Forts, Writs and Logs: A Reassessment of the Military, Political and Economic Dimensions of the Maine/New Brunswick Border Dispute, 1783-1843 W.E. (Gary) Campbell B.A., University of Western Ontario, 1969 M.A. (War Studies) Royal Military College of Canada, 2003 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Academic Unit of History Supervisor: William Parenteau, Ph.D., Department of History Examining Board: Donald Wright, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, Chair Marc Milner, Ph.D., Department of History Stephen Turner, Ph.D., Department of History External Examiner: Beatrice Craig, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Ottawa This dissertation is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK April, 2010 ©W.E. 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Canada DEDICATION To my wife, Carolyn, without whose loving and constant support this would not have been possible. ii ABSTRACT Although the history of the so-called disputed territory, especially the events that lead to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842), has received considerable attention from academic historians, key facets of the dispute have not been adequately addressed. This has created an incomplete and misleading interpretation of both the nature and resolution of the dispute. By further examining the importance of the military route along the Saint John River to the British, the exercise of jurisdiction in the territory and the illegal cutting of timber this dissertation provides a fuller and different interpretation of the history of the disputed territory. An examination of the defended frontier reveals that the overriding concern of the British was to maintain control of the strategic route that ran through the disputed territory. Great Britain did not tolerate any actions by Maine or Massachusetts that would threaten the security of this route. British control of the route was finally gained through the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. A detailed study of the exercise of jurisdiction reveals that Great Britain believed that it had an understanding with the United States about the exercise of jurisdiction within the disputed territory. This understanding was shattered by the events of the Aroostook War of 1839. Following this, the disputed territory was effectively partitioned when Maine occupied the southern portion it. This set the conditions for the Webster-Ashburton treaty negotiations. An analysis of the cutting of trespass timber reveals that this problem has been greatly exaggerated in the literature. However Maine and Massachusetts frequently exploited this in an effort to maintain their claim to all of the disputed territory. It was the supposed cause of the Aroostook War and led to Maine's occupation of the southern part of the disputed territory, thus securing Maine's claim to at least part of the disputed iii territory. The results of these three studies provide new knowledge and a new interpretation of these three issues to the historiography of the Maine/New Brunswick border controversy. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been a long journey that is now completed. I would like to first acknowledge the support that I received from those closest to me - my family and friends - but especially my wife Carolyn. She gave me every encouragement throughout the process. I was fortunate to have an excellent committee. My supervisor, Dr. Bill Parenteau, and the other members, Dr. Marc Milner and Dr. Steven Turner, gave me much appreciated help and guidance during the reading fields. Dr. Parenteau then had the challenge of reading my drafts and helping me to improve them. He was more than equal to the task, to which I hope this dissertation testifies. My sincere thank you to all of you. It would be remiss of me to not mention the support that I received from Carole Hines and Elizabeth Adshade of the History office. They say that the Ph. D. process is a lonely one. I can't agree with this because I encountered many helpful people as I conducted my research in libraries and archives in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. It was always a pleasure to actually meet them when I visited their organizations. Funding is always a concern and I was fortunate to receive research and conference grants from the Gregg Centre and the History department. This was very much appreciated. In many ways, I walked paths that had already been travelled. Without Geraldine "Gerry" Tidd Scott's excellent book Ties of Common Blood: A History of Maine's Northeast Boundary Dispute with Great Britain. 1783-1842. my research would have been considerably more difficult. Her book was my road map and it provided me with many valuable leads. v But without Carolyn, this might not have been completed. It was her suggestion that I embark on this journey and what an excellent idea it was. Thank you again for believing in me. vi Table of Contents DEDICATION ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v Table of Contents vii Introduction 1 Study 1 - The Defended Frontier between Maine and New Brunswick 21 Introduction and Historiography 21 From Earliest Times to the War of 1812 28 The War of 1812 to Maine Statehood 44 Maine Enters the Controversy - the 1820s 52 The Failed Arbitration to the Aroostook War 57 The Aroostook War - 1839 74 The Garrison Period - 1839 to 1847 87 Summary 101 Study 2 - The Exercise of Jurisdiction in the Disputed Territory 106 Introduction and Historiography 106 The Establishment of British Jurisdiction: From the French Regime to 1818 113 The Development of the Agreement about Jurisdiction - 1818 to 1825 124 Challenges to the Agreement - 1827 to 1831 137 The King of the Netherlands' Arbitration and Troubles at Madawaska 158 The Crises of 1837 and 1838 167 The Aroostook War of 1839 176 The Partitioning of the Disputed Territory to the Webster- Ashburton Treaty 184 Summary 191 Study 3 - Trespass Timber in the Disputed Territory 195 Introduction and Historiography 195 The Early Timber Industry in the Disputed Territory to 1820 203 To the Mid-1820s - A Time of Friction and Partial Cooperation 210 The "Cat and Mouse" Years - 1825 to 1837 225 The Aroostook War - 1838-1839 248 To the Webster-Ashburton Treaty - 1839 to 1843 264 Summary 280 Conclusion 288 Annex A - Timeline of the Maine/New Brunswick Border Controversy 294 Annex B - Map of the Disputed Territory circa 1818 296 Annex C - Map of the Disputed Territory circa 1840 297 Bibliography 298 1. Manuscript Sources 298 vii A. Canada 298 B. Great Britain 300 C. United States 301 D. Official Printed Sources 302 E. Contemporary Journals, Articles, Pamphlets and Biographies 303 F. Newspapers 304 2. Internet Sources 304 3. Other Works 305 A. Dissertations and Thesis 305 B. Books 305 Curriculum Vitae viii List of Tables Table 1 Comparison of Troop Strengths during the Aroostook War 83 Table 2 Incidents in the Lumbermen's Resistance of 1839 283 Table 3 Leaders of the Lumbermen's Resistance 283 Table 4 Approximate Quantities of Timber Cut Within the Disputed Territory by Year 286 ix Forts, Writs and Logs: A Reassessment of the Military, Political and Economic Dimensions of the Maine/New Brunswick Border Dispute. 1783-1843 Introduction The Maine/New Brunswick border controversy lasted for a period of sixty years from the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 until the endorsement of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty by the British Parliament in 1843. For the first half of the period, negotiations to resolve the controversy were relatively low key. However, this all changed in 1820 when Maine became a state and began to vigorously pursue its claim to all of the area, which was referred to as the disputed territory. This area included most of present day Aroostook County, Maine, Madawaska County, New Brunswick and Temiscouata County, Quebec. As a direct result of this, the Disputed Territory, and the events relating to it, played an important role in Anglo-American relations.