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They lived in a state of comfort but little above that of the savages around them ; with a wigwam of bark for their home, with a bear-skin for a bed, and with only such food as the coarse fare of the Indians could supply.2
Sebastian Rasle 3 succeeded the Bigots in the mission to Nor- ridgewock. He was a gentleman by birth, education, and cul-
1 This was in 1609. It is supposed the place of residence selected by the mis- sionaries was on the western side of the Pool. Here they constructed a habita- tion, planted a garden, and dwelt five years. With never-failing zeal they entered upon the lifelong work of teaching the natives the principles of Christianity. See Williamson, vol. i. p. 206.
2 The History of Norridgewock, by William Allen, p. 28.
& The name is variously spelled, Rasle, Rasles, Ralle, Rale. We give it as in- scribed upon his monument by Bishop Fenwick.
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ture. Religious zeal incited him, also, to leave the endearments of a home of opulence and congenial companionship, and to spend thirty-five years in the then unbroken wilderness of Maine. His remarkable character deserves more particular notice.
He sailed from Rochelle, in France, in the summer of 1689, and, after a three-months' voyage, landed at Quebec. Having a well-disciplined mind, and writing Latin with classical purity, he found but little difficulty in acquiring the simple languages of the natives. After spending several months in the diligent study of the Indian tongue, he was first stationed in a village of the Abenagues nation, in Maine. Here he found about two hundred Indians, who, from the labors of previous missionaries, were professing Christianity.
After spending two years in this village, he received an order from his ecclesiastical superiors, to go far away into the depths of the savage wilderness, to a mission among the Indians of Illinois. Without a murmur, in August of 1691, he prepared for this journey of two thousand four hundred miles, through trackless wilds, towards the setting sun. Repairing to Quebec, he there, with a few companions and Indian guides, set out on his long and perilous journey, in the birch canoe.
They ascended the winding and rapid current of the St. Law- rence ; carried their canoe and its freight on their shoulders, around the portages by which they passed the rapids. After traversing the whole length of Lake Ontario, and threading the forest around Niagara Falls, they again launched their canoe upon Lake Erie. Weary days and nights of storm and sun- shine passed as they paddled along the shores of this inland sea, through the straits, expanding in their centre into Lake Clair, traversed Lakes Huron and Michigan, crossed the portage to the upper waters of the Illinois River, and descended that stream, to their destination amidst the thronged villages of the Indians, situated upon its banks.
Every night they landed, built their camp-fire, cooked their supper, performed their devotions, while the silent forest echoed their vespers ; and, commending themselves to God, they enjoyed that sleep which he gives to his beloved. Often, when it
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rained, the upturned canoe afforded them their only shelter. Fre- quently they suffered from hunger, and eagerly devoured the lichens which grew upon the rocks. Here Sebastian Rasle spent two years in teaching the Indians. He was then recalled by his superior, and stationed at Norridgewock on the Ken- nebec. We shall often have occasion to refer to this extraordi- nary man in the progress of this narrative.1
It can hardly be said that the Indians had any religious opin- ions. There were vaguely floating through their minds some shadowy and inoperative ideas of a Great Spirit, and of hunt- ing-grounds beyond the grave. They had perhaps a more prac- tical faith in an evil spirit than in God. The machinations of this malignant demon they greatly feared. The Catholic mis- sionaries gave them much more elevated views of religion and of personal responsibility. Their teachings put an end to the horrid orgies of the Indian pow-wows.2
Their government was of the simplest form. The authority of the chiefs seems to have been mainly that which superior intelligence and energy give. It was like the power which is exerted over a New England village by a prominent man of education, wealth, and enterprise. When the first settlers reached the coast of Maine, there was one sovereign chief of the Wawenoc tribe. These Indians occupied the valleys of the Sheepscot, the Pemaquid, and the St. George's Rivers.
The Bashaba, as he was called, extended his nominal sway over the western tribes as far as Agamenticus or York.3 Each
1 "Father Rasle lived among this people over thirty years. His influence was very extensive, and deserved, not less for liis zeal and entire devotion to their ser- vice, than for his learning and talents. The French writers place him among the saints, while his English contemporaries give him a place the very opposite." -- History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 349.
2 Williamson writes, "So often had his (Rasle's) malignity, pride, and officious interference awakened among the Indians new complaints, that the people of the Province, for good reasons, regarded him 'among the most infamous villains,' and would have given more for his head than for a hundred scalps of the natives." - History of Maine, vol. ii. p. 106.
Williamson also writes, "He was a man of talents and learning; and by his condescending manners, religious zeal, and untiring perseverance, he had greatly endeared himself to the tribe. He had resided with them, and been their tutelar father, thirty years, and many of them he had taught to read and write." - His- tory of Maine, vol. ii. p. 102.
8 Mr. Williamson suggests that the Camden Hills were the probable boundary of Besliaba's dominions on the east. - Vol. i. p. 95.
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tribe had a head chief called a sagamore, and subordinate chiefs, like the secondary nobility in Europe, called sachems. The chiefs were chosen by the men of the tribe, and the office continued for life. The successful candidate was often inducted into office with great barbaric pomp. Representatives from other tribes generally assisted at the ceremonies.
For fifty years the planters and traders of Maine carried on their intercourse with the Indians without any open outbreak. The Indians were often subjected to great wrongs at the hands of individuals, and bitter complaints were not infrequent. As the English grew more powerful, they became more arrogant and domineering; while the natives, crushed and irritated, were ready to embrace any opportunity for direful revenge. But there were some truly good men among the English adventur- ers, who treated the Indians with humanity, and won their af- fection. Thus there were two parties among the Indians, -the friendly and the unfriendly; but the latter, in numbers, far exceeded the former. .
Many of the Indians possessed much higher intelligence, and had clearer conceptions of their wrongs, than has generally been supposed. They often argued their cause against the white men with great shrewdness and invincible logic. Their amuse- ments consisted mainly of foot-races, wrestling, pitching quoits, and bat and ball. They had no schools, and had no idea whatever of reading, writing, or arithmetic. Heckewelder says, that, in their first endeavor to pronounce the word " English," they uttered the sound " Yengees," which is the origin of the term Yankees.1
King Philip's war broke out in June, 1675.2 There were then, according to the usual estimate, thirteen settlements, more or less scattered, in Maine.3 The English population of Maine
1 Writings as to the Indians, by John Heckewelder.
2 " This war has been ascribed to various canses. It has been represented, with some spleen as well as truth, that the English were the aggressors. The generous treatment and welcome they first received from the natives had been repaid, as accusers say, by kidnapping their benefactors, by disturbing their hunt- ing grounds and fisheries, and by a shameful mismanagement of the fur and pel- try trade." -- Williamson, vol. i. p. 517 ; Mather's Magnalia, vol. ii. p. 493.
8 These were, 1, Kittery; 2, York; 3, Wells; 4, Cape Porpoise; 5, Saco; 6, Sear- borough; 7, Falmouth; 8, Pejepscot; 9, Sagadahoc and Kennebec; 10, Sheepscot;
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was about six thousand souls. They were widely dispersed in many small villages and lonely farmhouses, and almost in the worst possible condition for either aggressive or defensive war.
The excitement rapidly spread among the tribes, from Plym- outh to Sagadahoc. The hunting gun had become to the In- dian almost necessary to his existence. The General Court sent commissioners, with full military powers, to Maine, who ivere directed to see that neither guns, powder, knives, nor lead, should be sold to any Indian who was not fully known to be friendly. They were also ordered, as far as possible, to disarm the Indians, by taking from them their guns and knives.1
A more oppressive measure of hostility could hardly have been inflicted upon the Indians. Just across the line, in Can- ada and Nova Scotia, the French sold every thing to the Indi- ans just as freely as to one another. They had no more fear of a rising of the natives against them, than they had of an insur- rection on the part of their own brethren. Under these circum- stances we can easily imagine which party would secure the sympathies of the Indians.
There was quite a renowned Indian chief, by the name of Squando, who resided near Saco. He had been a friend of the white men. One day his wife was ascending the Saco River in a canoe with an infant babe in her arms. There were some brutal British sailors on the banks. They had heard that Indian babes could swim naturally, like puppies or ducks.2 To try the experiment, they overset the canoe, plunging mother and child into the river. The babe sank like lead. The mother, diving, and groping along the bottom, at length found it, and brought it to the surface. But the child soon died. This outrage roused Squando, and he consecrated his tireless energies in the en- deavor to combine the Indians against the English.3
11, Damariscotta; 12, Pemaquid; 13, Monhegan. The country between the Pen- obscot and Passamaquoddy Bay had but few habitations. - Williamson, vol. i. p. 615.
1 Records of Massachusetts Government, vol. iv. p. 29; see also Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 301.
2 "They can swim naturally, striking their paws under their throats like a dog, and not spreading their arms as we do." -Jocelyn's Voyage to New England. p. 142.
3 "The whites did not believe that the death of the child was owing to its im- tuersion; still we must allow the Indians to know as well as they." - Drake's Book of the Indians, b. iii. p. 99.
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Thomas Purchas resided about six miles below the Falls, at Brunswick. He was a sharp trader, and had acquired a large estate, though he had rendered himself very unpopular with the Indians. Early in September, 1675, a party of twenty Indians approached his house, apparently for purposes of trade. Purchas and his son chanced both to be absent.
The Indians robbed the house of guns, ammunition, and such liquors as they could carry away. They killed a calf and several sheep, and enjoyed a luxurious feast. In the midst of the rev- elry, a son of Mr. Purchas appeared on horseback. Terrified at the spectacle, he fled for life, putting the horse to his utmost speed. An Indian, with a gun hid under his blanket, pursued him for a short distance, but soon gave up the chase. Neither Mrs. Purchas nor any members of the household were subjected to any violence, though the Indians said, in retiring, " Others will soon come, and you will fare worse."1
This was the first hostile act here, indicating that war had actually commenced. In Falmouth, on the east bank of the Presumpscot River, there was an old man residing, by the name of Thomas Wakely. His lonely cabin, containing nine inmates, was far removed from any neighbors. Mr. Wakely and wife, his son John and his wife, and three children, were tomahawked. Two were carried away as captives.2
Lieut. George Ingersoll resided on Casco Neck, now Portland. From his cabin he saw the flame and the smoke. The next morning, with a small party of well-armed neighbors which he had collected, he proceeded to the spot. Awful was the spec- tacle which met his eye. The body of old Mr. Wakely was half consumed by the fire. Nothing remained of his wife and son but their charred and blackened bones. The wife of his son, who was near her confinement, had been cut down by the tomahawk, and her body was mangled in the most shocking manner. The bodies of three little children, whose brains had been dashed out, were partially buried in the ruins. Of the two children who were carried into captivity, one was never heard
1 When complained of for this depredation, they (the Indians) attempted to justify themselves on the ground that Purchas had injured them in their trading. - History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 193.
2 History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 197.
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of more. The other, Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Mr. Wakely, about eleven years of age, was eventually rescued.1
The poor orphan child, in the endurance of physical suffer- ings from cold, hunger, and weariness, which were almost in- tolerable, and of the most dreadful mental anguish from the horrid scenes which she had witnessed, was retained in captivity nine months. In June of the next year, she was released through the kind interposition of Squando.2 Not long after this, the son of Lieut. Ingersoll was killed, and his house and those of his neighbors were burned.3 .
The Indians having thus lapped blood, their savage natures were roused. In small, demoniac bands, they scattered over the whole Province of Maine, from the Piscataqua to the An- droscoggin. A large number of Indians were ravaging the dwellings at the head of New Meadows River, near Brunswick. A party of twenty-five Englishmen, in a sloop and two boats, attacked them. There was a hotly contested battle. The Eng- lish were defeated, and driven back to their sloop. Many were severely wounded. The victors uttered yells of triumph which resounded through the forests.
On Saturday morning, Sept. 18, two dwelling-houses at Saco were attacked. One was occupied by Mr. John Bonython. It stood on the east of the river, about a mile below the Lower Falls. A neighboring Indian, who was friendly to Mr. Bony- thon,4 came to him privately, and said, -
" Some stranger Indians, from the west, have been at my wigwam. They have endeavored to persuade us all to raise the tomahawk against the white people. They have gone farther east, and will probably soon come back with many warriors."
1 According to Sullivan, this event took place in July, 1675. But Williamson, following Hubbard's account, assigns it to the 12th of September of that year.
2 " When the family of old Mr. Wakely was murdered, a young woman was carried away captive. Squando was the means of her being set at liberty. She, having been carried up and down the country some hundreds of miles, as far as Narragansett fort, was, this last June, returned back to Major Waldron's, by one Squando, the sagamore of Saco; a strange mixture of mercy and cruelty." - Drake's Book of the Indians, b. iii. p. 100.
3 Williamson, vol. i. p. 521.
4 We find frequent reference, in the York Records and other writings of the early annalists, to. John Bonighton of Saco, and infer that, in those days, the name was sometimes so spelled. Still the allusion may be to some other person. There was then great want of uniformity in the spelling of proper names.
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Thus warned, Mr. Bonython spread the alarm as far as he could, and, with his neighbors, fled for refuge to the house of Major William Phillips, who lived on the west side of the river, and " near the corner where the traveller turns to go to the bridge."1 He was a military man, and his house was tolerably well fortified.
The next morning Bonython's house was seen to be in flames.
As Major Phillips looked from his chamber window, a lurking Indian, hid behind a fence, shot at him. The ball struck him on the shoulder, inflicting a severe wound. Had he not provi- dentially, at the moment, changed his position, he must have been killed.
The Indian, supposing that he had accomplished his purpose, gave a triumphant yell. It was the signal for a large number of savages to leap from their ambuscade, and commence an at- tack upon the house. The Indians numbered about a hundred.2 Within the house, protected by the thick walls, there were ten well-armed and resolute men, who were accustomed to throw the bullet with unerring aim.3
For an hour the battle continued. The Indians, as was in- variably the case, were very wary as to the exposure of their persons. They hid behind trees, stumps, rocks, and the angles of out-houses, watching their chances to strike the foe. But ere long they became convinced that they could not capture or kill the inmates except by stratagem. They set fire to an im- portant mill, and to a small house in the vicinity, and endeavored by insults and taunts to provoke the garrison to come out from their fortification. Many of the Indians could speak English. As the flames arose they shouted, " Come out, you coward Eng- lish dogs! Come and put out the fire if you dare !"
At last night came. The moon went down, and it was very dark, and still the murderous savages filled the night air with their howlings. They took a cart, which they loaded with straw, birch-bark, and other combustibles. Planks were arranged to protect them from the musketry of the house. This engine
1 Williamson, vol. i. p. 522.
2 History of Saco and Biddeford, by George Folsom, p. 155.
8 History of Portland, by William Willis, p. 197.
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they endeavored to push back against the dwelling, whose walls of logs, baked in the summer and autumnal sun, were in the highest degree inflammable. It was a fearful instrument of attack. Upon the application of the torch, when the cart was pushed against the house, the flames would envelop the build- ing beyond all possibility of extinguishment.
· But the savages, as in their eagerness and in the darkness they were running the fire-cart back, struck a gutter, into which one of the wheels sank deeply, and such a sudden turn was given to the vehicle, that, as it whirled round, the whole party pushing it was exposed. The vigilant garrison instantly opened a deadly fire. No bullets were wasted by these keen marks- men. Six fell dead ; fifteen more were wounded. This, to the Indians, was a dreadful loss. With yells of rage they retired.1
The number within the dwelling, including women and chil- dren, was about fifty. None were killed. Two or three only were wounded. Two days after this, on the 20th of Septem- ber, a band of savages entered Scarborough, burning houses, and killing men, women, and children. Twenty-seven houses were burned. From many of them the families had escaped but to meet a doom more dreadful than death, - poverty, home- lessness, friendlessness, and the storms of approaching winter.
It would require a volume, instead of the few pages which can here be devoted to the subject, to describe the individual scenes of violence, misery, and death, which ensued. For the protection of the distressed inhabitants of Saco, sixteen volun- teers, under Capt. Wincoln, landed at Winter Harbor. They were attacked by a hundred and fifty Indians. Two or three of the English were soon killed. The rest, taking a stand be- hind a breastwork of logs, kept up so deadly a fire upon their foes, that the savages were soon glad to retire, taking with them many who were slain, and many more who were wounded.2
Hearing the report of the guns, twelve men from Saco hur- ried forward to the aid of those who had come to their rescue. They were drawn into ambush, and were all shot down. De- moniac bands swept the valley of the Piscataqua, and laid many of the dwellings of Wells in ashes.
1 Williamson, vol. i. p. 523.
2 Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 310.
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A man by the name of John Tozier had a house and some mills at Salmon Falls. He had left his family, consisting of fif- teen women and children, to join the company of Capt. Win- coln. During his absence a band of Indians, led by two of their most renowned warriors, - one called Andrew, from Saco, and the other Hopegood, from the Kennebec, -attacked his house. It was within the limits of what is now Berwick.
A young girl of eighteen, discovering their approach, gave the alarm. While the family were escaping by a back way, to the garrison, this heroic maiden fastened and held the door, till the savages had cut it down with their tomahawks. They rushed in, and madly struck her down, with repeated blows, until they supposed that she was dead. Pursuing the flying family, they caught two of the youngest children, one of whom. being but three years old, they instantly killed; and the other they took with them, and held as a captive six months. The heroic maiden recovered, and lived for many years. It is to be regretted that her name has not been transmitted to us.1
A larger party joined these Indians the next day. They burned Capt. Wincoln's house, and his barns, containing more
. than a hundred bushels of corn. A company of the English set out to pursue them ; but nothing was accomplished. There was the interchange of a few unavailing shots, but the fleet- footed Indians escaped.
Every day the animosity of the two hostile parties increased in virulence. The fiend-like deeds of the savages so exasper- ated the English, that they were ready to shoot down an Indian as they would a wolf or bear, without stopping to inquire whether he were friendly or hostile. On both sides it was a war of extermination. Under such circumstances men often become fiends. Neither party could accuse the other of ex- ceeding it in cruelty. The inhabitants of Monhegan offered a bounty of five pounds for every Indian's head that should be brought to them.
1 Drake writes, in reference to this event, "Fifteen persons, all women and children, were in the house; and Hopegood, with one only beside himself, Andrew of Saco, thought to surprise them." - Book of the Indians, b. iii. p. 109.
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Mr. Abraham Shurte 1 was then the chief magistrate at Pem- aquid. He seems to have been a sagacious and good man, and to have won the confidence of the Indians. He induced several of the sagamores to visit him for a friendly conference. In . this interview he said, " I have urged our committee of war tc issue orders forbidding everybody to harm, or even threaten, a peaceable Indian. I am determined to see all the wrongs you have suffered fully redressed."
The Indians manifested no disposition for the horrors of bat- tle in which all lost and none gained. They were appeased by these conciliatory words. A treaty of peace between these two parties was the result. The Indians promised to do all in their power to induce others to cease their depredations. This, how- ever, was but an individual act on the part of Mr. Shurte. In other parts of Massachusetts and Maine, different counsels pre- vailed. In the desultory warfare, desperate white men wreaked vengeance upon the Indians, their wives and children, which no savages could exceed.
The General Court of Massachusetts was disposed to try the effect of humane measures. Quite a large sum was ordered from the public treasury for the relief of those friendly Indians whose harvests had been trampled down, and whose cabins had ' been burned. A vessel was also sent to Maine, with military stores and provisions, and a detachment of fifty soldiers, under Lieut. Scottow. These were dark days throughout New Eng- land, - days " of terror, conflagration, tears, and blood." The 7th of October, 1675, was generally observed as a day of fasting and prayer.
On that day a man and two boys were shot at Berwick. On the 16th a party of a hundred Indians assailed the cabin of Richard Tozier, burned it to the ground, killed him, and carried his son into captivity. This was all done within sight of the garrison house, where most of the inhabitants had fled for protection. Lieut. Roger Plaisted, who was in command, despatched a party of nine picked men to reconnoitre the foe.
1 Mr. Willis spells the naine Shurt. He writes, "Shurt was about forty-four years old when he came over, and was living in 1662, aged about eighty." This would have made him a very old man in 1675. It is, however, possible that the Shurt alluded to in the text may have been the son of the one to whom Mr. Wil- lis refers.
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It is with amazement that we read of the readiness with which the English, year after year, for more than a century, would march into the ambuscades of the Indians. These war- riors made themselves merry in recounting the stupidity with which the British officers would lead their men into the snares which the Indians had set for them. Braddock and St. Clair, in subsequent years, when they ought to have learned wisdom by many a bloody lesson, manifested a degree of stupidity which rendered them the laughing-stock of the savage chieftains.
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