History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 2

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 780

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and between it and Brazil is a great gulf in which are the islands of the West Indies discovered by the Spaniards."*

This first name, applied by European geographers to the coast of Maine, was afterwards used in a more restricted sense. Thus we find Andre Thevit, the French navigator who visited the Penobscot in 1556, applying it to that river, probably because it was deemed, at that time, the chief river, and therefore entitled to the general name of the country. Describing his entrance into the Penobscot, he says, " Here we entered a river which is one of the finest in the world. We call it Norumbega. It is marked on some charts as the Grand River. The uatives call it Agoney. Upon its banks the French formerly erected a small fort, about ten leagues from its mouth. It was called the Fort of Norumbega, and was surrounded by fresh water."+ We learn from this that the French, at a very early day, claimed the eastern part of the State of Maine; that charts had been made of its coasts and principal rivers, and that they had built a fort on the Penobscot, ten leagues above its mouth, before the year 1556. Thirty-two years before this Verrazano had taken possession of it in the name of the king of France, and had formed some sort of a league or treaty with the natives.

The maps of Ramusio, above referred to, were made from the study of the original charts and reports of voy- ages undertaken by the Spanish, Portuguese, and French navigators. In his remarks accompanying the collection he says he " had compiled these maps, such as they were, not because he thought them perfect or complete, but be- cause he wished to satisfy the desire of Italian students, entertaining the hope that in some time to come they would be improved."

The results of the voyages of Champlain along the coast of Maine, in 1605-6, were embodied in a carefully-pre- pared chart, and, in connection with a personal narrative of his expeditions, published in Paris, in 1613. " It is almost incredible," says the author of a late paper read before the Maine Historical Society, on the subject of these voyages, " that, in the histories of the United States, New England, and Maine, scarcely an allusion is made to this expedition under Champlain. Baneroft devotes a few lines to the op-

# Mainc ffistorical Collections, vol. i. p. 231.

f Singularities of Antaretie France, otherwise called America.

# Maine Itist. Coll., vol. i. p. 227.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

erations of De Monts, under the dates of 1605-6, but does not mention Champlain's agency. Williamson, quoting from Belknap, gives the same date. Folsom notes the landing at Saco. Judge Godfrey gives a somewhat de- tailed account of the discoveries in the Penobscot, but erroneously makes the date 1603, and De Monts one of the party. Palfrey gives three pages to Gosnoll, one to Pring, and one to Weymouth, but dismisses the French discoy- cries in a few disparaging lines, emphasizing the fact of their having landed at Cape Cod, but giving no account of the detailed operations on the coast of Maine."*

Happily, the time has come when a truer history of these events can be written without any coloring from the prejudices of nationality and religion ; and to this end the valuable paper of the author above quoted furnishes an im- portant contribution. We shall follow General Brown's paper substantially in the remaining portion of this pre- liminary chapter :

" In 1603, Champlain sailed with Du Pont-Grave and explored the St. Lawrence. The following year he joined the company of De Monts, not, as some historians assert, the pilot of the expedition, but especially commissioned, it would appear, by the king himself, a royal geographer, ordered to make discoveries and prepare maps and charts, and report directly to the crown. Three years he remained here, faithfully carrying out, under circumstances of great hardship and peril, the instructions he had received, and the record he has left is a marvel of accuracy, patience, and indomitable courage. The entire coast line of the Gulf of Maine was reconnoitered and described, and charts made of the principal harbors, which were, in 1613, published at Paris under his own supervision.

" The expedition of De Monts was prepared with great deliberation, and its composition arranged with thoughtful reference to the needs and possibilities of the future colony. The company numbered on its rolls soldiers inared to foreign service, sailors who were familiar with American waters, skilled mechanics, and gentlemen of rank.

" De Monts was the first to leave France, sailing from Havre de Grace on the 7th of April in a vessel commanded by Captain Timothée; with him were the Sieurs de Pout- rincourt and Champlain, and other gentlemen. Three days later, on the 10th, the other vessel, commanded by Captain Morel, of Honfleur, with the Sieur de Pont-Grave and the rest of the company, sailed with stores to join De Monts at Canceau, which had been selected as the rendez- Vous.

" When at sea, however, De Monts changed his plans and directed his course to a port farther to the westward. On the Ist of May be sighted Sable Island, on the 8th the main land at Cape la lleve, and on the 10th made a harbor at the present Liverpool, called by him ' Port Rossignol.' On the 13th the party disembarked at ' Port au Mouton,' and proceeded to erect shelters, having determined to await here the arrival of their consort, in search of whom a small party was sent toward Cancean in a shallop with letters of advice.

" Meanwhile, on the 19th of May, Champlain, accom-

panied by the Sieur Ralleau, secretary of De Monts, and ten men, left ' Port au Mouton' for the purpose of making a reconnoissance of the coast. He rounded Cape Sable, passed along the west coast of Nova Scotia, and penetrated the Bay of Fundy to nearly the site of Annapolis, and then returned to ' Port au Mouton' about the middle of June. On the following day the company, now increased by the arrival of the other vessel, abandoned their temporary shelters. Following the course which Champlain had previously taken, they diligently explored the south and north shores of the Bay of Fundy, but without determining upon the place for their settlement. Leaving the mouth of the St. John River, and proceeding westward, they landed first upon an island, which, from the great number of birds resembling magpies (margos), they named ' L'Isle aux Margos' (the little cluster is now known as ' The Wolves'). Farther to the westward could be seen other islands, says Champlain, one of large extent, called by the natives ' Manthane,' a name which, under the disguise of ' Menan,' it still bears.

" After leaving ' Isles aux Margos' they came to a river in the main land, and passing by the present site of East- port, they entered the broad expanse of Passamaquoddy Bay. Ascending the river, they came to a point where were two islands, on the larger of which the little colony disembarked and began at once the necessary preparations for their winter's residence. The narrative of Champlain gives a simple but vivid picture of this diminutive settle- ment of the ' Holy Cross,' so short-lived that its very site was for more than a century unknown. It is now called Neutral, or De Monts Island, and the river is fitly called by the name which the ill-starred adventurers piously gave to the first organized attempt to plant a colony on the shores of Maine.

" It is well known that the vexed question of the pre- cise northeastern boundary of the United States was only determined by the identification of this island, so that in more senses than one the little spot has acquired a national importance.

" On the last day of August De Poutrincourt was sent back to France with Secretary Ralleau, the former to make arrangements for his own adventure at Port Royal, the latter to put in order some of the affairs of the company. What followed we give, as nearly as space will allow, in Cham- plain's own words :

"' After the departure of the vessels,' he says, 'the Sieur de Monts determined to send an expedition, without loss of time, nlong the coast of Noruntbegue, and this be committed to my charge, which was much to my liking. To this end I left St. Croix the 2d of Septem- ber, 1604, with a pattuche of seventeen or eighteen tous, twelve sailors, and two savages as guides. This day we found the vessels of the Sienr de Pontrincourt, which were anchored at the mouth of the river on account of the bad weather, and from this spot we could not move until the fifth of the same month, and then when two or three leagues at sea the fog enme up so thick that we soon lost their ves- sels from sight. Continuing onr course along the coast we made this day some twenty- five leagues and passed by a great quantity of islands, shallows, and reefs, which extend senwards in places more than four leagues. We have named the islands " Lex index Rangeen." ... This same day we passed quite near an island which is some four or five leagnes long and were nearly lost on a little rock just under water which made a small hole in our bark near the keel. . . . The island is very high, and so eleft in places that at sea it appears as if seven

Van. John Marshall Brown, of Portland.

EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES.

or eight mountains were ranged side by side. . . . I have named this island " L'isle des Monta-deserts;" its latitude is 441º. The next mora- ing, 6th of September, we made two le igues andI perceived a smoke in a ereek which was at the foot of the mountains and saw two canoes propelled by savages, who came within musket shot to reconnoitre ns.'

" At this point, which would appear to be on the southern or southwestern shore of Mount Desert, Champlain appears to have anchored for the night, for he says that on the fol- lowing day, which was the 7th of September, the natives returned, and after receiving presents in exchange for fish and game, consented to guide the adventurers to their own home at Peimtegouët, where they said their chief Bessubez was.

" We quote again from Champlain :

"' I think that this river is the same called hy several pilots an ! his- torians Norumbegue, and which has been described by most of them as broad and spacions, with very many islands, with its entrance in 43º to 434º of latitude, or, according to others, in 44º more or le-s As for the longitnde. I have never read or heard any one speak of it. They say, also, there is a great eity well peopled w.th savages, adroit and skillful, and used to the manufacture of cotton. I am sure that most of those who speak of these things have never seen them and derive their anthority from men who know no more than theio-elves. I am ready to believe that there are some who have seen the month of the river (i.e., the bay), because there are a great many islands there and it is in 44º. But there is no appearance of any one's hav- ing entered there, for they would have described it in quite another fashion in order to rid many of the doubt. I shall, therefore, narrate truly all that I have discovered and seen from the beginning as far as I have been.'

" Champlain then deseribes in great detail the physical features of that wonderful portion of the coast called Penob- seut Bay, which he makes extend from Mount Desert in the east to the promontory of Bedubedee on the west (the present Owl's Head). Midway, and out at sea, he describes that singularly picturesque island named by him ' Isle Haute,' -a name it still bears. Fish of all kinds abound, and game, which make the numerous islands a frequent resort for the natives during the season. On the western shore are the mountains of Bedubedec (the Camden hills of the present day), and everywhere are wooded islands, low-lying rocks, and dangerous reefs. With the scrupulous care which ehar- acterizes him everywhere, he gives the necessary directions for entering the head-waters of the bay.

"' Coming to the south,' he says, ' of the "Isle Ilante," and ranging along the shore for a quarter of a league where are some rocks just out of water, and then heading to the west until you open all the islands which lie to the north of this islandl, and you may be sure that when you see the eight or nine summits of Iste des Monts-deserts and the heights of Bedubedec yon are directly opposite the river of Vorum- bryne ; to enter, you must head to the north towards the very high mountains of Bedubedec, and yon will see no islands before you, and can enter safely with plenty of water.'

" Entering the bay, Champlain proceeded, under the guidance of the savages he had taken at Mount Desert, to the narrows at the mouth of the river, and ascended the river to the point where the Kenduskcag stream enters it at Bangor. He speaks with enthusiasm of the scenery, the river-banks covered with verdure, and here and there lovely stretches of meadow. At this point his progress was arrested by the falls. So he remained here and landed. The great oaks on the shore seemed to form a sort of park, to have been planted, he says,"' for pleasure,' but no city,

no population skilled in the domestic arts; neither there nor anywhere on shore or on island was, as he says, 'any town or village, or any appearance of there having been any,' only one or two squalid hnts covered with bark after the fashion which they had seen practiced at the St. Croix and on the shores of the great bay.

" Here they met Bessubez, the chief or captain of the tribe, and Cubahis, who had jurisdiction over a family or tribe to the west ward, perhaps at what is now Belfast. Great stir there was among the dusky natives at the sight of the strangers, dancing and singing, and much consumption of tobacco. But Cubahis drew himself apart from the noisy throng for a while, because, as the narrative says, 'it was the first time he had ever seen Christians.'

" On the 17th of September, the day after all these festivities, Champlain took the altitude and found 45º 25' north latitude and began the descent of the river, and so continued coasting to the westward. At what we judge to be St. George's River their native guides left them, because the savages of the Quinibequy were their enemies. We quote again :

"' We ranged along the coast some eight leagnes to the westward as far as an island distant some ten leagues from the Quinibequy, where we were obliged to stop on account of hid weather aud contrary winds ; in one part of our route we passel a quantity of islands and breakers, very dangerous, and shelving out into the sea some leagues.'

" At this point the weather and head-winds, and the scarcity of provisions, compelled our hardy adventurers to retrace their steps. On the 23d of September, three weeks after leaving St. Croix, they set about on their return, and in nine days after were greeted by their companions.

" Champlain received no intelligence of any Europeans on the coast, and found no fixed settlements of natives. The savages lived on the head-waters of the rivers and along the great carrying-places which constituted a thorough fare from one end of the Acadian Peninsula to another, so that, as Champlain was informed, one could go from the St. Croix to the St. John and so to Quebec, or to the Penobscot and Kennebee, and so by the Chaudière to the St. Law- renee. The vast network of rivers and lakes made com- munication easy and rapid. That no tidings were received of any Europeans on the coast is doubtless satisfactory evi- dence that at this time, in 1604, and indeed within the memory of the generation then living, there had been no attempt at colonization, or even any exploration of the coun- try within the limits traversed by Champlain.

" During the month of Champlain's absence the little band had busied themselves to make preparations for the winter, and the accession to their number of the returned adventurers only gave new vigor to their efforts. Shelter was provided, but it was scanty enough for the inclement season, and disease of irresistible virulence clutched at these poor waifs from the shores of sunny France, and closed their eyes to all earthly things. When the spring opened the little cemetery had in it thirty-five graves,-nearly as many dead as living left to mourn their loss. Dispirited at such great misfortunes, De Monts resolved to abandon his plan- tation and return to France ; but on the 15th of June the little band was gladdened by the news of the arrival of two vessels bringing men and provisions.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

"' (in the seventeenth of the month,' says Champlain, ' the Sieur de Monts decided to seek for a place better suited for habitation than ours, and on the eighteenth he left the island uf St. Croix with some gentlemen, twenty sailors, and two savages, l'eauunion and his wife, whom he did not wish to leave behind, and whom we took with us ns a guide to the country of the Ammuchiquoin, hoping by means of her to see and learn more of the country, for she was a native of it.

"' So ranging along the coast between We wane, which is about three leagues from the main land, we came to the southward of the " Inter Ranyfor" and anchored at one where there were so many erows that we named it " Inte anr C'ninrillen ;" from thence we made " L'isle den Mount desert"," which is at the entrance of the river Norumbegue, as I have said before ; thence we went some five or six leagues among several islands.'

" These were doubtless the Fox Islands, and here they found a good harbor. On the Ist of July they set sail to the westward and made some twenty-five leagues, passing the islands and reefs Champlain had noticed in the previous voyage, and reaching the mouth of the Quinibequy, as Champlain says, they anchored some three hundred yards from the entrance in five or six fathoms.

"' At the entrance there is an island quite high which we have named " La Tortue," und between this and the main land are some scattered islands and rocks, covered at high water, but the sea breaks over them. Tho " Inte de la Tortue" and the river are SSE. and NNW.'

" They were delayed here by the fog, but on the 5th of July they began the exploration of the river. They were now obviously in the Sheepscot River, which seems to have been called also Quinibequy by the natives. At some dis- tance up the river they narrowly escaped being lost on a rock which they grazed in passing; farther on they met some savages in two canoes ; by the aid of the wife of their guide they accosted these hunters and secured their services as guides to their chief Manthoumermer. Proceeding some miles, they passed through a beautiful country with fine meadow-lands and little streams; then they passed by an island some four leagues long, and at last reached the head of the river, probably where is now Wiscasset. Here was Manthoumermer, their chief, and some twenty-five or thirty savages. There was at first some timidity on the part of the natives, but the conference resulted amicably, presents were exchanged, and a species of offensive and defensive alliance concluded between the two parties. On the follow- ing morning, under the guidance of the savages, the party descended the river by another passage than that of the previous ascent, with the intention of reaching a lake, so called, which appeared to be a well-known resort of neigh- boring tribes. What follows we give in Champlain's words :

"' Passing by some islands, cach of the savages left an arrow near n cape by which all must pass : they believe that unless they do this the devil will bring about some misfortune; they live in this super- elition as well as many others. Near this cape we passed a fall of water ; but it was not done without grent difficulty, for although we hn.l a fair and fresh wind, and carried all the sail we possibly could, we were obliged to take a hawser ashore and fasten it to the trees and then pull with all our strength, and thus by main force and the favor- ing wind we got through. The savages who were with us carried their canoes along the shore, being unable to make headway with their paddles. After having passed the fall we saw beautiful meadow- landIs. I was much astonished at this fall because we descended easily with the tide, but at the fall it was against us, but above the fall it ebbel as before, much to our antisfaction. Pursuing our route, we came to a lake which is three or four leagues long, with islands in it. Here descend two rivers, the Quraiboyay, which comes from the north cast, and another, which comes from the northwest, by which Marchim und Naarou were to come; but having waited the whole of this day

withont secing them we resolved to keep our time employed, and so weighed anchor und came to the mouth of the river.'

" Time will not permit a full translation of the very in- teresting description which follows. It is evident that Champlain ascended the Sheepscot to the northern ex- tremity of Westport, descended the river on the west side of the island, passed close to what is now called Hocka- mock Point, pulled the vessel through upper Hellgate and so entered the Kennebec proper, and passed on to Merry- meeting Bay. The descent was made by the true channel to the site of Fort Popham, where they probably anchored, unless they made a harbor a little farther to the westward. From the Indians Champlain received an accurate descrip- tion of this noble river; they told him it was the great route to the St. Lawrence, and explained to him the con- nection between it and the Chaudière, describing, in fact, the very route by which, one hundred and seventy years later, the intrepid Arnold carried his brave little army to the very walls of Quebec. They further told him that there were no Indians on the coast, but that in the interior, probably meaning Norridgewock, they lived and cultivated the soil.

"On the 8th of the month the party, previously de- tained by the fog, set sail to the westward, probably taking a dircet course for the headland of Cape Elizabeth, for they passed without entering Casco Bay, which Champlain de- scribes as full of islands, and beyond them to the west great mountains where dwells a savage chief named 'Aneda.' The next day coasting along they saw signs of habitations, smokes in the main land which seemed to invite them, and many of the natives, more than eighty in number, dancing and gesticulating on the shore. The vessel came to off what is now Old Orchard Beach, and anchored inside of what is now Stratton's Island. Here there was a friendly conference with the natives, and from this point they made a visit to an island, 'which,' in Champlain's language, 'is very beautiful, having fine oaks and walnuts; the soil is cultivated, and bears vines with good grapes in their season. They were the first we had seen since leaving Cape ' La Hléve' This we called ' L'isle de Bacchus.' One can with difficulty recognize under this description the Rich- mond Island of the present day. The lofty oaks and wal- nuts and luxuriant vines have disappeared, and all that remains of the spot which, perhaps more than any other on the coast, with the exception of Pemaquid, was in the early days the resting-place of trade and active enterprise, is a bare, wind-swept field, uninviting to all but the storm- beaten sailor who seeks shelter under its lec.

"'At high water,' Champlain continues, 'we weighed anchor and entered a little river (the Saco), which we could not do sooner on account of a bar, on which at low tide there is but one-half a fathom of water, but at the flood a fathom and one-half, and at the spring tide two fathoms ; within are three, four, five, and six,'-a very accurate de- scription of the physical features apparent to this day. Champlain, with his customary exactness, enters into minute details of the habits, appearance, and character of the peo- ple. "The river,' he says, 'was called the river of the Chouacort country.' They landed and examined the little gardens of the inhabitants; Champlain and De Monts were

EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES.

interested in the culture of maize. 'They plant,' says the narrative, 'in gardens, sowing three or lour grains in one spot, and then with the shell of the " signoc" they gather a little earth around it : three fect from that they sow again, and so on.'

" We can scarcely improve, even now, on this method of planting that wonderful grain which Champlain calls ' wheat of India,' and we Indian corn. A word may be in place with reference to the singular agricultural implement used by the natives. Champlain says it was the shell of the signoc, a remarkable fish, to which, later on, he gives some pages of description. It was simply the curious shell of the horseshoe crab, and those who are familiar with it can readily understand how serviceable it may have been in their simpler gardening operations. Champlain made a chart of this harbor, giving all the prominent features of the coast and river line, with soundings, just as he had conscientiously done before at the Kennebec, at St. Croix, on the shore of the Bay of Fundy, and Nova Scotia. These were all studies for the maps which, as royal geographer, it was his special mission to prepare.

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History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 2

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 780

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 780