from the surface, about eight feet in diameter and three feet deep, which had since been filled with surface loam. Near the center of the hole were remains of old fire, with ashes, cinders and charcoal. There were indications of successive fires in the same spot. Close by was a small heap of human bones, half a dozen teeth and five full vertebrae, all badly calcined. With the bones were several strings of copper beads, some on leather thongs, and others on hemp cords. Near the beads were broken pieces of pottery. Scattered over the bottom of the hole were numerous flakes of stone, a few spear and arrow heads, and two roughly made, almond shaped implements. A little distance away were a dozen teeth. Here perhaps were the remains of the huts burned by Major Church in 1696. It is well known that the Indians often dug shallow pits inside their huts, and in those pits they had their fires. This Ticonic spot was near the Indian’ s seasonal supply of salmon and herring, and it must have been a spring camp ground of theirs for several centuries.”<\/p>\n
In connection with my broadcasts last year on Fort Halifax, I have been asked exactly what was the agreement between Governor Shirley and the Plymouth Company concerning the building of Fort Halifax and Fort Western. In response to that question, I now quote the wording of the agreement signed in Boston on April 17, 1754.<\/p>\n
“Whereas the General Assembly of Massachusetts Bay has desired that Gov. William Shirley shall order a new fort to be erected of about 120 square feet, as far up the river above Fort Richmond as he shall deem fit, and his Excellency has signified to us that such a fort must be supplied from the head of tide water at Cushnoc, we, the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase, at our own expense to cause to be built at or near Cushnoc on the Kennebec, a house of hewn timber, not less than ten inches thick, 100 feet long and 2 feet wide, and 16 feet high, for the reception of the Province’s stores, with convenience for lodging soldiers, and with picket stockade 30 feet distant from every part of the said house, and we further agree to blockhouses 24 feet square at two of the opposite angles, and a sentry box at each of the other two angles 17 feet square, and furnish the same with four cannon carrying ball of four pounds – all on the condition that his Excellency completes his undertaking to protect the workmen until the house is finished. Provided also that His Excellency, the Governor, shall give definite orders to erect a new fort at the expense of the government near Ticonic Falls on the Kennebec, for the protection of settlements made there or in the adjacent country, and use his best efforts to cause that fort to be finished with the utmost expedition. For the building of the house at Cushnoc, We, the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase have appointed as a committee Thomas Hancock, Sylvester Gardiner, James Bowdoin, William Bowdoin, and Benjamin Hallowell.”<\/p>\n
A memorable episode of the American Revolution in Maine was the burning of Falmouth in 1775. Many accounts of it have appeared in print, including sections in Williamson’s History of Maine, published in 1832, and in many other Maine histories. A long account may be found in the official history of Portland. Recently I ran across a briefer but memorable account of that Revolutionary event in an old issue of the New England Register. It tells the story so well that here it is word for word from the old magazine.<\/p>\n
“On October 16, 1775, the people of Falmouth were surprised by the arrival of a squadron of four armed vessels. When the people learned that the British Captain Mowatt was in command, they supposed he had come for sheep and cattle to supply the British troops in Boston. The next day the ships came up the harbor and anchored in front of the town at the foot of India Street. Capt. Mowatt sent an officer ashore with a letter, stating that the town, had been guilty of most unpardonable rebellion, and he gave the magistrates ten hours to remove all the people out of the town. The officer landed at the foot of King Street amid a large assembly of people, and was conducted to the town house, where Mowatt’s letter was delivered to Lawyer Bradbury and read by him to the people. It is impossible to describe the consternation that ensued, but Bradbury secured sufficient order to procure the appointment of a committee to wait on Capt. Mowatt. The Captain told them he had orders from the British commander in Boston to destroy the town of Falmouth. The committee begged Mowatt to give the people time to move their possessions. Mowatt replied that, if by eight o’clock the next morning
\nthe town would deliver up four pieces of cannon with their accompanying ammunition, he would do no harm to the town until he had dispatched an express to Boston and had received a reply.<\/p>\n
“That same evening the people sent to Mowatt a token of small arms, but on the next morning they refused to deliver the cannon. At 9 a.m. Mowatt gave the dreaded signal. From all the ships firing began at once. It lasted until 6 p.m., when several parties came ashore and set buildings afire. None of the townspeople were killed, and only one was wounded. About three quarters of all the buildings, including 130 dwellings, St. Pauls Church with its bell, the town house, a new fire engine, and the public library were consumed. Only two small wharves escaped the flames. All shipping was either burned or taken away by the British.<\/p>\n
“On the arrival of the fleet, a man named Barton had gone out to the islands to guard sheep and cattle placed on them. Mrs. Barton, a woman aged 30, remained in their Falmouth house until falling shells set nearby buildings on fire. She tied up her feather bed with a few small articles and slung it over her shoulder. Taking her little boy by the hand, she fled the burning town. She had to walk a mile through the thickly settled part, where the fire was worse. Part of the time the ships with their blasting guns, were in full view. She took shelter under the ledges near a church. There her husband found her on his return from the islands. When the firing slackened, they ventured out, and after depositing their featherbed full of goods in a place of safety, they walked eleven miles to the house of the woman’s father in Windham. Their house and furniture were consumed, and they were compelled to begin anew. Similar was the fate of many a Falmouth family on that harsh October day in 1775.”<\/p>\n
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a common way of raising money for public projects was by lottery. That is the way Massachusetts disposed of some of the Bingham lands, and it was the method of raising money to build the Oxford Canal from Sebago Lake to Portland. Preserved in the state archives at Augusta are records of state lottery receipts from 1826 to 1831. During those five years a total of $58,000 came in on the Oxford Canal lottery, $3,000 on a lottery to build a bridge at Sullivan, and $10,000 over a four-year period for what was called the Steam Navigation Lottery. The latter was a scheme to promote the new invention of steamboats on Maine rivers.<\/p>\n
Recent spread of state lotteries from New Hampshire into New York and New Jersey is therefore nothing new. A hundred and forty years ago it was a favorite method of promoting state supported ventures. A wave of moral indignation swept out the lotteries in mid-nineteenth century. It is only a question of tune when the same will happen to the late 20th century lotteries. There is no more moral justification for state lotteries today than there was in 1830.<\/p>\n
Year: 1972<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #925, Broadcast on March 19, 1972<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42945,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}