USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > History of Coos County, New Hampshire > Part 5
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
Baldcap, as its name implies, is a bare ledge at the top, and in height ranks next to Moriah. It is easy to ascend and affords a delightful view. A little pond of clear, cool water near the summit was christened Dream lake by some romantic visitor.
Gorham .- The mountain scenery here is not surpassed in the whole mountain region. At the southeast, distant but a few miles, stand Mounts Moriah and Carter, each about 5,000 feet in height; at the west can be seen Mt. Madison; at the northwest the Pilot range, while at the east are the Androscoggin hills, the most prominent of which is Mt. Hayes. It is only eight miles to the Glen House at the base of Mt. Washington.
CHAPTER V.
INDIAN HISTORY.
Aboriginal Indians - Iroquois - Mohawks - Algonquins- New England Tribes - Wigwams - Social Life, Government, and Language - Food - Religion - The St. Francis Indians - Gen. Amherst - Rogers' Expedition - Destruction of St. Francis Village - Retreat and Sufferings of the "Rangers."
W HEN the Europeans first landed on the Continent of America, the Indians who inhabited the Atlantic slope, and dwelt in the valleys of the Connecticut and St. Lawrence, in the basin of the Great Lakes, and the fertile valleys of the Alleghany region, were composed of two great nations and their sub-divisions. These were soon known to the whites under the French appellation of Iroquois and Algonquins. These nations differed in language and lineage, in manners and customs, in the construction of their dwellings and boats, and were hereditary enemies.
The Iroquois proper, who gave their name to one division, the ablest and most powerful of this family, were the Five Nations, called by them- selves the Ho de-no-san-nee, "the people of the long house." They com- pared their union of five tribes, stretched along a narrow valley for more than two hundred miles in Central New York, to one of their long wig- wams containing many families. Among all the Aborigines of America there were none so politic and intelligent, none so war-like and fierce, none with such a contrasting array of virtues and vices as the true Iroquois. All surrounding tribes, whether of their own family, or of the Algonquins, stood in awe of them. They followed the war-path, and their war-cry was heard on the banks of the Mississippi, on the shores of the Gulf of
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INDIAN HISTORY.
Mexico, and where the Atlantic breakers dash in Massachusetts Bay. "Some of the small tribes were nearly exterminated by their ferocity and barbarity. They were more cruel to the Eastern Indians than those Indians were to the Europeans." The New England tribes, with scarce an excep- tion, paid them tribute; and the Montagnais, far north on the Saguenay. called by the French "the paupers of the wilderness." would start from their midnight slumbers at dreams of the Iroquois, and run, terror-stricken, into the forest. They were the conquerors of the New World, and justly carried the title of "The Romans of the West." The Jesuit Father. Ragueneau, wrote, in 1650, in his "Revelations des Hurons," " My pen has no ink black enough to paint the fury of the Iroquois." The tribe which guarded the eastern door of the typical long house, was the most active and most blood-thirsty one of this fierce family, the dreaded Mo- hawks. to whom the Connecticut River Indians gave the appellation of Ma-qua hogs, or Maquas-" Man-eaters." The Mohawk country proper was west of the Hudson river, but, by right of conquest, they claimed all the country between the Hudson and the sources of the north and easterly branches of the Connecticut, and, by virtue of this claim, all the Indians of the Connecticut valley paid them annual tribute.
The few tribes of the Iroquois were surrounded on all sides by the much more numerous Algonquins, to which family all the New England tribes belonged. Along the valley of the St. Lawrence dwelt the Algonquins proper, the Abinaquis, the Montagnais, and other roving tribes. These tribes were often forced, during the long Canadian winters when game grew scarce, to subsist on buds and bark, and sometimes even on the wood of forest trees, for many weeks together. From this they were called in mockery by their bitter enemies, the Mohawks, "Ad-i-ron-daks"- tree-eaters. The New England tribes of the Algonquin family dwelt along the sea, and on the banks of the larger streams. The Et-it-che-mi-as dwelt farthest east in the St. Croix region. The confederation of Abina- quis, and their kindred tribes, the Taratines, had their hunting-grounds in the valleys of the Penob-cot, Saco, and Piscataqua, and held possession of Northern New Hampshire. The Anasagunticooks, a powerful tribe, con- trolled the territories of the Ameriscoggin (Androscoggin). Savage, and given to war, they dwindled away, until in 1747, they could number but 160 warriors. The Pequawkets (Pigwackets) occupied the Saco valley. In the southeastern part of New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts dwelt the Penobscot or Pawtucket tribe: while the Massachusetts occupied the lands around the bay known by their name, and the neighboring islands. In what is now the state of Vermont, no permanent home existed of any Indian tribe. It was the beaver hunting country of the Iroquois, but also claimed, and at times occupied, by the Abenaquis.
Wigwams .- The Algonquin Indians made their wigwams small and
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
round, and for one or two families only; while the Iroquois built theirs long and narrow, each for the use of many families. The Algonquin wigwam was made of poles set up around a circle, from ten to twelve feet across. The poles met at the top, forming a circular frame-work, which was cov- ered with bark-mats or skins: in the center was the fire, the smoke escap- ing from a hole in the top. In these wigwams men, women, children, and dogs, crowded promiscuously together in complete violation of all our rules of modern housekeeping.
Social Life, Government, and Language .- The government of the Indian was completely patriarchal. The only law was the custom of the tribe: conforming to that, he was otherwise as free as the air he breathed to fol- low the bent of his own wild will. In his solitary cabin he was the head of his family, and his "squaw" was but his slave to do the drudgery. Over tribes were principal chiefs called sachems, and lesser ones called sagamores. The direct succession was invariably in the female line. The war-chiefs were only leaders in times of war, and won their distinction only by their valor on the war-path. The Indian language, in the language of modern comparative philology, was neither monosyllabic like the Chinese, nor inflecting like that of the civilized Caucasian stock, but was agglutin- ating, like that of the northwestern Asiatic tribes, and those of south- eastern Europe. They express ideas by stringing words together in one compound vocable. The Algonquin languages were harsh and gutteral; not euphonious like that of the Iroquois. Contrast the Algonquin names A-gi-o-cho-ok, Co-os, Squa-ke-ag, Am-os-ke-ag, Win ne-pi-se-o-gee, Waum- bek meth-na, with Hi-a-wath-a, O-no-a-la-go-na, Kay-ad-ros-se-ra, Ska- nek-ta-da.
Food .- The Indians had fish, game, nuts, berries, roots, corn, acorns, squashes, a kind of bean called now "seiva bean," and a species of sun- flower, with roots like an artichoke. Fish were speared or taken with lines, nets or snares, made of the sinews of deer, or fibres of moose- wood. Their fish-hooks were made of the bones of fishes or of birds. They caught the moose. the deer, and the bear in the winter season by shooting with bows and arrows, by snaring, or in pitfalls They cooked their fish by roasting before the fire on the end of a long stick, or by boil- ing in closely woven baskets, or stone or wooden vessels. They made water boil, not by hanging over the fire, but by the constant immersion of hot stones. The corn boiled alone was "hominy;" with beans, "succo- tash."
Religion .- The aborigines had but a vaguely crude idea, if an idea at all, of religion. They had no priests, no altars, no sacrifice. They had * medicine-men " -- mere conjurors -- who added nothing to the mysterious awe and superstition which enveloped the whole race. The Indian spirit- ualized everything in nature; heard "aery tongues on sands and shores
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INDIAN HISTORY.
and desert wildernesses," saw "calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire" on every hand. The flight or cry of a bird. the humming of a bee, the crawling of an insect, the turning of a leaf, the whisper of a breeze, all were mystic signals of good or evil import, by which he was guided in the most important undertakings. He placed the greatest confidence in dreams, which were to him revelations from the spirit-world, guiding him to the places where his game lurked, and to the haunts of his enemies. He invoked their aid on all occasions to instruct him how to cure the sick, or reveal to him his enemies.
Three centuries of contact with our civilization has unchanged him, and he is still the wild, untamed child of nature. "He will not," says Parkman, "learn the arts of civilization, and he and his forest must per- ish together. The stern, unchanging features of his mind excite our admiration from their immutability; and we look with deep interest on the fate of this irreclaimable son of the wilderness, the child who will not be weaned from the breast of his rugged mother."
St. Francis Indians .- The central metropolis of the Abenaquis Indians was situated on the St. Lawrence river at the mouth of the St. Francis. This was midway between Montreal and Quebec, and in easy communica- tion with the New England frontiers. These St. Francis Indians were strong in numbers, power, and enterprise, and the staunch allies of the French. Here was planned expedition after expedition against the border English settlements, and here was paid the bounties offered for scalps and prisoners. Here, too, was a city of refuge for all the outlawed savages driven from the English country. Among these were what remained of the followers of Philip, Paugus, Mesaudowit, Kancamagus, and Wahawah. From this strong protected citadel for many years went out war parties, thirsting with revenge, to glut it in the blood of the New Englanders. " Hundreds of people had fallen by the rifle and hatchet, burnished and sharpened at the hearth-stones of this village " These Indians claimed the "Cowasse " country as their own. They enjoyed the rich profusion of game and fish of the upper Connecticut. The bear, moose, and feathered game were of a superior quality, while from the clear, cold waters of the streams they brought ample supplies of those delicate fish -salmon and trout. The fertile soil yielded large crops of corn wherever their rude planting covered the kernels. It was a select and paradisaical country. - this "Cowasse "-and no wonder that they stoutly resisted all encroach- ments of the English or their attempts to occupy their last hold upon New England. Here the Indians, during the strong rule of the French in Canada, and blest by their aid, grew fat and numerous. Through this country passed their trails when they carried death and destruction to the frontier settlements of lower New Hampshire, and their jubilant cries, as they returned laden with spoils, scalps, and prisoners, resounded along the
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
"Notch," and other defiles of the White Mountains, and among the tall white pines of the upper Connecticut. Until the power of the French was broken. and while the St. Francis Indians preserved their strength, no paleface. except a captive, was allowed even a lodging, or an occupancy in the "Coos."
After the fall of Louisburg, in 1758. Gen. Abercrombie was recalled to England. and General Amherst made commander of the British forces warring against the French and Indians in America. He took personal command at Lake Champlain, brought order out of confusion. called for seventeen hundred more recruits from the already depleted numbers of the colonists, and gained success by the excellence of his judgment. his circum- spection, and other needed qualities for winning conquests and preserving acquisitions. In 1759 Gen. Amherst ordered two measures of great importance to New England. One was the construction of a military road from Crown Point to Number Four (Charlestown) on the Connecticut river. This improvement was of great value, and opened a large territory to immediate settlement. The other measure was of full more importance. It was the destruction of the chief village of the St. Francis tribe. The daring Indian-fighter. Major Robert Rogers, with two hundred of his fam- ous Rangers. was selected for the undertaking. A large part of this detachment, both of officers and men, was from New Hampshire, and chosen, by Rogers himself, for their bravery and experience. Starting from Crown Point, they passed down Lake Champlain to Missisquoi Bay, and there left their boats in charge of two Indians, who were to remain until the party returned, unless the enemy discovered the boats. In such case the guard was to follow and inform Rogers of the fact. Major Rogers and his party, reduced by casualties to one hundred and forty-two, the 23d of September, left the bay and struck boldly into the wilderness. but. on the 25th. were overtaken by the Indians left in charge of the boats, with the disheartening intelligence that the enemy had discovered them and were in pursuit. There was no alternative but to push on. outmarch the pursuers, destroy the fated village, return by Lake Memphremagog and the Connecticut, and thus accomplish their object and elude their pursuers. Lieut. McMillen was sent back across the country to Crown Point, to inform Gen. Amherst of their situation, that he might order provisions to be sent up the Connecticut to the Lower Coos for the use of the party, should they live to return that way. The Rangers then, nothing daunt- ed. continued their march through the wet, marshy ground for nine days: sleeping nights upon a sort of hammock made of boughs to keep them from the water. The tenth day they arrived within fifteen miles of the doomed town. The place was reconnoitred by Rogers and two of his officers on the 6th of October, and the Indians were discovered in the great- est glee. celebrating a wedding. Rogers returned to his party, and. at
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INDIAN HISTORY.
three o'clock the next morning, the Rangers advanced to within four hun- dred yards of the village. Before sunrise the attack was made by an advance in three divisions. The surprise was so complete that the Indians had no time to rally, defend, or escape. Two hundred were killed upon the spot; twenty of their women and children were taken prisoners. Day- light revealed to the victors the horrible sight of more than six hundred scalps of both sexes and all ages floating from the lodge-poles of the wig- wams. Nothing can give us a more vivid picture of the horrors of an Indian war, or the dangers besetting the early days of the pioneers of this country. If the massacre of this village of surprised savages seem a cold and blood thirsty deed, the discovery of these dread trophies of savage atrocity showed it to be but a just reprisal. All of the houses were burned. except three, and. it was supposed, many Indians. Upon roll call it was found that seven were wounded and one killed. They then commenced their march for Connecticut river. It was Rogers' intention to occupy for a time the fort he had built in 1755, in what is now Stratford. After marching eight days their provisions failed upon the shore of Lake Mem- phremagog, and they separated into parties, the better to obtain game. and made for " the mouth of the Ammonoosuck " as best they might. It was a march for life. Twenty were killed or taken prisoners. Rogers took one party with him by the way of Magog lake and the Passumpsic river. Another party was to gain the upper Connecticut and follow down that stream. Other parties took independent courses .* Some, after months of weary journeying, reached the settlement, while others perished in the wilderness. A Toledo blade. found on Meeting House hill, Lancas- ter, no doubt belonged to one of the "Rangers." In the early settlement of the country guns were found on the Fifteen-mile falls, and it is sup- posed one of the parties was overtaken by Indians here. that a fight ensued in which several were killed, that the whites were victorious, and that they put the guns of those who were killed in the river so they would not be found by the Indians. One historian says that many died at the head of the Fifteen-mile falls from exhaustion and hunger. They had in vain tried to appease their hunger by boiled powder-horns, bullet-pouches, leather-aprons, bark of trees, ground nuts and lily pads. There can be no doubt that some of them even ate human flesh.
There is a tradition that relics of Rogers' " Rangers" have been found on the north side of the White Mountains. (See Jefferson.) The party which arrived at the Lower Coos found the fresh embers of the fires left by the party which Gen. Amherst had sent there with provisions, which had. just a few hours before, returned to Charlestown without leaving supplies.
* According to James W. Weeks, the old settlers of Coos had a tradition that most of the parties, with Major Rogers, met at Fort Wentworth, and waited three days for stragglers to come in, before starting down the river.
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
Months elapsed before the scattered men were reunited at Crown Point. Fifty of the gallant-band were reported lost. From this time the St. Fran- cis Indians were scattered in small bands, and in different localities. Their spirit was broken, their prestige gone. Major Rogers and his "Rangers" had humbled them, and as the war had made them British subjects, "they, with silence and sorrow. permitted new coming whites to live among them," and the whole extent of the "Cowasse" was ready for English occupancy and settlement.
CHAPTER VI.
WHITE MOUNTAINS.
Topography - Mt. Starr King Group - Mt. Carter Group - Mt. Washington Range - Cherry Mountain District - Mt. Willey Range-History-Mythology-First Visited-Winthrop's Account -Darby Field's Route up the Mountains - Josselyn's Description of Scenery -The Chrystal Hills - Later Visits -Western Pass, or " Notch" - First Settlement - Scientific Visitors-Scenery of the Notch - Nash and Sawyer's Grant - " A Ilorse through the Notch" - Sawyer's Rock - First Articles of Commerce - Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike - Scientific Explorations - First Settlers Among the Mountains - Nancy's Rock and Brook - First House in the Notch - Craw- ford's Cabin on the Summit - Summit House - Tip-top House - Carriage Road - Glen House - Mt. Washington Railway - Mountain Tragedies - " Among the Clouds "- Signal Station - Sum- mer Hotels.
T' HE White Mountains cover an area of 1,270 square miles, bounded by the state line on the east ; the Androscoggin river and the Grand Trunk Railway on the northeast and north ; the Connecticut river valley, or an irregular line from Northumberland to Warren, on the west ; the region of Baker's river on the southwest : the Pemigewasset river and the lake district on the south. The Saco river cuts the White Mountains into two nearly equal parts. Prof. Huntington groups the mountains in ten sub-divisions : 1. Mt. Starr King group. 2. Mt. Carter group. 3. Mt. Washington range, with a Jackson branch. 4. Cherry mountain district. 5. Mt. Willey range. 6. Mt. Carrigain and Osceola group. 7. Mt. Pas- saconnaway range. 8. Mts. Twin and Lafayette group. 9. Mts. Moosi- lauke and Profile division. 10. Mt. Pequawket area. The first five em- brace all really connected with this county. These mountain groups differ much in geological character, age, and topographical features.
1. Mt. Starr King Group is embraced in the remote portions of the towns of Gorham, Randolph, Jefferson, Lancaster, Stark, Milan, Berlin, and the
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WHITE MOUNTAINS.
whole of Kilkenny. It is bounded by the Upper Ammonoosue and Andro- scoggin rivers on the north and east, by Moose and Israel's rivers on the south, and the Connecticut slope on the west. The longest diameter of this group is sixteen miles ; the greatest width thirteen miles. The shape of the area is oval elliptical, more pointed at the north than south, and comprises about 150 square miles. The Upper Ammonoosuc river flows in a broad valley in Randolph and Berlin, and thereby divides the group into two parts. The source, called the "Pond of Safety," is nearly 900 feet above Milan water-station, and there is a depression in the ridge in the south towards Jefferson. Geologists state that the northern portion of the Starr King region was once a large plateau through which water has cut the numerous valleys now found. Not less than seven streams have cut notches into this plateau,-the three most prominent ones being from Berlin, Stark (Mill Brook), and Lancaster. There is a central ridge through Kilkenny, the Pilot mountain range, connected by a valley with Mt. Starr King in Jefferson. A branch diverges from this range to Pilot mountain in Stark. Green's ledge and Black mountain are spurs to the east from the Pilot range. From Mt. Starr King to Berlin Falls runs an irregularly curved range, composed of Pliny, Randolph, and Crescent mountains, and Mt. Forest. Mts. Starr King, Pilot, and Randolph, are the culminating points, being in height 3,800, 3,640, and 3,063 feet respectively.
2. Mt. Carter Group lies in Shelburne, Bean's Purchase, Chatham, and Jackson. There is a heavy range from Gorham to Jackson, quite near the Peabody and Ellis valleys, while, on the east, the slope towards the Andros- coggin is quite gradual. Mt. Moriah is one of the most northern peaks of this chain. Rev. T. Starr King says " Mount Moriah should be seen from the bend of the Androscoggin, a little more than a mile north of the hotel (in Gorham). Here its charming outline is seen to the best advantage. Its crest is as high over the valley as Lafayette rises over the Profile House." Mt. Moriah and Mt. Carter are separated by Imp mountain Wild river occupies a broad valley in Bean's Purchase, trending northeasterly. The highest part of Carter range is next Peabody river. The western slope is much steeper than the eastern. Several tributaries flow to Wild river from the south. from the range which runs easterly to form the entire western and southern edge of the Wild river basin. This range curves to the north, near the Maine line, where Mt. Royce stands immediately on the border. Some of the wildest, grandest, and most beautiful scenery of the White Mountains is in this district.
3. Mt. Washington Range .- The main range of Mt. Washington extends from Gorham to Bartlett, about twenty-two miles. The culminating point is central, with a deep gulf towards Gorham, a slope on the north, formed partially by the westerly Mt. Deception range, which also produces the broad Ammonoosuc valley on the west, in connection with the axial line
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HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.
of summits. There are two principal valleys on the south, the more westerly occupying the depression of Dry or Mt. Washington river, and the easterly passing down the slope of Rocky branch, which travels easterly near its termination, and parallel with the Saco in Bartlett. Starting with the Androscoggin valley, the range commences in the low Pine mountain. In the southeast corner of Gorham this is intersected by the pass of the Pinkham road between Randolph and the Glen House. Next. the land rises rapidly to the top of Mt. Madison, 5, 400 feet. The range now curves westerly, passing over the summits of Adams, Jefferson, and Clay. From the gap between Clay and Washington the best view can be obtained of the deep abyss in which the west branch of Peabody river rises. From Washington the east rim of the Great Gulf is easily discerned, for on it the carriage road to the (Hen House is located. From "Blue Pond," or "Lake of the Clouds," and the height south of Tuckerman's ravine to Madison, it is easy to imagine an elevated plateau out of Washington. which rises, say 800 feet. Tuckerman's and Huntington's ravines have been cut out east of Washington. Tuckerman's runs easterly, holding the head waters of Ellis river. Huntington's commences at the southern angle of the carriage road, at the fifth mile post, and runs towards the first.
Past Mt. Washington the main range drops to the pass of the Lake of the Clouds,-the source of the Ammonoosuc river. The first mountain is Monroe, then comes Mts. Franklin, Pleasant, Clinton, Jackson, and Web- ster, as named. Mt. Webster is a long mountain with a steep side towards the Saco, and being directly opposite the Willey House, forms one of the chief features of the Notch. From Monroe to Webster, the east flank of the mountains is washed by the powerful Mt. Washington river, the proper continuance of the Saco valley, which formerly was called Dry river. This heads in Oakes's gulf, from the east side of which two ranges run south- erly. The western one follows the Saco to a point opposite "Sawyer's rock," having, in the lower part of its course, Giant's Stairs, Mt. Resolu- tion, Mt. Crawford. Mt. Hope, and " Hart's ledge." The eastern one is not conspicuous, and not named.
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