USA > Maine > The history of the state of Maine; from its first discovery, A. D. 1602, to the separation, A. D. 1820, inclusive, Vol. I > Part 46
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The Bashaba and his greatness are frequently mentioned by the early voyagers to this country and by early writers :- a prince who always expected the civilities or customary etiquette of a visit from all strangers who came into his dominions. Gorges, in his History, says, " he seemed to be of some eminence above
* 1 Charlevoix, p. 435.
t These names, are "Segotago, or Sawocotuck [Saco] ; Paghhunta- " nuck, Pecopassum, Taughtanakagnet, Warbegganus, Nassaque, Mashe- " rosqueck, Wawrigeweck, [Norridgewock], Moshoquen, Wakcogo and " Pasharanack. # Smith, p. 18, 20, 218, 214.
CHAP. XVIII.]
OF MAINE. 465
" the rest, in all that part of the continent :"-" The Massachu- A. D. 1615, " sens were sometimes his friends and sometimes his enemies." to 1675.
His chief abode was not far from Pemaquid. His dominions, which were large, Gorges adds, were called by the general name of Moasham," or according to Belknap, Mavooshen ;t " and he " had under him many great Sagamores, some of whom had " a thousand or fifteen hundred bowmen." After his overthrow and death, he was never succeeded by another of equal rank or authority.#
The tribes of the ABENAQUESS were four, 1. the Sokokis, or The four Sockhigones ; 2. the Anasagunticooks ; 3. the Canibas, or Ken- ABENA- abes ; and 4. the Wawenocks.
tribes of the QUES.
1. The Sokokis or Sockhigones were settled upon the river Sokokis. Saco, according to Smith's description of the people upon the Sa- wocotuck-' a river east of Accomenticus.' La Hontan supposes Acadia extended southward of this river ; and says, " the Sokokis were one of the tribes of" that country. Jeffreys seems to men- tion their name in this connexion. Apistama, supposed to be the seaboard from Casco-bay eastward, Gorges says, lays be- tween " the Sockhigones' country" and ' the Bashaba's abode or dominions.' The tribe must have inhabited the banks of Saco river, for there is none other of that name upon the Atlantic coast.
They were originally a large people, till the first Indian war ; and the immediate residence ef their Sagamores was upon Indian Island, just above the Lower Falls. Two of them, Fluellen and Captain Sunday conveyed lands ; but when their successor, Squando, died, the glory seemed to depart from the tribe, which gradually wasted away.
* Gorges, p. 17, 54.
+ 1 Belk. Biog. p. 149, 351 .- " Maivooshen."-Purchas, p. 939.
Į Capt. Francis says, he has heard of the Bashaba, " he was a great governor."
§ Or " Abnakkis ;"-Abenaquis-Douglass ; Abenakis,- Charlevoix, La Hontan, Hutchinson ; but, Abenaques,-Abbe Reynal, Jeffreys, Belknap, Sullivan and Kendall.
Note .- Charlevoix, [1 vol. N. F. 417,] speaks of the Sokokis and a murder committed by them, to prevent a peace with the Iroquois ; and adds [vol. 5, p. 178,] the savages of St. Francois are of the Abenaques, among whom are some Algonquins, Sokokis, and Monhegans. It is well known that the tribe on the Saco withdrew early to St. Francois.
VOL. I. 46
466
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1615, to 1675.
There were two branches of the tribe and two principal lodg- ments, one was within the great bend of the river at Pegwacket or Fryeburgh ; and the other 15 or 20 miles below, upon the banks of the Great Ossipee. Here, before Philip's war, they employed English carpenters and built a strong fort of timber, fourteen feet in height, with flankers, intending it as a fortification against the Mohawks .*
The Anasa- gunticooks.
2. The Anasagunticooks, t originally a numerous and power- ful tribe, claimed dominion of the waters and territories of the river Androscoggin, from its sources to Merry-meeting bay, and on the west side of Sagadahock to the sea. At Pejepscot, or Bruns- wick Falls, they had their usual encampments, or place of re- sort .¿ This was one of the great passes between the eastern and western tribes, where the savages met in council to plan expeditions against the English.§ The Anasagunticooks were a warlike people. A short distance above the Great Falls, they had a fort, which was destroyed by the English, in 1690. No tribe was less interrupted in their privileges of fishing and fowl- ing ; and yet none were more uniformly and bitterly hostile towards the colonists. As soon as the first sound of Philip's war was heard, they fell upon the plantation of Mr. Purchas, the original settler, killed his cattle and carried away most of his ef- fects. Tarumkin, Warumbee and Hagkins, their Sagamores, were brave men; but the tribe wasted away during the wars, and in 1747, they were unable to muster more than 160 warriors fit to march. || They were the earliest whom the French drew off to St. Francois in Canada.
3. The Canibas were the Aborigines of Kennebeck river, where Hubbard says " were great numbers of them, when the
* See, la Hontan ; Gorges, p. 58 .- Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 389 .- 1 Douglass' Summ. p. 185 .- Jeffreys, p. 117.
t Or Aresaguntacooks, Hutchinson ; Arousegunticooks, Douglass .- 6 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 117; Amerascoggan, Hubbard ; Aumoughcowgen, Smith ; Amarascogen, Mather. In 3 Kendall, p. 143, he says, the etymon of Amariscoggan, means-" banks of a river abounding in dried meat," i. e. venison.
į Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 281-347.
¿ Sullivan, p. 178-181.
|| 1 Douglass, p. 185 .- Warumbee, and 5 other Sagamores, July 7, 1684, sold the lands between Sagadahock and Maquoit to the sea, and the Islands, Kennebeck claims, p. 7.
467
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XVIII.]
river was first discovered."* The tribe appeared to consist of A. D. 1615, two or three branches, or political families. For although Mon- The Cani- to 1675. quine, Kennebis, and Abbagadussett, between A. D. 1648 and bas 1665, in the capacity of chief Sagamores, conveyed to the Eng- lish all the lands, ten miles in width on each side of the river, from Swan Island to Wessarunsett river; yet Elderumken, another Sagamore, made conveyances on Stevens' and Muddy rivers in 1670;+ and Essemenosque certified in 1653, that the region of Teconnet belonged to him and the wife of Watchogo. The principal residence of Kennebis, the paramount lord, and his pre- decessors of the same titular name, was upon Swan Island, in a delightful situation ; and that of Abbagadussett between a river of his name and the Kennebeck, upon the northern borders of Merry-meeting bay. The territories, which the tribe claimed, extended from the sources of the Kennebeck to this bay, and the Islands on the eastern side of the Sagadahock, probably to the sea.
Jeffreys, Charlevoix, la Hontan and others, call this the Canibas tribe ; for which, however, the name "Norridgewocks" is substituted by Doct. Mather, ¿ Douglass, § and the modern En- glish writers-manifestly from the name of their famous village. This was the residence of the French missionaries, who early taught the tribe the principles of the catholic religion, and forms of worship. Old Norridgewock || was a most pleasant site, oppo- site the mouth of Sandy river-the general and almost sole re- sorting place of the tribe, immediately after their numbers or ranks were thinned ; and a spot consecrated to them by every sacred and endearing recollection. TT
In temper and conduct, the tribe during the earlier periods of their intercourse with the English, manifested a spirit of more friendship and forbearance towards them, than either the Anasa-
+ Sullivan.
* Hubbard's N. E. p. 31.
Į Mather's Magnal. p. 66-See Smith, p. 214.
§ 1 Douglass' Summary, p. 172.
|| " Norridge" [falls] and " wock" [Smooth-water,] i. e. little falls and intervals of smooth water above and below .- Capt. Francis. Essemenosque lived in the vicinity of Teconnet .--- K. Claims .-- Charlevoix, (1 Tome. p. 435,) says those of the Abenaques, "who inhabit the environs of Kennebeck, are called Canibas.
T The first missionary to the Canibas, was Gabriel Dreuillettes .- 1 Charlevoix, p. 435.
468
THE HISTORY
LVOL. I.
to 1675.
A. D. 1615, gunticooks, or Sokokis. Nor did the Canibas decrease as rap- idly as the others ;- the neighborhood of white men so destruc- tive of savage life, not having till within a recent period, effected their utter extinction .*
The Wa- wenocks.
4. The Wawenockst inhabited the country eastward of Saga- dahock, to the river St. George inclusive. They were the im- mediate subjects of the great Bashaba. For the colonists at the mouth of the former river, A. D. 1608, and Capt. Smith} while in the harbors of the latter, agree in their statements, that they were urged by the natives to pay court unto that prince. Moxus, Wegunganet, Wivourna, and succeeding Sagamores, have sold lands to the English at Woolwich, Damariscotta and other places in that quarter, and acted as sovereign claimants of the country.
Though the dwelling-place of the Bashaba was near Pema- quid, yet subsequent to his death, § the principal resting place or head quarters of the tribe have been on the westerly side of the river Sheepscot, near the lower falls. From this circumstance, Mr. Hubbard|| speaks of them as the natives of that river ; and Douglass calls them the " Sheepscot Indians."
Broken and wasted by the disasters of the great war, in which the Bashaba was slain, they were never afterwards either powerful or numerous. In 1747 there were only two or three families re- maining ; T and within a few subsequent years, all of them were
* See " Statement of the Kennebeck Claims"-Report of Committee, June 15, 1785 .-- They give a history of these old Indian decds, and add : - " From " the history and modes of living amongst the Indians in this country, " there can be no great doubt, but that they originally held as tenants in " common in a state of nature; and though they have formed themselves " into tribes and clans, yet the members of those tribes still retain a com- " mon and undivided right to the lands of their respective tribes. But " from the respect they have constantly had for their sachems and chiefs; " and from long usage and custom among them, the sachem or chief, has " acquired a right, founded in tacit consent, a kind of legal authority and " power, to dispose of the lands of his tribe, or subjects ; and especially " with the consent of some of his principal subjects, or his counsellors."- Pamphlet Report, p. 21.
+ Called " Waweneck."-Doct. Colem in .- 6 Coll. . M. Hist. Soc. p. 117- 18 .- 2 Mass. Council Rec. p. 13 .- " Wewcenocks."-1 Hutch. Hist. p. 401, who cites Charlevoix .- " WEWENOCKS," in treaty A, D. 1746 .- 9 Coll. M. Hist. Soc. p. 222-3. Smith's Hist. p. 18-20.
§ The great epidemic, or plague, was in 1617 .- 1 Haz. Coll. p. 148. || Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 301.
T 1 Doug. p. 184.
469
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XVIII.]
induced by the French, to leave their native country, and join the A. D. 1615, settlement commenced at St. Francois and Becancourt in Can- to 1675. ada .*
They were a brave, active, personable people,-faithful in amity ; and when uninfluenced, they disinclined to make war upon the English. They defended their prince and country with much valor, till overcome; and Capt. Francis says, the name of " Wan- neocks" or Wawenocks signifies very brave-"fearing nothing." According to Capt. Smith, ' they were active, strong, healthful and 'very witty. The men had a perfect constitution of body,- 'were of comely proportion, and quite athletic. They would ' row their canoes faster,' he says, ' with five paddles, than his own 'men could their boats with eight oars. They had no beards,- ' and thought ours counterfeits. Their women, though of lower ' stature, were fleshy and well-favored-all habited in skins like the ' men.'t The tribe always joined with the Canibas, being an ally, unchanging in war and peace ; and in this character they appear, till their last treaty with the English.
The other division of the aboriginal people in Maine, were the ETECHE- ETECHEMINS. They inhabited the country between the rivers MINS. Penobscot and St. John, both inclusive.
Mention is made of these natives and their country, by several writers. Hermon Moll places upon his map of the English Em- pire in America, ¿ the Etechemins, along the banks and about the heads of the rivers Penobscot and St. John-eastwardly to the gulf of St. Lawrence, and southwardly to the bay of Fundy ; and so he describes their country in his Geography. The char- ter of Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander, 1620, mentions the bay of Fundy as dividing " the Etechemins on the north, from the " Souriquois, or Mickmaks, on the south." John de Laet§ thought the Penobscot to be the celebrated Norumbegua, or Ag- guncia ; and informs us that the Indians who dwelt upon the river were ' a nation of the Etechemins ;' and Purchas says, Samuel Champlain was present at a great feast, before mentioned, and among the attendants were the Etechemins. The French king, in 1638, commanded M. d'Aulney to confine his command to the
* Charlevoix, [3 vol. p. 429-30] says the savages were invited to Becan- court in 1704; and have continued there since. t Smith, p. 19, 214.
# Moll's Geog. p. 236.
§ Novus Orbis, p. 52, 55.
470
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1615, coast of the Etechemins,* probably supposing it to be limited by the to 1675. bay of Fundy and river St. John. L'Escarbot calls the people of St. Croix, Etechemins ; apprehending they were not limited west- erly by the Penobscot. And Charlevoix says, 'the Abenaques, ' or Canibas, have for their nearest neighbors, the Etechemins, or ' Marechites, about Pentagoet [or Penobscot] and its environs ; ' and more at the east are the Mickmaks, or Souriquois, the ‘ proper inhabitants of Acadia.t
Three tribes of the Etechemins.
There are three tribes of the Etechemins,-1. the Tarra- tines ;- 2. the Openangos, or 'Quoddy Indians ;- and 3. the Marechites, or Armouchiquois.
Tarratines.
1 .- The Tarratines are particularly mentioned by Smith, Hub- bard, Prince, Gorges and all the modern Historians of this coun- try ; and it is well established, that they were the native inhab- itants of Penobscot,¿ claiming dominion over the contiguous ter- ritories, from its sources to the sea. Smith, however, has repre- sented the Penobscot mountains (in Camden) as a natural fortress, which separated them from their western borderers, or neighbors.
They were a numerous, powerful and warlike people, more hardy and brave than their western enemies, § whom they often plundered and killed ; and according to Hubbard and Prince, kept the Sagamores, between the Piscataqua and the Mystic, in perpetual fear. After the conquests and glory achieved in their battles with the Bashaba and his allies ; they were not, like their enemies, wasted by disease and famine. They retained their valor, animated by success and strengthened by an early use and supply of firearms, with which they were furnished by the French. || Less disturbed than the western tribes in the enjoy- ment of their possessions, and also more discreet; they were always reluctant to plunge into hostilities against the English. T
The Tarratines ever manifested the greatest satisfaction in their intercourse with the French .** No fortifications upon the
* 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 112 .- 1 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 149.
+ 5 Charlevoix, p. 290-1.
# Purchas, p. 939, says, " the Tarratine country is 44º 40'." § Gorges, p. 53.
|| The Tarratines, for instance, cut out a shallop from Dorchester, with five men in it, whom they killed .- Brit. Domin. p. 94 .- Prince, p. 46, 112. T In the first Indian war, provision was made for their relief .- 4 Mass. Rec. p. 50, 66.
** The " French live with them as one nation or family.' -Smith, p. 20.
471
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XVIII.]
peninsula of Majorbiguyduce, or buildings in the vincinity, ex- A. D. 1615, cited either fear or jealousy in them ; for no rising plantations of to 1675. the French threatened them with a loss of their lands or privi- leges. A barter of their furs for guns, ammunition and trinkets, was managed with a freedom and adroitness which won and secur- ed their attachment. Indeed, no foreigners could vie with French- men ; for their religious creeds and rites, to which the natives were superstitiously devoted, their companionable manners, and vola- tile turn, all made the bonds strong and lasting.
About the time the treaty of Breda was ratified, A. D. 1667, Baron de Mons. Vincent de St. Castine appeared among the Tarratines Castine. and settled upon the peninsula, since called by his name. Born at Oleron, a province of France, he acquired an early taste for rural scenes, so fully enjoyed by him in the borders of the Pyre- nean mountains, which encompassed the place of his nativity. Besides the advantages of illustrious connexions and noble ex- traction, being by birth and title a baron ; he was endued with good abilities and favored with a competent education and a con- siderable knowledge of military arts, for which he had a partiali- ty. All these obtained for him the appointment of Colonel in the king's body-guards, from which office he was transferred to the command of a regiment called the "Carignan Salieres." Afterwards, through the influence of M. de Courcelles, Governor- General of New-France, the Baron and his troops were, about 1665, removed to Quebec. At the close of the war, the regiment was disbanded, and himself discharged from the king's service. Taking umbrage probably at the treatment he received, and ac- tuated by motives, never fully divulged, " he, as la Hontan says, " threw himself upon the savages." To French writers, his conduct was a mystery ; and to the colonists a prodigy.
His settled abode was upon the peninsula where d'Aulney had resided, and where he found means to construct a commodious house for trade and habitancy. He was a liberal catholic, though devout and punctilious in his religious observances ; having usu- ally in his train, several Jesuit missionaries devoted to the " holy " cause." He learned to speak with ease the Indian dialect ; and supplying himself with firearms, ammunition, blankets, steel traps, baubles and a thousand other things desired by the natives, he made them presents, and opened a valuable trade with them in
472
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1615, these articles, for which he received furs and peltry in return, at to 1675.
his own prices. He taught the men the use of the gun, and some arts of war ; and being a man of fascinating address and manners, he attained a complete ascendancy over the whole tribe ; they looking upon him, in the language of one writer, " as " their tutelar god."
To chain their attachments by ties not readily broken, in con- nexion with personal gratification, he took four or five Tarratine wives,-one of them the daughter of Madockawando,* Saga- more of the tribe. He lived with them all by changes, at the same time, and had " several daughters and one son, Castine the "younger," who was a man of distinction and of excellent character.
Early habits and great success in trade rendered the father contented with his allotments ; he lived in the country about thirty years ; and, as Abbe Reynal says, " conformed himself in all respects to the manners and customs of the natives." To his daughters, whom " he married very handsomely to French- "men," he gave liberal portions ; having amassed a property " worth three hundred thousand crowns."+
The Governors of New-England and of Canada, apprized of his influence, wealth and military knowledge, were, for obvious reasons, the courtiers of his friendship and favor.
The Tarratines have probably, at different periods, shifted the situation of their principal village. At the mouth of the Ken- duskeag, they had a common resting place, when the white peo- ple first settled in the vicinity-a place to which they were, from habit, strongly attached. Here the mouldering relics of human bodies, also flint spears, stone implements of labor, and Indian paint dust have been accidentally disinterred, after a burial for an unknown period of time.
A league above the mouth of Kenduskeag stream, and near the westerly bank of the Penobscot, are the undoubted appear- ances of an old village, perhaps the ancient " Negas :" The
* Madockawando died in October, 1698 .- Mar. Mag. p. 535.
t See authorities for article Castine, or "Casteen," Abbe Reynal -6 Tome, p. 326 .- La Hontan, p. 223 .- He says Castine " never changed his " wife," to convince the savages " that God doth not like inconstant " folks."-9 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 218 .- Hutch. Coll. p. 562 .- 1 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 396.
The Tarra- tine villa- ges.
473
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XVIII.]
English call it " Fort Hill." Here are the cavities of several A. D. 1615, cellars, and the remains of two or three broken stone chimnies. Tarratine to 1675. The site is a flat of elevated ground, with a gradual slope to the village. water, formed by nature, an eligible place for a fortification. When it was destroyed, or abandoned, no account, either histor- ical or traditional, gives us entire satisfaction.# According to some reports, it was burned by the Mohawks: but with much more reason, it is supposed to have been laid in ruins by a party of New-England soldiery, about a century past.t It was cer- tainly inhabited, since Europeans have visited the river; for in the tillage of the land, the plough has turned out such things as the utensils of cookery, bullet moulds, pincers, and other articles of hardware, which must have been the workmanship of modern artisans. The plains in the vicinity, according to the statements of the oldest settlers, originally exhibited all the appearances of having been, at some unknown time, the cornfields of the natives.
In later years, Indian Old-townt has been their village and altogether the place of their greatest resort. Its situation is upon the southerly end of an island in Penobscot river, twelve miles above the mouth of the Kenduskeag, being partially cleared and containing about 350 acres of very rich and mellow land. At the close of the American revolution, the village contained be- tween 40 and 50 wigwams, about equally divided by a street five rods in width, which passed east and west across the Island ; quite compact on each side, and constructed after the old Gothic fashion with the gable ends towards the street. These slender cabins, which have been gradually decreasing in number, are usually built and occupied by a family, including all the descend- ants of a father living, unless some of them choose to construct others for themselves.
Through a short avenue southerly from the main street, is their church or chapel, 40 feet by 30 in dimensions, and one story in
* See post, A. D. 1692, chap. xxiii .- Also see post, A. D. 1723; and 8 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. 1 " New Series," p. 264.
t See post, 2 vol. chap. ii. A. D. 1723.
# In September, 1816, according to an account taken, there were about 25 wigwams ; again in May, 1823, it was found, there were only 15 or 16, standing ; the chapel dilapidated, the porch and bell down, since rebuilt ;- Perhaps Old-town is the ancient " Lett."-Penhallow's Indian Wars, A. D. 1710, " the Island of Lett."
VOL. I. 47
474
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1615, height, with a porch, a cupola, and a bell. It is covered with to 1675. 'Tarratine village.
clapboards and glazed. Fronting the door within, are the desk and altar, two large candlesticks, and some other articles of ser- vice, after the catholic forms ; upon the wall behind, are the im- ages of our Blessed Saviour and some of the primitive saints ; and on the right and left of the desk, are seats for the elders ; other- wise, the worshipers male and female, who uniformly convene on the sabbath, and frequently for prayers on other days when a priest is with them, both sit and kneel upon the floor, which is always covered with evergreens. But the present edifice, which has been built since the revolution, is said to be far from com- paring with their former one, either in size or appearance.
Northerly of the chapel, 20 rods, is their burying place, in which stands a cross, 15 or 18 feet in height. In its standard post, six feet from the ground, is carved an aperture, 5 inches by 3 in compass and 4 deep, securely covered with glass, enclos- ing an emblematical form of the Virgin Mary with the infant Im- manuel in her arms. At the head of each grave is placed a cru- cifix of wood, which is about two or three feet high, and very slender ;- a memorial borrowed from the catholics.
The Tarratines were neutrals in the war of the revolution ; -in return, Massachusetts protected them, and prohibited all trespasses upon their lands, six miles in width on each side of the Penobscot, from the head of the tide upwards .* She has since at different times, made large purchases of their lands-until they are left the owners only of four townships-a few acres on the east side of the Penobscot opposite to the mouth of the Ken- duskeag, and the Islands between Old-town and Passadumkeag, 28 in number, containing 2,670 acres.+
Openangos or 'Quoddy tribe.
2 .- Another large tribe of the Etechemins were settled about the waters of the Passamaquoddy-bay and the river Schoodic. They have, perhaps, been called the " Openangos, t-though without much authority ;- more commonly the 'Quoddy tribe. According to the remarks of Champlain, l'Escarbot, and Charle-
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