Wabanaki Homeland and the New State of Maine: the 1820 Journal

Home , Allagash River, Fish River (Maine), Mark Langdon Hill, Penobscot Bay, River De Chute

participated and which were successfully con- In late September 1820, hoping to lay claim cluded just over a month before their expedition to territory then under dispute between Great departed from Bangor, Maine. Despite conflict- “This book should find readers among ethnohistorians, historical geographers, pawling Britain and the United States, Governor William ing interests and mutual suspicions, they were cartographers, Wabanaki people, Maine history buffs, and others with an Wabanaki Homeland and King of the newly founded state of Maine dis- able to work together and cultivate a measure of interest in the Penobscot Valley. Micah Pawling’s introduction sets the local Wabanaki patched Major Joseph Treat to survey public trust as they traveled across northern Maine and context but also points to its larger significance. It offers a window onto a Homeland the New State of Maine lands on the Penobscot and Saint John Rivers. western New Brunswick, mapping an old world Traveling well beyond the limits of colonial Native world at a time of dramatic change and it gives depth and detail to, and and the together while envisioning its uncertain future. The 1820 Journal and Plans of Survey of Joseph Treat settlement, Treat relied heavily on the cultural New State alternative understandings and readings of, a landscape that is being contested knowledge and expertise of John Neptune, lieu- Micah A. Pawling is a Ph.D. candidate in and transferred. The original journal and maps, like the book itself, are the of tenant governor of the Penobscot tribe, to guide history at the University of Maine. product of intercultural collaboration.”—Colin G. Calloway, author of The Maine Edited with an introduction by him across the Wabanaki homeland. Along the Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of America m way Treat recorded his daily experiences in a Micah A. Pawling journal and drew detailed maps, documenting The 1820 the interactions of the Wabanaki peoples with Journal and the land and space they knew as home. Plans of Edited, annotated, and with an introduc- Survey of tion by Micah Pawling, this volume includes a Joseph complete transcription of Treat’s journal, repro- Treat ductions of dozens of hand-drawn maps, and records pertaining to the 1820 treaty between the Penobscot Nation and the governing authorities of Maine. As Pawling points out, Treat’s journal Published in conjunction with the Penobscot Indian offers more than the observations of a state agent Nation, Indian Island, Maine conducting a survey. It re-creates a dialogue between Euro-Americans and Native peoples, A volume in the series showing how different perceptions of the land Native Americans of the Northeast: were negotiated and disseminated, and expos- History, Culture, and the Contemporary ing the tensions that surfaced when assumptions and expectations clashed. In large part because of Neptune’s influence, the maps, in addition to Jacket design by Jack Harrison detailing the location of Wabanaki settlements, Jacket art: Detail of map from the Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820. Courtesy of the The Maine State Archives. reflect a river-oriented Native perspective that would later serve as a key to Euro-American University of Massachusetts Press access to the region’s interior. Amherst The groundwork for cooperation between www.umass.edu/umpress Treat and Neptune had been laid during the 1820 treaty negotiations, in which both men Massachusetts

Pawling_jac_mech.indd 1 8/28/07 6:02:35 PM participated and which were successfully con- In late September 1820, hoping to lay claim cluded just over a month before their expedition to territory then under dispute between Great departed from Bangor, Maine. Despite conflict- “This book should find readers among ethnohistorians, historical geographers, pawling Britain and the United States, Governor William ing interests and mutual suspicions, they were cartographers, Wabanaki people, Maine history buffs, and others with an Wabanaki Homeland and King of the newly founded state of Maine dis- able to work together and cultivate a measure of interest in the Penobscot Valley. Micah Pawling’s introduction sets the local Wabanaki patched Major Joseph Treat to survey public trust as they traveled across northern Maine and context but also points to its larger significance. It offers a window onto a Homeland the New State of Maine lands on the Penobscot and Saint John Rivers. western New Brunswick, mapping an old world Traveling well beyond the limits of colonial Native world at a time of dramatic change and it gives depth and detail to, and and the together while envisioning its uncertain future. The 1820 Journal and Plans of Survey of Joseph Treat settlement, Treat relied heavily on the cultural New State alternative understandings and readings of, a landscape that is being contested knowledge and expertise of John Neptune, lieu- Micah A. Pawling is a Ph.D. candidate in and transferred. The original journal and maps, like the book itself, are the of tenant governor of the Penobscot tribe, to guide history at the University of Maine. product of intercultural collaboration.”—Colin G. Calloway, author of The Maine Edited with an introduction by him across the Wabanaki homeland. Along the Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of America m way Treat recorded his daily experiences in a Micah A. Pawling journal and drew detailed maps, documenting The 1820 the interactions of the Wabanaki peoples with Journal and the land and space they knew as home. Plans of Edited, annotated, and with an introduc- Survey of tion by Micah Pawling, this volume includes a Joseph complete transcription of Treat’s journal, repro- Treat ductions of dozens of hand-drawn maps, and records pertaining to the 1820 treaty between the Penobscot Nation and the governing authorities of Maine. As Pawling points out, Treat’s journal Published in conjunction with the Penobscot Indian offers more than the observations of a state agent Nation, Indian Island, Maine conducting a survey. It re-creates a dialogue between Euro-Americans and Native peoples, A volume in the series showing how different perceptions of the land Native Americans of the Northeast: were negotiated and disseminated, and expos- History, Culture, and the Contemporary ing the tensions that surfaced when assumptions and expectations clashed. In large part because of Neptune’s influence, the maps, in addition to Jacket design by Jack Harrison detailing the location of Wabanaki settlements, Jacket art: Detail of map from the Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820. Courtesy of the The Maine State Archives. reflect a river-oriented Native perspective that would later serve as a key to Euro-American University of Massachusetts Press access to the region’s interior. Amherst The groundwork for cooperation between www.umass.edu/umpress Treat and Neptune had been laid during the 1820 treaty negotiations, in which both men Massachusetts

Pawling_jac_mech.indd 1 8/28/07 6:02:35 PM Wabanaki Homeland and the new State of Maine a volume in the series

Native Americans of the Northeast: Culture, History, and the Contemporary edited by Colin G. Calloway and Barry O’Connell Wabanaki Homeland and the New State of Maine The 1820 Journal and Plans of Survey of Joseph Treat

Edited with an introduction by Micah A. Pawling

University of Massachusetts Press m amherst in conjunction with the Penobscot Indian Nation, Indian Island, Maine Copyright  2007 by University of Massachusetts Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America

LC 2006103299 ISBN 978-1-55849-578-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Treat, Joseph, 1775–1853. Wabanaki homeland and the new state of Maine : the 1820 journal and plans of survey of Joseph Treat / edited with an introduction by Micah A. Pawling. p. cm. — (Native Americans of the Northeast) “In conjunction with the Penobscot Indian Nation, Indian Island, Maine.” Includes bibliographical references and index. iSBN-13: 978-1-55849-578-4 (cloth : alk. paper) iSBN-10: 1-55849-578-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Treat, Joseph, 1775–1853—Diaries. 2. Treat, Joseph, 1775–1853—Travel—Maine—Penobscot River Valley. 3. Treat, Joseph, 1775–1853—Travel—Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.) 4. Neptune, John, 1767?–1865—Travel—Maine. 5. Abenaki Indians—Land tenure. 6. Abenaki Indians—Treaties. 7. Penobscot Indians—Land tenure. 8. Penobscot Indians—Treaties. 9. Penobscot River Valley (Me.)—Surveys. 10. Penobscot River Valley (Me.)—Maps. 11. Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.)—Surveys. 12. Saint John River Valley (Me. and N.B.)—Maps. I. Pawling, Micah A. ii. Penobscot Indian Nation. iii. Title. iV. Series e99.A13T748 2007 917.41'3043—dc22 2006103299

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data are available.

This book has been published with the generous financial support of the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine State Archives. For my parents, Robert and Jane Pawling, my first teachers and guides, and for the Wabanaki peoples of today, like their ancestors, diplomats in cross-cultural collaboration

Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820 67

Appendix: The 1820 Treaty Negotiations between the Penobscot Tribe and the New State of Maine 277

Index 293

Acknowledgments

Anyone who embarks on a book project realizes that the journey could not have happened without the numerous people who provided valuable assistance along the way. This is particularly true in a cross-cultural collaborative project like this one. My deepest appreciation goes to the Penobscot Indian Nation of Indian Island, Maine, who contributed to Joseph Treat’s manuscript then and now. The Penobscot Nation Tribal Council’s support for our collaboration and for our efforts to secure funding for publication was crucial to the project’s suc- cess. I am especially grateful to the Penobscot Nation’s Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation (DCHP) for their patience, guidance, and professional support. I owe a special woliwoni to the DCHP’s former director, Bonnie D. Newsom (2001–2006), who was very generous with her time as the project moved through the Cultural and Historic Preservation (C&HP) Commit- tee. She suggested that we apply together for a grant that would offset publication costs, and I benefited from her tenacity and unwavering encouragement. I am fortunate to have Bonnie as a colleague and friend. Tribal historian James E. Francis Sr. shared his knowledge of Native place-names, and the C&HP Committee and department staff including Patrick Almenas, Tami Connelly, Carol Dana, Maulian Dana, Maria Girouard, Wenona Lola, Jennifer Neptune, Martin Neptune, Neana Neptune, Frederick “Rick” Nicolar, Gabriel Paul, Kathleen Paul, Roger Paul, and Christopher Sockalexis reviewed the manuscript and improved the project. I am also thankful to Donald G. Soctomah, the Passamaquoddy’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, and to Maliseet historian Andrea Bear Nicholas, at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, for their helpful suggestions. At the University of Maine, David Sanger provided the necessary impetus to develop a seminar paper on Native seasonal mobility into an introduction to a book, and his comments on early drafts improved the result. The Wa- banaki Center was supportive in this collaborative project. Conversations with Stephen J. Hornsby at the Canadian-American Center alerted me to important literature in the field of historical geography and enriched the introduction. Michael Hermann at the Cartography Lab of the Canadian-American

ix Center created the map of the Treat expedition through Maine’s interior. Charles Morris at the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy deserves particular recognition for his expertise in the art of public grant writing. The work benefited as well from the suggestions of several readers including Acknowledgments Joseph Hall, Martha McNamara, Kenneth M. Morrison, Bonnie D. Newsom, Margaret W. Pearce, Scott W. See, Siobhan Senier, Nicholas N. Smith, and especially Brian S. Robinson, who also assisted with the painstaking task of pro- ducing an accurate journal transcription. Patricia Kennedy at the National Ar- chives of Canada in Ottawa suggested important annotations to the journal. The Maine State Archives in Augusta generously supported the project, preparing scans of Treat’s map manuscripts for reproduction and contributing financially to offset publication costs. With their extensive knowledge of the collections, the archivists helped answer my many inquiries about Joseph Treat and John Neptune, and their enthusiasm for publishing the Treat manuscript was invaluable. The Massachusetts State Archives permitted the reproduction of a map manuscript in this volume, and its staff aided in working with the original legislative records. Mildred L. Treat and her brother-in-law John W. Treat Jr. granted permission to publish the only known image of Joseph Treat. This book would not have been possible without a generous grant from the Maine Community Foundation and an anonymous donation to the foundation in support of the collaborative project. Michael J. Bell and Amy Trelease-Bell also kindly helped cover publication expenses. A Maine Archaeological Soci- ety grant underwrote the cost of professional indexing, and Arthur E. Spiess of the society and of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission provided col- legial support. Pamela Dean’s fine work on the index warrants my gratitude. I am indebted to Colin G. Calloway for his encouragement from the beginning and support for including this project in the Native Americans of the Northeast series at the University of Massachusetts Press. I am thankful for se- nior editor Clark Dougan’s guidance through the review process, for the thor- ough comments and helpful suggestions of Harald E. L. Prins, who reviewed the manuscript for the press, for managing editor Carol Betsch’s editorial skills and patience, for Michael Shally-Jensen’s copyediting, and for design and production manager Jack Harrison’s innovative layout design of the journal. Joseph Treat’s journal and maps have taken on a life of their own among the Penobscots today. Community members have used the manuscript for research on Native place-names, to assist in conducting archaeological surveys on their reservation islands, and to glean knowledge of how their ancestors used a past land- and riverscape where families maintained traditional practices of seasonal mobility. One elder taped together photocopies of the maps to obtain a snapshot of his peoples’ homeland in time, noting the location of the various

canoe portages and the distribution of wigwam camps in the river valley. It is hoped that the publication of the manuscript will give the Penobscots, their Wabanaki neighbors, and the broader public greater access to this highly valued primary source. Acknowledgments Similar to Joseph Treat’s journal, which came from two different worlds, this book is jointly dedicated. First, to my parents, Robert and Jane Pawling, who were my first teachers. Their unconditional love and support provided a fertile ground for asking questions about the past. The book is dedicated as well to the Wabanaki peoples of today, who not only made sure there was a well-built birchbark canoe and paddles for our collaborative journey, ensuring a successful voyage, but also, like John Neptune, shared their perspectives on homeland with me. Along the way, both my family and community members reminded me to cherish the process and to remember that some things are more important than the past.

Wabanaki Homeland and the new State of Maine Map of the Joseph Treat survey expedition across Wabanaki homeland and the disputed territory, September to November 1820. Introduction

On June 2, 1820, Maine’s first governor gave his “state of the state” address to the new legislature in Portland. Governor William King declared that there was “no state in this union, whose inland frontier is more exposed . . . as Maine.”1 Massachusetts and Maine both had ur- gent interests in settling the northeast boundary disputes with New Brunswick and Lower Canada. Statehood the previous March made this matter an immediate concern. By September, almost six months after Maine’s statehood, Governor King and his Executive Council hired Major Joseph Treat to “explore” the public lands on the Penobscot and Saint John rivers. The “exploration” produced the most detailed maps and descriptions of the region to that date, encompassing much of the original homeland of the Wabanaki peoples, particularly the Penobscot and Maliseet peoples.2

1. Governor William King’s state-of-the-state 123–146; Harald E. L. Prins, The Mi’kmaq: address to the new legislature in Portland, June Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival (Fort 2, 1820, Maine State Archives, Augusta, Maine Worth, Tex.: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, (hereafter MeSA). Governor William King 1996); Harald E. L. Prins, “Tribulations of a Border (1768–1852) was in office from March 15, 1820, Tribe: Discourse on the Political Ecology of the to May 8, 1821. Aroostook Band of the Micmacs,” Ph.D. diss., 2. Although this expedition primarily traversed Political and Social Science, New School for Social Penobscot and Malisset homeland, different Research, 1990, 274–320. Wabanaki groups also used these canoe and por- While the term “Wabanaki” has come to encircle tage routes, specifically the Passamaquoddies in the any number of Indian groups living in present-day Chiputneticook Lakes region and the Mi’kmaqs northern New England, the Maritime provinces, in Aroostook County, resulting in some overlap and the southern shore of Quebec, in this work of tribal movement. See Vincent O. Erickson, I use the all-inclusive term to refer primarily to “Maliseet-Passamaquoddy,” in Handbook of North the Mi’kmaqs, Maliseets, Passamaquoddies, and American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, gen. ed., Penobscots, along with other Abenaki groups. vol. 15, Northeast, ed. Bruce Trigger (Washington, See Frank G. Speck, “The Eastern Algonkian D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978), Wabanaki Confederacy,” American Anthropologist

Governor King instructed Treat to observe the quality of the lands, particularly noting the quantity of timber along the route, and to ascertain if trespass had been committed on state lands. If this was the case, he Introduction was to inquire whether any local person would be a suitable land agent to prevent trespass on public land.3 Despite the late season and low water levels, Joseph Treat and the members of his surveying party, Captain Jacob Holyoke and Lieutenant Governor John Neptune, the Penobscot guide, embarked on the trip and traveled over five hundred miles from September 26 to November 20.4 As of 1820, northern Maine was already a long disputed territory between Massachusetts, New Brunswick, and Lower Canada (Que- bec). From the close of the American Revolution to Maine’s statehood in 1820, the question of whether the District of Maine, which was then part of Massachusetts, should be admitted into the new United States as an independent state was also a hotly contested issue. National events, including Shays’s Rebellion, the creation of two political parties, the new Constitution, war, and sectional differences over slavery, post- poned Maine’s separation from Massachusetts. At the regional level, the issue was overshadowed by different perceptions of the meaning of the Revolution which created a rift between affluent landowners and small farmers. On the national scene, sectional differences in Congress worsened over the question of the status of western territories admit-

17 (1915): 492–508; Frank G. Speck, Penobscot War, Migration, and the Survival of an Indian People Man: The Life History of a Forest Tribe in Maine (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990), (1940; reprint, with a new preface by David 306. Sanger and additional photographs, University of 3. Joseph Treat, Executive Council Papers, Maine Press, 1997), 16–24; Wilson D. Wallis September 1, 1820, box 1, folder 17, MeSA; and Ruth Sawtell Wallis, The Micmac Indians Francis M. Carroll, A Good and Wise Measure: of Eastern Canada (Minneapolis: University of The Search for the Canadian-American Boundary, Minnesota Press, 1955), 14; Alvin Hamblen 1783–1842 (Toronto: University of Toronto Morrison, “Dawnland Decisions: Seventeenth- Press, 2001), 198. Century Wabanaki Leaders and Their Responses 4. Treat and his surveying party were detained to the Differential Contact Stimuli in the Overlap by the low water levels, making them dependent Area of New France and New England,” Ph.D. on the fall rains to pass through shallow waters. diss., Anthropology, State University of New This is testament to Maine’s urgency to learn about York at Buffalo, 1974, 6–14; Colin G. Calloway, its timber, trespassers, and the extent of settlement The Western Abenaki of Vermont, 1600–1800: in the borderland region of northern Maine.

ted into the United States. The 1820 Missouri Compromise provided a temporary solution. It stipulated that Missouri would join the union as a “slave” state and Maine would be admitted as a free state. On March 15, 1820, after decades of debate and delay, Maine entered into the union Introduction as the twenty-third state. It could now shape its own destiny.5 At the same time, however, the new government of Maine inherited the legacy of a disputed territory. State politicians vividly recalled the recent boundary negotiations in 1798 and 1817 that gradually established the St. Croix River as the international border between eastern Maine and southwestern New Brunswick. They now faced the challenge of defining their state’s northern boundary. Euro-American officials knew little about this region’s geography, an area consisting of present-day Aroostook and northern Piscataquis counties, Maine; Victoria and western Carleton and York counties, New Brunswick; and the Lake Témiscouata region of Quebec. To stake a viable claim over this area, Maine and New Brunswick set out to acquire information about the land to enable both sides to impose control over the disputed territory.6 The prospect of “British” subjects stealing “American” timber acceler-

5. James S. Leamon, “Separation Politics in Revolution Downeast: The War for American the Post–Revolutionary War Era,” in Maine: The Independence in Maine (Amherst: University of Pine Tree State from Prehistory to the Present, ed. Massachusetts Press, 1993), 166–223. Richard W. Judd, Edwin A. Churchill, and Joel 6. Stephen J. Hornsby, Victor A. Konrad, and W. Eastman (Orono: University of Maine Press, James Herlan, eds., The Northeast Borderlands: Four 1995), 169–178 (hereafter Maine); Richard R. Centuries of Interaction (Fredericton: Acadiensis Wescott and Edward O. Schriver, “The Separation Press and Canadian-American Center, University Movement in the Federal Movement,” in Maine, of Maine, 1989); David Demeritt, “Representing 178–192; James S. Leamon, “Revolution and the ‘True’ St. Croix: Knowledge and Power in Separation: Maine’s First Efforts at Statehood,” the Partition of the Northeast,” William and Mary in Maine in the Early Republic: From Revolution to Quarterly 54, no. 3 (July 1997): 515–548; Ronald Statehood, ed. Charles E. Clark, James S. Leamon, D. Tallman and Julie I. Tallman, “The Diplomatic and Karen Bowden (Hanover, N.H.: University Search for the St. Croix River, 1796–1798,” Press of New England, 1988), 83–99; Ronald Acadiensis 1, no. 2 (Spring 1972): 59–71; William F. Banks, Maine Becomes a State: The Movement to F. Ganong, “A Monograph of the Evolution of the Separate Maine from Massachusetts, 1785–1820 Boundaries of the Province of New Brunswick,” (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, section Press, 1970); Alan Taylor, Liberty Men and Great II (1901), 244–278; Cole Harris, “Social Power Proprietors: The Revolutionary Settlement on the Maine and Cultural Change in Pre-Colonial British Frontier, 1760–1820 (Chapel Hill: University of Columbia,” BC Studies, no. 115/116 (Autumn/ North Carolina Press, 1990); James S. Leamon, Winter 1997/1998): 45–82.

ated the boundary race, and Maine called on Joseph Treat to provide much-needed information.7 The Treat expedition was one of the first achievements of the new Introduction administration, and Treat’s journal and survey plans became the most detailed account of the region’s land and human inhabitants, knowledge that Maine needed to strengthen its claim to the interior. Although the French, British, and, later, Americans surveyed Maine’s interior with varying degrees of accuracy, each contending power had to learn and map the region independently, causing the surveyors’ reliance on Wa- banaki knowledge. In this borderland region, cartographic knowledge fluctuated through time and did not produce a steady accumulation of information about Maine’s interior. Many of the early map manuscripts were in Europe and therefore were not used in the field as base maps to further the geographic knowledge about the canoe routes and portages that connected Maine, New Brunswick, and Quebec.8 Joseph Treat’s journal and maps represent Maine’s first attempt to chart and take in-

7. Richard W. Judd, “The Aroostook War, 1828– University Press, 2005), 3–14; Honorius Provost, 1842,” in Maine, 345–353; Richard W. Judd, Chaudiére-Kennebec grand chemin séculaire (Québec: Aroostook: A Century of Logging in Northern Maine Éditions Garneau, 1974); Barry Rodrigue, “The (Orono: University of Maine Press, 1988; reprint Making of the St. Lawrence–Maine System: with research assistance by Patricia A. Judd, 1989), The Canada Road Frontier, 1790–1860,” Ph.D. 1–146; Francis M. Carroll, “Kings and Crises: diss., Geography, Université Laval, Quebec, Arbitrating the Canadian-American Boundary 1999; Richard I. Ruggles, A Country So Interesting: Dispute and the Belgian Crisis of 1830–1831,” New The Hudson’s Bay Company and Two Centuries of England Quarterly 73, no. 2 (June 2000): 179–201; Mapping, 1670–1870 (Montreal and Kingston: Carroll, A Good and Wise Measure, 195–306; Harris, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991), 73; “Social Power and Cultural Change,” 45–82. Prins, “Tribulations of a Border Tribe,” 273–320. 8. Micah A. Pawling, Stephen J. Hornsby, and For one of the earliest maps of Maine’s interior and Alaric Faulkner, “The French Survey the Interior, beyond, see Hector Andigné de Grandfontaine’s 1671–1755,” in Historical Atlas of Maine, ed. 1671 map manuscript published in Alaric Stephen J. Hornsby and Richard W. Judd, cartog- Faulkner and Gretchen Faulkner, The French at raphy by Michael Hermann (Orono: University Pentagoet, 1635–1674: An Archaeological Portrait of Maine Press, forthcoming) (hereafter HAM); of the Acadian Frontier (Augusta: Maine Historic Stephen J. Hornsby and Micah A. Pawling, Preservation Commission and New Brunswick “The British Survey the Interior, 1760–1764,” Museum, Saint John, 1987), 14–35. For addition- HAM; Richard W. Judd and Micah A. Pawling, al early maps of the region, see Bruce J. Bourque, “Surveying the Northern Interior, 1820–1839,” with contributions by Steven L. Cox and Ruth HAM; Stephen J. Hornsby and John G. Reid, intro- H. Whitehead, Twelve Thousand Years: American duction to New England and the Maritime Provinces: Indians in Maine (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Connections and Comparisons, ed. Hornsby and Press, 2001), 134–135, 161, & 182–183. Reid (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queens

ventory of Penobscot and Maliseet homeland, which had become a disputed territory between Maine and New Brunswick. Early editions of the cartographer Moses Greenleaf’s maps of Maine probably assisted Treat’s exploration, but the maps of the Treat party reveal significantly Introduction more meticulous features of the Penobscot and Saint John watersheds, tributaries, lakes, ponds, and settlements. Greenleaf incorporated the Indian place-names from Treat’s work into later versions of his own map.9 During the first decade after statehood,T reat’s journal and manuscript maps were widely circulated among state politicians, and in 1829 Maine’s Executive Council commissioned Frederick Mellen to make a copy of Treat’s journal and plans.10 Joseph Treat depicted northern Maine and its waterways twenty- six years before Henry David Thoreau made his more famous visit to the region. Treat’s journal offers more than a record of a state agent conducting a survey. Together with the plans, the journal offers an unusual panorama that captures Maine and New Brunswick’s diverse ethnic heritage—Acadians, Penobscots, Maliseets, Loyalists, Irish, Scottish and English immigrants, and Americans—in a vast area that is too often perceived as being located on the periphery of regional history.11 More- over, Treat’s journal and survey maps indicate how Wabanaki peoples

9. Moses Greenleaf (1777–1834), Indian Place 11. G. A. Rawlyk, “J. B. Brebner and Some Names: Indian Names of Some of the Streams, Islands, Recent Trends in Eighteenth Century Maritime etc., on the Penobscot and St. John Rivers in Maine: Taken Historiography,” Northeast Borderlands, 32–63; from a Letter from Moses Greenleaf, Esq., to Rev. Dr. Graeme Wynn, “New England’s Outpost in the Morse (Bangor, Me.: Privately printed, 1903), 3–12; Nineteenth Century,” Northeast Borderlands, 64–90; Walter A. MacDougall, Settling the Maine Wilderness: Harold McGee, “Four Centuries of Borderland Moses Greenleaf, His Maps, and His Household of Faith, Interaction: It Depends on Who Draws the Line 1777–1834 (Portland, Me.: Osher Map Library and When,” Northeast Borderlands, 140–148; P. and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, A. Buckner, “The Borderlands Concept: A Critical University of Southern Maine, Occasional Appraisal,” Northeast Borderlands, 152–158; Philip Publication no. 3, 2006). I would like to thank Buckner, “How Canadian Historians Stopped Sylvia J. Sherman and acknowledge the late Patty Worrying and Learned to Love the Americans!” K. Lincoln at the Maine State Archives, Augusta, Acadiensis 25, no. 2 (Spring 1996): 117–140; Alan Maine, for pointing this out to me. Taylor, “Centers and Peripheries: Locating Maine’s 10. Patty K. Lincoln and Sylvia J. Sherman, History,” Maine History 39, no. 1 (Spring 2000): “Joseph Treat Timeline,” MeSA; Frederick Mellen, 2–15. Executive Council Reports, March 9, 1829, box 27, folder 2, MeSA.

interacted with the land and the space they knew as home. Throughout North America, cultural contact between European and Native Ameri- can groups often included Native peoples communicating their knowl- Introduction edge of land to the newcomers. This transmitted knowledge sometimes took the form of gestures, words, a stick, finger, birchbark, or ink on paper. The survey reports and maps that resulted from these exchanges did not diminish Euro-American expectations about claiming Indian lands; rather, they facilitated their access to the Americas and permitted them to reconceptualize the land, thereby furthering the likelihood that Na- tive space would soon be rearranged.12 The Treat expedition, like earlier European exploration parties in North America, depended on Native peoples’ knowledge of the land and traditional skills needed to traverse it, an exchange that persisted in Maine into the twentieth century.13 Historical geographers who have worked with Native American maps have provided insights on how Native people view the land.14 There

12. Andro Linklater, Measuring America: How Down the Penobscot,” Outing 34, no. 4 (July an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States 1899): 395–400. and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy (New York: 14. J. B. Harley, “New England Cartography Walker & Co., 2002), 206–218; Harris, “Social and the Native Americans,” in American Power and Cultural Change,” 45–82; Cole Harris, Beginnings: Exploration, Culture, and Cartography “How Did Colonialism Dispossess? Comments in the Land of Norumbega, ed. Emerson W. Baker from an Edge of Empire,” Annals of the Association et al. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, of American Geographers 94, no. 1 (March 2004): 1994), 285–313; Harald E. L. Prins, “Children 165–182. of Gluskap: Wabanaki Indians on the Eve of 13. Emerson W. Baker and John G. Reid, European Invasion,” American Beginnings, 95–117; “Amerindian Power in the Early Modern G. Malcolm Lewis, “The Indigenous Maps and Northeast: A Reappraisal,” William and Mary the Mapping of North American Indians,” The Quarterly 61, no. 1 (January 2004): 77–106; Map Collector (Tring, Eng.) 9 (1979): 25–32; G. Andrea Bear Nicholas and Harald Prins, “The Malcolm Lewis, “Maps, Mapmaking, and Map Spirit in the Land: The Native People of Use by Native North Americans,” in Cartography in Aroostook,” The County, Land of Promise: A Pictorial the Traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, History of Aroostook County, Maine (Norfolk, Va.: and Pacific Societies, ed. David Woodward and Donning Co., 1989), 18–37; Alec McEwen, ed., G. Malcolm Lewis, vol. 2, bk. 3 of The History In Search of the Highlands: Mapping the Canada-Maine of Cartography (Chicago: University of Chicago Boundary, 1839, The Journals of Featherstonhaugh Press, 1998), 51–182; Louis De Vorsey Jr., and Mudge, August to November 1839 (Fredericton, “American Indians and the Early Mapping of the N.B.: Acadiensis Press, 1998); Pauleena M. Southeast,” in William P. Cumming, The Southeast Seeber, “The Maine Indian Guide,” in Papers of in Early Maps, 3d ed. (Chapel Hill: University of the Nineteenth Algonquian Conference, ed. William North Carolina Press, 1998), 65–98; Gregory Cowan (Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1988), A. Waselkov, “Indian Maps of the Colonial 175–185; William Austin Brooks, “Canoeing Southeast: Archaeological Implications and

has been much less attention, however, paid to maps produced by surveyors who relied heavily on Native knowledge of the land and cultural experiences.15 Viewing Native maps and surveys together in context as- sists our understanding of how perceptions of the land are disseminated, Introduction understood, and recorded. This re-creation of the dialogue between surveyors and Wabanaki peoples illuminates the larger story of the negotiation of knowledge, exposing the subtle tensions that surfaced and the expectations the groups had with respect to one another. John Neptune, a prominent Penobscot leader, guided this expedition and provided intimate knowledge of the land. As a result, Treat’s journal and this introduction focus more on Penobscot historical events, even though the landscape and portages of the Saint John River are Maliseet homeland and form a central part of the journal itself.16 While Euro- American settlement and displaced Acadians represent important new beginnings, the journal provides one of the most detailed accounts of the landscape as it was known to the Wabanaki. Many place-names came directly from Lieutenant Governor John Neptune, who knew the area before the 1818 Penobscot treaty with Massachusetts, when the interior

Prospects,” in Cartographic Encounters: Perspectives England Indian Deeds,” in Cartographic Encounters, on Native American Mapmaking and Map Use, ed. G. 157–186; Margaret W. Pearce, “Encroachment by Malcolm Lewis (Chicago: University of Chicago Word, Axis, and Tree: Mapping Techniques from Press, 1998), 205–221; Mark Warhus, Another the Colonization of New England,” Cartographic America: Native American Maps and the History of Perspectives, no. 48 (Spring 2004): 24–38. Our Land (New York: St. Martin’s, 1997), 12–13; 16. The reference to the upper Saint John G. Malcolm Lewis, “The Study of Maps Made by River as Maliseet homeland recognizes differ- First Nations Peoples: Retrospect and Prospect,” ent Wabanaki people inhabiting and moving Cartographic Perspectives, no. 48 (Spring 2004): through the region. See Erickson, “Maliseet- 7a–7c. For a historiographical overview calling Passamaquoddy,” 124; Prins, “Tribulations of a for more interdisciplinary work between ethno- Border Tribe,” 274–320. history and geography, see James Taylor Carson, 17. 1818 Penobscot Treaty with Massachusetts, “Ethnogeography and the Native American Past,” Penobscot County Court House, Bangor, Maine Ethnohistory 49, no. 2 (Fall 2002): 769–788. (hereafter PCCH), Registry of Deeds, vol. 4, 15. G. Malcolm Lewis, “Indicators of 191–198, received and entered on June 30, 1818/ Unacknowledged Assimilations from Amerindian July 1, 1818; “Treaty made by the Commonwealth Maps on Euro-American Maps of North America: of Massachusetts with the Penobscot tribe of Some General Principles Arising from a Study Indians, June 29, 1818,” Acts and Resolves Passed of La Vérendrye’s Composite Map, 1728–29,” by the Twenty-Third Legislature of the State of Maine, Imago Mundi 38 (1986): 9–34; Margaret Wickens A.D. 1843 (Augusta: Wm. R. Smith & Co., 1843), Pearce, “Native Mapping in Southern New 253–256; “Treaty Between the Penobscot and

Introduction

Joseph Treat (1775–1853), cabinet card, Portrait of Penobscot lieutenant governor 7 7 4 /32 x 6 /16", c. 1890, of early nineteenth- John Neptune (1767–1865) by Obediah century oil painting. Courtesy of Mildred L. Dickinson, detail, oil on pine wood panel, 5 Treat. 16 x11 /8", probably 1836. Courtesy of Maine State Museum.

Penobscot River drainage was still officially Native territory.17 For this reason I have chosen to emphasize the journal as an important source on early nineteenth-century Wabanaki homeland in addition to the early footholds of the new state of Maine. Maine officials perceived that Joseph Treat’s survey was another step in the transformation of the interior of Maine from Indian to Euro- American space, but his journal describes a region inhabited largely by Native people. By 1820, the advancement of a Euro-American settler

Massachusetts, June 29, 1818,” in Documents of sub-chiefs adopted the status titles of governor and American Indian Diplomacy: Treaties, Agreements, lieutenant governor, respectively. For an overview and Conventions, 1775–1979, ed. Vine Deloria of Penobscot place-names, see Aimee Dolloff Jr. and Raymond J. DeMallie, vol. 2 (Norman: and the Penobscot Nation Cultural and Historic University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 1097–1098 Preservation Department, “Naming Places the (hereafter DAID). In the early nineteenth century, Penboscot Way,” Bangor Daily News, September many Penobscot and Passamaquoddy chiefs and 23–24, 2006, special 4-page pullout.

society in Maine and New Brunswick had not led to the departure of a Native geography. Although Wabanaki peoples in Maine were among the first Native groups on the eastern seaboard of North America to experience European contact, the economic and political uncertainties of a Introduction borderland region slowed Euro-American settlement into the area. Ac- cording to Treat, settlers on the Penobscot River had only reached north of present-day Howland, Maine.18 Most Euro-Americans knew little about the interior geography of Maine and northwestern New Bruns- wick, a vast area sparsely populated with few settlements along the pe- rimeter of this region. Small Acadian communities clustered along the upper Saint John River Valley only totaled about one thousand people.19 Visitors depended on the Penobscots’ and Maliseets’ ability to traverse their homeland. Treat’s journal is also a rare glimpse into the nineteenth-century Pe- nobscot and Maliseet homeland before it was severely altered by dam construction and Euro-American settlement on the upper Penobscot River. Native peoples used the river as a natural highway to reach hunting grounds and fishing sites. Unlike many other early surveys of the Pe- nobscot and Saint John rivers, which centered on the allotment of land and the establishment of roads for settlement, Treat’s survey focused on the precise details of rivers, tributaries, and ponds.20 Consequently, the journal and survey recorded a Wabanaki perspective of the water routes across the region. In 1820, the waterways were a superior mode of travel to the few roads in the region, but most Euro-Americans were unaccus- tomed to canoe travel. Skiff or bateau travel was inadequate for low wa-

18. Joseph Treat, “Journal and Plans of Survey University of Toronto Press, 1981), 11–25. The by Joseph Treat—1820,” Maine Land Office Field 1820 census lists Madawaska’s population at 1,114 Notes, vol. 14, MeSA, 24. Treat showed Dudley’s people. See Census for 1820 (Washington: Gales camp, located down river from Madamiscontis & Seaton, 1821; Fourth Census, Book 1, photo- Stream, as the farthest settlement on the Penobscot graphic facsimile, New York: Luther M. Cornwell River. Co., copy 165/295, n.d.), 3b. 19. Treat, “Journal,” 118; Graeme Wynn, 20. For examples of common survey maps mark- Timber Colony: A Historical Geography of Early ing out roads, townships, and property lines, see Nineteenth Century New Brunswick (Toronto: Maine Land Office, microfilm, MeSA.

ter levels and awkward, at best, for portaging between two water sys- tems.21 Knowledge obtained from the ground on specific land features and changes in the rivers, such as rips, falls, and carries, was essential Introduction to the use of the birchbark canoe. Treat’s information on the Penobscot and Saint John watersheds offered Maine officials a river-oriented perspective that served as a key to Euro-American access to the interior re- gions.22 Treat and Holyoke entered into Penobscot and Maliseet homeland, a world where Native skills and knowledge of the land prevailed. Joseph Treat’s journal and plans of survey show that the Penobscots and Maliseets preserved components of their indigenous lifestyle. For Wabanaki peoples, land meant homeland, where family bands engaged in seasonal mobility to occupy numerous places. Daily cultural activities such as hunting, gathering, and fishing defined their relationship to the land. At these camps, cultural activities linked people to the land and extensive kinship networks held family bands together.23 For Euro- Americans, parcels of land were controlled as a commodity, used for home and agricultural production that required the land to be cleared. To avoid boundary disputes, private land ownership dictated that this

21. Edward Thomas Coke, A Subaltern’s 23. Jean M. O’Brien, Dispossession by Degrees: Furlough: Descriptive Scenes in Various Parts of Indian Land and Identity in Natick, Massachusetts, the United States, Upper and Lower Canada, New 1650–1790 (New York: Cambridge University Brunswick, and Nova Scotia during the Summer and Press, 1997), 168–215; Speck, Penobscot Man, Autumn of 1832 (London: Saunders and Otley, 203–240; Theodore Binnema, “Old Swan, 1832), Canadian Institute of Historical Microfilms Big Man, and the Siksika Bands, 1794–1815,” (hereafter CIHM microfiche) 27425, 368; Colin Canadian Historical Review 77, no. 1 (March Campbell, “Journal of Campbell’s Expedition by 1996): 1–32; Prins, The Mi’kmaq, 1996, 32–33; Boat from St. Andrews, New Brunswick ‘for the Jacques Ferland, “Mattanawcook Islanders and exploration of Mt. Cathardin &c.,’ September 22 the Meaning of Family among Nineteenth- to October 13, 1819,” Maine Historical Society, Century Penobscot Indians,” paper presented at Portland, Maine (hereafter MeHS). Campbell the Norlands Living History Center, Livermore, noted in his journal that his survey party cut veg- Maine, June 13, 1997 (on file with author); Gavin etation to widen carrying or portage trails for his Taylor, “Ruled with a Pen: Land, Language, and skiffs. the Invention of Maine,” Ph.D. diss., History, 22. Letter from Joseph Treat to Governor College of William and Mary, 2000, 18-86; William King, December 12, 1820, William King American Friends Service Committee, The Papers (hereafter WKP) coll. 165, box 18, folder Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes: A Resource 14, MeHS; Harris, “Social Power and Cultural Book about the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Change,” 45–82. Micmac, and Abenaki Indians (Bath, Me.: Maine Indian Program, 1989), D-78–D-84.

10 commodity be bounded and often fenced.24 With only a few small settlements in this region, Penobscot and Maliseet family bands continued to practice traditional lifestyles and to camp on land situated well beyond their reservation or reserve boundaries. On Treat’s survey maps, triangle Introduction symbols represented Penobscot or Maliseet camps that probably provided access to hunting grounds and convenience for water travel. In 1820, Penobscot families continued to camp in favored locations in addition to their reservation lands, which consisted of the “upper four townships” and the islands in the Penobscot River.25 Rips and narrow water channels promised prime fishing grounds along the river. In the region of Chesuncook Lake, Treat and Holyoke encountered an old Indian camp- ground and met Penobscot hunting parties moving through the region. Along the upper Saint John River, Maliseets, many of whom petitioned for the creation of reserved lands, also returned to their camps beyond these limited areas. State and provincial officials used Indian reservations and reserves to define where Native people should be located, but families resisted Euro-American ideals of fixity and maintained their dispersed settlement.26 Treat’s survey maps also demonstrate coexistence among different Wabanaki groups and Euro-American settlers.27 Although settlers imposed social distinctions that marked Native people as inferior, their

24. William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Third Legislature of the State of Maine, A.D. 1843 Colonists, and the Ecology of New England (New York: (Augusta: William R. Smith & Co., 1843), Hill and Wang, 1983), 127–156. 253–255. 25. In the 1818 Penobscot Treaty with the 26. Cole Harris, Making Native Space: Colonialism, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Penobscots Resistance, and Reserves in British Columbia retained the islands in the Penobscot River and (Vancouver: University of British Columbia the “upper four townships” of land six miles Press, 2002), 265–292; O’Brien, Dispossession By square each, two of which were located on each Degrees, 168–215. side of the Penobscot River at the mouth of the 27. Ethnohistorians have made similar observa- Mattawamkeag River. The other two townships tions in southern New England. See Daniel R. were on the West Branch of the Penobscot near Mandell, Behind the Frontier: Indians in Eighteenth- “Nolacemeac Lake,” or present-day Millinocket, Century Massachusetts (Lincoln: University of Maine. In addition, the Penobscots had a two-acre Nebraska Press, 1996), 6–7; David J. Silverman, land lot along the river in Brewer, Maine. “Treaty Faith and Boundaries: Colonists, Christianity, and Made by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Community among the Wampanoag Indians of Martha’s with the Penobscot Tribe of Indians, June 2, Vineyard, 1600–1871 (New York: Cambridge 1818,” Acts and Resolves Passed by the Twenty- University Press, 2005), xxi.

11 close quarters with Indian peoples made cultural encounters a frequent occurrence. Treat depicted “Passadunkee Island,” an old Indian camp- ground located upriver from the mouth of the Passadumkeag River, Introduction called Thorofare Island today, as densely populated by Penobscot families. Adjacent to this island were some of the most upriver American settlements of the region, clustered on the western shore. While Old Town Island had increasingly become the major Penobscot settlement, Treat’s maps show that Penobscot fishermen built one of three eel weir camps north of Craig Island.28 Many Maliseets also lived in close quarters with their Acadian neighbors. In addition to the Native communities at To- bique and Meductic along the Saint John River, Maliseets built their wigwams between Acadian homesteads on both sides of the river at the confluence of the Madawaska River, near present-day Madawaska, Maine, and Edmundston, New Brunswick. Close proximity between Indian camps and settlers made interactions between them commonplace, suggesting that Wabanaki people were hardly marginalized.29 Although Native homeland around Penobscot Bay had become increasingly circumscribed by 1820 with the growth of American settlement, Native families still fished for cod and hunted seals and large game animals, including moose.30 In contrast to the coastal region, Treat’s journal

28. Three of Treat’s survey maps indicate Assumptions,” American Indian Quarterly 17, no. 2 Penobscot eel weirs, one near Passadumkeag, the (Spring 1993): 193–207; Donna Keith Baron, J. second located upriver from the mouth of the Edward Hood, and Holly V. Izard, “They Were Piscataquis River, near Mohawk Rips, and the Here All Along: The Native American Presence in third was in the Mattawamkeag River, just up Lower-Central New England in the Eighteenth stream from John Attean’s camp at Mattawamkeag and Nineteenth Centuries,” William and Mary Point. Treat, “Journal,” 19–22, 24, and 32. Quarterly 53, no. 3 (July 1996): 561–586. 29. Thomas L. Doughton, “Unseen Neighbors: 30. Penobscot Indian Petition to the Native Americans of Central Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, November A People who had ‘Vanished,’” in After King 2, 1776, Massachusetts Archives Collection, Philip’s War: Presence and Persistence in Indian New SC1/57X, vol. 144, p. 363, Massachusetts State England, ed. Colin G. Calloway (Hanover, N.H.: Archives, Boston (hereafter MaSA). A version of Dartmouth College and University Press of New this Penobscot petition is published in Peter Force, England, 1997), 207–230; Calloway, The Western ed., American Archives: Containing a Documentary Abenaki of Vermont, 224–25; David L. Ghere, History of the United States of America . . . , fifth series, “The ‘Disappearance’ of the Abenaki in Western M. St. Clair Clarke and Peter Force, series eds. Maine: Political Organization and Ethnocentric (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1843), 3: 807–808.

12 shows that the Penobscots still had a viable homeland in the interior, where family bands continued to engage in seasonal mobility that provided access to their hunting and fishing grounds. Introduction During the early stages of editing the Treat manuscript for publication, I learned that the Penobscot Indian Nation’s Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation shared the goal of bringing the manuscript to light because they recognized its importance as a reference to Penobscot historical land use. Treat’s journal is a record of Maine’s interior landscape and environment before many settlers moved into the region; an account of the apprehension over a disputed international boundary with a new state; and one of the most complete descriptions of the cultural landscape of the Wabanaki, representing a time before treaties attempted to reduce Penobscot territory to the river islands and a period when the Maliseet coexisted with recently uprooted Acadians in the heart of the disputed territory. Indeed, the appreciation of the Treat manuscript is enhanced by understanding the long tension between its two principal characters: Treat, the surveyor and record-keeper, and Neptune, the Penobscot guide and skilled diplomat. Both of these men were in the forefront of negotiations and strategies to define, defend, and expand their respective boundaries, from different cultural backgrounds. These events unfolded between 1790, when settlers began to arrive in the disputed territories, and 1820, when Maine’s statehood brought the unresolved northern border with the British North American provinces of New Brunswick and Lower Canada (Quebec) to a state of emergency.31 This introduction is intended to place the Treat manuscript in the middle of the two different worlds from which it came. The two major

Reverend John Coffin, “Tour to Hanover New document #6315, unpassed legislation, original Hampshire: With a Design to Enter Charles Coffin legislative papers, MaSA. as a Frenchman in Dartmouth College, 1795,” 31. Carroll, A Good and Wise Measure, 2001; Collections of the Maine Historical Society, series 1, Judd, “The Aroostook War, 1828–1842,” in Maine, 4:325; Petition of Penobscot Captain Francis Loring 345–353. and Joseph Lyon, February 10, 1819, 1819 Senate

13 participants, Joseph Treat and John Neptune, represent the larger, ongo- ing conflict between different cultural values and perspectives on the land. Through conversations and interactions with Neptune, Treat re- Introduction corded Penobscot names, places, and stories that provide one of the significant contributions to the journal, while the events leading up to the expedition exemplify Neptune’s stature as a respected leader.

Joseph Treat, John Neptune, Shad Island, and the Decades of Negotiation, 1796–1820 Born in Bangor, Maine, to a prominent merchant family, Joseph Treat (1775–1853) grew up in the Penobscot River Valley, where he gradually acquired surveying skills through firsthand experience.32 In the early nineteenth century, when immigrants began settling the upper Penob- scot River, his personal knowledge of the local geography led him to become a respected surveyor, businessman, and landowner.33 His interests in promoting American settlement along the Penobscot River Valley, combined with his own economic aspirations to lease and purchase Indi- an land and resources, produced, at best, a tenuous relationship with the Penobscot tribe.34 Treat, who had previously worked with Penobscot lieutenant governor John Neptune (1767–1865) on Charles Turner’s 1804 survey of Mount Katahdin and the East Branch of the Penobscot River, hired Neptune for his intimate knowledge of “the country in the vicinity of the Penobscot, St. John and Aroostick.”35 In September 1816,

32. M. H. Edney, “British Military Education, 34. Petition of Gabriel Johonnot and Joseph Mapmaking, and the Military ‘Map-mindedness’ Treat, June 12, 1804, 1804 Senate document in the Later Enlightenment,” Cartographic Journal #3185, unpassed legislation, original legislative 31, no. 1 (June 1994): 14–20. papers, MaSA; Petition of 32 Settlers on the 33. Treat, “Journal,” 7 and 214; John Harvey Penobscot River, January 7, 1806, 1806 Senate Treat, The Treat Family: A Genealogy of Trott, Tratt, document # 3444, unpassed legislation, original and Treat for Fifteen Generations, and Four Hundred legislative papers, MaSA. and Fifty Years in England and America . . . (Salem, 35. Charles Turner Jr., “A Description of Mass.: Salem Press & Publishing Co., 1893), Natardin or Catardin Mountain—Being an 289–290; Bangor Historical Magazine 2, no. 5 Extract from a Letter, . . . in the Summer of 1804 (November 1886): 85–86. . . . ,” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical

14 a Penobscot ceremony at Pana’wampskik (Alnambiimenahan), or Old Town Island, had inducted Captain Neptune as the new lieutenant governor, or second chief of the tribe.36 As a person known to be a great m’teoulin, or religious leader, Neptune had his traditional family hunt- Introduction ing territory on the west side of the Penobscot River, encompassing the Kenduskeag Stream (Bangor, Maine) to Pushaw Stream (Old Town). By the nineteenth century, he hunted around Mount Katahdin and the East Branch of the Penobscot River and led hunting parties north of the Saint Lawrence River.37 When the Treat expedition departed in the fall of 1820, the Penob- scots were well acquainted with Joseph Treat. In the first two decades of the nineteenth century, Joseph Treat and John Neptune, along with other Penobscot leaders, held two very different understandings of the 1796 Penobscot treaty with Massachusetts that had resulted in an intense land dispute.38 The 1796 treaty was the first treaty in which

Society, second series, vol. 8 (1819; reprint, New by treaty rights, is twelve miles north of Bangor, York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968), 112–116. Maine. Penobscot Nation, Penobscot Nation’s Treat surveyed the West Branch in 1817 and the Island Inventory (Indian Island, Old Town, Me.: East Branch of the Penobscot River in 1818. See Penobscot Tribal Reservation Housing Authority, “Penobscot River—West Branch 1817—Joseph June 1979), appendix A, 35. For an account of Treat’s Survey of the North Line of 9 townships the 1816 Penobscot induction ceremony, see in that vicinity,” December 1817, location 2120– “Penobscot Indian Chief,” United States Gazette 0703, box 2, folder 20, MeSA; “Plan of Township (Philadelphia), Saturday, October 4, 1817; Speck, Number 1,” August 30, 1818, Maine Land Office Penobscot Man, 240–243. For Native place-names Plan Books, vol. 2, p. 17, MeSA. Fannie Hardy of Old Town/Indian Island, see Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, Old John Neptune and Other Maine Indian Eckstorm, Indian Place-Names of the Penobscot Valley Shamans (1945; reprint, University of Maine Press, and the Maine Coast, Maine Studies no. 55 (Orono: 1980), 7; Letter from Joseph Treat to Governor University of Maine Press, 1941), 35–38; Speck, William King, September 27, 1820, WKP, coll. Penobscot Man, 6–7, 26. 165, box 18, folder 9, MeHS. Treat’s total cost of 37. At the departure of the Treat expedition his 1820 survey, which he billed to the Legislature, in September 1820, Lieutenant Governor John was $359.75. John Neptune was paid a total of Neptune was 53 years old. Eckstorm, Old John $65.00, $55.00 of which was for his services (at Neptune, 3–15, 31–38, 60–73; Speck, Penobscot $1.00/day) and $10.00 for a new birchbark canoe Man, 221–222, 240–243; Dean R. Snow, and paddle. See Joseph Treat, Executive Council “Eastern Abenaki,” in Trigger, Northeast, 137–147; Papers, 1820, box 1, folder 40, MeSA. Bunny McBride, Women of the Dawn (Lincoln: 36. “Old Town Island” is present-day Indian University of Nebraska Press, 1999), 79–88. Island, home to the Penobscot Nation. The At the age of 87 on November 20, 1851, John nineteenth-century appellation of “Old Town Neptune married 73-year-old Mary Paul Soosup Island” is used in the text. This 315-acre island, in Bangor, Maine. See New England Historical and one of the many islands that the tribe retained Genealogical Register 6, no. 1 (1852): 101.

15 the Penobscots ceded land in their river valley to Massachusetts. It stipulated that the Penobscots retained “all the Islands in the said River, above Old Town, including Old Town Island, within the limits of the Introduction said thirty miles.”39 In contrast to survey lines on land that attempt to delineate property but require a constant avocation as to the property’s specific location, the use of water and of the river’s course as a boundary between Indian and Euro-American lands seemed to provide a natural demarcation that would eradicate the need to create and reinforce imposed lines on the land. From the head of tide at Nichol’s Rock to thirty miles upriver to the state line, each side of the Penobscot River was open to Euro-American settlement. For the surveyors, the work seemed prac- tically finished and only entailed laying out the newly created ten townships of land, or so they thought. The moving Penobscot waterway and aboriginal rights to the river proved more ambiguous than Massachu- setts had hoped. Lines across the Penobscot River still had to be created or described in treaties, distinguishing between Penobscot reservation islands and the islands that would be sold to Euro-American settlers. It

38. In the late 1970s, lawyers for the Penobscots Director Diana Scully, Hallowell, Maine, 1995; and Passamaquoddies successfully argued that late- Paul Brodeur, Restitution: The Land Claims of the eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Native Mashpee, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Indians of treaties with Massachusetts and Maine violated New England (Boston: Northeastern University the 1790 Trade and Intercourse Act, a federal law Press, 1985), 69–141; Micah A. Pawling and John that stipulated Congress must approve all Indian Bear Mitchell, “Maine Indian Claims Settlement land acquisition before it is sold to individual land Act of 1980,” in Treaties with American Indians: owners. The result was the Maine Indian Claims An Encyclopedia of Rights, Conflicts, and Sovereignty, Settlement Act (MICSA) of 1980. See United ed. Donald L. Fixico (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC- States Congress, “An act to provide for the settle- CLIO, in press). ment of land claims of Indians, Indian nations and 39. 1796 Penobscot treaty with the tribes and bands of Indians in the State of Maine, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, August 8, including the Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot 1796, Hancock County Registry of Deeds Office Nation, and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, (Ellsworth, Maine) (hereafter HCRD), book 27, and for other purposes,” Statutes at Large, 96th pp. 6–7. For a recent publication of the treaty, see Cong., 2d sess., vol. 94, part 2 (Washington, D.C.: “Treaty Between the Penobscot and Massachusetts, GPO, 1980), public law 96–420; State of Maine, August 8, 1796,” DAID, vol. 2, 1999, 1094– “Indian Treaties,” Acts and Resolves Passed by the 1095; Harald E. L. Prins, “The Crooked Path of Twenty-Third Legislature of the State of Maine, A.D. Dummer’s Treaty: Anglo-Wabanaki Diplomacy 1843 (Augusta: William Smith & Co., 1843), and the Quest for Aboriginal Rights,” in Papers 253–266; Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission of the Thirty-third Algonquian Conference, ed. H. C. (hereafter MITSC), “Maine Indian Claims Wolfart (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, Settlement: Concepts, Context, and Perspectives,” 2002), 360–377. unpublished report by the MITSC, Executive

16 was in this process that Penobscot perspectives of their homeland and the articulation of space on a map collided throughout the first two decades of the nineteenth century.40 Although the 1796 Penobscot treaty threatened to solidify oral agree- Introduction ments, Massachusetts officials and Penobscot leaders continued to advo- cate their own treaty interpretations, resulting in each group striving to push and pull the bounds of Euro-American settlement and Indian lands. Penobscot petitions served as a political medium for Native people to communicate their understanding of the oral agreements and provided opportunities for negotiation with Massachusetts. When disagreement arose over which of the specific islands in the Penobscot River the tribe retained by the 1796 treaty, Penobscots petitioned the General Court over the next several decades to uphold their position on the treaty. Beginning in 1797, when the first mill dam was built belowO ld Town Island, dispute erupted over the ownership of the islands at Old Town Falls, over fishing privileges, and over the exact location of Old Town. Massachusetts held that Old Town, which was not incorporated into a chartered town until 1840, was Old Town Island, or present-day Indian Island, the location of a seventeenth-century French mission. They further deduced, therefore, that the Penobscot Indians, in signing the 1796 treaty, relinquished their ownership to the islands below Old Town Is- land.41 However, the Penobscot leaders, who did not contest the specific location of Old Town, asserted that the 1796 treaty retained their rights to Old Town Island, a 312-acre island that included the twelve islands below this important aggregation site. This contested strip of twelve islands in the Penobscot River, which was confined to a small area of no more than one mile long, lay at the heart of a dispute that represented

40. Ibid.; Harris, “Social Power and Cultural land as consisting of ten townships, local settlers Change,” 45–82; Harris, Making Native Space, and Penobscot Indians often stated that there were 2002. There is a discrepancy in the primary docu- nine townships. This difference in number, which ments regarding the number of townships cre- applies to the same land, is preserved in the nar- ated from the ceded land stipulated in the 1796 rative. Penobscot treaty with Massachusetts. While 41. D.N., “Old Town,” Old Town Enterprise (Old Massachusetts’s officials referred to the acquired Town, Me.), March 3, 1888, p. 4, col. 3.

17 a first-ever attempt by a unified Penobscot leadership to use petitions actively to assert their fishing rights. Schools of anadromous fish, including shad, alewives, and salmon, en- Introduction tering the Penobscot River to spawn, had to pass Old Town Falls, making the small islands below Old Town Island a prime fishing location. This was the principal reason why Old Town Island was culturally significant to the Penobscots. For them, Old Town Island and the twelve islands downriver constituted a single place, and its division was culturally inconceivable. To separate Old Town Island from the twelve islands below would undermine the importance of this location as a place where families seasonally camped and fished in the currents below. John Neptune recalled that before any dam construction at Old Town Falls, the Penobscot River’s main channel was on the western side of the river, specifically situated between Shad Island and the river’s western shoreline.42 After living most of their lives in the ocean, anadromous fish grouped together in schools to make their ascent upriver to spawn, often following the main course of the river through this narrow passage. This local topography, with its unique waterscape, forced schools of fish to become more consolidated and ascend from the preferred river’s depths to the surface, giving Penobscot fishermen on ShadI sland an optimal advantage.43 Fishing for anadromous species required not luck but rather knowledge of the best possible location at the right time of year, and Old Town Falls was the place. In addition to traveling in schools that required, overall, less energy to be spent on the ascent, it also made the fish “more concentrated and visible” and therefore “more vulnerable to capture.”44 These fish were an important part of family-band subsistence practices, not only because they were a relative easy catch and often plen-

42. Deposition of Penobscot Lieutenant England (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Governor John Neptune, April 16, 1836, PCCH, 1997), 156. Registry of Deeds, vol. 77, 429–433, received and 44. Richard White, The Organic Machine: The entered on July 18, 1836. Remaking of the Columbia River (New York: Hill & 43. Richard W. Judd, Common Lands, Common Wang, 1995), 2–29, 89–113. People: The Origins of Conservation in Northern New

18 tiful but also because the fish often arrived in the spring, thus alleviating the late winter’s diminished food supply.45 But it would be a mistake to limit such an important place to practical needs. Family-band cultural activities, specifically fishing at Old Town Introduction Falls, were a form of what anthropologist Keith Basso called “sense of place.” Fishing was an imaginative experience that involved recalling stories that centered on the same locality but probably varied between individuals and defined how life was to be lived.46 Old Town Falls was a place where numerous cultural meanings converged as they had for thousands of years.47 It was a spring destination for many Penobscot family bands, a necessary carry or portage that required considerable work to transport birchbark canoes and cargo around the falls, and an excellent fishing place that promised a prodigious catch. By the early nineteenth century, Old Town Falls was a disputed stretch of the river between the Penobscots and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one that specifically involved JosephT reat and John Neptune and that originated with different interpretations of the 1796 treaty. For the Penob- scots, these islands were significant and well worth a fight. Their claim to the islands took the form of written petitions to Massachusetts.48 It is important to recreate a past hydrography of the small islands below Old Town Island that were drastically altered by the first mill dams at the turn of the nineteenth century. These first mills, some of which were later sold or destroyed by fire, were replaced by two adjacent wing dams at Old Town Falls by mid-century and finally the present-day dam built across the Penobscot River. The surveyor Park Holland first numbered the twelve islands, beginning with “island no. 1” and ascend-

45. Speck, Penobscot Man, 82–91. 48. For an innovative study that examines the 46. Keith H. Basso, Wisdom Sits in Places: process in which Native peoples strove to maintain Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache their reservation lands in southern New England, (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, see Amy E. Den Ouden, Beyond Conquest: Native 1996), 3–8, 143–152. Peoples and the Struggle for History in New England 47. Brian Scott Robinson, “Burial Ritual, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005). Groups, and Boundaries on the Gulf of Maine: 8600–3800 BP,” Ph.D. diss., Anthropology, Brown University, 2001, 229.

19 Introduction The 1812 survey map showing the twelve islands below Old Town Island disputed between the Penobscot tribe and Joseph Treat, including “island no. 5” or Shad Island. (Anonymous Plan of “Islands in the Penobscot River, above Bangor, 1812,” Maps and Plans #2640, third series, vol. 41, pp. 27–28, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts.)

20 ing upriver to “island no. 12,” situated southeast of the southern end of Old Town Island, almost between Old Town Island and Smith Island. Marsh Island, one of the largest islands in the Penobscot River, sepa- rates the Penobscot River on the island’s eastern side with the Stillwater Introduction River on the western shore for seven miles. In 1795, the General Court of Massachusetts granted this 5,000-acre island to the Indian interpreter and war veteran John Marsh.49 In the stretch of the Penobscot River along Marsh Island’s northwestern shore, the twelve islands varied in size from forty-seven acres to such a small size that the protruding rocks barely broke the river’s fluctuating surface.50 In May 1804, the Eastern Lands agent, a person by the name of Sa- lem Town, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which believed that it had acquired the islands by the 1796 Penobscot treaty, sold the first three islands to Joseph Treat and Daniel Webster.51 The first and largest of the twelve islands, “island no. 1,” was Treat-Webster Island, named after its original proprietors, who later sold it to individual land owners. Within the first two years of the nineteenth century, the island’s two proprietors joined William Dall to build the island’s first mill dam at the southern end of the island to Marsh Island, obstructing the ascent of the anadromous fish in the island’s west channel. On the eastern shore of Treat-Webster Island, however, was Shad Rips, where the island’s firstE uro-American residents fished off a strip of the shoreline surveyed for the purpose of accessing this rich fishing privilege.52

49. Petition of John Marsh, October 20, 1793, 51. Deed of Eastern Lands Agent Salem Town 1795 resolve, chapter 48, approved June 2, 1795, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts original legislative papers, MaSA; Penobscot to Joseph Treat and Daniel Webster for islands “no. Indian Deed to John Marsh, July 8, 1793, recorded 1” through “no. 3” in the Penobscot River, May 1, June 11, 1796, HCRD, book 4, pp. 70–71. 1804, received June 6, 1804, HCRD, book 14, pp. 50. Gene Wollstadt and Amy Morin, eds., 335–337. Nos Histoires de l’Ile: History and Memories of French 52. Wollstadt and Morin, Nos Histoires de l’Ile, Island, Old Town, Maine (Old Town, Me.: Nos 7–20. Present-day Treat-Webster Island is locally Histoires de l’Ile Group, 1999), 7–20; Anonymous known as French Island by the Franco-American Plan of “Islands in Penobscot River, above Bangor, inhabitants. 1812,” Maps and Plans #2640, third series, vol. 41, pp. 27–28, MaSA.

21 “Island no. 2,” situated roughly in the middle of the river a short distance upriver from Treat-Webster Island, consisted of only two and one half acres, but was much larger than the remaining ten islands. By 1812, Introduction a mill dam connected these two islands, extending the river’s two separate channels created by Treat-Webster Island. At mid-century, the appellation for “island no. 2” was Goat or Sand Island.53 “Island no. 3” was just upriver from “no. 2” and, by the early twentieth century, served as an anchor for the first woolen mill dam to stretch across the river’s full width at Old Town.54 In June 1805, just over a year after Treat and Webster’s purchase of the first three islands, Massachusetts sold the remaining nine islands, totaling no more than two acres, to Joseph Treat along with seven islands in the Stillwater River, which totaled about four acres, all for $150.55 At the peak of extensive land surveying in the Penobscot River Valley, small islands or rocks in the river could be easily overlooked as not having much value, but entrepreneurs of newly formed towns had great interests in these features that provided valuable mill seats. Just west and upriver slightly from “island no. 3” was “island no. 4,” called Pine Island by the Penobscots for the numerous large pine trees that grew on it. In contrast to the island’s thick growth of birch trees clustered together on the island’s southern end, the north shore was grassy and rocky. For the Penobscots, who through petitions asserted to protect their fishing privileges on Pine Island, the island was the second most favored fishing location at Old Town Falls. According to Lieutenant Governor Nep- tune, in the early 1820s the Penobscot fisherman Peal Molly cut down the last tree on Pine Island “to make a place to stand on to fish.”56 When

53. B. S. Deane, “Plan of Milford ME Copied River and seven islands in the Stillwater River, from Treat’s Plans and Extended East of Main June 17, 1805, recorded May 27, 1807, HCRD, Street,” April 1857, PCCH, received March 20, book 22, p. 238. The figure for the cost of Treat’s 1899, Plan book, vol. 6, p. 33. islands was smeared with ink, but the total appears 54. Anonymous Plan of “Islands in Penobscot to have been $150. River, above Bangor, 1812,” Maps and Plans 56. Deposition of Penobscot Lieutenant #2640, third series, vol. 41, pp. 27–28, MaSA. Governor John Neptune, April 16, 1836, PCCH, 55. Deed of Eastern Lands Agent Salem Town Registry of Deeds, vol. 77, 429–433, received and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts entered on July 18, 1836. to Joseph Treat for nine islands in the Penobscot

22 Neptune saw a map of Pine Island, he said that it “looked pretty much like it [but] not exactly,” because the island “used to be longer down river than on the plan,” a reply that not only suggested changing dimen- sions of the island but that also was symbolic of Pine Island’s importance Introduction to the Penobscots. This elongated island, which continued to diminish in size throughout the nineteenth century owing to flooding, no longer exists today. Water between “island no. 3” and Pine Island formed the bottom of Old Town Falls, the descent of which began between “island no. 5,” or Shad Island, and “island no. 7” on the eastern side of the river. The Old Town Falls carry was 200 rods along the west shoreline, called nekoune’gan, probably meaning “the better carry,” in contrast to the other possible portage on the east side of the river in present-day Milford, Maine.57 Shad Island was the Penobscots most important and cherished fishing location atO ld Town. Among the nine upper islands, Shad Island was among the largest, and John Neptune remembered that in the 1790s, the island was covered with bushes and “a good many trees,” including oak that grew “six inches in diameter.” In 1797, Richard Winslow built the first mill dam in Old Town; it extended from his mill seat on Marsh Island in a diagonal direction to Shad Island. According to Neptune, who gave a more specific account, Winslow built his dam out to Salmon Rock, probably a synonym for Shad Island or perhaps the name for the westernmost part of Shad Island. Neptune recounted that “the Indians use to cut down the trees and bushes to makes places to fish I think all trees [were] gone from the Island about” 1805, the same year that Jo- seph Treat purchased the upper nine islands from Massachusetts.58

57. A rod is measure of length equivalent to 5.5 specific offered by Eckstorm, provided by Mrs. yards or 16.5 feet. The Old Town Falls portage Peter W. Ranco. on the west side of the river was 1,100 yards, or 58. Deposition of Penobscot Lieutenant 3,300 feet (roughly two-thirds of a mile long).; Governor John Neptune, April 16, 1836, PCCH, D.N., “Marsh Island,” Old Town Enterprise, vol. Registry of Deeds, vol. 77, 429–433, received 1, no. 2, March 10, 1888, p. 4, col. 3; Eckstorm, and entered on July 18, 1836; Anonymous Plan of Indian Place-Names, 30. Eckstorm provided several “Islands in Penobscot River, above Bangor, 1812,” possible meanings for the Old Town Falls carry, Maps and Plans #2640, third series, vol. 41, pp. all of which signify an important portage around 27–28, MaSA. the falls. The meaning given in the text is the most

23 Just upriver from Shad Island was “island no. 6,” situated farther away from the river’s western shore and separated from Shad Island only by a narrow passage. “Island no. 7,” which was located across Old Town Falls Introduction on the eastern side of the river, was later used as an anchor for a wing dam from the eastern side. The island was also first in a line of several small islands consisting of islands seven through twelve. This last island was at the entrance of Old Town Island’s eastern river channel, between the southeastern end of Old Town or Indian Island and Smith Island, or present-day Gut Island, nestled on the river’s eastern shore. A successful catch of fish depended not on location alone but on specific knowledge of the behavior and habits of different fish species. In contrast to the Northwest Coast of North America, where there were numerous salmon species that spawned at different times of the year, the Northeast had only one species, the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar); but it could and does spawn more than once annually. After spending most of its life at sea, where it practices a wide-ranging migration from the Gulf of Maine up past the coast of Newfoundland to southern Greenland, the adult Atlantic salmon returns to its natal riverine habitat, where the species spawns from April to October. In 1889, salmon fishing on the Penobscot River began in April.59 The anthropologist Frank Speck, who conducted fieldwork among the Penobscot Indians during the first decade of the twentieth century, suggested a much later season for salmon fishing. Penobscot informants told him thatN ative fishermen looked for the return of lightning bugs in late June to know the commencement of salmon spearing that would continue until August. Fisheries reports support the earlier season, describing salmon eggs as hatching on gravel riverbeds in late March or April, after which the parr remain in the Pe- nobscot River for two years on average before returning to the ocean. While the average salmon weighed from eight to twelve pounds, the

59. “Pounding Salmon: How the Noble Fish are Caught along the Penobscot,” Up-River News (Bangor, Maine), vol. 2, no. 46, April 20, 1889, p. 8, col. 6.

24 fish could reach between thirty and forty-two pounds, and probably even larger. In the early nineteenth century, when Penobscot leaders petitioned to protect their fishing privileges on the river, salmon populations in southern New England had been mostly depleted, making Introduction Maine near the southern end of the salmon’s migration range.60 There has been some debate on the importance of salmon among Na- tive peoples in New England. In the archaeological record, salmon re- mains are uncommon, but Penobscots told Frank Speck of numerous methods that they used to fish for salmon, an emphasis that suggests that they were one of the most desired species in the late nineteenth century. Penobscot families camped close to rich fishing sites, including Old Town Falls, where fishermen stood on the rock ledges in or along the river to skewer salmon with a compound spear, yielding “unheard-of quantities.” At places where the river was calm, Penobscots used birchbark torches attached to the bow of their canoes to attract salmon to the light and then speared the fish from above. Various kinds of nets were also used to trap the fish in shallow waters on their migration upriver.61 Penobscots’ cultural attitudes toward salmon were quite different from the attitudes of American settlers in the District of Maine. Settlers highly valued the Atlantic salmon as a preferred table fish, and some of the earliest fish conservation was established to protect the declin- ing salmon stock. For the Penobscots, however, salmon was one among many anadromous species that were available to fishermen as the schools collectively made their ascent upriver. Historical evidence on the abun- dance of salmon does not account for the various population fluctuations of salmon through time due to irregular fishing practices, the altering number of dams, and the location of fish ladders. A sharp decline in one

60. Bruce B. Collette and Grace Klein- Ecology in Northeastern North America, ed. George MacPhee, eds., Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of P. Nicholas (New York: Plenum Press, 1988), the Gulf of Maine, 3d ed. (Washington, D.C., 47–80; Speck, Penobscot Man, 82–91; Jack Noon, Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002), 174–179; Fishing in New Hampshire: A History (Warner, N.H.: Catherine C. Carlson, “‘Where’s the Salmon?’: A Moose Country Press, 2003), 24–39. Reevaluation of the Role of Anadromous Fisheries 61. Speck, Penobscot Man, 82–91. in Aboriginal New England,” in Holocene Human

25 species may have led the Penobscots to rely heavily on another. Dimin- ished populations often rebounded much to the surprise of local inhabitants whose communities participated in the changing hydrography of Introduction dams and weirs downriver.62 Place-names in the vicinity of Old Town Falls, including Shad Island, Shad Rips, and Shad Rock, suggest the importance of another species of anadromous fish that was important to Penosbcot families, theA merican shad (Alosa sapidissima). Shad had a different life cycle from the salmon and an average weight of two to four pounds, but they could reach between eight and twelve pounds. Unlike salmon, the shad’s migration range is the entire stretch of North America’s Atlantic coastline. Escap- ing from sunlight, shad swim at deep water levels or travel in the rivers’ dark channels. Most return to the turbid waters of the Bay of Fundy, where they eat zooplankton feeding on rockweed and spartina grass. In early spring, shad converge at the Penobscot River’s mouth, where they use the tidal current to wait for the appropriate water temperature. In New England, shad usually begin to spawn in early May, but variations in nineteenth-century weather conditions may have delayed the shads’ ascent upriver. Once the migration begins, the fish spawn several times in many places to assure the maximum survival rate. The high numbers of shad with virtually no historical predators made this fish an easy catch. Penobscot fishermen used scap nets, orkwa’phigan (a “dip device”), to scoop up shad at fishing sites at narrow passages in the river, including Shad Island in Old Town Falls. Once the fish were trapped, the ends of the hoop net were pulled closed with a basswood cord. Shad’s high oil content probably was another benefit, but the bony fish required extensive preparation, a burden that could be eliminated with prolonged cooking to dissolve the bones.63

62. Cronon, Changes in the Land, 22–23; Judd, McPhee, The Founding Fish (New York: Farrar, Common Lands, Common People, 122–172. Straus and Giroux, 2002); C. Boyd Pfeiffer, Shad 63. Collette and Klein-MacPhee, Bigelow and Fishing: A Complete Guide to Species, Gear, and Tactics Schroeder, 125–132; Judd, Common Lands, Common (Mechanicsville, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2003), People, 157–159; Speck, Penobscot Man, 86; John xiii–xiv, 1–27.

26 There are also numerous place-names along the Penobscot River that tell of another fish whose presence was important to the Penobscot people: the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Similar to shad, alewives are also a kind of herring, but they are much smaller, reaching only about Introduction one pound. They usually spawn before the shad in late April to early May. Rather than spawn on gravel bottoms, alewives preferred to ascend small tributaries of the Penobscot in search of more sluggish water. Penobscots called Ayer’s Rips, located below the entrance of the Still- water River, Nalumsunkhungan, referring to the rich “alewife fishery below the outlet.” Here, on the eastern side of the river, where Blackman Stream, or Madamiscomtis, empties into the Penobscot, “plenty of alewives” ascend to spawn in Chemo Pond.64 In the District of Maine, Penobscot families and local settlers competed for some of the same species of fish and used similar methods of nets, weirs, and traps to make their catch. Moreover, early settlers relied on anadromous fish as their primary means of support to help them make a successful transition to a new community where they hoped to find other subsistence practices or employment opportunities. No matter how good the fishing locations atO ld Town Falls, downriver Euro-American fishermen had an advantage, catching most of the fish as schools made their way upriver. The river mouth was also an ideal location where in- vigorated fish offered the best taste before they were spent, and provided maximum calories.65 Euro-American settlers fought among themselves over these top fishing locations, leaving other poor settlers and Penobscot Indians upriver with a dwindling supply of fish that had successfully passed the labyrinths of nets downriver. This disproportionate system for catching anadromous fish violated Penobscot fishing rights, privileges that they believed the 1796 treaty retained for them.

64. Collette and Klein-MacPhee, Bigelow and 65. White, The Organic Machine, 2–29, 89–113. Schroeder, 118–125; Eckstorm, Indian Place-Names, 25–26; Judd, Common Lands, Common People, 122–172.

27 In June 1797, six Penobscot leaders traveled to Boston to enter “a complaint in behalf of their Tribe” to the Massachusetts governor, Increase Sumner, and the state’s General Court. The visiting delegates expressed Introduction concern over “ill disposed persons [who] have lately entered on certain Islands, lying in the Penobscot River,” islands that “in the Grant to Government” (the 1796 treaty) had been specifically reserved to the tribe for the purpose of retaining important “Hunting grounds, as well as for their own residence.” The perpetrators “exercised acts of ownership by cutting down their [the Penobscot’s] best Trees & almost deprived them of the benefit of their SalmonF ishery.” Abused and “ill treated” by local settlers, the Penobscots wanted a local person to help communicate their concerns and asked for a local agent who could act as a cultural broker to assist them “in obtaining redress.” The Penobscots further asked the General Court to pay for their traveling costs and their incurred expenses while they were in town. Governor Sumner recommended to the General Court that it cover their guests’ expenses, because “humanity as well as policy seem to dictate that those poor Natives should have all the Assistance & protection that our laws and Government can afford them.” Sumner advocated fulfilling more than just this one Penobscot request, persuading the General Court to uphold a tradition that had been founded in the past decades with the Penobscots, a trust relationship wherein Massachusetts laws were not simply imposed on the In- dians but rather were approached flexibly in order to give Penobscot petitioners space for negotiation.66

66. Governor Increase Sumner’s message to the others and in doing so altered [his or her] identity.” Senate and House of Representatives, June 22, Quote from William B. Hart, “Black ‘Go-Betweens’ 1797, 1797 Senate document #4688, original and the Mutability of ‘Race,’ Status, and Identity legislative papers, MaSA; Letter by Governor on New York’s Pre-Revolutionary Frontier,” in Increase Sumner to the Gentlemen of the Senate Contact Points: American Frontiers from the Mohawk and House of Representatives, June 22, 1797, Valley to the Mississippi, 1750–1830, ed. Andrew 1797 resolve, chapter 45, approved June 23, 1797, R. L. Cayton and Fredrika J. Teute (Chapel Hill: original legislative papers, MaSA. A “cultural University of North Carolina Press, 1988), 90. broker” is generally defined as an individual who, For other examples, see Elizabeth A. Perkins, motivated by “necessity, convenience, and sheer “Distinctions and Partitions amongst Us: Identity pleasure, . . . appropriated cultural habits from and Interaction in the Revolutionary Ohio Valley,”

28 Massachusetts granted the Penobscot requests and appointed Francis L. Goodwin as Indian agent to investigate the tribe’s trespass complaint regarding their islands, giving him specific instructions to prosecute any offender on Indian land. After July 20, trespassers who illegally cut tim- Introduction ber on Penobscot Indian land would have to “forfeit” their stockpile and pay the tribe, by law, three times the value of “destroyed” timber. The commonwealth also agreed “to provide suitable accommodations for the Indians” who were in Boston, and included some presents from Gov- ernor Sumner.67 Penobscots had often chosen as their cultural broker a Euro-American individual whose skills could assist the Native people in their political affairs. In the past, these go-betweens were Indian, French, or British, but by the nineteenth century many were priests or trusted settlers who were familiar with the tribe. Although Goodwin’s appointment to the Penobscot Indians was a tribal request, it also came with drawbacks. Massachusetts now presumed to make decisions that would affect the Penobscots, choices that the Penobscots felt belonged to the tribe. By 1798, Richard Winslow built a double sawmill above what would become known as Treat-Webster Island on Old Town Falls. Winslow’s dam extended from the northeast side of Marsh Island, in present-day Old Town, to Shad Island. In January 1801, the missionary James Ro- magné, who served as Catholic priest jointly among the Penobscots and the Passamaquoddies, added a note to the end of a Passamaquoddy petition to the General Court. Before Romagné had left the Penobscots to serve as priest for the Passamaquoddies, the former asked him to inform Massachusetts that the construction of a sawmill built in Old Town would prevent fish from ascending the river and therefore would com-

Contact Points, 205–234; Robert S. Grumet, ed., 67. Resolve on the Message from the Governor Northeastern Indian Lives, 1632–1816 (Amherst: Respecting Certain Complaints of the Penobscot University of Massachusetts Press, 1996); Brian C. Indians, 1797 resolve, May session, chapter 45, Hosmer, “Reflections on Indian Cultural ‘Brokers’: approved June 23, 1797, Acts and Laws of the Reginald Oshkosh, Mitchell Oshkenaniew, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Boston: Wright & Politics of Menominee Lumbering,” Ethnohistory Potter Printing Co., 1896), 532 (hereafter ALCM). 44, no. 3 (Summer 1997): 493–509.

29 pletely deprive the Indians of their summer subsistence. In March, the General Court approved the Passamaquoddy petition, but Penobscot concerns went unnoticed.68 Introduction In 1801, four Penobscots planned a trip to Boston to petition directly to the General Court. On September 15 in Bangor, Joseph Pease, Fran- swock Sabion, Captain Nichola, and Joseph Loling conveyed a speech in writing to two local men involved in the Massachusetts government, Colonel Jonathan Lavdey and Joseph Treat. Since their “agent” Captain Park Holland was absent, the Penobscots decided to apply to the two resident officials. While the Penobscot tribe authorized the four men to make the twelve-mile trip to Bangor to discuss travel to Boston, they explained to Lavdey and Treat that they had lately lost two of their leaders, Chief Joseph Orono and Nectumbawitt, and that they considered themselves tribal chiefs until their “General Councill” could meet to make an official “allternation” in leadership. The Penobscots, who addressed Lavdey and Treat as “Brothers,” learned that there was a new Massachusetts governor and that “we would be glad to see him” to lay their “sundry complaints” before him. The Native visitors hoped the governor would “condescend” to hear them and asked Lavdey and Treat to communicate with the governor so that they might be heard upon their arrival.69 By September 24, the Penobscot leaders were in Boston and petitioned Governor Caleb Strong to make complaints about the encroachment on their lands. The petitioners expressed that they feel themselves & their Tribe greatly wrong[e]d & injured by a Mr. [Richard] Winslow & his two sons of Portland erecting a Sawmill at ye Falls in Penobscot River within a Gunshot distance from and below the South point of their Island, called Old Town, being the Residence of the

68. Wollstadt and Morin, Nos Histoires de l’Ile, 69. Penobscot speech to Colonel Jonathan 7–8; Petition of Passamaquoddy Indians, through Lavdey and Joseph Treat, Bangor, September Missionary James Romagné, to the General Court 15, 1801, 1801 Senate document #2838, 1802 of Massachusetts, January 1, 1801, 1800 resolve, unpassed legislation, original legislative papers, chapter 129, approved March 4, 1801, original MaSA. legislative papers, MaSA.

30 Tribe, which Mill & Dam necessary for the works will[,] they appre- hend[,] totally obstruct the passage of Salmon, Shad allwives [alewives] up the River, from which Fish they have hereto fore derived much of their daily support. Introduction The Penobscot petitioners stated that when Massachusetts secured the islands to the tribe, their aboriginal or “natural rights” to fish was “attached to their island.” Their fishery at the islands below Old Town Is- land was “the most important advantage” to their residence, from which, they thought, no individual could deprive them. The petitioners asked for the governor’s “Wisdom to prevent an Evil so great as wou[l]d be the total Ruin of their Tribe.”70 Massachusetts did not grant the 1801 Penobscot petition, but Penob- scots found other means to assert control over their lands. Winslow’s dam to Shad Island, and the other mills that would soon follow, needed timber. Resources on Indian land would potentially be cheaper than purchases on state land, making the land above the thirty mile mark, or the “state’s line” by the 1796 treaty, the key region for timber exploita- tion. Throughout the next eight years, Native leaders would lease timber resources on their lands, a practical compromise wherein the Penobscots would benefit from payments while maintaining their lands on which the slow timber harvest led to diversified habitats for game animals. The timber supplied the growing shipbuilding and lumber industries in Maine. In September 1801, Penobscot Indians leased to Joseph Treat “all the pine timber on Madawamkeag [Mattawamkeag] and Namad- unkeeunk Streams—one quarter of a mile distance from each side of the banks of the said Streams, beginning at the main Penobscot River and running six miles back or as far as our land extends from the River.”71 He also leased Penobscot rights to the meadow hay along the streams in the

70. Petition of Joseph Pease, Franwook 71. Penobscot deed to Joseph Treat, September Sabion, Captain Nichola, and Joseph Loling, to 17, 1801, HCRD, received August 19, 1808, book Massachusetts’s governor and General Court, 26, p. 33. Boston, September 24, 1801, 1801 Senate document #2838, 1802 unpassed legislation, original legislative papers, MaSA.

31 designated area. Once harvested and brought to market, the profitable meadow hay would be sold to feed livestock. In return for the rights to cut hay on Penobscot land, Joseph Treat paid $100 “to be laid out in Introduction work and repair of our Church at Old Town,” to be completed “on or before the last day of June”1801.72 On July 23, 1802, three of the eight Penobscots who signed the 1801 timber lease, Esquire Orson, Joseph Lolen, and Francis Sabien, joined four other Penobscot leaders to sign another timber lease, which the Pe- nobscot interpreter Nicholas Neptune signed as the witness. Ezra Smith and Joseph and James Carr received timber rights on “Philamook,” or Salmon Stream, located on the east side of the Penobscot River in present-day Medway, Maine. The described timber tract extended through the stream’s ponds and thoroughfare until it met with “Neekeetow,” or the East Branch of the Penobscot, and continued back down to Salmon Stream. Smith and the Carr men gave oxen to the tribe in exchange for the timber.73 In June 1803, Massachusetts tried to control these private leases between Penobscot people and individual settlers by passing a resolve to regulate Indian leases and contracts. While the resolve’s stated intent was “the preservation of land, timber & other property belonging to the Penobscot Tribe of Indians,” it exerted the state’s jurisdiction over the lease process by requiring the superintendent of Indian affairs, Fran- cis L. Goodwin, of Frankfort, Maine, to “approve or disapprove of the

72. Penobscot deed, Esquire Orsong and seven could indicate a more extreme, fraudulent lease al- other Penobscot leaders, September 17, 1801, teration that would have left the Penobscots with a 1808 House document #6329, unpassed legisla- very different understanding of the lease contracts. tion, original legislative papers, MaSA. An original 73. Penobscot timber lease, Esquire Orson copy of the lease, signed by eight Penobscots, gave and six others, July 23, 1802, copy, 1808 House a different cutting distance from the Penobscot document #6329, unpassed legislation, original River. Instead of “running six miles back,” the legislative papers, MaSA. It is highly probable that copy states “84 miles back” and displays a slightly Penobscots Francis Sabien and Joseph Lolen who elevated number 8, suggesting that the latter figure signed the Penobscot leases were Franwook Sabion was, at some point later, inserted before the phrase and Joseph Loling, respectively, who petitioned “4 miles back.” This discrepancy could represent Massachusetts in 1801. To compare the different the replacement of a number 4 by a number 8, or it spellings of the names, see footnote 70.

32 bargains & contracts,” including Indian leases, on the tribes’ behalf. He was to confirm that lease recipients “improved” the land and that tribal officials received “their just dues,” thus preventing “frauds & impositions” toward the Penobscots. Unauthorized Indian leases would be “ut- Introduction terly void,” and any person caught removing timber or grass from Indian land without approval from the agent would have their harvest forfeited and be fined triple the value of their illegal yield and “double Costs” for Court expenses.74 It is difficult to establish the human motivation of the 1803 resolve on Penobscot leases. The original legislative papers, which consist only of an amended draft of the resolve, do not include a petition that could identify whether the motion was a Native incentive or whether it was from state officials. All of the previous Penobscot leases, from 1801 to 1802, have Goodwin’s signature of approval, suggesting that the superintendent of Indian affairs was well aware of the contracts. While the Penobscots had previously asked for a priest or an agent to assist them in political affairs, it is highly probable that the Massachusetts government supplied the impetus for the 1803 resolve, particularly since it instructed Goodwin to report his activities to the General Court. The state government wanted to avoid local negotiations without state sanction, and Goodwin represented Massachusetts’s authorization in the negotiation of Penobscot timber leases; but he was slow to transmit his accounts to the General Court. He attempted to explain himself with many excuses, including that the leases were “difficult to obtain being at a great distance, bad traveling, & ill health.” Many of the Penobscot leases, which did not receive legislative sanction, were later officially entered into the Hancock County registry of deeds, causing Massachusetts to lose further control over land transactions in the District of Maine.75

74. Resolve concerning Penobscot Indian leases 75. Letter by Francis L. B. Goodwin to the and contracts, 1803 resolve, May session, chap- Massachusetts’s General Court, n.d., 1808 House ter 27, approved June 18, 1803, ALCM, 1898, document #6329, unpassed legislation, original 845–846. legislative papers, MaSA; Taylor, “Centers and Peripheries,” 3–16.

33 Probably before news could reach the Penobscot about the 1803 resolve on Indian leases, lease recipients sold their timber leases to other settlers. In August 1803, Joseph and James Carr sold their timber lease Introduction for $100 to Richard Winslow, who probably needed the timber for his 1798 mill below Old Town Island. A month later fifteen Penobscots and Winslow drafted a new lease that more clearly stipulated the agreement. Smith and the Carrs had originally paid four oxen and ten bushels of corn to the Penobscots, after which a yearly payment of one ox and ten bushels of corn were to be delivered up to 1805. These specific details were originally omitted in the 1802 lease because, as the document stated, “obligations were not present when the said ox was delivered.” By November, Ezra Smith sold his timber lease for $100 to Robert and Joseph Treat.76 It was a challenge to form a lease agreement in which both the Penobscot leaders and the Euro-American individuals would have the same understandings, but when settlers leased their contract with the Penobscots to other entrepreneurs, it greatly complicated the procedure and omitted Penobscot decisions as to who could hold timber leases on their lands. Lease sales also violated the tribes’ cultural value of forging a close relationship with their business partners. In January 1804, Penobscot leaders entered into another lease with Joseph Treat. The “Chiefs and old Men of the Penobscot Tribe of Indi- ans” sold all the timber on Nesauwamack, or Orson Island, located north of Old Town/Indian Island.77 Treat emerged as a major entrepreneur in the Penobscot Valley, and Orson was the largest of the tribe’s islands, consisting of 1,382 acres, the lease to which included the right to “pass

76. Timber lease transfer, August–November unpassed legislation, original legislative papers, 1803, 1808 House document #6329, unpassed MaSA. legislation, original legislative papers, MaSA; 77. “Nesauwamack” is the Penobscot appellation Penobscot timber lease stipulations, July 22, 1802, for Orson Island stated in the lease. It is somewhat 1808 House document #6329, unpassed legisla- similar to what Penobscot informant Newell Lyon tion, original legislative papers, MaSA; Penobscot told Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, K’chi-mugwack-’i-me- timber lease to Richard Winslow, Old Town Falls, nahan, meaning “big bog island.” Eckstorm, Indian October 27, 1803, 1808 House document #6329, Place-Names, 38–39.

34 and repass” the island for lumbering purposes. The Penobscots, who were to receive $175 for the lumber, managed to include in the lease that Treat was “not to cut any timber on said Island after three years . . . by virtue of this writing.”78 In July of the same year, thirteen Penobscots Introduction signed a lease with Joseph Treat similar to their 1801 contract, but in this timber lease a few amendments were made. Instead of the previous quarter-mile limit for the timber and meadow hay region along the Mattawamkeag River and the Namadunkeeunk Stream, the lease stated a larger area of three quarters of a mile along the rivers and streams, suggesting that Treat’s men had cleared at least part of the shore lines. Pe- nobscot interpreter Captain Nichola Neptune drafted the survey map that clearly outlined the designated cutting region to assure both participants in the lease understood the terms. Another significant difference in the 1804 Penobscot lease was the statement that Treat would receive “the right of using and occupying all the land contained within the aforesaid lines or tracts . . . to improve to his own use” and, for the first time, that the lease period would be thirty years. Short of possessing the actual land title on Penobscot land, Treat had most privileges of any landowner.79 Penobscots used leases to engage in economic transactions with local Euro-Americans, a business venture that favored local settlers as part-

78. Penobscot deed, Squire Orson and nine Joseph Treat’s timber, drawn by Captain Nichola other Penobscot leaders, January 12, 1804, 1808 Neptune, third series, vol. 44, p. 3, no. 2720, House document #6329, unpassed legislation, MaSA. Treat petitioned the Maine Legislature original legislative papers, MaSA. Treat wrote in 1832 requesting to purchase his leased timber Orson Island was between 1,500 and 2,000 lands which, according to him, expired in 1834. acres. Orson Island, the largest of the Penobscot His petition, which the legislature did not pass, de- reservation islands, is located 0.9 miles upriver fined the timber land as extending “three quarters from the Indian Island bridge. Treat, “Journal,” of a mile wide on each side of the Madawamkeag 14; Penobscot Nation, Penobscot Nation’s Island and Madunkecunk Streams, extending back six Inventory, appendix A, 35. miles from the Penobscot.” See Petition of Joseph 79. Penobscot deed to Joseph Treat, July 15, Treat to the Senate and House of Representatives 1804, HCRD, book 26, pp. 31–32; Penobscot of the State of Maine, January 1832, legislative timber lease to Joseph Treat, July 15, 1804, graveyard, box 74, folder 28, MeSA. third series, vol. 44, no. 2718, MaSA; Plan of

35 ners rather than commissioners representing a distant government. The rental of Penobscot timber resources and land usage rights were more similar to their Native constructs of land use, a practice that did not re- Introduction sult in further dispossession of their lands. By entering into these contracts, which often specified a time limit, Penobscots sought to build trust with their new neighbors at the same time that they attempted to assert some control over their lands. Any anticipated over-cutting or unforeseen changes that potentially would be culturally detrimental to the land could be remedied by lease expirations. By August 1804, Isaac Hatch and Josiah Brewer joined Joseph Treat in another contract in which the Penobscots leased their timber north of the state’s line, thirty miles north of the head of tide. The five-year lease described the largest area that the Penobscots had rented to date: Beginning at the State[’s] line on both sides of the main Penobscot River, one and a half miles below Piscataquis River, thence running up Penobscot River to Madawamkeeg Stream, one mile in width on both sides of the Riv- er, also one mile in width on each side of every stream or River, running back on all said Streams six miles that is all Streams or Rivers between the States line below the Piscataquis and Madawamkeeg River also all the meadows on all the Branches or parts of the river or Streams within our tract or six miles from the River between Piscataquis and Madawamkeeg River[s].

Hatch, Treat, and Brewer would pay the Penobscots $500 for their leased timber and meadow, to be portioned out in five equal sums. The first payment on June 1, 1805, consisted of an ox, two barrels of bread, and $50. This payment would be followed with a $100 yearly payment on June 1 until 1809.80 It is possible that this last lease was an attempt to challenge the location of the state’s line that the 1796 treaty established at thirty miles

80. Penobscot deed to Joseph Treat, Isaac Hatch, deed to I. Hatch and others, August 13, 1804, and Josiah Brewer, August 13, 1804, third series, HCRD, book 15, pp. 360–361. vol. 44, p. 3, no. 2719, pp. a–c, MaSA; Penobscot

36 upriver from the head of tide. However, like all survey lines on the land, there was not a physical demarcation across the Penobscot River. The “state’s line” of 1796 was not surveyed on a map but was established only by the treaty’s thirty-mile description. Consequently, the line’s ex- Introduction act location was disputable. The uncertainty tempted settlers like Hatch and others to push the line northward, thereby acquiring more land for Massachusetts. Isaac Hatch and his colleagues presented the state’s line as being only one and a half miles below the mouth of the Piscataquis River. Drawing upon the 1786 “treaty” measurements, which treaty the Penobscots did not sign, the mouth of the Piscataquis River is forty- three miles above the head of tide on the west side of the Penobscot. The state’s line, therefore, should be thirteen miles below the river’s outlet.81 This discrepancy might have been a reason why Penobscots later petitioned to express concern about the mismeasurement of their lands. From 1804 to 1806, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which had authorized and empowered Eastern Land Agent Salem Town to sell the nine townships of land acquired by the 1796 treaty, experienced a growing political rift between it and the local settlers in the Penobscot River Valley. In 1804, Gabriel Johonnot and Joseph Treat petitioned the Massachusetts’s General Court on behalf of thirty-two settlers who had lived along the river well before the 1796 treaty, seeking to confirm their land rights.82 After the settlers’ petition failed to pass, they petitioned again in 1806, this time carefully building an argument ac- cusing Massachusetts of unequal treatment of settlers in the river valley. The petitioners, identified as the thirty-two settlers (only eighteen signed the petition), explained that Massachusetts granted a 5,000-acre island to John Marsh and that the “Plantation of Eddington,” situated

81. 1796 Penobscot treaty with the 82. Petition of Gabriel Johonnot and Joseph Commonwealth of Massachusetts, August 8, 1796, Treat, June 12, 1804, 1804 Senate document HCRD, book 27, pp. 6–7; “Treaty Between the #3185, unpassed legislation, original legislative Penobscot and Massachusetts, August 30, 1786,” papers, MaSA. DAID, vol. 1, 90–91.

37 “within the Indian lands,” was settled by Jonathan Eddy and his associ- ates from Nova Scotia in 1785, who now “have been quieted in their possessions.”83 It was within the context of these land transactions be- Introduction tween Massachusetts and local settlers that Salem Town sold the twelve islands downstream of Old Town Island. In 1804, Town sold islands number one, two and three, located below Old Town Island, to Daniel Webster and Joseph Treat.84 By 1805, Treat purchased the remaining nine islands that Penobscots claimed for their fishing privileges.85 Treat, who competed with the Penobscots for the same fish atO ld Town Falls, built a small wooden smoke house on Shad Island to cure the bounty of his catch. This structure symbolized Penobscot dispossession of their most prized fishing grounds.86 The property transactions by Salem Town in the Penobscot River Valley raised a more obtrusive problem for Massachusetts. Trespass- ers were leasing timber and meadow rights on Indian land and illegally stripping the best timber on public land. In February 1807, Massachu- setts passed a resolve to protect the state’s land adjoining the river. The commonwealth discharged former Indian agent Francis L. Goodwin and repealed the 1803 resolve that authorized him to approve Penob- scot leases. The incentive for the state’s cancellation of the 1803 resolve

83. Petition of thirty-two settlers on the 85. Deed of Eastern Lands Agent Salem Town Penobscot River, January 7, 1806, 1806 Senate on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts document #3444, unpassed legislation, original to Joseph Treat for nine islands in the Penobscot legislative papers, MaSA. Massachusetts responded River and seven islands in the Stillwater River, that settlers who have lived along the Penobscot June 17, 1805, recorded May 27, 1807, HCRD, River before January 1, 1784, were entitled to a book 22, p. 238. deed of a 100-acre lot for $15. Those settlers who 86. Deposition of Penobscot Lieutenant arrived between January 1, 1784, and February 17, Governor John Neptune, April 16, 1836, PCCH, 1798, would receive title to their land lots for $50, Registry of Deeds, vol. 77, 429–433, received and but these land transactions must be completed before entered on July 18, 1836. six months from the resolve, dated January 1806. 87. Resolve 1807, chapter 27, “Resolve respect- 84. Deed of Eastern Lands Agent Salem Town ing Penobscot Indians . . . appointing Horatio G. on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Balch, Esq. Superintendent,” approved February to Joseph Treat and Daniel Webster for islands “no. 5, 1807, Resolves of the General Court of the 1” through “no. 3” in the Penobscot River, May 1, Commonwealth of Massachusetts . . . 1807 (Boston: 1804, received June 6, 1804, HCRD, book 14, pp. Adams and Rhoades, 1807), 24–25. 335–337.

38 was to preserve Massachusetts’s resources in the District of Maine and protect Indian land from swindlers. 87 However, there was another reason. The acknowledgment of the Penobscots’ right to lease their timber and meadow resources confirmed tribal rights to the land.D aniel Davis, Introduction who had served as commissioner for the 1796 treaty, made the argument that his predecessors had used, namely, that Governor Thomas Pown- all’s 1759–60 expedition and the 1775 Watertown Conference were evidence that the Penobscots had no rights to their lands.88 Davis concluded that “the Indians had not, in my opinion, any claim to the lands and that no act of the legislature ought to recognize such right.”89

88. For Governor Thomas Pownall’s expedition (Albany, N.Y.: Joel Munsell, 1867), 51–54; to the Penobscot, see Thomas Pownall, “Journal Leamon, Revolution Downeast, 94–95; Bourque, of the Voyage of Gov. Thomas Pownall, from Twelve Thousand Years, 212; MacDougall, Penobscot Boston to Penobscot River, May 1759,” with Dance of Resistance, 94–95; Micah A. Pawling and notes by J. Williamson, in Collections of the Maine Donald G. Soctomah, “DefiningN ative Space in Historical Society (Portland, Me.), series 1, 5:1 Eastern Maine, 1775–1833,” HAM. The 1775 (1857): 365–387; David Lynn Ghere, “Abenaki resolve that resulted from the Penobscots visiting Factionalism, Emigration, and Social Continuity: Massachusetts should not be confused with the Indian Society in Northern New England.” Ph.D. 1776 Watertown treaty, also called the “Treaty diss., History, University of Maine, 1988, 266– of Alliance and Friendship,” that involved the 271; David L. Ghere, “The Twilight of Abenaki visitation of a Maliseet and Mi’kmaq delegation Independence: The Maine Abenaki During the to Watertown who proclaimed American support 1750s,” M.A. thesis, History, University of Maine in the Revolutionary War. This treaty did not at Orono, December 1980, 127–136; David involve a land transaction. See Richard I. Hunt Jr., L. Ghere, “Diplomacy and War on the Maine “British-American Rivalry for the Support of the Frontier, 1678–1759,” in Maine, 139; Pauleena Indians of Maine and Nova Scotia, 1775–1783,” MacDougall, The Penobscot Dance of Resistance: M.A. thesis, History, University of Maine at Tradition in the History of a People (Durham, N.H.: Orono, 1973, 61–70; Colin G. Calloway, The University of New Hampshire Press, published American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and through University Press of New England Press, Diversity in Native American Communities (New York: 2004), 89; Joel W. Eastman, The History of Cambridge University Press, 1995), 36; Prins, Sears Island Searsport, Maine (Bath, Me.: Golden The Mi’kmaq, 157–158; “A Treaty of Alliance and Offset and Searsport Historical Society, 1976), Friendship,” between the Mi’kmaqs, Maliseets, 16–17. For the 1775 Watertown Conference and Massachusetts, July 19, 1776, in Baxter between Penobscot leaders and Massachusetts, see Manuscripts, vol. 24, 188–193; Bourque, Twelve Commonwealth of Massachusetts, The Journals of Thousand Years, 212; MacDougall, Penobscot Dance Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 of Resistance, 99. and 1775, and of the Committee of Safety, with an 89. Letter from Daniel Davis to Governor James Appendix . . . (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, Sullivan, Boston, August 21, 1807, Resolve 1807, 1838), 225–226, 360, 369–372, and 391–392; chapter 149, approved March 10, 1808, original Frederick Kidder, Military Operations in Eastern legislative papers, MaSA. Maine and Nova Scotia during the Revolution . . .

39 The 1807 resolve appointed Dr. Horatio G. Balch as the new superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Penobscot tribe. In addition to the organization of the distribution of treaty annuities, Balch received in- Introduction structions to assist the Penobscots “in collecting their just dues, and as far as may be, to prevent fraud and impositions upon them, in any of their dealings and transactions.”90 For the Penobscots, Balch was the cultural broker needed to negotiate with Massachusetts. As the commonwealth attempted to exert political control over the Penobscots through the superintendent, tribal leaders held that Balch worked for them and persuaded him to express their concerns to the General Court. In his first report to the government, he conveyed the Penobscots’ unequal relationship with local settlers, stating that “[i]n their little commerce & traffick with the whites, they are very much exposed to be taken advantage of—a circumstance to be regretted, but difficult to be prevented.” Adjacent farmers along the river benefited greatly from the Penobscots who did not “defend” their corn fields with fences and “intentionally turn[ed] their cattle in large numbers into the vicinity of their corn fields, in order that they may profit by destroying it.” Furthermore, the Penobscots expressed that they had been deceived and injured by several extensive sales of their lands.91 Dr. Balch also reported the violation of the Penobscots’ fishing privileges. He explained: About two years ago some small Islands near Old Town (the place of their residence) were sold to several persons whereby the Indians have been in-

90. 1807 resolve 1807, chapter 27, “Resolve papers, MaSA. For an excellent overview of how respecting Penobscot Indians . . . appointing domestic animals changed the American landscape, Horatio G. Balch, Esq. Superintendent,” approved see Virginia DeJohn Anderson, Creatures of Empire: February 5, 1807, Resolves of the General Court of the How Domestic Animals Transformed Early America Commonwealth of Massachusetts . . . 1807 (Boston: (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). Adams and Rhoades, 1807), 24–25. 92. Report by Superintendent of Indian 91. Report by Superintendent of Indian Affairs Horatio G. Balch to the General Court of Affairs Horatio G. Balch to the General Court of Massachusetts, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 97, Massachusetts, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 97, approved February 19, 1808, original legislative approved February 19, 1808, original legislative papers, MaSA.

40 terrupted in their fishing—This is a most serious privation to them—they say they never ceeded [ceded] those Islands to Govt. and had rather be deprived of their whole supplies on payment for the Ten townships which the 92 Government purchased of them. Introduction Balch admitted that some people doubted the validity of the islands’ sales, but warned that the proprietors will certainly petition the Gen- eral Court for a confirmation of their titles to the islands. He ended by encouraging the government “not [to] loose [lose] sight of so important a point,” especially since the tribe’s fishery was “an assential [essential] part of their subsistence,” a statement suggesting that if Massachusetts were not careful it would have to subsidize Native food supplies.93 The mindset of Euro-American settlers in the District of Maine was often in opposition to established governmental elites, but adversarial relations with Indians, in part, can be explained in this case by Balch’s additional responsibilities as land agent charged with the protection of commonwealth lands, specifically the prevention of trespassing and the cutting of timber and meadow hay. Guilty parties would have to forfeit their yield and pay triple the value of the cut timber.94 While the Penobscots held that they were the true owners of their lands, Massachusetts viewed Indian land as part of the state’s jurisdiction and therefore grouped public and Indian lands together as a resource to protect. Balch’s duties were to protect public and Indian land, but trespassers indiscriminately plundered both. The superintendent could not calculate the value of timber or prevent its destruction. Balch hired extra men for managing the canoes and supplies on his upriver excursions and also to help “resist attacks, with which he is usually threatened.”95

93. Ibid. 95. Report by Superintendent of Indian 94. Taylor, Liberty Men and Great Proprietors; Affairs Horatio G. Balch to the General Court of 1807 resolve, chapter 27, “Resolve respecting Massachusetts, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 97, Penobscot Indians . . . appointing Horatio G. Balch, approved February 19, 1808, original legislative Esq. Superintendent,” approved February 5, 1807, papers, MaSA. Resolves of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . . . 1807 (Boston: Adams and Rhoades, 1807), 24–25.

41 Massachusetts governor James Sullivan soon realized that Balch’s several responsibilities and enormous tasks were almost impossible to accomplish, stating, “No one man, however able he may be, can perform the Introduction duties of a Guardian or Superintendent, over three hundred and fifty miserable savages, spread over one hundred and eighty thousand acres of Wilderness; or protect such a vast extent of Territory from depredations. People in that wide spreading Country, will find maneuvers to deceive and defraud him.”96 In 1807, Penobscot chiefs visited Boston again to express their complaints to the General Court. The treasury paid $550 to cover living expenses and presents for visiting Penobscot chiefs.97 Lieutenant Gov- ernor John Neptune later recalled the purpose of this trip, explaining that “[w]hen Genl. [Joseph] Treat came on to put up a building on Shad Island claiming under a grant from Massachusetts, I then being Lieu- tenant Governor of the Tribe forbid him and told him Indians owned the Island. I then went to Boston and saw Governor [James] Sullivan and told him about our fishing ground.”98 Governor Atian Michael was probably among the Penobscot leadership who petitioned the commonwealth’s chief executive, making numerous complaints about “English”

96. Speech by Massachusetts Governor Registry of Deeds, vol. 77, 429–433, received and James Sullivan to the Senate and House of entered on July 18, 1836. Representatives, February 18, 1808, 1807 resolve, 99. Petition of Penobscot Governor Atian chapter 166, approved March 12, 1807, original Michael, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 149, ap- legislative papers, MaSA. By July 1808, Horatio G. proved March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, Balch wanted “to commence actions against sixteen MaSA. Governor Michael’s use of “English” or eighteen” trespassers. See Letter by Daniel Davis instead of “American” encroachments may suggest to Massachusetts Governor James Sullivan, Boston, that some Penobscots, or the transcriber of the July 12, 1808, 1807 resolve, chapter 166, ap- petition, saw more similarities between the English proved March 12, 1807, original legislative papers, and Americans, especially since both groups gener- MaSA. ally spoke the same language. According to Dean 97. Resolve to defray expenses of Penobscot Snow, Attean Elmut was the Penobscot chief from Indians in Boston, 1808 resolve, chapter 84, ap- 1806 to 1809. It is highly probable that Governor proved February 2, 1808, Resolves of the General Atian Michael was Elmut’s given name. Atian Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Boston: or Attean are both variations of the French name Adams and Rhoades, 1810), 80. Etienne, which is equivalent to Stephen or Steven 98. Deposition of Penobscot Lieutenant in English. See Snow, “Eastern Abenaki,” 141. Governor John Neptune, April 16, 1836, PCCH,

42 encroachments on their lands in which the 1796 treaty confirmed Na- tive rights to support themselves by hunting and fishing and live “un- molested by the English.”99 Governor Michael, on behalf of his people, began the petition by identifying the tribe as the “proprietors of all the Introduction Islands both great and small on [the] Penobscot River,” as granted by the 1796 treaty. He explained that the “English” made encroachments “on our Islands and especially Shad Island which has been the greatest support to our Ancestors.” The construction of a mill on Shad Island, along with other intrusions on their islands below Old Town, had prevented anadromous fish from spawning upriver and therefore impeded their fishing rights on the waterway. Governor Michael said, “We have been deprived of Subsistence and we pray your honour to put an immediate Stop to the English encroachment on our rights.” Later in this same petition, Michael, in adherence to the value of repetition in Wabanaki diplomacy, returns to the issue over Shad Island to convey his people’s dis- tress. He painfully relates that his peoples’ “Lives have been frequently threatened and ourselves put into water and Kept there until relieved by our brethren. we pray your honour to put a stop to those atrocities as we consider our lives in danger . . . we confide in your excellency . . . to pro- hibit those malicious depredations which we are daily threatened with and frequently exercised upon.”100 Penobscots believed that “the God of Nature gave them their fishery, and no man without their consent has a right to take it from them.”101 Atian’s petition declared to Governor Sullivan that the tribe ceded only land to Massachusetts, as in the 1796 treaty, but never “sold neither mill logs nor any parts of the soil on our premises but the sticks only suitable for masts.” The petitioner explained that only five men—Joseph Treat, Isaac Hatch, Josiah Brewer, David W. Haynes, and

100. Petition of Penobscot Governor Atian 101. Penobscot Indian Conference notes, n.d., Michael, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 149, ap- Boston, 1807 resolve, chapter 149, approved proved March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, MaSA. MaSA.

43 Richard Winslow—had contracts to cut masts, but that all five had violated their leases because they “cut away all the valuable timber on the above named premises and have encouraged others to do the same.” Introduction Treat upheld the exact wording of the 1804 lease text, stating that the lease did not specify what kind of timber but rather made reference to all of the timber that could be cut in the designated area. In addition to this discrepancy in understanding, the lease was for a thirty-year period, a time frame to which the Penobscots claimed they never consented.102 Anonymous conference notes, drafted in Boston, probably from the 1807 Penobscot visit, stated that the Penobscots not only believed that mast trees alone were to be cut but that, at the time of the lease negotiation, the oral agreement concerning the lease period was for five years. “Gover- nor Attean,” or Atian Michael, originally proposed that the lease should be made on a year-to-year basis to ensure that the purchasers fulfilled their contract, but on being persuaded to extend the lease he agreed to five years. The Penobscots contended that during the negotiation no mention was ever made of the thirty-year lease period and that the timber purchasers “fraudulently obtained” a thirty-year lease. Frustrated with the abuse of power around the 1804 lease, the Penobscots wished to put a stop “to all further cutting of lumber, as any other thing—off their land.”103 In his petition, Governor Atian Michael also asked for the removal “of a certain Mill” built on the Mattawamkeag River “South Branch” by Jo- seph Treat and John Gordon. Treat, who had leased the land rights from the Penobscots in 1804, sold “part of his bargain” to John Gordon, who with the assistance from several workers built a mill “and other works” on the river. On May 1, 1807, Penobscot leaders met with Balch to ask him to prevent Gordon from building a mill. Balch agreed to help, and

102. Petition of Penobscot Governor Atian 103. Penobscot Indian Conference notes, n.d., Michael, n.d., resolve 1807, chapter 149, ap- Boston, 1807 resolve, chapter 149, approved proved March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, MaSA. MaSA.

44 by August he received $8 from Gordon to intercede with Penobscot officials atO ld Town. After this meeting, Balch explained to Daniel Davis that Introduction [t]he Indians do not recognize the part of the bargain which relates to the soil, they say that the thing was not properly explained to them by their agent. . . . It is a subject, Sir, of great importance to this country and the legal- ity of that contract should be looked into with attention for there are other contracts and take them all together they imbrace [embrace] the whole tract of Indian lands.

Governor Michael expressed in his petition that Treat and Gordon refused to stop erecting their mills, “in defiance to all men.” Gordon’s mill was strategically built to access the Penobscots’ rich timberlands, but the Penobscot governor explained that the mill’s presence “very much impeads [impedes] our passage” on the river and the dam prevented spawning of anadromous fish up the Mattawamkeag River. Superin- tendent Balch was troubled that the mill “demolished a great quantity of valuable timber,” an activity justified by “pretended contracts made with the Indians, and some without the least pretence of right whatsoever.” Governor Sullivan did not fulfill Atian Michael’s request to re- move Gordon’s mill on the Mattawamkeag, but his persistent request to protect the tribe’s fishery incited an investigation into the contested stretch of the Penobscot River at Old Town Falls.104 Governor Michael, who addressed the state governor as “father” and reminded him that they had joined hands in friendship during the American Revolution, asked for a certificate in the governor’s hand that would deter settlers

104. Petition of Penobscot Governor Atian resolve, chapter 149, approved March 10, 1808, Michael, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 149, ap- original legislative papers, MaSA; Superintendent proved March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, of Indian Affairs Horatio G. Balch’s report to MaSA; Superintendent of Indian Affairs Horatio the Senate and House of Representatives, 1807 G. Balch’s 1807 accounts, 1807 resolve, chapter resolve, chapter 97, approved February 19, 1808, 97, approved February 19, 1808, original legisla- original papers, MaSA. For Treat’s map showing tive papers, MaSA; Letter from Horatio Balch to Gordon’s mill along the Mattawamkeag River, see Daniel Davis, Bangor, August 10, 1807, 1807 Treat, “Journal,” 208.

45 from encroaching on Penobscot lands. The petitioner hoped that as the Penobscot’s “father,” the governor would want to see the tribe “righted when our territories are encroached upon.”105 Introduction Violent outbreaks toward Penobscot Indians by local settlers strained the tribe’s relationship with their neighbors to the breaking point, making it a challenge for Penobscot petitioners’ to have their requests heard. In 1807, Penobscots recounted that in the past fifteen years, seven members of their tribe were murdered by local settlers. Balch reported on two of the incidents, the first of which occurred near Passadumkeag, where a Penobscot, Joseph Mitchell, was killed by one Samuel Grant and his comrade. The two accused men stated that they got Mitchell drunk and killed him in self-defense. When Penobscots urged prosecution to assure that the accused would go to trial, local authorities responded that Mitchell was a “bad Indian” and that the death was “no matter.” The second event, in June 1807, involved two Penobscots in a birchbark canoe descending the Kennebec River, where they met a large raft of lumbermen. The latter persuaded the Indians to come aboard the raft for some rum, only to seize the Indians’ canoe and order them to leave the raft. The two Penobscots, in a struggle to repossess their canoe and escape, were “cruelly” beaten to death and “thrown into the water.” Another death occurred when a Penobscot fisherman, Saul Sebattis, frustrated from having received no redress from the legislature, fished on Shad Island a little below Old Town Island, as his ancestors had done. After a “squabble had begun,” Sebattis’s body was found in the river below the Kenduskeag Stream, near Colonel Brewer’s residence. In a similar incident, the bodies of two Penobscots were discovered in the river. Rumors circulated that the two Indians had drowned, but since the bodies revealed “marks of violence,” the Penobscots knew otherwise.

105. Petition of Penobscot Governor Atian in Wabanaki diplomacy, see Prins, The Mi’kmaq, Michael, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 149, ap- 120–121; Prins, “The Crooked Path of Dummer’s proved March 10, 1808, original legislative papers, Treaty,” 360–377. MaSA. For the significance of the use of “father”

46 Mistrust over private contracts between settlers and the tribe elevated the event to a near crisis. Balch reported that “[t]he Indians are quite impatient at these things. I should not be much disappointed if the same kind of outrage should in a short time be committed upon our people Introduction by way of retaliation.” Whether or not that retribution was a legitimate concern, the fear of violence spurred Massachusetts to direct the attorney general and solicitor general to investigate the Penobscots’ claims.106 Shad Island was only one of many challenges that Superintendent Balch faced. Numerous trespassers were against him, and a local alliance had formed between merchants and woodsmen that made it “extremely difficult” for him “to get correct information respecting trespassers.” He could find out, after the fact, when timber was cut, but knowing “those who cut it” was almost impossible. Balch struggled to fulfill his duty as Indian and public land agent, but when “his personal safety [was] assailed, and at the same time exposing himself and family to repeated injuries,” he asked the General Court to dismiss him from any further services as agent.107 When the Penobscots did not receive a result from the investigation of their islands, Penosbcot governor Joseph Lorain petitioned the General Court in 1810. The petition addressed the state officials as “Brothers,” a kin term reminiscent of treaty protocol that suggests an equal status between Massachusetts and the Penobscots. He informed the General Court that his people had intended to reserve all the islands in the river for their planting corn and fishing practices and that he was unaware that the Penobscots had sold any of the twelve small islands, “called Shad Islands,” laying “in and near Old town falls the same on which we

106. Original emphasis. Letter to James Sullivan 107. Letter to James Sullivan from Horatio G. from Horatio Balch, Bangor, July 7, 1807, 1807 Balch, Bangor, July 7, 1807, 1807 resolve, chapter resolve, chapter 149, approved March 10, 1808, 149, approved March 10, 1808, original legislative original legislative papers, MaSA; Penobscot papers, MaSA; Letter from Horatio G. Balch to Conference notes, n.d., 1807 resolve, chapter 149, Massachusetts General Court, n.d., 1809 resolve, approved March 10, 1808, original legislative chapter 160, approved March 3, 1810, original papers, MaSA. legislative papers, MaSA.

47 have allways [always] caught our fish.”T he plural use of “Shad Islands” suggests that all twelve islands below Old Town Island were valued for their fishing locations. Lorain’s petition recounted that proprietor Introduction Joseph Treat built a fish store on one of the islands that deprived Pe- nobscots of their fishing privilege in the previous season. Had the Pe- nobscots known that the 1796 treaty ceded these islands, they would never have consented to it. In an attempt to convey the level of importance to Massachusetts, Governor Lorain said that the fishing privilege on the islands was “worth” more than the nine townships of land sold in the treaty. For Massachusetts officials, land was a commodity that, with hard work, yielded profits.A small island valued at more than nine townships of land was almost incomprehensible. But for Penobscot family bands who camped on the southern end of Old Town Island, these particular islands offered “excellent” fishing grounds, a cultural activity that instilled meaning to cooperation among Penobscot families. Close proximity to Shad Island was one of the main reasons why families chose Old Town Island as their seasonal home, where “we have held our national Councils under the government of Mondowomak Modo- cowondo—Osonson—Orono and other Governors and Chiefs,” built a church, and established “consecrated Ground for burying our dead.” Since the Penobscots were not permitted to sell their lands themselves, they looked to Massachusetts to buy back the islands in exchange for “some of our Land.”108 Along with Governor Lorain’s petition to repossess Shad Island, agent John Blake submitted a petition on behalf of the tribe explaining how Shad Island was unjustly sold to Joseph Treat and Ebenezer Webster, who “refused to let the Indians fish” on the islands’ shores.T he Eastern Lands agent Salem Town, under orders to sell lands acquired by the 1796 treaty, deeded the islands without the “full knowledge, or

108. Petition of Penobscot Governor Joseph MaSA. Penobscot Governor Joseph Lorain was Lorain, n.d., 1810 resolve, chapter 98, approved probably Joe Lola who was tribal chief from 1810 February 25, 1811, original legislative papers, to about 1813. See Snow, “Eastern Abenaki,” 141.

48 consent” of the tribe. General Blake stated that the Penobscots wished to trade some of their land for Shad Island and asked the state to appoint a person to negotiate the exchange.109 To complicate matters, Massachu- setts was missing a copy of the 1796 treaty needed to verify the Penob- Introduction scots’ claim. The attorney general was authorized to ask Salem Town to ascertain if he had a copy of the “deed” and to procure his deposition in order to record his “perpetual remembrance of the thing.”110 Although Massachusetts administrators had misplaced the 1796 treaty, Penobscots had their own copy, quoted from it in their next petition, and asked the commonwealth to uphold the original agreement. On January 24, 1812, Penobscot governor Joe Lolar and four other Penob- scot leaders petitioned the General Court, stating “that their ancestors, many years ago, seated themselves at Old Town on the Penobscot River, principally (according to their [oral] Tradition) for the benefit of taking fish at the falls.” After generations of Penobscot fishing below Old Town Island, in 1808 Native families “were driven from the rocks and small Islands making the said Old Town falls, their nets destroyed & themselves greatly abused.” The petitioners proclaimed that they “now & ever before” were the rightful “owners of all the Islands above the tide waters” except for Marsh Island. Deprived of their fishing privileges, the Penobscots, Governor Lolar feared, would be “compelled to beg or starve” unless their rights were restored. The Penobscot leaders quoted the 1796 treaty that relinquished the tribe’s ownership to land thirty miles upriver beginning at the head of tide on both sides of the river. No mention was made of Penobscots having ever ceded any of the islands. Salem Town, who sold the twelve islands below Old Town Island, had “a mistaken idea” that he possessed the right to sell the islands. The petitioners felt that Massachusetts overlooked the twelve islands in the

109. Petition of Indian Agent John Blake on 110. Letter to the General Court by James behalf of the Penobscot tribe, n.d., 1810 resolve, Sullivan, June 9, 1808, 1808 resolve, chapter 194, chapter 98, approved February 25, 1811, original approved June 10, 1808, original legislative papers, legislative papers, MaSA. MaSA.

49 treaty because nine of the islands, numbers four through twelve, formed “the [riverine] bar of the falls & in the whole does not contain one acre of ground including the rocks.” Such an insignificant size, they surmised, Introduction made them “hardly deserving the name of Islands” and therefore likely to be overlooked at the time of the 1796 treaty. Governor Lolar, whose people were estimated to consist “of upwards of two hundred souls” in 1812, reminded the General Court that were physical force a justifiable means to reclaim their islands, they “might now have been” in possession. The petitioners instead chose a peaceful and quiet stance, and though it resulted in a “temporary inconvenience,” they hoped that their reliance on the legal measures would justly return the islands to them.111 The Penobscot delegation in Boston, successful in having their requests drafted in a petition endorsed by Governor Joe Lolar and four others, needed help to get home. After spending a “considerable time” in the capital city, Joseph Neptune and three other delegates petitioned the General Court for money that their agent could use to cover their board, buy a new set of clothes for each delegate, and defray expenses for the trip home. Unable to pay their expenses, the Penobscots left the state with little choice, and agent Blake received $180 for the necessary purchases.112 The commonwealth finally appointed Justice of the Peace Martin Kinsley of Hampden, Maine, to inquire into the terms for the repurchase

111. Petition of Penobscot Governor Joe E. L. Prins, “Chief Big Thunder (1827–1906): Lolar, Esquire Joe Mary Neptune, Captain John The Life History of a Penobscot Trickster,” Maine Neptune, Francis Loring, and Captain Joseph History 37, no. 3 (Winter 1998): 140–158. The Michel, January 24, 1812, 1812 resolve, chapter estimated Penobscot population “of upwards of two 143, approved February 27, 1812, original leg- hundred souls” in 1812 might have been low, espe- islative papers, MaSA; Letter to the President of cially considering that there were 374 Penobscots the Senate and Speaker of the House by Martin in 1818. See Pauleena M. MacDougall, “Indian Kinsley, June 11, 1811, 1812 resolve, chapter 143, Island, Maine, 1780–1930,” Ph.D. diss., History, approved February 27, 1812, original legislative University of Maine, Orono, 1995, 70–71. papers, MaSA. Penobscot Governor Joe Lolar in 112. Petition of Penobscot Joseph Neptune, the 1812 petition was probably the same Chief Captain John Neptune, Captain Francis Loring, Joseph Lorain who petitioned Massachusetts in and Captain Wine Michel, in the House on 1810. Both of these family names were derived February 8, 1812, 1811 resolve, chapter 124, from the French name Laurent. See Snow, “Eastern approved February 21, 1812, original legislative Abenaki,” 141; Speck, Penobscot Man, 234; Harald papers, MaSA.

50 of the islands. He reported that missionaries William Jenks and James Romagné found a “great uneasiness” among the Penobscots on account of their islands being sold without their consent. The decline of large game animals, including moose and caribou, intensified Penobscot reliance on Introduction fishing at the “ledges of Rocks in the River.” Penobscots also complained that local settlers allowed their cattle to ford the river and gain access to the islands, thus destroying Indian agricultural improvements. Consid- ering that Penobscot subsistence practices had been severely reduced on many fronts, Kinsley, who believed the tribe would welcome additional aid, wanted to resolve the island dispute before the approaching fishing season. He suggested the passage of a law “to punish” culprits who inflicted damage on Penobscot land.113 The proprietors of the twelve islands, Joseph Treat and Ebene- zer Webster, who had bought the islands in 1804 and 1805, offered three proposals for Massachusetts to repurchase the islands for the Pe- nobscots. The relative high cost of these islands reflected the fact that, for Euro-Americans, the rocky ledges were ideal places to anchor mill dams. First, the owners offered to sell the eastern half of island number 5, Shad Island, and islands number 6 through 12 for $3,000, reserving Shad Island’s western half for their sawmill dam. Another recommen- dation included all of Shad Island and islands number 6 through 12 for $4,000, indicating that the additional $1,000 was for the western half of Shad Island. The last proposal consisted of Massachusetts purchasing six more townships from the Penobscot tribe for a price not exceeding $600. Treat and Webster would own two of the six townships and pay one third of the sum annually. They promised to have twenty settlers on their two townships within four years.114

113. Letter to the President of the Senate and 114. Proposed sale of islands in the Penobscot Speaker of the House by Martin Kinsley, June River by Joseph Treat, Richard Webster, Daniel 11, 1811, 1812 resolve, chapter 143, approved Webster, and Ebenezer Webster, April 23, 1811, February 27, 1812, original legislative papers, 1812 resolve, chapter 143, approved February 27, MaSA; Letter to the President of the Senate and 1812, original legislative papers, MaSA. House by Martin Kinsley, February 10, 1812, 1812 resolve, chapter 143, approved February 27, 1812, original legislative papers, MaSA.

51 Treat and Webster’s three proposals to sell the islands did not justify or confirm their ownership.I n 1812, Joseph Treat and the Webster family sent petitions to the General Court advocating that they had right- Introduction fully purchased the islands from Salem Town, the Eastern Lands agent, who, under directions from the General Court, sold the acquired Indian lands to settlers. Accompanying the petitions were three affidavits from surveyor Park Holland, interpreter John Marsh, and Treat’s father and Indian trader Robert Treat, who witnessed the signing of the 1796 treaty. All three participants in the treaty testified that there was a clear understanding at the treaty council that Old Town was actually Old Town Island, and therefore that the Penobscots had ceded the twelve disputed islands to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state, it was said, later sold the islands, through Salem Town, to Treat and Webster. In March 1813, the General Court rejected Treat and Webster’s three proposals and purchased the title of the contested islands, numbers 4, 5, and 6, including all of Shad Island, for $100. Massachusetts compen- sated Joseph Treat with an additional $100 for the destruction of his fish store, which was pulled down by the Penobscots in protest.115 Penobscot repossession of the three islands below Old Town Island was not the end of the tribe’s tenuous relationship with Joseph Treat. After military service in the War of 1812 in western New York, Treat returned to the District of Maine to serve as a member of the General Court of Massachusetts from 1817 to 1818.116 In 1818, Treat drafted

115. Petition of Joseph Treat, June 8, 1812, with Massachusetts, Passed at the Session, in October 1812, affidavits of Park Holland, John Marsh, Robert and January 1813 (Boston: Russell and Cutler, Treat, and Ebenezer Webster, n.d., 1812 resolve, 1813), 143–144. chapter 155, approved February 26, 1813, origi- 116. During the War of 1812 at the Battle of nal legislative papers, MaSA; Deed from Joseph Chippeway, Captain Joseph Treat was accused of Treat and members of the Webster family to the “cowardice before the enemy.” He was later acquit- Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Penobscot ted in a court martial. In his defense, he wrote Indians, fishing islands, March 13, 1813, received and published a pamphlet, dedicated to President and recorded on June 26, 1813, HCRD, book 33, James Madison, to proclaim his innocence and to pp. 303–304; Resolve on the Petition of Joseph restore his honor. See Joseph Treat, The Vindication Treat, chapter CLV, approved February 27, 1813, of Captain Joseph Treat, Late of Twenty-first Regiment, Resolves of the General Court of the Commonwealth of United States Infantry, Against the Atrocious Calumny

52 a Penobscot petition carrying the marks of Orson Nicolas and Joseph Loland, who were specifically chosen by the Penobscots to request the sale of additional Indian land. The Native petitioners began by inform- ing the Massachusetts’s General Court of their own interpretation of Introduction the 1775 Watertown Conference. When the bay colony was still under Great Britain, the Penobscots “were allowed to hold in their own right” six miles on each side of the Penobscot River. The 1796 treaty, they said, relinquished the tribe’s rights to “ten townships” of land in exchange for annual payments made to the tribe. The petitioners explained that their people “still own[ed] a large tract of valuable and fu[r]tile Land which owing to their mode of living and limited knowledge of Agriculture . . . [did] not produce them any income or profit.” Nicolas and Loland proposed to sell ten more townships of land and requested the commonwealth to appoint commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the tribe in Bangor on May 15, 1818. The Penobscot petitioners further requested their lands to be leased out to settlers for a period not exceeding one hundred years, and asked that they receive money to cover costs for their journey back home.117 Penobscots had experienced their traditional subsistence practices, including hunting and fishing, becoming increasingly difficult. In their plea for assistance, and wishing to remain self-reliant, Penobscots wanted to sell more land, a request that resulted in the 1818 Penobscot treaty with Massachusetts. It is not surprising that Massachusetts favored the Penobscot petitioners’ request, but it is important to at least question the motivation behind the petition and suggest that petitions, like other documents that shed light on Native history, can incorporate additional motives outside Indian communities, specifically, in this case, those of Joseph Treat. Instead of relinquishing ten townships of land or providing a bound

Comprehended in Major General Brown’s Official 117. Petition of Penobscot Orson Nicolas and Report of the Battle of Chippeway (Philadelphia: n.p., Joseph Loland, Boston, February 6, 1818, 1817 1815), CIHM microfiche 61812. Treat, The Treat resolve, chapter 120, approved February 13, 1818, Family, 289–290. original legislative papers, MaSA.

53 description of Massachusetts’s newly acquired land, the 1818 treaty defined the extent of Indian land, resulting in the Penobscot surrender of much more land than the proposed ten townships. Penobscot lands Introduction consisted of all the islands upriver beginning at Old Town Island, a two- acre repurchased land lot along the riverfront in Brewer, and lands that later became known as the upper four Indian townships, two of which were located on each side of the river at their camp at Mattawamkeag Point and two of which were situated near present-day Millinocket, Maine.118 By September 1818, Eastern Lands commissioners Edward Robbins, John Lee, and Lathrop Lewis met in Bangor to organize surveys to explore Massachusetts’s recently acquired lands. Reaching the Passadum- keag River, Lee and Lewis found “the country . . . better than they expected to find it.” They planned to locate the source of the West Branch of the Penobscot River, and assistant surveyor Captain Joseph Treat would locate the Penobscots’ four upper Indian townships. Disregard- ing other European parties that had previously traversed this region, the commissioners believed the West Branch “has never been explored except by the Indians, and the time which may [be] spent in exploring it will be well employed.” As the boundaries of four upper Indian townships were being established, Lee and Lewis were already planning a road that would begin at Eddington, reach north to Passadumkeag, and continue toward Maine’s ill-defined eastern boundary.119

118. Letter from Edward H. Robbins, Daniel vol. 4, 191–198, received and entered on June Davis, and Mark Langdon Hill to the chiefs and 30, 1818/July 1, 1818; “Treaty made by the other Indians of the Penobscot Tribe, Boston, May Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the 11, 1818, John Blake’s papers, “Indian Papers, Penobscot tribe of Indians, June 29, 1818, Acts 1811–1821,” C1C F1, M159.1, Bangor Historical and Resolves Passed by the Twenty-Third Legislature Society, Bangor, Maine (hereafter BHS); Daniel of the State of Maine, A.D. 1843 (Augusta: Wm. R. Davis and Mark Langdon Hill’s speech to the Smith & Co., 1843), 253–256; “Treaty Between Penobscots, Bangor, June 24, 1818, John Blake’s the Penobscot and Massachusetts, June 29, 1818, papers, “Indian Papers, 1811–1821,” C1C F1, DAID, vol. 2, 1097–1098; Harley, “New England M159.1, BHS; “Treaty with the Indians,” Eastern Cartography and the Native Americans,” 285–313. Argus (Portland, Me.), vol. 15, no. 771, Tuesday, 119. Meeting of Eastern Lands Commissioners, July 14, 1818, p. 3, col. 1; 1818 Penobscot treaty Eastern Argus, vol. 56, no. 778, September 1, 1818, with Massachusetts, PCCH, Registry of Deeds, p. 2, col. 2.

54 In the summer of 1820, Joseph Treat once again participated in a Pe- nobscot treaty. Just prior to the treaty, Treat had joined the Maine Con- stitutional Convention in 1820. Uncertain as to the political outcome of the new state of Maine, about one month prior to statehood he pur- Introduction chased 5,000 acres of land on the east side of the Penobscot River. This large tract of land included Cold Stream Pond and present-day Enfield, Lincoln, Lowell, and Burlington, Maine.120 The decision on statehood the previous March, in which Wabanaki peoples did not participate, led government officials to become concerned about obtaining Penob- scot recognition of the new state of Maine. Governor King’s administration wanted the Penobscots to quit willingly all claims to and relations with Massachusetts, in return for which the new state of Maine would secure their tribal rights. On July 7, 1820, a Penobscot deputation visited Portland where John Neptune, “choosing to adhere to etiquette,” gave a speech in the Penobscot language that was translated by one of his own council members for the Maine governor and the Executive Coun- cil. Neptune expressed deep concern over the extensive use of fish weirs and dip nets by settlers in the Penobscot River, actions that prevented the fish from ascending the river to the tribe’s places of residence.121 For the Penobscots, the area of Old Town Falls and below was one of the tribe’s richest fishing locations, a site from which they procured “half of their living annual[l]y.” Between the time of the firstE uro-American fishing weir on the Penobscot River in 1809 and 1813, salmon, shad, and alewives became “scarce” at Old Town. By 1820, the Penobscots’ fishing rights, which had been a point of contention for the past two

120. Treat, The Treat Family, 289–290; Moses Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed at their Session Greenleaf, Map Exhibiting the Principal Original . . . 1820 (Boston: Russell & Gardner, 1820), Grants and Sales of Lands in the State of Maine, en- 126–127. graved by W. Chapin, published by Shirley and 121. Eastern Argus, vol. 62, no. 891, Tuesday, Hyde, 1829, flat file, Special Collections, Fogler July 11, 1820, p. 3, cols. 1–2; Hancock Gazette Library, University of Maine, Orono, Maine. (At and Penobscot Patriot (Belfast, Me.), vol. 1, no. 3, the Maine State Archives, this map’s reference Thursday, July 20, 1820, p. 2, cols. 1–2; Salem number is 4-05-13.); “Resolve for the Conveying Gazette (Salem, Mass.), vol. 34, no. 56, Friday, July Land to Joseph Treat, on conditions, February 7th, 14, 1820, p. 3, cols. 1–2. 1820,” chapter 41, Resolves of the General Court of the

55 decades, resurfaced in the negotiations.122 While Maine officials sought Penobscot recognition of their new government, John Neptune and other Penobscots asserted that this newly forged relationship with Maine Introduction involved mutual assistance and the protection of tribal rights. The Portland conference in July 1820 between the Penobscot leaders and Maine officials reconvened in August at Bangor’s court house, where Indian Commissioner Lathrop Lewis welcomed the Penobscot delegates. Before the Penobscot leaders would sign the 1820 treaty that quit all Penobscot claims to Massachusetts and forged ties between the Penobscot people and the state of Maine, Captain Francis Lolon first delivered his talk in Penobscot. He reminded Maine officials of their reciprocal responsibility in the Penobscot-state relationship: When the white man came over the great waters to our country, we received them as friends and brothers; we then were many and strong, they few and weak: we gave them land, and permitted them to live peacefully among us, and have remained their friends. The white men are now very strong; we are weak, and now want them to be our friends.

Joseph Treat signed as a witness to the 1820 Penobscot treaty. To symbolize this new relationship, Governor King presented Penobscot governor John Attean and Lieutenant Governor John Neptune with fine scarlet broadcloth for new coats and silver breastplates to each chief, “on which was engraved the Arms of the State of Maine.”123

122. Testimony of Joseph Butterfield, January “Survival, Resistance, and the Canadian State: 8, 1822, Secretary of State Miscellaneous box, The Transformation of New Brunswick Native Indian Files, folder 1822, MeSA; MacDougall, Economy, 1867–1930,” Journal of the Canadian “Indian Island, Maine,” 117; Daniel Vickers, Historical Association 13 (2002): 49–72; Bill “Those Dammed Shad: Would the River Fisheries Parenteau and Richard W. Judd, “More Buck for of New England Have Survived in the Absence the Bang: Sporting and the Ideology of Fish and of Industrialization?” William and Mary Quarterly Game Management in Northern New England 61, no. 4 (October 2004): 685–712. For a com- and the Maritime Provinces, 1870–1900,” New parison of Native fishing experiences inN ew England and the Maritime Provinces, 232–251, Brunswick, Canada, see Bill Parenteau, “‘Care, 391–396. Control and Supervision’: Native People in the 123. Original emphasis. For the 1820 negotia- Canadian Atlantic Salmon Fishery, 1867–1900,” tions and treaty between the Penobscot Nation and Canadian Historical Review 79, no. 1 (March Maine, see Appendix A. Eastern Argus, vol. 18, no. 1998): 1–35; Bill Parenteau and James Kenny, 899, Tuesday, September 5, 1820, p. 2, cols. 2–3;

56 Joseph Treat’s Expedition of 1820 Maine’s first governor, William King, ordered Joseph Treat to observe the quality of the interior lands. He asked that Treat report on the timber Introduction resources and ascertain if trespass had been committed on state land. Be- tween September 16 and 26, 1820, Treat spent time buying supplies for his pending survey of the upper Penobscot River to the Saint John. With the help from Captain Jacob Holyoke and the fifty-three-year-old Pe- nobscot guide John Neptune, Treat departed from Bangor on a trip that would last longer than anyone had expected. The party’s course, altered en route owing to the imminent threat of winter conditions, consisted of ascending the Penobscot River, taking the West Branch to Chesun- cook Lake, and proceeding to the source of the Allagash, where they descended the waterway to the Saint John River. The survey party canoed down the Saint John, made a brief detour around the Aroostook River region and visited Houlton, Maine, and proceeded south to the Maliseet community at Meductic. From that village, the party took an old Native canoe route back to the Penobscot River. The route continued up Eel River, down the Chiputneticook Lakes and a portage to the Baskahegan Lake and Stream where they picked up the Mattawamkeag River that flowed into the Penobscot River.124 Treat incorporated Neptune’s detailed knowledge of the land, noting many Penobscot place-names along with physical land characteristics far removed from the travel route.

Hancock Gazette and Penobscot Patriot, vol. 1, no. 9, 85–86. After 1820, Penobscot leaders preserved Thursday, August 31, 1820; “Treaty Between the the tradition of articulating tribal concerns to the Penobscot and Massachusetts, August 17, 1820,” General Court in Boston by sending additional and “Treaty Between the Penobscot and Maine, delegates to Maine’s capital in Portland and later August 17, 1820,” DAID, vol. 2, 1099–1102. Augusta. Neptune was a key figure in this political Joseph Treat’s father, Robert Treat, who allegedly diplomacy and emerged as a leading spokesman and spoke Penobscot, signed as a witness of the 1796 active petitioner for his people. See MacDougall, Penobscot treaty and witnessed the 1793/1796 “Indian Island,” 98–104 and 107–109; Treaty of Arunsuchungin or Marsh Island. See MacDougall, Penobscot Dance of Resistance, 2004. It “Treaty Between the Penobscot and Massachusetts, is possible that Penobscot Francis Lolon might also August 8, 1796,” DAID, 1094–1095; 1793/1796 be Joseph Loland who signed the 1818 petition Penobscot Treaty of Marsh Island, Hancock drafted by Joseph Treat. County Registry of Deeds, Ellsworth, Maine, 124. Letter from Joseph Treat to Governor book 4, pp. 70–71. For Robert Treat, see Bangor William King, November 21, 1820, WKP, coll. Historical Magazine, vol. 2, no. 5 (November 1886), 165, box 18, folder 13, MeHS.

57 Neptune’s employment by Treat was a departure from a more protec- tive stance that the Penobscots took twenty or more years earlier. In the summer of 1793, the surveyor Park Holland had hired Penobscot Saba- Introduction tis Neptune as his guide and interpreter near present-day Eddington to survey Indian land between the head of tide and the source of the East Branch of the Penobscot River. Upon their arrival at Old Town, the Pe- nobscots “strongly opposed” Holland’s trip upriver. They told Holland that the river belonged to them, and they “did not wish any white man” to go upriver and hunt on their land. After Sabatis reminded his people of his own prestige in the community, and Holland assured the Penob- scots that his intention was simply to survey tribal land “so that white people should not hunt, or otherwise trespass on their property,” they were permitted to proceed. Indian Island represented a gateway to Pe- nobscot homeland, one that required protection.125 By 1820, Penobscots were not only accompanying Euro-American surveyors who knew little about the interior of Maine, but leading them deep into the interior por- tions of their homeland. Whether or not John Neptune specifically intended to preserve a Native perspective of his peoples’ homeland, his decision to accompany Treat and Holyoke helped to accomplish the re- tention of Penobscot place-names and stories on the landscape. Some Penobscots, however, felt that not all information about their homeland was to be shared with Euro-Americans. In October 1820, Treat and his party came upon an “old and famous” Penobscot camp on the northern end of Chesuncook Lake that was “covered with Moose Deer, Carriboo [caribou] and Beaver Bones.” At this camp, a “Mr. Lor-

125. Park Holland, Life and Diaries, copied by to which was released by Indians, dated 1797,” Mary H. Curran, 1915, Bangor Pubic Library, third series, vol. 19, page 29, maps and plans no. Bangor, Maine, 40–41; Frederick S. Allis Jr., ed., 1459, MaSA. Holland’s diary states that Sabatis “Diary of Park Holland from his surveys in Eastern Neptune was “an old and very respectable Indian Maine [about 1784–1794],” in Publications of the of the Norridgewock tribe.” Oral tradition recounts Colonial Society of Massachusetts Collections, vol. 36, that after the 1724 Norridgewock massacre, “Half- William Bingham’s Lands, 1790–1820 (Boston: arm” Nicola escaped and sought refuge among the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1954), 204– Penobscots on Indian Island in Old Town. See 233; Park Holland, “Plan survey by, of Indian Eckstorm, Old John Neptune, 79, 175n. Lands on both sides of Penobscot River, claim

58 ing” had left “writing” on birchbark for Treat that later was “defaced” by the Indians.126 Wabanaki peoples used birchbark maps, called wikhikenel, to illustrate culturally significant stories, to leave directions for others, and to communicate important information. This incident suggests Introduction that Penobscots were negotiating among themselves as well as with others about what information was to be shared and what knowledge was to be kept to themselves.127 Excessive disclosure of information about Penobscot homeland could be detrimental to their cultural practices and could further dispossess them of their land. Presumably John Neptune made similar choices, revealing some place-names while keeping others and their stories to himself. For Wabanaki peoples, place-names can invoke memories, summon stories, indicate cultural activities associated with a location, or serve as a key to the physical description of their homeland. The numerous Penob- scot and Maliseet place-names in Maine and New Brunswick suggest that settlers and local Native communities still used Wabanaki place- names. In Treat’s journal and plans, these place-names are most numerous on the Penobscot watershed, probably because John Neptune was most familiar with his people’s homeland. After Neptune pronounced the names in the Penobscot language to Treat and Holyoke, Treat tried to write the names phonetically. Varied spelling suggests the challenge of expressing unfamiliar sounds that do not exist in English. Treat took great care in writing place-names in Penobscot and Maliseet, attempting

126. Treat, “Journal,” 69. Although Loring is a Maps,” 25–32; Prins, “Children of Gluskap,” prominent Penobscot family name with its various 95–117; Garrick Mallery, “Picture-writing of spelling through time, this “Mr. Loring” is prob- the American Indians,” Tenth Annual Report of the ably U.S. surveyor N. H. Loring, who the previous Bureau of Ethnology, for 1888–89 (Washington, summer climbed Mount Katahdin with New D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1893), figs. Brunswick Deputy Surveyor William F. Odell. See 457 and 458. Lewis, “Maps, Mapmaking, and Map Carroll, A Good and Wise Measure, 60–67. Use,” 84-86. The Penobscot spelling of wikhikenel 127. Treat, “Journal,” 69; Abraham Gesner, New is awihkhíkanal, referring to a letter or anything Brunswick: With Notes for Immigrants: Comprehending that is written. See Frank T. Siebert, Penobscot the Early History, An Account of the Indians . . . Dictionary, courtesy of and on file at theD epartment (London: Simmonds and Ward, 1847), CIHM of Cultural and Historic Preservation, Penobscot microfiche 35386, 112;L ewis, “The Indigenous Indian Nation, Indian Island, Maine, p. 95.

59 to underline syllables for primary stress and to delineate syllables with commas. Treat’s use of numerous Penobscot and Maliseet place-names, learned Introduction from John Neptune, offers a glimpse into the Wabanaki homeland and worldview.128 As Treat, Neptune, and Holyoke approached Mattawam- keag Point, they encountered a large granite rock situated in the Penob- scot River that, according to Treat, was reminiscent of “a small hay stack.” He learned from Neptune that “Maja-Obseoose or Pimolos Rock” had “a circular hole” in which gifts to Pamola, the spirit of Mount Katahdin, were placed, including “Tobacco, Pipes, [and] Jacknives.” Neptune told Treat that if the presents were taken out of the rock cavity, it meant that the hunting and fishing season would be a good one. Conversely, if the gifts were left in the rock, hunters and fishermen would be less fortunate. This place was the medium of exchange between the Penobscot people and the spirit of Mount Katahdin, a site that associated respect- ful behavior toward Pamola with successful hunts.129 The exposure to Penobscot cultural practices and information assured a healthy and successful journey across the region. Treat’s journal also documents another segment of Maine’s ethnically diverse population, the Acadians on the upper Saint John River, before

128. Arthur J. Krim, “Acculturation of the New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), 19–52; England Landscape: Native and English Toponymy Frederic W. Gleach, Powhatan’s World and Colonial of Eastern Massachusetts,” New England Prospect: Virginia: A Conflict of Cultures (Lincoln: University Maps, Place Names, and the Historical Landscape of Nebraska Press, 1997), 10. (Boston: Boston University, Dublin Seminar for 129. Treat, “Journal,” 32–33; Nicholas N. New England Folklife Annual Proceedings, 1980), Smith, “The Three Faces of Katahdin,” in Papers of 69–88; Paul Carter, The Road to Botany Bay: An the Twenty-second Algonquian Conference, ed. William Exploration of Landscape and History (New York: Cowan (Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1991), Knopf, 1988), 1–33; O’Brien, Dispossession by 336–345; Eugene Vetromile, The Abnakis and Degrees, 168–215. While “worldview” has come their History or Historical Notes on the Aborigines of to have many definitions to different scholars, it Acadia (New York: James B. Kirker, 1866), CIHM is used here primarily to mean how a particular microfiche 33924, 62–67; Calvin Martin, Keepers cultural group perceives themselves “in relation of the Game: Indian-Animal Relationships and the Fur to all else.” Robert Redfield,The Primitive World Trade (Berkeley: University of California Press, and Its Transformations (1953; reprint, Ithaca, N.Y.: 1978), 113–149; Adrian Tanner, Bringing Home Cornell University Press, 1963), 84–110; A. Animals: Religious Ideology and Mode of Production of Irving Hallowell, “Objibwa Ontology, Behavior, the Mistassini Cree Hunters (Saint Johns: Memorial and World View,” in Culture in History: Essays University of Newfoundland, 1979). in Honor of Paul Radin, ed. S. Diamond (New

60 their fate as a borderland community was firmly established. On the eve of the Seven Years’ War (1754–63), British leaders in Nova Sco- tia, who had used French Acadian neutrality as a military advantage in the past and had benefited from the fishing- and agriculture-based so- Introduction ciety, grew intolerant of this minority, viewing them as a threat to their colony. In 1755, after the Acadians refused to swear allegiance to Eng- land, colonial officials, without Crown endorsement or the approval of adjacent colonies, implemented a deportation policy. In this first year alone, the British ousted 7,000 of the 13,000 French Acadians. With English and other Protestant immigration to Nova Scotia, and Acadian expulsion from the region, Halifax became the firstB ritish stronghold in the Maritimes. By the 1763 Treaty of Paris, most French Acadians were dispersed among the English colonies, Quebec, France, England, and in small pockets throughout their homeland.130 On the upper Saint John River, “Madawaskians” told Joseph Treat of their relocation to the river valley after the American Revolution. Small family clusters along the Saint John River, having survived the turmoil of deportation, attempted to resettle the valley. One settlement of 380 people was upriver from their now burned former settlement of Saint Anne’s Point, the site of present-day Fredericton. In 1784, French Acadians were once again uprooted from their homes when Loyalists arrived in the new province of New Brunswick and steadily moved up

130. John G. Reid, “An International Region of 1995), 1–43; Léon Thériault, “Acadia from 1763 the Northeast: Rise and Decline, 1635–1762,” in to 1990,” Acadia of the Maritimes, 45–88; Historical Hornsby et al., The Northeast Borderlands, 10–25; Atlas of Canada, Geoffrey J. Matthews, cartogra- John G. Reid, Six Crucial Decades: Times of Change pher, vol. 1, From the Beginnings to 1800, ed. R. in the History of the Maritimes (Halifax: Nimbus Cole Harris (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Publishers, 1987), 29–57; John G. Reid et al., 1987), plate 30; Prins, The Mi’kmaq, 148–154; eds., The ‘Conquest’ of Acadia, 1710: Imperial, L. F. S. Upton, Micmacs and Colonists: Indian-White Colonial, and Aboriginal Constructions (Toronto: Relations in the Maritimes, 1713–1867 (Vancouver: University of Toronto Press, 2004); Naomi University of British Columbia Press, 1979), 56; E. S. Griffiths,The Context of Acadian History, Geoffrey Plank, An Unsettled Conquest: The British 1686–1784 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill- Campaign against the Peoples of Acadia (Philadelphia: Queen’s University Press, 1992), 95–107; Jean University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001); Geoffrey Daigle, “Acadia from 1604 to 1763: An Historical Plank, “New England Soldiers in the St. John Synthesis,” in Acadia of the Maritimes: Thematic River Valley, 1758–1760,” New England and the Studies from the Beginning to the Present, ed. Jean Maritime Provinces, 59–73. Daigle (Moncton: University of Moncton Press,

61 the river valley, bearing land titles that did not recognize Acadian or Na- tive claims to the land. The next year, Louis Mercure, an Acadian from Ile Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island) who had been a respected courier Introduction for the British, petitioned the province for land to be set aside for a new Acadian settlement in the upper Saint John River Valley. The provincial government approved Mercure’s request and directed the Acadians to settle where the Madawaska River empties onto the Saint John. News of the formation of the new Acadian settlement attracted other Acadian families on the lower Saint John and elsewhere to relocate to Madawas- ka. Within a few years, eighty families received 16,000 acres of Mali- seet land. The initiative for a new settlement on the rich intervale lands on the upper Saint John River made the relocation a voluntary move and less disruptive than the forced expulsion.131 As guests among Acadian families, Treat and his party received not only lodging and food but also information about individual families, their farms, and the land. Acadian knowledge of their history and culture enabled Treat to obtain remarkable descriptions of the Acadian landscape. Treat learned that this largely agricultural society imported expensive goods and supplies from Fredericton, Saint John, and Quebec. Treat, who was apparently unfamiliar with Acadian culture, limited his interactions to affluent individuals. His phonetic spelling of Acadian names suggests that he did not speak French. Despite the cultural differences, Treat remarked at the beauty of the Acadian settlements with their spacious farms and small communities. After Treat and his party portaged around Grand Falls on the Saint John River, the surveyor’s journal shifted from descriptions of Acadian

131. Ann Gorman Condon, The Envy of American Yankees, British, and the St. John Valley French,” States: The Loyalist Dream for New Brunswick New England and the Maritime Provinces, 74–93, (Fredericton: New Ireland Press, 1984); Béatrice 341–347; Reid, Six Crucial Decades, 78–80; Robert Craig, “Migrant Integration and Kinship Ties in a Fellows, “The Loyalists and Land Settlement in Frontier Community, Madawaska, 1785–1850,” New Brunswick, 1783–1790: A Study in Colonial Histoire Sociale / Social History 38 (November Administration,” Canadian Archivist 2, no. 2 (1971): 1986): 277–297; Béatrice C. Craig, “Early French 5–15; Thériault, “Acadia from 1763 to 1990,” Migration to Northern Maine, 1785–1850,” Maine 45–88; W. S. MacNutt, New Brunswick, A History: Historical Society Quarterly 25, no. 4 (Spring 1986): 1784–1867 (Toronto: Macmillan, 1963), 78–82. 230–247; Béatrice Craig, “Before Borderlands:

62 hospitality to what he perceived as a potential threat to Maine. In the event of a war over this disputed territory, Treat made note of the location of houses and activity of settlers near the border. His record of the close social interactions between British-American and American settlers Introduction in this borderland region would have alarmed any state or provincial official. Not only had the British government laid out roads within this disputed territory, but Treat witnessed signs of military defense, despite their dilapidated state and the fact that one was guarded only by a Brit- ish sergeant. Worse still, Americans from New Hampshire were assisting businessmen in Fredericton by clearing land. New Brunswick, Acadian, and American settlement did not adhere to government expectations of where its citizens should be settled, resulting in a disputed borderland region with its own distinct communities, where local negotiations took place without state sanction.132 Twenty-two years after Joseph Treat’s visit to the upper Saint John River Valley, the 1842 Webster-Ashbur- ton Treaty ended Maine’s legacy of being a disputed territory.133 For the many people whom Treat met during his 1820 survey, however, the international border passed through their communities and created a division that served as a vivid reminder of the borderland’s past. On Treat’s return to Bangor in November 1820, Governor King requested an immediate copy of the report, and Treat wrote the governor soon after his return, describing the expedition’s specific route through the interior.134 By December, Treat sent a rough draft of the report taken from his journal, which he considered his private property. He apologized to King for the poor handwriting, caused by “a severe lameness in . . . my right hand.”135 Although the whereabouts of Treat’s official

132. Taylor, “Centers and Peripheries,” 2–15. Nicholas and Prins, “The Spirit in the Land,” 133. Carroll, A Good and Wise Measure, 264–306; 18–37. Howard Jones, To the Webster- Ashburton Treaty: 134. Letter from Joseph Treat to Governor A Study in Anglo-American Relations, 1783–1843 William King, November 21, 1820, WKP, coll. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 165, box 18, folder 13, MeHS. 1977); J. P. D. Dunbabin, “Red Lines on Maps: The 135. Letter from Joseph Treat to Governor Impact of Cartographical Errors on the Border be- William King, December 12, 1820, WKP, coll. tween the United States and British North America, 165, box 18, folder 14, MeHS. 1782–1842,” Imago Mundi 50 (1998): 105–125;

63 report to the state is unknown, Treat’s journal, which appears to be in two different hands, is believed to be a fair copy of the original. It is speculated that the manuscript contained herein is the 1829 commis- Introduction sioned copy.136 By November 1820, Joseph Treat, with the help of John Neptune and Jacob Holyoke, had captured in meticulous detail a depiction of the Maine woods twenty-six years before Henry David Thoreau’s first trip to Maine. Both Treat and Thoreau wrote about the Maine woods, a landscape that occupies a central component in the identity of Maine people. Although some of Thoreau’s comments about “how exceedingly new this country still is” may be a reflection of his experiences in Mas- sachusetts, there were considerable changes that took place between the two trips into Maine’s interior. In 1820, Treat saw probably only a few sawmills north of Bangor, but by 1837 the number had jumped to 250 mills north of Bangor (with a total annual production of 200 million feet of boards). Bangor’s 1820 population of 1,221 people grew to 12,000 by 1846. The 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty that determined Maine’s northern border opened up the Saint John River for an international lumber industry. 137 But with the dramatic changes that occurred between Treat’s and Thoreau’s times, the Penobscots persisted as a people living on their homeland, engaging in traditional practices, and maintaining seasonal mobility even as these ways became intertwined with new economic opportunities. Despite all of the changes that had occurred, Thoreau, on his first trip to Maine in 1846, perceived that the Native people “have never been dispossessed, nor nature disforested.”138

136. Frederick Mellen, Executive Council 3b; Richard W. Judd, “Timber Down the St. John: Reports, March 9, 1829, box 27, folder 2, MeSA. A Study in Maine–New Brunswick Relations,” Maine paid Mellen $45 for the commissioned copy. Maine Historical Society Quarterly 24, no. 1 (Summer 137. Edward D. Ives, “Maine Folklore and the 1984): 195–218; Nicholas and Prins, “The Spirit Folklore of Maine: Some Reflections on the Maine in the Land,” 18–37. Character and Down-East Humor,” Maine Historical 138. Thoreau, Maine Woods, 108; Geoffrey Paul Society Quarterly 23, no. 3 (Winter 1984): 111–132; Carpenter, “Deforestation in Nineteenth-Century Henry David Thoreau, The Maine Woods (New York: Maine: The Record of Henry David Thoreau,” Penguin Books, 1988), 4, 109, 111; Census for 1820, Maine History 38, no. 1 (Summer 1998): 2–35.

64 For the Penobscot Indian Nation today, Joseph Treat’s journal and plans of survey provide a rare snapshot of the river’s use and document how their ancestors lived in their homeland almost 200 years ago. Al- though treaties specified land transactions along the river banks, many Introduction Penobscots today contend that they never ceded their river to the Euro- Americans and continue to maintain sovereignty over it. Self-identified as the “river keepers” of the largest watershed in Maine, the Penobscots can use Joseph Treat’s record of their homeland’s environment to obtain a better understanding of their relationship to the river through time. Similar to the Penobscots in Treat’s time who strove to protect their interests and their knowledge, the Penobscot Nation’s Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation today strives to participate in defining how their history is portrayed. Comparable to John Neptune’s and Joseph Treat’s interaction with Penobscot hunting parties on Chesun- cook Lake, the negotiation process continues today between Penobscots and visitors to their homeland, the outcome to determine what kinds of and how much information is to be shared.139 Despite the intensive amount of organization, planning, money, knowledge, and time required to carry out a fifty-six-day trip through the Northeast borderlands, Treat and Holyoke experienced challenges that were commonplace for Native people: the skills needed to pilot and repair birchbark canoes, the strength required to carry cargo, and, when supplies were depleted, the capability to survive off the land. Along the upper Saint John River, Treat wrote that he would “make my Journal on Birch Bark,” a probable indication of his dwindling paper supply; but this switch to birchbark also was a recognition of the Wabanaki medium of communication.140 John Neptune led Treat’s expedition across his homeland, a long journey that resulted in Maine obtaining one of the

139. Bonnie D. Newsom, Director, Penobscot 140. Treat, “Journal,” 113. Indian Nation’s Department of Historic and Cultural Preservation, Indian Island, Maine, personal communication, February 20, 2003.

65 most detailed accounts of the landscape as it was known to the Waba- naki. Unexpected delays and the early arrival of winter weather led Treat to respect John Neptune’s suggestion for taking an alternative route back Introduction to Bangor. Following an old Wabanaki canoe route between the Saint John and Penobscot rivers in late November, Treat’s party encountered freezing waters on the Mattawamkeag River. The ice, which was too thin to walk on, was also too thick to break with birchbark canoes and wooden paddles. These challenges experienced by Treat and his surveying party, and all the people they met along the way, breathe life into the past. They provide readers with a deeper appreciation of Treat’s and his contemporaries’ human qualities in a world that was very different from our own.141

A Note on the Transcription The accompanying complete “Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820” retains the original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure. Editor’s annotations in the form of footnotes will familiarize readers with the specific locations ofT reat’s survey party and provide contextual information on the many places that they witnessed in the Northeast borderland region. In addition to some questionable punctuation in the journal, Penobscot place-names are sometimes un- clear in it, particularly those involving the letters “g” and “j,” which in the original copy are virtually indistinguishable. Researchers studying place-names in the Eastern Abenaki or Penobscot language may wish to consult the original manuscript for clarification.142

141. For the further exploration and disposal of 1785–1812 (New York: Knopf, 1990), 33–35; these northern lands into private ownership, see Colin G. Calloway, ed., Dawnland Encounters: David C. Smith, Studies in the Land: The Northeast Indians and Europeans in Northern New England Corner (New York: Routledge, 2002), 51–73. (Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 142.Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale: 1991), xii–xiii; McEwen, In Search of the Highlands, The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 9–13.

66 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820

[page 7]1

Bangor, 16th Sept. 1820 I this day received Instructions from His Excellency William King, dated the 11th instant, directing me to proceed up the Penobscot— thence through the Lakes and River St. John, &c. for the purpose of examining and ascertaining the quality of the soil and growth on the Public Land in that vicinity.— Agreeably to these Instructions, I make the necessary arrangements to commence my tour as soon as possible.

1. Joseph Treat, “Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820,” Maine Land Office Field Notes (MLOFN), vol. 14, Maine State Archives, Augusta, Maine (hereafter MeSA). Joseph Treat’s manuscript, which begins on page 7, is 214 pages with 93 maps. The bracketed bold page numbers refer to the original page number of the manuscript. Since most of this 214-page document consists of a page of text followed by a map, there are gaps in the page numbering.

69 [page 8]

—Having previously engaged Lieut. Governor John Neptune to go Journal on this exploring Route with me—sent word to him on the 18th to be and Plans in readiness to start on the 20th—Also called on Capt. Holyoke who had also previously engaged to go.—On the 21st received information of Survey by from Neptune that he could not be reddy, (having a Canoe to finish) for Joseph Treat— several days.— 1820 21st Went to Old Town to make arrangements for the voyage—Nep- tune came to Bangor on

23d furnished him with provisions, cloathing &c. for his family during his absence which I bought of Messrs Barker & Crosby to the amount of $ which goods I sent to Old Town for him—he promised to be ready on Monday the 25th—Mr. Holyoke having business which detained him, we could not go till Tuesday the 26th.

On Monday the 25th getting my stores put up, and making arrangements for the route.—

70 [page 9]

Tuesday, 26th September. Mr. Lambert, with a two horse waggon carried our baggage to Old Town, and after Neptune is ready—with Mr. Journal Holyoke in company, loaded our stores &c. in the canoe—we, Mr. H. and Plans and myself walked to Sunkhaze—then embarked and went up to Mr. of Survey by at the head of Long Island, where we arrived at 9 P.M. and stopped.—2 Joseph Treat— Wednesday 27th. By information received from the Indians who had 1820 lately come down the river, we judged it impossible to get up with all our stores and baggage in one canoe.—and I go on to Long Island and buy a birch canoe and two paddles &c. for $6.—and draw on Messrs Barker and Crosby for $5. pay balance cash—and at 9 A.M. load our canoes and embark—we find the water very low—having taken a sketch of the River, Islands and Streams as I came up I shall now commence a drawing of them from Bangor, in order to give a view of the country and the route I may take.—

2. According to Treat’s survey map, Long Island, which was later called White Squaw Island but recently renamed No Name Island by the Penobscot Indian Nation, is in Argyle, Maine, upriver from Freese Island. Treat, Journal,” 16; Bonnie D. Newsom, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Penobscot Indian Nation, personal communication, January 23, 2007. Surveyors Park Holland and Joseph Treat referred to present-day Freese Island as “Mushquash Island.” See Joseph Treat, “Survey of 8,000 acres to Thomas Johnson,” 1818, MLOFN, MeSA, microfilm vol. 2, p. 17; Park Holland, “Survey of Lots on Birch Stream,” 1814, MLOFN, MeSA, microfilm vol. 1, p. 42.

71 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

72 [page 11]

Tuesday 26th September 1820. Agreeably to Instructions from His Excellency Governor King, respecting a tour of discoveries up the Journal Penobscot, St. Johns, and Aroostick—thinking it advisable to keep a and Plans Journal # and survey of my route and commence at Bangor.—Bangor of Survey by is situated in Lat. 44°. 45’ N.—here the Kenduskee comes in from the N.W. the source of which is 30 miles N.W. from Bangor—it has sev- Joseph Treat— 3 1 eral branches—but no ponds —1/2 miles above is Sausoubagonomick— 1820 1 2 miles above on the W. side is Penjajawock Stream—1/2 to Madaunce 1 on the E. side at short stream—1/2 miles to the head of the tide, which is one mile above Gardner’s falls—from this to Eayres falls there are several falls and rapids.— The land on the River is good, and well cultivated farms.—

# Note. The Instructions from Governor King anticipates only that I keep a memorandum of my route, noticing the growth and soil—and such other remarks as may explain the Report which I may make on my return. I therefore consider this Journal as my private property.— (signed) J. Treat.

3. “Kenduskee” or Kenduskeag means “eel-weir place.” Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, Indian Place-Names of the Penobscot Valley and the Maine Coast, Maine Studies no. 55 (Orono: University of Maine Press, 1941, reprint 1974), 15–16. On his maps from the Penobscot to the Allagash River, Treat put south at the top of the map. After reaching the Saint John River, Treat changed this orientation by putting north at the top, a decision based on the directional change in the flow of the river. Treat, “Journal,” 10 and 101.

73 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

74 [page 13]

1 1/2 miles above the head of the tide a small stream comes in on the E. side called Patajumkis, or a part of a circle.—2 miles above this is Eayres Journal 1 falls.— /2 mile above these falls is No,li,mess,bok,hun,gon falls on the and Plans Stillwater branch at the foot of Marshes Island so called from its being a of Survey by good place for taking fish—this is 7 miles N.E. from Bangor.— Marshes Island is seven miles long and contains 5,000 acres of land, Joseph Treat— on which there are many excellent mill seats at Old Town and Stillwater 1820 in Orono.— Madamiscontis is a considerable stream, has 2 ponds on which are saw and grist mills.—4 Great Works Stream—or Namadunkeeunk which means rapids near the main River—this is a long stream it has 1 small pond. Otter Stream enters Great Works near the River—this is a small stream in summer, but in freshes the water runs through from Sunkhaze Stream, when flowed by the Main River.—5 Sunkhaze is a large Stream has no ponds, but large Meadows and Bogs which flow in freshes 7 miles from the Main River—all these Streams on the E. side.—

4. “Madamiscontis” is known as Blackman Stream today. Eckstorm, Indian-Place Names, 25. 5. “Freshes” or freshet refers to “a flood or over- flowing of a river caused by heavy rains or melted snow.” Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed. (hereafter OED), vol. 6, s.v. “freshet.”

75 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

76 [page 15]

Pushaw is a large Stream has 2 ponds on it the first 7 miles long—this is called, as also the Stream, by the Indians Pig,wa,dook—2d pond called Journal Ne, ca, nun, jee, mack.—6 miles up this Stream on the North comes in and Plans Dead Stream or Co,bissackook, or drift wood stream or obstructed by of Survey by logs and floodwood—This is a long stream and has also 2 ponds—the first called Co,bis,sa,quan,ga,mok—or flood wood ponds—2d the same— Joseph Treat— Half a mile above Pushaw Stream is a small Island called Waal,ca,- 1820 me,go—or Oronos Island. This Stillwater River round Marsh Island is called Waal,buck,- wa,nu,sick from that part between Marsh and Orson Islands running in a contrary direction in the Summer from the Spring—or running up round Marsh Island and down by Pushaw there being a bar at the head of Orson Island dry at low water.—6 Arrived at Old Town at 1.P.M.—left there at 3.P.M. the Present residence of the Penobscot Indians, and since their residence has been on the Penobscot or Rocky Island the whole River has taken the same name— this has not been their chief place of Residence they say more than 1 or 200 years—their Towns were formerly on Now,at, kee,mongon and Passadunkee Islands.—7 Old Town Island is situated 40 rods above the great falls of the same name, and is a very pleasant place.—8

6. According to Eckstorm, the Penobscots called 7. Treat and his surveying party arrived on the Stillwater River between Orson and Marsh present-day Indian Island, Penobscot Indian Islands “Kwelbejwanosick,” referring to “where Reservation. The old Penobscot village at the waters turn when they meet.” At high water, “Now,at,kee,mongon” is present-day Freese the yearly current runs toward Indian Island; at Island, the first island upriver from Indian Island. low water, it flows away from it. Eckstorm, Indian “Passadunkee” Island, commonly referred to Place-Names, 32; Treat, “Journal,” 14. Thorofare Island today, is located just upstream of Orson Island is derived from the Native pro- the mouth of the Passadumkeag River. Eckstorm, nunciation of the French baptismal name of “Jean” Indian Place-Names, 40, 46; Treat, “Journal,” 20. or John, pronounced “Aw-sawn.” David S. Cook, 8. A rod is a measure of length equivalent to 5.5 Above the Gravel Bar: The Indian Canoe Routes of yards or 16.5 feet. Maine (Milo, Me.: Milo Printing Co., 1985), 56; Eckstorm, Indian Place-Names, 38–39.

77 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

78 [page 17]

Sunkhaze is a large Stream coming in from the east.— The land on both sides of the River from this Stream up to Sugar Is- Journal land is very good for one mile back—some ridges run further—but gen- and Plans erally the back land is not so good, low boggy and wet—on the shores of Survey by is fine intervale running back from 20 to 100 rods—the Islands are all excellent land, alluvial soil, covered with a fine growth of hard wood, Joseph Treat— such as Grey oak, Rock, Red and White maple, yellow Birch, Beach and 1820 Elm.—this tract must from appearances have formerly been a Lake, and now is mostly flowed in high freshes.—9 Arrived at Castagan’s at 9.P.M. and stop there.—10

Wednesday 27. Proceed up river—after buying another Birch Canoe, which I am under the necessity of doing as I find by information from Beeson who has lately returned from Canada, that the water up the West Branch is extremely low—that it will be almost impossible to get up with our baggage in one canoe.—Drew an order on Messrs Barker & Crosby for $5. in part pay for Canoe and Paddles—paid cash $1.00.—

9. “Intervale” refers “to a low level tract of land especially along a river” that is usually flooded during the spring thaw. OED, vol. 8. 10. W. Castagan lived on the west side of the Penobscot River, across from the northern end of Long or White Squaw Island. The present-day town of Costigan, Maine, is on the east side of the river, downriver from W. Castagan’s original homestead and adjacent to Freese Island. Treat, “Journal,” 16.

79 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

80 [page 19]

From Sugar Island upwards the Banks are much higher than below, the good land extends further back from the river—Sugar and Olemon Journal are beautiful Islands, the latter contains 500 acres, the former 200 excel- and Plans lent soil, growth hard wood.— of Survey by Olemon, or Paint Stream, so called, by reason of the Indians having formerly found good red paint or red ochre on this stream.—11 Joseph Treat— 1820 11. See David Sanger, “‘Red Paint People’ and Other Myths of Maine Archaeology,” Maine History 39, no. 3 (Fall 2000): 145–167; Brian S. Robinson, “A Regional Analysis of the Moorehead Burial Tradition: 8500–3700 B.P.,” Archaeology of Eastern North America 24 (1996): 94–148.

81 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

82 [page 21]

The land on the River banks continues good up to Passadunkee Stream—This is a long and large stream—comes in from the E. it has on Journal all its branches fifteen ponds, some of which are large—the land on the and Plans banks of this stream thirty miles up is very low, but has much rich inter- of Survey by vale and meadow—the up land is said not to be very good. there is much Pine timber on this stream and its branches—on the State’s land as well Joseph Treat— as that sold to Bingham.— 1820 Arrived at Capt. Haynes at 5 P.M. and having been disappointed of getting a tent from Col. Lee, Mrs. Haynes commences making one of cot- ton cloth brought for the purpose and have to wait for it until Thursday 28th noon.—then embark and proceed up river taking a sketch of the River, &c.12

Thursday 28th September 1820. The land on the banks of the River on both sides is very good from Passadunkee to Pascataquis.—

12. Captain and Mrs. Haynes’s residence was just upriver from the mouth of the Passadumkeag River on the west shore of the Penobscot River. Treat, “Journal,” 20.

83 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

84 [page 23]

From Pascataquis to Madamiscontis the land on the River does not appear so good as below—the growth generally pine, hemlock and spruce Journal and mixed—soil rather rocky. and Plans We find the water very low in the river, and at Piscataquis falls have of Survey by to haul the canoes up the rapids.— The land from Piscataquis up River appears to be middling soil hem- Joseph Treat— lock, spruce and pine and hard wood mixed growth and on the banks 1820 would make good farming land.—

85 86 [page 25]

Opposite Long Island the land appears better and more hard wood.— Journal We arrive at and pass the lower Mowhawk Rips, and camp at 6 P.M. and Plans in a camp built by the Messrs Dudleys.—13 of Survey by Friday 29. September. Joseph Treat— Fair morning—start at 7.a.m.—The land good, mixed growth. Banks 1820 rise gently from the River—On the west side above Madamiscontes is very pleasant shores and hard wood—good land from the stream upwards—and on the East side is middling land, mixed growth.— The Horse-back or Ridge, which commences at Cold Stream Point running northerly—ends near the river back of and near Manockanock Island and is the best place for making a Road up River—this Ridge is cut by the River only and begins again on the West side 1 mile below Madanacook and runs northerly up to the grand falls on W. Branch, says Neptune.—14

13. Mr. Dudley’s camp, located on the west shore of the Penobscot River, was across from Mohawk Island. Treat, “Journal,” 24. 14. The geological feature described by John Neptune is an esker, “a winding ridge of sand or gravel deposited from streams flowing in tunnels beneath melting glaciers.” Humans and animals often made pathways or trails along the tops of eskers to traverse wetlands. Maine eskers, which are the longest in the world, are usually called horsebacks or whalebacks. Dabney W. Caldwell, Roadside Geology of Maine (Missoula, Mt.: Mountain Press Publishing Co., 1998; 2000), 16–17, 103, 124–125, 151–152, and 298.

87 88 [page 27]

Here we enter Madanacook, Mad water, a very pleasant beautiful River 100 rods to a half mile wide—the land on the banks good on both Journal sides—from a high hill on the W. shore 1 mile below Madnacook is a and Plans fine view of the land onE . side, the ridges of Cold Stream, Madanacook, of Survey by N°. 4. N°. 1 & 2. are seen from here, there is a large tract of good land in this vicinity on the E. and good land a mile or 2 back on the W. side.— Joseph Treat— 1 Madnacook is a large Island 1/2 or 2 miles long, good soil—near the 1820 head of this on the West side comes in Madunkeeunk—this is a large stream has one pond 15 miles up.—Excellent pine on this stream and a good mill seat near the River.—15

15. “Madnacook” or Mattanawcook Island is adjacent to present-day Lincoln, Maine. Treat, “Journal,” 26; Jacques Ferland, “Mattanawcook Islanders and the Meaning of Family among Nineteenth-Century Penobscot Indians,” paper presented at the Norlands Living History Center, Livermore, Maine, June 13, 1997 (on file with author).

89 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

90 [page 29]

The land on both sides the River is good and hard wood growth up Agumballalasses Stream and Ponds and between those and Madanacook Journal Ponds and Streams.— and Plans Very pleasant shores and good land on both sides from Augumballal- of Survey by lasses Stream to Essbonagick Island—then more rocky—River about 50 1 Joseph Treat— rods wide—Excellent hard wood land on both sides. About 1/2 miles above Essbonagick, and opposite the foot of Essbontibiss Island there 1820 are several clearings made on the E. side by Messrs Woodbury and others from Orrington.—

91 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

92 [page 31]

The land continues good on each side. River wide and pleasant—shores gravel and sandy—very pleasant Journal Islands.— and Plans The large Ridge of Land on the E. side above Gumballallasses is seen of Survey by from the River from 1 to 2 miles below the fiveI sland Rips—a very fine Ridge of hard wood land.— Joseph Treat— Five Island Rips we had to haul up our canoes—water very low— 1820 1 /2 mile above these rapids is the Five Islands, all of which lie nearly opposite each other and form a very pleasant view16—the line of the two lower townships reserved by the Indians runs each way 6 miles from the river from the head of the Eastern-most Island—thence up on each side the river 6 miles.—17

16. “Five Islands Rips” or rapids are at present- day Houston Island or just north of present-day Winn, Maine. Treat, “Journal,” 30. 17. The “two lower townships” refers to the two of the four upper Penobscot townships that were six miles square. In the 1818 Penobscot treaty with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Penobscots retained their right to what was commonly referred to as the four upper Indian townships. The first was located on the east bank, the second on the west bank of the Penobscot River at the mouth of the Madawamkeag River. See “Treaty made by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the Penobscot tribe of Indians, June 29, 1818,” in Acts and Resolves Passed by the Twenty- third Legislature of the State of Maine, A.D. 1843 (Augusta: Wm. R. Smith & Co., 1843), 253–256.

93 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

94 [page 33]

Maja—Obseoose, or Pimolos Rock—This is a large Rock of granite in form of a small hay stack—and on the South side near the top is a Journal circular hole in form of a pot 2 feet deep—the Indians say it has been and Plans their custom to place in this cavity when the water is low, presents for of Survey by Pimola, of Tobacco, Pipes, Jacknives &c., and if they are not taken out, they have a bad season for hunting and fishing the next year—and if Joseph Treat— 1 taken out they have great good luck in every thing.— /2 mile above this 1820 Rock the Madawamkee comes in from the S.E. this is a large and long stream—it has on all its branches 13 ponds, some very large.—18 Madawamkee Point, North of the Stream, the present residence of John Attien, the Indian Governor, is a very pleasant situation—there are three very good Wigwams here, and they have raised this season 60 bushels of corn—200 bushels of potatoes—beans and peas &c.—The corn is of a small yellow kind and ripened early and is good.—Arrived at the Governor’s camp at 7.P.M. and stay here this night.—19

18. Located near the west shore of the Penobscot and Penobscot beliefs on Mount Katahdin, see River, this rock was just downriver from Penobscot Eugene Vetromile, The Abnakis and Their History, governor John Attean’s camp at Mattawamkeag or Historical Notices on the Aborigines of Acadia (New Point, on the northern side of the mouth of the York: James B. Kirker, 1866), Canadian Institute river. Treat, “Journal”, 32. of Historical Microfilms 33924, 62–68; Fannie 19. John Attean (1778–1858) was born on Hardy Eckstorm, “The Katahdin Legends,” “Pimskwamkikiak island, (the water-town on the Appalachia 16 (1924), 29–52; Eckstorm, Indian gravel,) called by the Americans Sugar island,” Place-Names, xxii–xxiii; Alvin H. Morrison, “The eleven miles upriver from Old Town, Maine. He Spirit of Law versus the Storm Spirit: A Wabanaki was inaugurated chief or governor of the Penobscot Case,” in Papers of the Thirteenth Algonquian people in 1816. Treat, “Journal,” 32; The Democrat Conference, ed. William Cowan (Ottawa: Carleton (Bangor, Me.), Tuesday, May 25, 1858; Fannie University Press, 1982), 179–191; Nicholas N. Hardy Eckstorm, Old John Neptune and Other Smith, “The Three Faces of Katahdin,” in Papers of Maine Indian Shamans (1945; reprint, University the Twenty-second Algonquian Conference, ed. William of Maine Press, 1980), 106–107; Eckstorm, Cowan (Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1991), Indian-Place Names, 41. For information on Pamola 336–345.

95 96 [page 35]

Saturday morning 30th September 1820. Fair weather.— After repairing our canoes, which, in consequence of the low water, Journal are very much worn with the rocks in passing the shoals and rapids, we and Plans embark at 8.A.M. and proceed up River. of Survey by From Madawamkeag to Madasunk Rips, the River is wide and still water, fine gravelly and sandy shores, good land on both sides, particu- Joseph Treat— larly on the east.—The Penobscot Indians own this land from the 5 Is- 1820 1 lands thence up River 6 miles the north line of the 2 Townships is /2 mile above Madaseunk Rips.— The land appears to be very good on each side the River from Salmon Stream up to Neckeetow. We this day are obliged several times to lighten our canoes and haul them up the rapids and over the sand and several bars, of which there are many from Madawamkeag to Neckeetow.— We arrive at a point on the west side of the River below and near Neckeetow Island and camp at 6.P.M.20

20. “Neckeetow” or Nicatow Island, which refers to a “fork of a river,” is located at the juncture of the East and West Branches of the Penobscot River, between present-day Millinocket and Medway. In the 1818 treaty with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Penobscots retained their rights to the islands in the Penobscot River. In 1824, the Maine Legislature passed a resolve authorizing the governor to negotiate with the Penobscot Indians to sell their islands to the state. By 1828, the legislature approved the Penobscot sale of Nicatow Island. Eckstorm, Indian Place-Names, 63; “Treaty made by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the Penobscot tribe of Indians, June 29, 1818,” 253– 256; Resolves of the Fourth Legislature of the State of Maine (Portland: Todd & Smith, 1824), 324–325, ch. 37; Resolves of the Eighth Legislature of the State of Maine (Portland: Thomas Todd, 1828), 808, ch. 48; Treat, “Journal,” 36.

97 98 [page 37]

Sunday morning 1st October 1820. Fine weather.— Went on to the Great Hill below Neckeetow, and find Ktadne Peak Journal bears N. 29 W. distant 35 miles elevation between 4 and 5 degrees.— and Plans From this Hill we have a fine view of the surrounding Country—we of Survey by see a fine ridge of land running N.W. from Sologismoodic point, up past Neckeetow. Also a fine ridge hard and mixed land between Salm- Joseph Treat— on Stream and Penobscot River and Wassatauaick or E. Branch there 1820 is some good pine timber on both sides the River from S. Stream to Neckeetow.— The water in the West Branch is very low, and thinking we shall make but little progress, and the season late, we deem it expedient to proceed on Sunday as the loss of time and provisions would be fatal to our expe- 1 dition—we therefore proceed up the West Branch at /2 past 8.A.M.— 1 Very low water in E. Branch not /2 as large as the West—A good ridge hard and mixed land appears often on the west as we pass up River.—E. side poor land and after passing Escootis Stream the land poor, rocky, growth pine spruce hemlock, &c. on both sides—have to haul our canoes by several rips.—

99 100 [page 39]

The River is 50 to 60 rods wide at Madithaz Rips and the water spreads so much that we can find no channel and haul our canoes the whole Rips Journal which are nearly half a mile long.— and Plans The land continues rocky, poor soil. Growth pine, spruce and hemlock of Survey by and mixed from Escootis Stream to Nolisemack Island and Pond,—The line of the Indians 2 Northern Townships crosses the River at the foot Joseph Treat— of Nolesemack Island running N. & S. this line is half a mile east of the 1820 1 foot of the Pond—at which we arrived at /2 past 6 P.M. and camped at the mouth of Millinoqick Stream.—21

Monday morning 2d. October, at 8.a.m. proceeded up Millinogick 1 Stream 1/2 miles to the Portage—this is a still Stream sandy bottom and shores, it has several branches—the largest has its source near and S. of Ktadne—the largest Pond is 6 or 7 miles long has 50 Islands in it—growth on this stream to the Portage is a mixture of pine, hemlock, spruce and hard wood good soil, this is in the Indian tract.—22 Arrive at the Portage at 9.a.m. unload our canoes and pack up our baggage to cross the Portage to the Main River—Mr. Holyoke and myself in one canoe return to Noliseemack Pond, leaving Neptune to carry his canoe and part of the baggage across the portage, which we go round by the Pond and Grand falls to the Portage.—

21. Treat and his surveying party were just south of the present-day town of Millinocket, Maine. 22. The “Indian tract” refers to the other two upper Penobscot townships (no. 3 and no. 4) on the West Branch of the Penobscot River, located around present-day Millinocket, Maine. See “Treaty made by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the Penobscot tribe of Indians, June 29, 1818,” 253–256.

101 102 [page 41]

1 We arrive at the Pond at /2 past 11.A.M. and take a sketch of the Pond from the mouth of Milenogick then proceed up the Pond and River to Journal the Grand Falls—here we see Nature’s curious work. On each side is a and Plans bluff head of Slate Stone for several rods below the fall which appears to of Survey by have been worn up Stream, and the appearance of the water wearing the rocks 20 feet above the level of the water, the rocks cut and carved into Joseph Treat— all shapes large holes gutted and worn down—the River at falls narrows 1820 to 10 rods wide and at the fall which is nearly perpendicular over a ledge across the river is not more than 100 ft. wide and falls about 15 feet, the fish go over these falls—this is a famous place for taking fish—from the head of the Pond round to the Portage is about 5 miles, and from Grand falls is almost one continued fall or rapid, the whole descent in this distance is nearly two hundred feet—The soil is very rough rocky and poor—growth pine spruce and hemlock and mixed hard wood—We arrived at the Portage and met Neptune at 6.P.M.—having sketched the River to the Portage—carried canoe more than one mile in the distance up River rough and large rocks—water low.—

103 104 [page 43]

Tuesday morning 3d. October 1820. Mr. Holyoke and Neptune went across the Portage for the remainder Journal of baggage, which Neptune had left yesterday he having been sick in and Plans the afternoon was unable to bring the whole yesterday—this portage is of Survey by 1 about 1/2 miles—they returned at 11.A.M.—We embark and proceed up River after repairing our canoes which were much worn.— Joseph Treat— We carry by the short Portage, and haul our canoes up the other rap- 1820 ids, and at 2 o’clock arrive at the foot of Quakis Pond. The land from the Portage up to Pond appeared to be good, growth mixed, good pine. Quakis is 2 miles long E & West—The land on the North side looks well good hard wood and pine mixed—The land on N. side river appears to be good, growth hard wood and pine mixed—We arrived at a small bay or small Pond in the River called Nol,um,bagis—or the Pool—at 6 P.M. and camp on the north side.—23

Wednesday 4. October, embark and proceed up river and pass through a small Pond called Baam,chee,nun,ga,mis—the land good on the north side River and Pond, growth hard wood and mixed some good pine— 3 We then go about /4 mile to foot of Kep,chee,chee,wock Pond.—

23. “Quakis Pond” or Quakish Lake is between present-day Elbow and Ferguson Lakes.

105 106 [page 45]

This Pond is between 3 and 4 miles long lying nearly N.W. and S.E. and has a branch running off S. Westerly which is near 2 miles long, Journal and is called War,ree,nip,ta,wee,keek—Burnt land round the south and Plans side of these Ponds—Land rocky—soil poor—growth principally pine of Survey by and mixed, now a small growth of hard wood.—On the west of these Ponds is a fine ridge hard wood land—On the East side near the Pond Joseph Treat— the land appears to be poor—the growth pine, spruce and hemlock, &c. 1820 some Bogg.—There appears a good ridge hard wood land between 2 & 3 miles E. of the Pond running N. & S. between this Pond and Milinogick stream—There is good pine on the East of this Pond, and all the tract between the River and Milinogick from Noliseemack pond up to the head of Kep,chee,chee,wok Pond—There is a small Pond lying East from the head of this about one mile, round which is good pine timber.— From the head of this Pond we pass through a Strait, and over Rips and through a crooked passage about half a mile to the foot of Ba,mee,dum,cock Pond which has two large Bays or Branches, and by a Strait is connected with Um,bo,jee,joos Pond.—

107 108 [page 47 with map]

Bameedamcock Pond. The Western Bay of this Pond which lies about N.W. and S.E. is as much as 6 or 7 miles long—a fine ridge of hard wood land on the west side, 4 or 5 miles long—We did not go up the N.W Bay—but passed into the Strait between two large Islands, thence up to the land Bar between Umbojeejoos point and the long point between the East Bay of Bameedumcock and Um- bojeejoos Pond—thence through the Strait between Bameedumcock and Umbejeejoos Point—The East Bay of Bameedumcock Pond is as Neptune says 3 or 4 miles long N. + S.—Umbojeejoos Pond is about 1 2 /2 or 3 miles long N.W. & S. E.— The land around this Pond is not good—Rough rocky and burnt—A young growth of hard wood is to be seen from this Pond on every side.—24 We proceeded to the head of the Pond, then up the right hand channel to the first falls where Neptune filled his canoe in shoving up the falls. the water being very deep below the rapids, it was some minutes before we got our baggage out of the water—wet all our bread and other articles in that canoe—Reloaded and went up a few rods to the Portage, which is one hundred rods across.—

24. “Umbojeejoss Pond” is probably Ambajejus Lake.

109 110 [page 49]

And at 5.P.M. got our baggage across and embarked and proceeded up River, intending to get to Tepskanugick Pond, but the water being Journal extremely low and several rapids to pass we were until 6.P.M. in get- and Plans 1 ting to the Portage /2 mile below the Pond—and camped at the Portage of Survey by Landing.— Joseph Treat— thursday 5. October 1820. 1820 The rain which commenced about 12 o’clock last night and continued raining very hard until 7.P.M.—and commenced again at 10.P.M. and rained some all night—We remained here this day.—

Friday 6. October—8.A.M. cloudy and looked like rain—Embarked 1 and proceed up River and go about 1 /4 miles to the foot of Tepskinigick Pond—Poor burnt land round this Pond a large burnt hill on the South and another on the West between this and Beskumgamis Pond—This 1 Pond Tepskanugick is 1/2 miles long N.W & S.E.—we arrive at the Por- tage and unload pass the Portage on the W. side about 80 rods across—in which distance the River falls 40 or 50 feet—At 12. it commences rain- 1 ing—We pass up Ponguangomak Pond 1 /4 miles long—At 1.P.M. rains hard, We stop at Capt. Francis’ Camp on the E. Side—it continues raining, and remain here till

111 112 [page 51]

Saturday morning 7. October 1820.—Cold clear weather although it has rained as much as 18 hours, within the last 2 days, yet we cannot Journal perceive that the river has risen more than 1 or 2 inches.—After passing and Plans Bamadumcock Lake the River is small and is now so extremely low it of Survey by is with the greatest difficulty we can ascend the rapids, which are over large coarse Rock of Granite among which the Stream is divided and Joseph Treat— sometimes is nearly lost under the rocks.— 1820 We embark and proceed up River about 1 mile to the foot of the Por- tage—from here the S. Peak of Ktaadne bears N. 32. E. distance 9 or 10 1 miles the elevation is about 7 /2 degrees or near 8 degrees.—We carry by this Portage on the West-side about 90 rods—the River falls 40 or 50 3 feet in this distance—We then go up rapid water /4 mile to a Portage on the E. side and carry across 50 rods in this distance a fall of 15 feet—we 3 then proceed up River passing several rapids /4 to O,bol,gock,mages,sick a stream coming from Ktne. also another Stream 40 R. above the first called by the same name.—called so from the land round about being burnt or bald land and hills—Water very clear in these streams.—25

25. Treat and his surveying party were on the West Branch of the Penobscot River, approaching Mount Katahdin.

113 [page 52]

We arrived at Obolgockmagessick at 2.P.M.—The wind blew very hard Journal from N.W. made it very different to ascend the River among the rocks— and Plans stop here and get dinner.—Capt. Francis and Louis Neptune overtake us here and propose going on to Ktadne Mountain—The Indians think the of Survey by water is so extremely low that it will be very difficult if not impossible Joseph Treat— to ascend the River to Cheesuncook until the water rises which they 1820 think will not be more than two days.— Deeming it important to get all the information respecting the Coun- try about Ktadne I concluded to ascend the mountain where I can obtain much accurate information as to the number of Lakes and their names and bearing from Ktadne—as also the quality of the land in that vicinity—the loss of time can be very trifling compared with the advantages to be gained—and accordingly accompanied by Mr. Holyoke, Neptune, F. Lolon, and L. Neptune, we leave the River to ascend the mountain at 1 /2 past 3 P.M.—travelled North Easterly over very rough rocky burnt land first rising a great Hill the summit of which is 2 or 3 miles from the River, then descending a little to a stream from the Mtn. Called Obol- gokmagessick, where we camp being about 4 miles from the River.—

114 [page 53]

Sunday morning 8th October—fine clear cold weather—After getting 1 breakfast at /2 past 6.A.M. Strike our tent and pursue our journey up the Journal Mtn.—we arrive at the summit at 1 P.M extremely cold. and Plans This mountain is at least 6,000 feet high—it is N. 42. E. from the of Survey by mouth of the Obolgockmagessick stream or 2 streams the mouths of which are 40 rods apart one coming from the S. side, the other from the Joseph Treat— West from near the top of the Mtn. 10 miles distance to the top26—we 1820 deposited a bottle of Rum, and a bottle containing the Constitution of Maine and a by each of us on lead placed under a rock over which Major Odel had made a Monument on the summit of the Mtn.27—We arrived at the summit taking the bearings of Ponds and Mtns. until 4 P.M. when we descended the steep South part at an angle of 40 degrees 2 miles to the New Stream or Launch in the Mtn. we then descended this Gulph 2 miles at an angle of 20 degrees to the place where we left a 1 part of our baggage, and encamped at /2 past 7.P.M.— Note

26. Mount Katahdin’s highest elevation, Baxter Peak, is 5,267 feet (according to Tom Seymour, The Hiker’s Guide to Maine [Helena, Mont.: Falcon Press Publishing Co., 1995], 20–22). 27. In the summer of 1804, Joseph Treat accompanied Charles Turner’s survey party up Mount Katahdin, where they deposited a bottle of rum and a lead plate with inscriptions of the party member’s initials. Charles Turner Jr., “A Description of Natardin or Catardin Mountain—Being an Extract from a Letter, . . . in the Summer of 1804 . . . ,” Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, second series, vol. 8 (1819; reprint, New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968), 112–116.

115 [page 54]

Note—The bearings of Mountains from Ktadne—Mountains Journal Magajous—Peeked Mtn. on head Madwamkeg N. 71. E. 40 miles and Plans Sins,ka,hea,gan,ad,jo, or Arrow Mtn. (Peaked) N. 25 W. 10 miles Sam,boo,tow,an—Moose head Lake center—S. 75. W. 40 m. of Survey by bearings of Ponds from summit of Ktadne Mtn. Joseph Treat— Head of Milinaujick. S. 2. E. foot of do. S. 23 E. 14 miles distant lies 1820 nearly S.E. and N.W.— 1st Nec,sunk,a,mok—head E. end S. 23. E. foot do. S. 1. W. 1 m. 2d ditto—head S. 2. W. foot do S. 13. W. 1 mile long lyg E. +. W. Noliseemack centre S. 13 E. Madamiscontis S. 2. E. Sea, boo,is Piss. S. 1. W. Ptquakis S. 4 E.—Beskungamick S. 5. E. Ba,mec,dum,cock S.E. Bay. S. 4. W. foot or S. Bay & River S. 50 W. dist: 20.m. ditto head N.W. Bay or upper end N. 50 W. dist. 15 m. 1 Umbojeejoos Pt. S. 9. W. S.E. Bay Umbos. Pd S. 5. W. head S. 12 /2 W. Kep,chu,chu,wok—foot S. 3. W. head do. S. 10. W. Wa,ree,nip,ta,wee,kek. foot S. 6. W. head ditto S. 14 W. 1st Cock,ob,skis, Piss. water center S. 9. W. 2d ditto ditto ditto S. 17. W. Schoodiac large Lake Piss. water center S. 20.W. Nec,ca,nunk,a,mick—Piss. water center S. 25 W.

116 [page 55]

Me,lop,squan,gan Center S. 25. W. Besk,ung,a,mick Center S. 25. W. Journal Teps,ka,nec,gick Center S. 25 W. and Plans Na,ma,kan,ta, S. End S. 40 W. N. end S. 55. W. of Survey by Ma,ga,im,quas,sa,bam, S. End S. 40 W N. end S. 55 W. Un,gunt,a,bunt Centre S. 80 W Joseph Treat— No,lun,go,moick, centre West 1820 Moo,see,wadjo Centre N. 86 W. head do. Ma,nee,ko,bon,tik, N. 84 W. head ditto N. 70 W. Bes,ka,ba,gick centre n. 75 W. Chee,sun,cook foot N°. 81° 30’ W. head ditto N. 45 W. 20 miles Quee,nee,sun,ga,mick centre n. 45 W Kok,quan,go,mick centre n. 38 W. Mus,kee,quan,ga,mack centre N. 40 W. Chee,kok,quan,go,mook, St. John’s water centre n. 38. W. Pee,wan,ga,mas,sick do do n. 37. W. 1st Pon,quan,go,mack Pen. water do n. 35. W 2d '' '' '' '' do water large do n. 32 W. Wal,lun,quan,go,mo St. John’s water do n. 32 W. Pun-guan,go,moos '' '' '' n. 27. W. Wol,las,ta,qua,ga,quak,un,go,mo— '' n. 27. W. Na,sa,wat,na,hank '' '' n. 25. W. * See last pages in the book for remainder.—28

28. Contrary to Treat’s comment about additional Penobscot place-names at the end of his journal, the manuscript at the Maine State Archives does not contain these place-names.

117 [page 56 with map]

1 The Land from Ktne upwards this days journey which is about 5 /2 Journal miles is very hilly, rocky and poor soil—except some intervales on the and Plans River and about the Pond—Growth mixed and some good Pine The River passes through near high mountains on each side— of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

118 [page 57]

Monday morning 9 October. Cloudy and cold.— 1 At /2 past 5. pursued our route down the Mtn. following the New Journal brook 2 miles, thence across to Obologokmagessick where we arrived and Plans at 8 o’clock got breakfast and embarked and proceed up river—we find of Survey by the water very low, fell 2 inches since yesterday morning, and the river full of rough high granite rocks, among which we find it difficult to pass Joseph Treat— 1 and have to haul our canoes or carry them by many of the rapids—2 /2 1820 miles above Abolgokk we pass a stream coming in from the N.E. and one mile above this we come to great fall 10 feet nearly perpendicular over a Ledge—the River here is not more than 8 rods wide—this is op- 1 posite a Portage of about /2 mile—which is passed on the N.E. side of 1 the River. /2 a mile above the falls is the foot of a Pond 1 mile long called Na,sou,ad,na,hunk,a,moo,sis—there is a range of mountains on S.W. side of the River and Pond and a large Bald rocky mountain on the N.E. side 1 mile above the Pond. We went up rapid and shoal water 1 mile above this Pond and found the water so low we could not proceed unless we carry a long distance.— Camp at 5.P.M. on the N.E. side.—

119 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

120 [page 59]

Tuesday morning 10th October.— It commenced raining last night at 10 P.M. and continued till 6.A.M. Journal this morning—but we do not perceive any rise in the River. We embark and Plans at 7 A.M. and pursue our route up River—We have to carry 40 rods of Survey by by shoal rips above where we camp. We meet 4 Indians with 2 canoes 2 men carrying their baggage by land and the other two hauling the Joseph Treat— Barks down stream among the rocks they tell us it is almost impossible to 1820 get up to Cheesuncook unless we carry half the distance—however we 3 head up River in hopes the last rain may raise the river—After going /4 mile we come to the Portage on the S. side River by a great fall say 20 feet—Portage is one hundred rods—we still find River bad to pass and have to haul or carry by the rapids—the land on each side rocky and mountainous—growth mixed— some good intervale near the River, but narrow—with great fatigue and exertion we get about 2 mile above the 1 last Portage, and camp on the S.W. side at /2 past 5 P.M. it then raining a little.—

121 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

122 [page 61]

Wednesday 11th October 1820. Wind S.E. commenced raining at day light and continued until half past 4 P.M. when it cleared, and wind Journal changed to S.W. and at 10 P.M. commenced raining again till 12 mid- and Plans night—remained here.— of Survey by Thursday 12th October cloudy and cold morning. We find the water Joseph Treat— has risen in the River 6 inches, we embark and head up River at 8.A.M. 1820 1 /2 mile to the Grand Portage—we land on the S.W. side. Messrs H. & 1 N. carry the baggage and canoes across the Portage which they say is 3 /2 miles—and describe it as follows, viz, 1 mile spruce and mixed low land near the River crossing a stream on which is a small pond near the road— 3 then rising and winding up a steep hard wood rocky Mtn. /4 mile—then 1 1 level hard wood land /4 mile—thence up a steep spruce hill /2 mile, then 1 1 descending same /4 mile—Cedar swamp /4 mile then descending good 1 hard wood land /4 mile to the foot No,lan,ga,mock Pond.—I went up by and in the River taking a survey and find it between 2 & 3 miles—found the river very narrow being confined between large bluff rocks on each side almost the whole distance, and very difficult to get along by the banks or by river—at 3 o’clock on my arrival at Pond met Holyoke and Neptune with first load. They returned for remainder of baggage while I cut wood and pitched tent near foot of the Pond, they arrived at 6.P.M. with next load having brought but Neptune’s canoe.—The Land on the S.W. side this pond at the foot under a high hard wood hill is excellent soil hard wood but the

123 [page 62]

land by the portage on both sides hilly and rocky poor soil—growth Journal mixed—some pine.— and Plans From 9 a.m. all day and during the night the wind blew hard from N.W. very cold.— of Survey by From Nolangamick Pond we discover snow on Ktadne, and the sur- Joseph Treat— rounding mountains all covered with snow. We camp this night at Por- 1820 tage at Nolongamick Pond.—

Note. 8 Marble Quarry 1 Twenty rods below the foot of an Island, and about /2 a mile or 100 rods below the foot of Nolongamick Pond—in ascending by the South West Bank of the River, which here is very narrow being confined by high cliffs on each side—I discovered some rocks that attracted my attention—the outside of a dark brown or black and full of holes of all sizes and shapes, which appeared to be worn by the water, or to have been of different kinds of matter—and on examination found within this crust very excellent White Marble in great quantities—the vein runs across the River in N.E. and S.W. direction—some places I found it streaked with veins of red, purple, and blue—being alone and having no imple- ment to get off any quantity, I only

124 [page 63] got some small pieces as a sample—the largest of them by accident was left at the Portage—having 4 of the smallest only in my pocket.— Journal and Plans Note.— Nolangamick is a handsome Pond. The upper end gravelly shores— of Survey by mixed growth—After passing the head of this Pond we got into a more Joseph Treat— level country having passed the great hills through which the River 1820 passes—from Ktne. to Cheesunkook it is a rough hilly country poor land generally.—

125 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

126 [page 65 with map]

Friday 13th October 1820. Cold morning—Wind N.W—Neptune went part way back the Portage for his canoe left last night—At 9.a.m. Journal 1 embarked and went up No,lan,ga,moik Pond, which 2 /2-3 miles long— and Plans the wind hard at N.W. arrived at head Pond at 11—Thence up the riv- of Survey by er crossing two very short Portages—about 200 rods to the Portage to Cheesuncook which is about 80 rods across by the river to the foot of Joseph Treat— the Lake, where we arrived at 1 P.M. and after getting dinner went up 1820 the Pond—the lower end of which is 2 miles across E & W. fine pine round the foot of the Pond—after passing the first narrow place which 1 is /2 mile wide the land appears good growth mixed and from 4th to 6th mile all fine hard wood—beautiful ridge on S.W. side—and onE . side at 6th mile where we camped excellent land growth rock maple and yellow birch &c. This is a beautiful Pond gravelly shores and rising gently from shores—At 6.P.M. landed and camped on the N.E. shore 6 miles from out let.

127 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

128 [page 67]

1 Saturday 14th October 1820. Fine morning—Wind S.W. At /2 past 7. embarked and sailed up the Pond or Lake—Went up about 3 miles and Journal the wind increasing was obliged to go a shore on N.E. side and reef our and Plans sails—then the wind blowing on that shore, crossed to be more in the lee of Survey by of the land land [repeated in text] 3 miles further up on the S.W. side then up that shore about 5 miles and crossed again to the N.E. side near Joseph Treat— the head where we found 4 Indians camped. The wind then blowing a 1820 gale from S.W. we could not cross the head of the Pond to the Inlet or River—arrived here at 1 P.M. and remain the afternoon the wind blowing hard.— The land on the S.W. side of the Lake nearly the whole length is fine hard wood and appears to be good soil at every place where we landed.— The land on the N.E. side is more of a mixed growth, but appears to be very good land.— Cheesuncook is a beautiful Lake fine gravelly shores very few Is- lands—it is 18 miles from the outlet up to the inlet and the general course 1 is N. 20 W.—a branch of the lower end of the Lake runs 1/2 miles South West of the Outlet—and a branch runs one mile North of the inlet, into which empties a large stream called Kak,wan,ga,moo,took.—

129 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

130 [page 69 with map]

Half a mile up this stream it branches and the W. branch is called by the same name and has 10 ponds—and the Easterly branch is called Journal Um,ba,zook,seus, which has 2 ponds through which we pass going to and Plans the head of Pun,guan,go,moos, on our way to St. John’s River.— of Survey by At 5.P.M. a gale of Wind from the S.W.—cannot cross the Lake and concluded to camp near the head of the Lake within 1 mile of the inlet. Joseph Treat— N.E. side near an old and famous camping of all the Indians who hunt 1820 about or cross this Lake, the shore and bank almost covered with Moose Deer, Carriboo and Beaver Bones—here Messrs Odel, Campbell and Loring camped, and Mr. L. left a writing for me on birch bark, which the Indians defaced.—29 The wind blew from the S.W. a gale during the night, and at 6.P.M. on Sunday morning the 15th it commenced raining the wind strong at S.W. we were compelled to remain here—we find the soil very good—light loomy land—growth mixed— some white and Norway pine on the point where we camp—My intention was, and agreeably to my instructions, to have gone up the West branch to its source, but finding the water very low in the River, had yesterday concluded to go up the river as far as the Portage to Moose head, return to Cheesun- cook, thence to St. Johns

29. The Penobscot Indian camp was at the northern end of Chesuncook Lake, on the point of land between the Northwest and Northeast Bay. Treat, “Journal,” 68.

131 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

132 [page 71] but the season being late, the water so very low, and having lost considerable time by stormy windy weather, and from information of the Journal Indians camped here that it will take 4 days to go and return from and Plans Moose Lake—also that the water is very low in the St. John and we can- of Survey by not make much progress on our route—I this day concluded to go as fast as possible to Madawaska which the Indians say in the present state of Joseph Treat— the streams will take 10 to 12 days—I am however in hopes that the last 1820 rains will raise the streams through which we have to pass.—

Monday morning 16th October. The gale continued from S.W. rained during last night at intervals and at day light commenced raining fast and continued incessantly until 12 at noon—then squally rain and high wind S.W. find it impossible to go by water from here—as the wind blows directly on shore in the Bay where we are encampt—and must should the wind continue make a por- 1 tage by a point of the Lake /2 a mile. The wind continues and rain—we are compelled to remain here this night—

Tuesday morning 17th at 6 P.M. cloudy cold.—

133 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

134 [page 73]

1 Tuesday 17th October 1820— /2 past 6.A.M.—Embarked and proceed up one mile N. Westerly to the head of the North branch of the Journal 1 Lake—thence /4 mile up Kak,wan,ga,mootook Stream—thence North and Plans Easterly up Um,ba,zook,skus Stream about six miles to the Pond, having of Survey by to carry by 3 short portages, this is a small dull stream, has some quick running water by the Portages—the land from the Cheesuncook to Um- Joseph Treat— bazookscus poor low juniper land near the stream some mixed ridges 1820 appear at a distance—some small pine ridges also—there is a meadow on the banks of this stream nearly half way up the Pond—the Pond is about 4 miles long and two miles wide—the land around it generally poor—juniper and black growth—some ridges appear—at a distance on the west and N.W. sides a mountain is to be seen bearing N. 35 W. 15 t[w]o miles distant from the Portage Landing on the West to that on the 1 E. side is N. 20. E. about /4 miles—thence 40 rods hard wood—40 R. 1 3 mixed—thence 1/2 or 1 /4 mile level spruce bog—making about 2 miles Portage N.E. to Punguangomo—or Muddy Pond on the St. John’s waters— where we arrived at 5 P.M. and camped.—30

30. “Muddy” or Mud Pond is situated between Chesuncook and Chamberlain Lakes.

135 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

136 [page 75]

Wednesday morning 18th October. Cold; cloudy; wind N.E. Neptune and Holyoke went back across the Portage for their canoes—returned Journal at 9.A.M.—then embarked on Punguangomo Pond—crossed and found and Plans the Portage at the outlet bearing N. 35. E. from Portage landing on West of Survey by 1 1 side—this Pond is 3 or 3 /2 long S. 30 E. and N. 30 W. it is 1/2 to 2 miles wide—is a shoal muddy Pond—it is difficult embarking or landing Joseph Treat— on its shores—mud 5 or 6 feet deep and shoal in middle.—The growth 1820 around this Pond is mostly pine, spruce, hemlock and juniper—low boggy poor land—On landing at the outlet you take the Portage Road on the 1 North side the stream, then carry over poor mixed low land /2 mile to the stream, then down about N. 40 W. a crooked bog stream 1 mile to a 1 Portage of /4 mile to the Southerly side of Baam,chee,nun,go,mok Lake at the outlet of Punguangomok Stream—where we arrived at 1 P.M.— the wind blowing hard from the N.E. a great sea in the Lake, which we have to cross N.E. 3 miles to the outlet—this Lake appears to be from 14 to 16 miles long, and 2 to 3 wide lying N. 14 W. and S.15. E. as seen from Portage Landing.—

137 [page 76 with map]

Baam, chee, nun, ga, mo, or Great Cross Lake, or a Lake which the Inlet Journal and outlet are at opposite sides and Plans The Lake is from 15. to 16 miles (hard wood) Long lying about N.35. 1 W. & S. 35. E—and is from 1 /2 to 3 miles wide. Gravelly shore and fine of Survey by clear water, and is a Beautiful Lake, the land around it generally good, Joseph Treat— mixed growth—Some good Pine timber—the Low ground is juniper & 1820 spruce.

138 139 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

140 [page 79 with map]

We arrived at the outlet at 4 o’clock,—found the stream very low—have to haul our canoes over the shoals and rocks—we go down the stream Journal 3 about /4 mile and camp at 5 o’clock on the South side—Pine, spruce and and Plans mixed land.— of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

141 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

142 [page 81with map]

Thursday 18th October 1820. cloudy and rain—wind N.E.—It commenced raining at 5 P.M. last evening and continued until 6 A.M. Journal this morning—At 7 we embark and proceed down Baamcheenango- and Plans 1 1 mo Stream. About /2 mile making 1 /4 mile from Baamcheenungomo of Survey by Pond rapid quick running water a considerable stream to the head of Pon,gock,wa,ham Pond—At 8.A.M. it commenced raining and contin- Joseph Treat— ued till 3 P.M. 1820 1 1 We proceed down this Pond 7 /2 miles to the foot then 1 /2 mile Bog or meadow & Small Pond, to a Strait about 4 rods wide—Thence down N. Easterly—31

31. In addition to a survey map of which name the River is called from this down to “Wallagas,quee,ga,mook Pond” on page 82 of its union with Walloostook or good River the Main Treat’s journal, Treat wrote, “Called by the St. John St. John.” Treat, “Journal,” 82. Indians [or Maliseets] Wal,la,ges,quee,go,am by

143 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

144 [page 83]

1 through a wide stream grassey shores about 2 /2 miles (in which distance there comes in a small stream from the East, and a large one from the Journal West) to the Wal,la,gas,quec,ga,mook, or Bark Wigwam Pond, which and Plans 1 is 3 miles long and 1 /2 to 2 in width—the growth around it is various— of Survey by but much good pine—all this day having been rainy and foggy we got no view of land distant from the shores of the Pond—we proceed down to Joseph Treat— the foot of the Pond, and camp on the N.E. side at a strait about 4 rods 1820 wide—there are three considerable streams come into this Pond—that in the N.E. Bay is a large stream—has several ponds—as many as seven on all its branches.—

Friday 19th October.—Pleasant morning—wind North—We this morning see a high ridge of land lying from the foot of this Pond S. 18. E. another South—sharp picked hill or Mtn. S. 6. W. distant 10 miles— also a high ridge mixed land bearing S. 30. W. 8 to 10 miles distant.— 1 At 8.A.M. embarked passed /4 mile northerly through a strait to head of a small

145 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

146 [page 85]

Pond 1 mile long called32 The growth around this Pond is Pine, spruce, hemlock and juni- Journal per—low land—at the foot of this Pond is rapid water, river 10 rods and Plans wide shoal, the river here having received the water of many streams of Survey by and ponds is now increased very much and is as large as West Penob- 3 1 Joseph Treat— scot at Noliseemock. /4 mile a stream on S.E. side—rapid water— /4 mile 1 below this rapid fall—above which we land and go up /4 mile up hill to 1820 3 Portage road and carry our baggage /4 mile over spruce low land to Por- 1 tage landing while Neptune ran the empty canoes down 1 mile /4 rapid water to Portage landing—the growth pine, spruce and hemlock rocky poor land from foot of the Pond down stream six miles to near the head of Unsaskik Pond.— After which we go 2 miles down a wide still stream intervale on each 1 side and meadow to the head of the Pond where we arrived at /2 past 1.P.M.—

32. Although Treat did not give the pond’s name, it probably was “Un,sas,keek” or Unsaskik Pond. Treat, “Journal,” 86.

147 148 [page 87 with map]

3 This Pond is three miles long N. 30. W. and S. 3. E. and from /4 to a mile wide—there are many high hard wood ridges around near the Journal pond—which look like rather broken rocky land—there is some good and Plans pine on the low ground—on the shores are very large Balm of Gilead of Survey by Trees—some 18 inches diameter.—33 1 Joseph Treat— After leaving the foot of this Pond we pass a strait about 1 /2 miles of still water from 40 to 80 rods wide to the head of the second by the name 1820 of Unsaskik—At the head of this Pond and in the strait, on E. side is good meadow and low intervale.—

Note. Unsaskuk, means bead together or like, sausages, which this string of ponds and straits resemble in shape.

33. “Balm of Gilead Trees” were probably poplar trees (Populus candicans). G. P. Burns and C. H. Otis, Handbook of Vermont Trees (Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1979), 71.

149 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

150 [page 89]

At the head on the E. side of the 2d Unsaskik Pond comes in large stream called Mash,wa,cook or Birch stream on which there are 4 Ponds Journal some very large—one of them 7 miles long—one other 5 miles long.— and Plans There is much Pine on the E. side of 2d Unsaskik Pond and the growth of Survey by is generally pine and spruce—At half past 4 we landed and camped on a point on the West side of the Pond.— Joseph Treat— 1820 Saturday 20th October. Foggy morning. 1 Embarked at /2 past 7.A.M. proceeded down the Pond (very foggy 1 could not see the East shore) to the foot—this Pond is from 3 /2 to 4 miles 1 3 long N. 20 E. and is from /2 to /4 mile wide—pleasant Pond—gravel and sandy shores.— Thence North through a strait one mile to the head of Pa,ta,quan,ga,miss, 3 or Round Pond—this Pond is nearly round and about one mile long, /4 wide, high ridge hard wood on the west side—pine and spruce on the east—at the foot this Pond the River is rapid shoal 20 rods wide.—

151 152 [page 91]

Pataquangomiss Pond—from foot this Pond the river rapid or quick running water 20 rods wide—the river continues about 20 rods wide. Journal quick current—some small rips—excellent pine on each side near the and Plans river—some hard wood ridges back from 1 to 2 miles on the west side of Survey by and 1 to 3 below the Pond.— There is a great deal of pine timber on both sides the river from the Joseph Treat— first to the second Pataquangomiss Ponds.— 1820

153 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

154 [page 93]

From the 1st Pataquangomiss Pond we passed down a very crooked 1 river 10 miles to another Pond about 1 /2 to 2 miles long and 1 mile wide Journal called Pataguangomiss around which are many hard wood ridges or de- and Plans tached hills which appear to be rough and rocky land—Balm of Gilead of Survey by round the shores.— After leaving this Pond there appear high ridges and hills of mixed Joseph Treat— growth—and good pine on the shores—mixed with spruce, fir and 1820 hemlock.—

155 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

156 [page 95]

We go down a quick running river from the foot of Pataguangomiss Pond 3 miles crooked winding River to a Pool or wide place in the River, Journal which is surrounded with high hard wood and mixed hills— and Plans Below the Pool the river turns North and is a gentle current 30 rods of Survey by wide low spruce and juniper land on each side for half a mile—then mixed with small birch and poplar—then birch half a mile—then spruce Joseph Treat— one mile—Thence North Easterly down a quick current river 25 to 30 1820 rods wide about 10 miles—the growth on the banks mixed pine spruce cedar and hard wood—there is in this distance a great proportion of pine. There are many small ridges or detached hills near the river on each side—but the land does not appear to be very good, being much broken and uneven—perhaps one half fit for cultivation—which is the case with the land generally from the source of the River as far down as we now are.—

157 158 [page 97]

From the point last described we then pass a very wide place in the river running S.E. full of low Islands—for about two miles the banks Journal low interval growth hard wood, with high pine and mixed ridges near and Plans the river on each side.— of Survey by 3 The river then narrows to 20 to 30 rods—thence N. Easterly about /4 mile to the Portage landing which is on the S. side [of] the stream near Joseph Treat— the Great Falls—where we arrived at 5 P.M. and camped at the land- 1820 ing—having gone this day thirty two miles. I make up the end of my days work by fire light—all our Candles burnt.—

Sunday morning 21. October—clear and cold. Wind North West— Started at 7. Surveyed round by the falls the descent and fall are 30 feet—20 of which is nearly perpendicular—across the Portage is East 30 rods—in the middle of the river in falls is an Island 10 or 15 rods long—this fall is one of the best mill seats I ever saw, and plenty of timber above and near the falls.—

159 160 [page 99]

We descended quick running water the River from 15 to 40 rods wide 10 miles—The land on the shores not very good hilly and rough Journal the growth on banks mostly pine and spruce and fir—and some hard and Plans wood and mixed—and some intervale but generally very narrow—a of Survey by great deal of pine near the shores—We then pass a most singular turn in the River—first from N.E. round to S. and S. West—then turning back Joseph Treat— south S.E. and round to N.E. and at the end of the last N.E. turn we 1820 1 meet the Main River St. John, having come 12 /2 or 13 miles from the 1 falls—We arrived here at /2 past 11.A.M.—

161 162 [page 101]

1 At the junction of the Rivers there is a wide Bay say /2 mile full of small grassy Islands the main St. John coming in from the N. West and is Journal seventy five rods wide—the West branch coming in from the S.W. and and Plans its mouth 30 to 40 rods wide and immediately below the confluence of Survey by 3 of the Rivers is a wide Bay and 3 or 4 Islands one of which is /4 mile long—this Bay and Islands with the surrounding hills on each side form Joseph Treat— a very romantic and pleasant view.— 1820 There is some low intervale on the shores around this Bay on each side—but it is narrow.— One mile below the forks comes in a stream from the South.— There are many small ridges or detached hills around the forks of these Rivers which appear to be mixed growth—good land.— Then finding the River taking a SouthE asterly direction I change my Plan and make the upper end of my Book North.—

163 164 [page 103]

River 50 to 80 rods wide—quick water—many high hills and ridges of mixed and hard wood land—Growth near the shores pine, spruce and Journal fir—Some narrow hard wood and mixed intervale land.— and Plans

mem. from Mr. Hunter given me by Mr. Hartford. of Survey by 90 miles from Alligash to head of Penobscot W. B. Joseph Treat— 67 '' '' head Pen. to Cheesuncook Lake. 1820 7 '' '' head Cheek. to Muddy Pond on Alligh. 79 '' '' muddy Pond to mouth of Alligash or forks.—

165 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

166 [page 105]

The River is from 40 to 80 rods wide—fine gravelly shores—land looks well—Some high hard wood and mixed intervale—and below Pi- Journal cheeneegon River which is a large Stream coming in from the North has and Plans its source in the high lands near Quebeck has five Ponds all large. From of Survey by this Stream down there is fine deep hard wood intervale wide pleasant river Banks rising gently—high ridges back—we went 5 miles below the Joseph Treat— stream and landed at 7 o’clock P.M. at Mr. John Hartford’s the second 1820 house on the North side of the River—having come this day 28 miles— and the last 5 from Picheeneegon or St. Francis River after sun set—We remain at Mr. Hartford’s this night and are treated very politely by Mr. Hartford and his wife—We here met with a Capt. Churchill and his son who follow getting timber &c. on this River in this vicinity—we also meet with Mr. Hartford’s son who lives next above him.—34 1 Mr. Hartford informs me that he raised from 1/2 bushels spring wheat 34 Bushels of excellent sound wheat and that from 11 bushels of Pota- toes he raised 200 of excellent quality—This land produces Barley, Oats, and Peas a good yield—very large Turnips—good Pumpkins—and corn ripened here this season which was planted as late as the 12th June.— Mr.

34. Treat was near present-day St. John, Maine, about 10 miles upriver from Fort Kent, Maine.

167 [page 106]

Mr. Hartford informs me that vegetation did not suffer this season Journal on account of drought—there was however frequent showers—that and Plans both the upland and intervale is of a moist and also a light quality which stands a dry season—he sowed three pecks Barley—over which a fire of Survey by run late in June which destroyed half of it he having cleared it in May Joseph Treat— and June—he raised 15 Bushels—he sowed flax seed on 25M ay, it pro- 1 1820 duced 37 /2 feet high.— Mr. Hartford went first to Madawaska in 1818—came to this place last November and in July he received a summons on a writ of ejectment issued at Frederickton by Mr. Whitmore the King’s Agent—which suit he attended—and sent a petition to the Governor to quiet him in his possession—and the affair rests here.— The British Government give permits to their subjects to cut pine timber any where up the St. Johns, Aroostick and Madawaska. These men take American’s for partners and cut timber all over the Country, as high up the St. John as Mr. Hartford’s— and some above.—

168 [page 107]

Monday morning 22d. very cold and foggy. 1 I went this morning about /2 mile back from the River on fine high Journal 3 intervale which Mr. H. tells me here extends back /4 mile—the soil is and Plans light brown and very deep 3 to 4 feet on the banks—the growth rock of Survey by maple, yellow birch, elm, &c. mixed with pine and fir.— Joseph Treat— 1820

169 170 [page 109]

Monday morning 22d October—fine fair weather at 8 a.m. We embark and proceed down River, which is wide and a gentle current—good Journal hard wood intervale—Hard wood and mixed ridges back from the Riv- and Plans er—Beautiful Islands—good soil excellent pine on both sides between of Survey by the intervales and high lands—On the South side River opposite a large Round Island is great plenty of Iron ore to be seen on the shore.— Joseph Treat— 1820

171 172 [page 111 with map]

Two miles below this Island, Fish River, a long and large stream comes in from the South East—has a number of large Lakes.—35 Journal From Fish River down there is some good intervale on each side but and Plans narrow and the hills are near the River.— of Survey by 35. Treat was near present-day Fort Kent, situ- S. Hadlock, “A Report on Tribal Boundaries and Joseph Treat— ated at the mouth of the Fish River. The Fish River Hunting Areas of the Malecite Indian of New system was the Maliseet hunting territory of the Brunswick,” American Anthropologist, n.s., vol. 48, 1820 Sabatis family. See Frank G. Speck and Wendell no. 3 (July/September 1946), 355–374.

173 174 [page 113]

Five miles below Fish River is a large Stream—on a point near it lives Mr. Nathan Baker—he has been here two years—made a clear- Journal 1 ing 5 acres—raised 400 bushels of potatoes on 1 /4 acre ground new and Plans cleared.— of Survey by From Mr. Baker’s there are many settlers on each side [of] the River— 3 Joseph Treat— here the River is wide and some very fineI slands one of which is /4 mile long and is improved as a farm by a Frenchman—Deep intervale on each 1820 side—fine mixed and hard wood ridges on each side of the River—the soil at every place we have landed below the forks is excellent.— Some narrows and rapids in the River but no falls to make any portage—At 2 P.M. one mile below Baker’s it commenced raining and continued the afternoon—I now make my Journal on Birch Bark.— The River from Baker’s down to the last house in the upper settlement is wide pleasant gravelly shores—wide intervale, fine ridges back and resembles Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Marrietta.—

175 Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

176 [page 115]

The Settlement of French Madawaskians from Baker’s down River extends about 5 miles—very excellent intervale on each side—fine ridg- Journal es back—River wide and pleasant—some excellent Islands—on some and Plans of which there are good farms well cultivated—from the upper settle- of Survey by ment we pass down 5 miles unsettled—River narrows to 40 or 50 rods, the highland near the river not much intervale—growth on shores pine, Joseph Treat— spruce and fir.— 1820 The rain continues—at 5 P.M. at the confluence ofM a,da,wes,ka and St. John, being dark cannot plan any farther—go down 2 miles to Mon- 1 sieur Simobear’s [Simon Hébert]—where we arrive at /2 past 5 P.M. where we stay this night—and after getting supper, I make up my survey and journal from the upper Madaweska settlement down to Madawes- ka River—At 12 at night having finished I retire very sick with a cold, head ache and fever.—36

36. Treat and company spent the night at Simon Hébert’s home, located downriver from the present-day town of Madawaska, Maine, or Edmundston, New Brunswick. Simon Hébert was an established businessman. See Dictionary of Canadian Biography (1988, hereafter DCB), vol. 7, s.v. “Pierre Denis.”

177 178 [page 117]

Tuesday 23d. October 1820—Cloudy, foggy and cold wind N.E.— At 8.P.M. we go up River to the mouth at Madawaska, where we Journal arrive at half past nine—go up the stream to the falls which are 40 rods and Plans from the mouth—here the stream is not more than 8 rods wide—a ledge of Survey by across the river—high banks on each side—an excellent fall for mills—no falls from this up to the Lake—plenty of timber near the River.—37 Joseph Treat— Made a survey of the River to Mons. Simobear’s where we arrived at 1820 noon—rained from 9 to 12—We dine at Mons. Simobear’s—at 1.P.M. rains fast.— Having got short of bread we this morning agree with Mons. Simo- bear to furnish some which is to be ready at 2.P.M. We wait for it. The rain continues all the afternoon and we are compelled to remain here—and in the mean time I get the following information from Mon. Simobear, viz:— The most present inhabitants of Madawaska, at the commencement of the Revolution, had settled at St. Ann’s on what is now called Frederick Town and below on the St. John, and after peace took place some Brit- ish Agent represented to the Governor of the Province that the French settlers had taken up a fine tract of Land at an important place for the British Government to establish a Port.

37. There were several possible portage routes of Manitoba, 2001), 61–73; Laurence Johnson, in this region used by Maliseet families to reach “La reserve malécite de Viger, un projet-pilote their homeland on the southern shore of Québec. du ‘programme de civilisation’ du gouvernement See Adrian L. Burke, “Témiscouata: Traditional canadien,” M.S.thesis, Anthropology, University Maliseet Territory and Connections between the of Montreal, 1995; Laurence Johnson, “À l’origine St. Lawrence River Valley and the St. John River de la réserve Viger, une requête malécite de 1826,” Valley,” in Actes du trente-deuxième conges algonquin- Recherches Amérindiennes au Québec 26, no. 2 (1996): istes, ed. John D. Nichols (Winnipeg: University 77–81.

179 [page 118]

The Governor issued orders to give those settlers each two hundred feet Journal of land in front running back 1 mile—if they would relinquish the re- and Plans mainder—The Frenchmen all removed from St. Ann’s—some went to Canada some to Madawaska in 1783-or 84 from those Emigrants spring of Survey by the race of Madawaskians—since which time many have moved here Joseph Treat— from Canada.—38 1820 There are now from 30 to 40 families on the St. John above Madawes- ka—At Madaweska and below to the church 50 to 60 families—from thence down to Grand Falls there are as many as 50 to sixty—making in the whole one hundred and fifty families and each family may be reck- oned at 6 to 8 persons.—39 1 1 From Madaweska to Mons. Simobear’s is 2 miles the River /4 to /2 mile wide 2 large Islands—the intervale on each side is wide—and on Simobear’s land is from 160 to 200 rods excellent soil—the lower part overflows in freshes—the river here runs about South East—the first bank from the River rises about 15 feet—the second about 10 feet and in many places as in the Ohio there are three slopes or banks from the River to the highlands—the soil on all these is of an excellent quality as is the highlands in the rear—the soil on the hills or ridges is of a light sandy loam very few rocks on the

38. For more information on the history of Béatrice Craig, “Migrant Integration and Kinship Madawaska, see Thomas Albert, The History of ties in a Frontier Community, Madawaska, Madawaska, trans. Therese Douchette and Francis 1785–1850,” Histoire Sociale / Social History 38 Douchette (1920; , reprint, Madawaska, Me.: (November 1986), 277–297; Béatrice Craig, Northern Graphics, , Madawaska Historical “Before Borderlands: Yankees, British, and the Society, Bicentennial Edition, 1985); Roger St. John Valley French,” in New England and the Paradis,ed., Papiers de/Papers of Prudent L. Maritime Provinces: Connections and Comparisons, ed. Mecure: Histoire du Madawaska (Madawaska, Stephen J. Hornsby and John G. Reid (Montreal Me: Madawaska Historical Society, 1998); and Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, MacNutt, New Brunswick, 79–82, 269–270; 2005), 74–93. Reid, Six Crucial Decades, 79–80; Béatrice Craig, 39. According to Treat’s 1820 population esti- “Agriculture and the Lumberman’s Frontier in mate, there were between 900 and 1,200 people in the Upper St. John Valley, 1800–1870,” Journal the upper Saint John River Valley. of Forest History 32, no. 3 (July 1988): 125–137;

180 [page 119] hills and none on the low lands.— The Madaweskians raise good wheat, rye, oats, barley and peas and Journal excellent potatoes—the land produces excellent grass—they keep many and Plans cows and oxen of a small hardy breed—very fat also and small Canadian of Survey by or Pony horses—which are very serviceable—a small proportion of their cleared land is tilled compared with the quantity of grass or meadow Joseph Treat— land.— 1820 The Madaweskian Houses are built generally with small hewn tim- 1 ber, one or 1/2 stories high covered with long shingles on the roof—contain one room and two small apartments—and some two rooms on the floor—some of their houses are built with round logs—and covered with straw or thatched—their Barns are 20-25 feet wide and 30 to 40 long made of round logs, the roof covered with straw—they have no bricks—their chimneys made of stone laid in clay mortar—topped with (sticks or) cat and clay.— Mons. Simobear has one framed house the sides covered with sawed wide clapboards, the roof shingled with those of the common kind—has two front rooms and 3 small

181 [page 120]

bed rooms in the rear—the outside painted yellow—the inside circled Journal with boards and painted—with 3 good glass windows in each front and Plans room with a large stove in each room.— He has another house near it, in which his son lives—made of small of Survey by 1 hewn and square timber—very neat and comfortable—this is 1/2 stories Joseph Treat— high—2 large rooms below, and chambers over these rooms well glazed 1820 and finished—the roof covered with ordinary shingles.—

182 [page 121]

Mons. Simobear owns 1,000 acres of land fronting on the West side the River—on which is much fine intervale—He keeps a store and trades Journal with the Inhabitants and the Indians—Goods here are very high owing and Plans to the great distance to transport them from St. John or Frederick town of Survey by or Quebeck. Mons. Simobear is rich and a man of some consequence among the Joseph Treat— Madaweskians—he speaks very good english—keeps a house of enter- 1820 tainment—is very communicative and civil to his guests.— This Mons. Simon Obear and Mons. Bellflour are merchants and keep tavern—there is a Mons. Capt. Du Parry formerly a merchant, now of- ficiates as a Justice of the Peace under the King—these are the principal men at Madaweska—Mons. Fearmies Tibbeds is also a merchant.—

183 [page 122]

Note. The St. John Indians hold under a grant from the King of Eng- Journal land a tract of land beginning 1 mile below Madaweska River running and Plans 4 miles up St. John, making 6 miles on that River, thence northerly up the Mada- of Survey by 1 40 waska about 2 miles making about /2 township. Their town and head Joseph Treat— quarters for hunting is at and a little below Madawaska—This tribe 1820 consists of about one thousand to 1500 souls—and perhaps 300 fighting men—there are a very few of them here now—some hunting up the Rivers—some below, and at Frederickton—some of these cultivate their land keep cows and horses—they appear to be very civil and good Indi- ans and are more industrious than the Penobscot Indians41—Many of them speak very good English and are very intelligent—their principal town is 20 miles below Maducktuk where they have a church—good houses and farms—some keep horses.—42

40. The “St. John Indians” were the While Treat apparently witnessed more agricul- Wolastoquyik peoples, meaning “the people of tural activity among the Maliseets, Penobscots the beautiful river,” who are commonly known produced their own agricultural yield on the many by their Mi’kmaq-derived name of Maliseets. islands in the Penobscot River which they retained They called the Saint John River “Wolastoq.” by treaty rights. Treat, who had visited Penobscot Christopher J. Trunbull, “Forward: The Road to governor John Attean at Mattawamkeag Point Jemseg,” in Wolastoquyik Ajemseg: The People of the three weeks earlier, was not acknowledging the Beautiful River at Jemseg, ed. Karen Perley and Susan community’s yield, which he had diligently record- Blair, vol. 1, Important Stories and Spoken Histories, ed: 60 bushels of corn, 200 bushels of potatoes, New Brunswick Manuscript in Archaeology along with beans and peas. Treat, “Journal,” 33. 34E (Fredericton, N.B.: Archaeological Services, 42. In January 1792, Maliseet Noel Bernard Heritage Branch, 2003), ix; Susan Blair, “Tan psiw petitioned New Brunswick for the Maliseet weskuhutahsik: Introduction,” in ibid., vol. 2, Reserve at the mouth of the Madawaska River. Archaeological Results, New Brunswick Manuscripts When the province did not answer Bernard’s in Archaeology 36E (Fredericton: Archaeological petition by October, Maliseet Simon François Services, Heritage Branch, 2004), 3–5. Xavier and Lowis Denis joined Noel Bernard to 41. This startling comparison of the Penobscots petition successfully for their reserve. Micah A. and Maliseets originated from the fact that Joseph Pawling, “Petitions, Kin, and Cultural Survival: Treat and his contemporaries held their own The Maliseet and Passamaquoddy Peoples in American values of industry that involved clearing the Nineteenth Century,” M.A. thesis, History, and cultivating the land. See Morton J. Horwitz, University of Maine, Orono, August 1999, 61–64. The Transformation of American Law, 1780–1860 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1977).

184 [page 123]

Wednesday 24 October 1820—fine morning.— We pay Mons. Simobear for expenses and stores______$8.45 Journal pay for 3 loaves of bread______.90 and Plans At 8 we embark and proceed down river.—43 of Survey by * Upon this page appears to have been a drawing with a pencil, but is Joseph Treat— so far obliterated as not to admit of being copied.— 1820

View of Madawaska, from Mons. Oberts [Hébert]:

The English are making a road from Madawaska point to the head of the Lake 40 miles on American territory.

43. The voucher of Simon Hébert showed the expenses and stores, including fifteen meals, rum, sugar, lodging, and candles, totaled $8.60, rather than the $8.45 stated in his journal. The grand total, including bread, was $9.50. Joseph Treat, Executive Council Papers, 1820, box 1, folder 40, MeSA.

185 186 [page 125]

From Simon Herbert’s or Obear’s 2 miles to the church, which is on the N. side the River, it is 40 by 50 with a large apartment at the E. Journal end for a vestry—has 4 large long windows on each side well glazed— and Plans painted yellow and is good looking building—near this is a large one of Survey by story house painted white for the priest—a very neat building.—From Madawaska River down to the church and 1 mile below the intervale Joseph Treat— on the first bank is very wide—then below there is a little low inter- 1820 vale for one mile, but the second bank or high intervale extends back 1 some way on each side—1/2 mile below the church on S. side in a steep bank is plenty of Iron ore which appears of good quality—The intervale and high land looks well—many good farms—and good houses made of hewn timber—some very good Barns made of hewn timber.—One mile below the ore banks on S. side there is plenty on the N. side in a high bank—or 2d Bank 20 to 30 feet high—the first bank or low intervale is from 10 to 15 feet above the water now, but is mostly covered in high freshes as Mons. Obear informs me.—

187 188 [page 127]

From the Church down to the lower settlements next above Grand River the Intervale is wide—good farms 8 thence to about two miles Journal 44 no intervale—the growth on banks, spruce, fir and mixed.— and Plans Green River is a considerable stream—fine land—good pine and mill of Survey by seats.— Joseph Treat—

44. Grand River is north of present-day Van 1820 Buren, Maine, and St-Leonard, New Brunswick.

189 190 [page 129]

Siaugass is a small stream—2 miles below comes in from the East— Grand River—is a still water River of great length no falls for mills—but Journal 45 excellent land—and much pine timber —the old line passes this stream and Plans 30 or 40 miles up—there is a ridge of mountains or high land which of Survey by commences below this River and extend up North Easterly a long way— Land to be fine land between this ridge and the stream—We landed at Joseph Treat— 1 Mons. Francis Valettes who lives /2 mile above Grand River—he keeps 1820 a Tavern—owns a number of Islands above his farm, which lies on the N. side River.—We left his house at 4 P.M. intending to go 3 miles further down and stop at a house on the N. side—called there found nobody at home—went down river about 3 miles further, making 6 miles from Grand River, and at 6 P.M. seeing a house on the N. side, which is the last house above the Grand Falls, and the weather extremely cold and a storm coming on we land at this House.—

45. “Siaugass” or Siegas River flows south into the Saint John River, downstream of Grand River.

191 192 [page 131]

8[location on map] Where we stay this night with Messrs John Willet and Carrie Willett, brothers who began their farm 2 years Journal ago—they have 8 or 10 acres cleared—have a comfortable house—keep and Plans some cattle—are not married—they informed me they raised this year of Survey by 15 bushels good wheat from 1 bushel sowing—their usual crop is 20 bushels from one—potatoes produce 40 bushels from one. they say from Joseph Treat— three miles below Grand River to their place is not good back from the 1820 River—growth generally spruce and mixed—the intervale narrow.— At 8 P.M. it commenced snowing wind N.E. and continued during the night.—And at 6.A.M.,

Thursday morning 25 October, Snow had fallen 6 inches deep, and continued snowing—at 8.A.M. embarked and proceeded down River— it continues snowing, cold, squally.— —River banks high, low intervale, narrow,—mixed and spruce land.—

193 194 [page 133]

The intervale continues narrow—the high land approaches the Riv- er—growth mixed and spruce.— Journal Five miles below Messrs. Willets we saw a line running N & South and Plans on the S. West side the River—we landed and went up a steep spruce of Survey by hill and find much spotting 2 or 3 yr. old—We also see the spotting on the N.E. side bearing North 15 degrees East from us—running N. 15. E Joseph Treat— up a Birch Hill—suppose this to be the Boundary line between the U.S. 1820 and New-Brunswick.—46 From this down to the Grand Falls is 3 to 4 miles. Banks high—River 40 to 50 rods wide and very deep—growth on each side pine, spruce and fir—no intervale—the high hard hills appear at a distance very high— 11.O’clock a.m. Snow and squally.

46. “Spotting” refers “to mark with discolor- ations; [or] to maculate” trees for surveying purposes. See Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words Deduced from their Origin and Illustrated in their Different Significations by Examples from the Best Writers to which are Prefixed a History of the Language, and in English Grammar, vol. 2 (London: G. J. Offur et al., 1820), 705; copy in Rare Books and Special Collections, Fogler Library, University of Maine.

195 196 [page 135]

We arrived at the Grand Portage at 11.A.M. and while the men are carrying the Canoes across the Portage, I take a survey of the upper part Journal 47 of the Grand Falls:— and Plans From the Portage Landing which is on the S.W. side, the River narrows of Survey by and turns to the north—and 80 rods below the Portage on the N.E. side comes in a considerable stream from the N.E. called Po,gop,skee,hock.— Joseph Treat— about 8 to 16 rods below this is the first pitch of the GrandF alls—which 1820 fall 30 feet nearly perpendicular over a Slate Stone Ledge running across the River in a half circle in shape of a horse shoe—the water through this fall is compressed below into the narrow space of 4 rods, which width 1 it continues down /2 mile passing a crooked channel from the project- ing cliffs on each side foaming and falling rapidly all the way.—here the trees and timber are ground into small pieces by the fall and sharp crags of the rocks—there is much timber and flood wood in pieces floating in the eddies of the fall where they have remained until worn out and carved into all shapes.—

47. Grand Falls, New Brunswick, is upriver from the mouth of the Aroostook River.

197 [page 136]

On the hill over which the Portage Road passes 80 rods from the Journal River opposite the falls the English keep a military Post—They have and Plans four or five Barracks and a store house—No troop here now—Only oc- cupied by a Sergeant—who takes care of the public property and keeps a of Survey by house of entertainment—he was not at home—saw 3 women only—one Joseph Treat— a Scotch—one English—one Irish all soldiers wives or widows—treaty 1820 [meant treated] us politely—we left this house at 1 P.M. to cross the Portage with the remainder of our baggage—still snowing and cold squally weather—at 2 P.M. embarked at the Portage and proceeded down river.— On viewing the fall below as well as above the rapids, I calculate this 1 distance round the River to be 1 /2 miles the fall 75 to 80 feet or near 3 that—it is /4 mile across the Portage, which is over a very steep hill particularly in descending to the Portage Landing on the south side—This fall is called by the Indians Chee,ka,chee,nee,ga,bick.—

198 [page 137]

The banks on each side from 40 to 50 feet perpendicular rocks—then a high ridge of spruce land on each side—back of which is a ridge or Journal ridges of hard or mixed wood from head to foot of falls—thence high and Plans gravelly spruce banks from 40 to 50 feet very steep high ridges not far of Survey by back are frequently seen from the river generally running parallel with the river—these remarks apply to the distance of two miles below the Joseph Treat— falls.— 1820 In case with a war with England it would be an advantage to the Unit- ed States to have some knowledge of the extent of the settlement and number of inhabitants on the St. John in the vicinity of the Boundary Line—I therefore, continue my plan of the River and mark the houses on its banks as I pass down.—

199 200 [page 139]

The Banks River and Land continue the same for four miles below the fall as is before described—and same until we come to Salmon River Journal which is 6 to 7 miles below falls—this is a large stream and has many and Plans ponds and is called by the Indians Ma,dux,en,ee,keek.— of Survey by We went 100 rods below this River and landed at Mr. Lyman Whitehead’s at 5 P.M. and stop here this night—was treated politely Joseph Treat— by him and family—he has been here 5 years—he was a Sergeant in the 1820 New Brunswick Regiment—his land given to him by the King—he is an American formerly from Connecticut.—

Friday morning 26. October—very cold—wind N.W—We embark at 8.A.M. and proceed down river—here the banks are high—intervale narrow—high hills of hard wood near the river on each side—here we first observe hemlock trees on the banks of the River—the growth of which are here mixed and hemlock, spruce and fir and pine—river here, and from grand falls down is from 40 to 60 rods wide—quick current.—

201 202 [page 141]

The Banks continue high—mixed growth pine, spruce, hemlock, fir and hard wood—the high hard wood hills are near the River—the space Journal between high hills and River mixed growth. and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

203 [page 142 with map]

The British Government have laid out a road from Frederickton on Journal the West side St. John up to the mouth of the Aroostik—Thence cross- and Plans ing that River to Aroostik point—thence up on the West side St. John to the mouth of Madawaska—thence crossing the St. John to the West of Survey by point of Madawaska—thence up that River to the Lake—thence to their Joseph Treat— Grand Portage—and across to St. Lawrence.— 1820

204 [page 143]

We arrived at the mouth of the Arroostick at 11.A.M.—this is a large river coming in from the N.W. 25 to 30 rods wide gravelly shores—called Journal Arroostick from the point at the confluence with the St. John resembling and Plans the head of an Arrow.—48 of Survey by We landed on the West side where some men from New-Hampshire were clearing 20 acres of land for a gentleman at Frederick Town.—This Joseph Treat— is good land—high intervale—At 12 proceeded up the Arroostick which 1820 after leaving the point 100 rods the banks are high on each side—growth pine, spruce, &c. mixed with hard wood—the river shoal and gravelly 1 banks and shores—quick water. About 1 /4 miles up comes in a considerable stream from the north called Maranguabskick.—

48. Native people called the Aroostook River “Moosiec,” meaning “river of many moose.” David E. Putnam, personal communication, March 3, 2005.

205 [page 144 with map]

# After crossing the Portage we proceed up River about one mile— 3 Journal the last /4 mile still wide River—to the Boundary line which crosses 1 and Plans near the middle of an Island about /4 mile long—this line runs N. 15. E. by my compass—therefore suppose the variation 15 degrees—here the of Survey by land is high on both sides and very little intervale—We go half a mile Joseph Treat— above the line and camp on N. side on American ground.—49 1820 There is a most excellent mill seat at the Post up falls which falls the Indians call Chee,ka,chee,na,ga,bus.—50

49. On October 26, 1820, Treat purchased two 50. Treat was northeast of present-day Fort salmon from an Indian for 50 cents. Joseph Treat, Fairfield, Maine. Executive Council Papers, 1820, box 1, folder 40, MeSA.

206 [page 145]

Above this Stream the River narrows and are rapid and rocky shores up to the falls which is three miles—We landed at the Portage—which Journal is on the S. side the River—and examined the falls—the River here is and Plans compressed into the width of 50 feet confined between high ragged of Survey by cliffs of Lime or Slate Stone, which the water has carved up in a most singular manner worn down perpendicular 20 to 30 feet the channel Joseph Treat— very crooked and some sharp ledges or Islands in the Stream—the fall 1820 at the first pitch is about 8 to 10 feet—expecting the Portage was short did not examine above the first pitch of the falls. we could not see the River more than 20 rods it then turned S. Westerly—We carried across the Portage which ascends a steep hill then descending a little to the low land near the river under a high ridge of mixed land the Portage is 1 /2 mile across in a westerly direction—At the upper landing the river 15 to 20 rods wide and rapid falls below—the whole fall is perhaps 40 to 50 feet.— #

207 [page 146]

In passing up the Arroostick we see many logs and pieces of excellent Journal hewed pine timber on the shores and ledges in the River and particular- 1 and Plans ly on the falls— /4 mile above the Portage is a large camp or lumber house where the men lived when cutting and rafting their timber.—On the S. of Survey by 1 side the steam and /4 mile below the line is a large log store house cov- Joseph Treat— ered with bark standing near the shore on the north side probably used 1820 by the Surveyors Party two or three years ago when running the Bound- ary line to keep their provisions &c.—the land after passing the Por- tage and above falls to this place and where we camp looks well—some intervale on each side—good ridges back—rather high and steep—We have passed one small good Island above the line—there is much Balm of Gilead trees on the shores and on the Islands some one foot and a half diameter—growth generally maple, birch, ash and elm—the back ground mixed growth the hills in the rear hard wood.—

208 [page 147]

Saturday morning 28 October 1820. Snow Storm.— It commenced snowing last evening at nine o’clock, and snowed a lit- Journal tle during the night—very cold weather—Here we conclude to go one and Plans days journey up the Aroostick and return to the St. John and home by of Survey by Madawamkeag.— I am induced to this measure from these circumstances: We are now Joseph Treat— 100 miles from the head of the River—75 from the first Portage to 1820 the Penobscot waters and in passing either way we go a long distance through small still boggy streams which in all probability are now frozen or will be before we could get to them—and in that case must leave our canoe and travel thence home by land—the Arroostick has fallen much since the cold weather and of course the small branches are low—I make up my opinion from the information of Neptune who has been through each of the passes from this River to Wassataquaik or East Branch of the Penobscot—I now very much regret that I am so late on my tour as I much wish to ascend the Arroostick and descend the E. branch Penob- scot agreeable to my instructions—but the above circumstances compel me to alter my route which I doubt not will be excused—all circumstances of the case being considered.—

209 210 [page 149]

Saturday morning 28 October.— Embark and proceeded up River—good intervale on N. side where we Journal camp and above—some pine on the S. side mixed with hemlock &c.— and Plans 1 1/2 mile above the line comes in a considerable Stream from the south— of Survey by here is good intervale—thence up river one mile comes in a small stream 3 Joseph Treat— from the South—about /4 mile further up another small stream comes 1 in also from the South—2 /2 miles above this comes in a small stream 1820 from the North—We went from the Boundary Line up ten miles—and in this distance pass four small Islands—there is some intervale nearly the whole distance, but in some places narrow—the river from thirty to forty rods wide—fine gravelly bottom and shores quick running water and in many places very shallow not exceeding one foot in many wide places or in passing Islands—the growth near the shores and adjoining intervales mixed, pine, hemlock, spruce, fir, cedar, elm, ash, birch and maple on the shores grow very large Balm of Gilead trees—also on the Islands—There are fine hard wood ridges in

211 [page 150]

the back ground—excellent land—of a deep mellow soil—no rocks— Journal there is some pine on rising ground between the intervales and ridges— and Plans and some on the shores—but not plenty.—In this days journey up river we see many stumps of pine trees near the bank which have been cut of Survey by from one to three years ago—We also see some mill logs and timber on Joseph Treat— the shore—and presume that timber is cut 30 to 40 miles above where 1820 we went which is 15 miles up the River from its junction with the St. John.— I am informed there is great plenty of pine after going 30 to 40 miles up—thence all the way to the head of all the branches—and that logs and timber have been cut 50 to 60 miles up—there is no obstruction in the River except the falls at the Portage—and very few logs stop here—I was also informed by a man who was at work at the mouth of the River that after going 40 miles up the land is excellent both upland and intervale—and the latter is high, wide, and rich—and much pine in the rear of the intervale and between it and the ridges, and near all the streams and Brooks many of which come into the River.—

212 [page 151]

In passing up today we find the coves and eddies filled with strong ice—the weather very cold, wind North West squally with snow.—We Journal return down River to the Boundary Line where we arrived at 5 P.M. and Plans and camp where we did last night—very cold night.— of Survey by Sunday morning 29th October.— Joseph Treat— At 8.A.M. proceed down River—find ice in the coves and some run- 1820 ning in the River—At 11.A.M. arrive at the mouth of the Arroostick— We thence proceed down the St. John.—

213 214 [page 153]

Three miles below Arroostick comes in Tobeck a large stream from the N. East—On the Point at the confluence of this with the St. John, Journal 51 the Indians have a village—they own some land about this stream.— and Plans The St. John is from 50 to 60 rods wide—gravelly shores—quick of Survey by current—intervales high and narrow—the hard wood hills are near the river the land looks very good. There is much excellent pine on Tobeck Joseph Treat— River both red and white.— 1820 From this River down the St. John there are many new settlements— the land and improvements look well—the upland as well as intervale is good soil—there are generally 3 banks or glacies from the river to the highlands all good soil these flats or intervale are narrow on each bank— and the highland approaches near the River.—

8 Neptune had to return from here for some of our baggage left by mistake on the shore where we landed at Arroostick Point—detained us two hours.—Camp 8 miles below Tobeck.—

51. Maliseet Noel Bernard’s 1801 petition to New Brunswick created the 16,000-acre Tobique Reserve, on the northern shore of the mouth of the Tobique River. See DCB, vol. 13, s.v. “Noel Bernard”; Pierrette Désy and Frédéric Castel, “Native Reserves: Names and Descriptions,” in Historical Atlas of Canada, Geoffrey J. Matthews, cartographer, vol. 2, The Land Transformed, 1800–1891, ed. R. Louis Gentilcore; (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993), plate 33 (hereafter HAC); Pawling, “Petitions, Kin, and Cultural Survival,” 64–65.

215 216 [page 155]

Monday morning 30th October.—Cold.—Ice in the River—At half past seven embark and proceed down River—Wind blowing strong up Journal River.— and Plans The River land and settlements very much the same as we passed yes- of Survey by terday until we pass the first Island.— Joseph Treat— 1820

217 218 [page 157] which is three and a half miles above Presquile,—the farms appear better cultivated;—and Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

219 220 [page 159]

From Presquile down the River is wide, say 80 rods; thence commences fine farms well cleared and fenced good framed houses and large Journal barns well boarded and shingled—good roads and bridges on both sides and Plans the river—which were made by the British Government some time since of Survey by from Frederickton to this place which is a Military Port—there are some Barracks which do not seem to be in very good repair.—52 Joseph Treat— As we proceed down the farms and buildings and bridges look in 1820 good repair—excellent land.—

52. The Presquile River in New Brunswick is the same river system as the Prestile Stream in Maine. David E. Putnam, personal communication, March 3, 2005.

221 222 [page 161]

River wide—gentle current—fine farms and buildings—good ridges back.— Journal We pass some fine mill seats.— and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

223 224 [page 163]

We land at 5.P.M. on the west side 14 miles below Presquile—and camp—having come 34 miles agreeably to my calculation this day.— Journal and Plans Tuesday 31. October—fine morning.— We proceed down River—good land—fine farms—good houses and of Survey by barns—good roads.— Joseph Treat— Having found no person either on the St. John or near the Arroostick, 1820 suitable to take care of the timber on the Public Lands, deem it best to go to the American settlement at Ho[u]lton to make enquiry respecting the Land, timber, &c. and to find a suitable person to recommend as an Agent—I therefore conclude to go there.—

225 226 [page 165]

At 12 o’clock landed at Mr. Phillips’ where remained half an hour— 1 then proceeded down River 1/2 miles to Maduxeneekeek River—this is Journal a considerable stream coming in from the West from Holton plantation, and Plans and Messrs. Smiths & Ball are erecting a mill near the mouth of this of Survey by River—good falls—excellent mill seat. We dined at Mr. Balls and procured two horses of him and in the Joseph Treat— afternoon went out the Holton Road—here we pass over a fine ridge of 1820 land—growth maple, birch, beech and Butternut—good road 8 miles to the Boundary Line—and the most of the way near settlement of Scotch people.— We arrive at the house of Joseph Holton, Esquire,—treated very politely by him and family.—53

Wednesday morning 1st November—rainy.— We remain at Mr. Holton’s—we are introduced to Messrs Cook, Put- nam, James Holton and Mr. Packard.—

53. Treat and his surveying party were in present-day Houlton, Maine. The Houlton region was the Maliseet hunting territory of the Bear family. See DCB, s.v. “Noel Bear.”

227 [page 166]

Holton plantation is situated on a fine ridge of hard wood land 12 Journal miles west from the mouth of Maduxeneekeek River—there are 16 fam- and Plans ilies settled here—the settlement was commenced 15 or 20 years ago by Mr. J. Holton, and by his extraordinary perseverance, overcoming many of Survey by difficulties incident to the wilderness, such as having no roads, mills or Joseph Treat— any of the conveniences, and but few of the comforts of life—but under 1820 all these difficulties the settlement has increased and is now in a prosperous situation—they keep good stocks of cattle—raise good wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, beans, and potatoes, and in good seasons, like the present plenty of Indian corn.— The principal inhabitants here are Messrs J. Holton, S. Cook, A. Put- nam, James Holton—all of whom are industrious active men—they still suffer many privations such as having no communication with the States by any other way than by water and passing many Portages—for the benefit of the State, as well as these people a Road from the Penobscot should be opened by the way of Madawamkeag—which would pass

228 [page 167] through a great tract of good land belonging to the State—which road should be continued to the Arroostick thence to Madawaska.—54 Journal There are five families in Limerick Grant and in this and Holton to- and Plans gether there are 140 souls.— of Survey by There is a large tract of good land running from the Madawamkeag to Madawaska West of the Boundary Line particularly about Mars Joseph Treat— Hill.— 1820 While at Houlton, I got the following information from Messrs Cook, Holton, &c. viz.—the land after going 30 to 40 miles up the Arroostick is excellent—wide intervales—fine ridges back—and immense quantity of pine timber—and thence 40 miles to the source and there are several branches on which are good land and pine timber particularly Machais.— That two Messrs Neals from Kennebeck, Mr. Churchill, Ephraim McCondry and Murphy,—the three last British subjects, cut timber and logs last winter on the Arroostick—some of which we saw marked I.N. lying on the

54. For the history of Houlton’s early settlers, including Joseph Houlton, Samuel Cook, Aaron Putnam, and James Houlton, see Cora M. Putnam, The Story of Houlton (Portland, Me.: House of Falmouth, 1958), 32–52.

229 [page 168]

shores and falls—they also inform that a Maj. Ketchum a British subject Journal (living at Woodstock) two or three years ago sent a party up Arroostick and Plans and cut one or two hundred tons of timber—all of this timber was cut in on the shores—no teams have been up—in consequence of the low of Survey by price of timber no persons are this season engaged in lumbering on the Joseph Treat— Arroostick. 1820 They also inform that Messrs Richard Smith, Benjamin Smith, Alain Smith and George Bull, who are now building a mill at the mouth of the Maduxeneekeek have this fall cut 400 logs on the N. Branch of that River and are preparing to cut more this winter—there is much good pine on this stream between Framingham and Portland Grants.— There is excellent pine on the Presquile in the vicinity of Mars hill— that within the two last years William Simpson and others cut from eight to ten hundred tons of timber on this River.— There is good timber also on the south Branch of Maduxeneekeek chiefly on located land—there is also good timber on the River De Chute.—

230 [page 169]

In 1819 the Commissioners of the Land Office authorized Messrs J. Holton, S. Cook, and S. Rice, Esquires to seize timber cut on these Journal streams or to receive 75 cents per ton for timber—these instructions and Plans they did not receive till late in March 1819—the lateness of the season of Survey by and having no plan of the Country to designate State’s from Proprietors’ land and the difficulty attending the business they were not able to get Joseph Treat— any thing for timber cut.— 1820 I can find no person more suitable than S. Cook, Esquire, and should recommend him to be appointed an Agent to have the care of timber &c. in this section—I would also recommend Messrs Cook, J. Holton and A. Putnam to be appointed Justices of the Peace and James Holton coro- ner—and Messrs Holton, Cook and Aaron Putnum as Justices to Qualify Civil Officers for the county of Washington—Mr. J. Holton Register of Deeds—which office he now holds. Messrs Holton and Cook inform me that a Mr. Wells from Maine and others British subjects are about erecting Mills on Arroostick hills—this is an excellent mill

231 [page 170]

seat, but timber must come from up Arroostick.— Journal Thursday morning 2d. November—We go with J. Holton, Junior to the and Plans 1 N.W. corner of Holton in order to locate /4 township of Land for the Pro- of Survey by prietors of the Duck-Trap Bridge—We proceed thence North on Belfast Joseph Treat— Land one mile and camp—rained nearly all this day. 1820 Friday morning 3d November—proceed and chain North two miles 1 more to the corner of Belfast—thence North on Foxcroft 1/2 miles—to 1 corner made for Duck-Trap—there camp—all this 4 /2 miles is low wet land—poor soil—rains all this day.

Saturday morning 4th November.—We run West over low poor land two miles and find the land so bad conclude to give up the location of 1 3 the land here—We then go S. West about /2 or /4 mile and strike a large stream running South West—We then rise a ridge of good hard wood land—We then go south Easterly over hard and mixed good land about 5 miles

232 [page 171] and camp near a stream running Southerly.— Journal Sunday morning 5th November—Severe Snow Storm—We persue our and Plans route about 7 miles to J. Holton’s where we stay this night—continues snowing all day.— of Survey by Joseph Treat— Monday morning 6 November—Snow six inches deep—cold squally 1820 weather—We return to the River at Mr. Bulls—where we arrive at 3.P.M. and get dinner—weather very cold and squally—We go up to Mr. Phillips’ and stay this night.55

Tuesday 7th November 1820.—Weather very cold and squally—after getting breakfast we go down to Mr. Bulls and get our baggage and proceed down river to Maducktuck.—56

55. Mr. Phillips’s residence was one-half mile Ganong, “A Monograph of Historic Sites in the north of the Meduxnekeag River on the east shore Province of New Brunswick,” Transactions of the of the Saint John River. Treat, “Journal,” 164. Royal Society of Canada, section 1 (1901): 240–245. 56. “Maducktuck” or Meductic, probably In 1807, Maliseet leaders entered into an agree- meaning at “the end” of a portage or trail, was on ment with New Brunswick to secure their Native a well-known canoe and portage route between title to “Meductics Point.” Pawling, “Petitions, the Penobscot and Saint John Rivers which Kin, and Cultural Survival,” 65–66. In 1851, New Joseph Treat took back to Bangor, Maine. Harald Brunswick dispossessed the Maliseets of their E. L. Prins, “Cornfields at Meductic: Ethnic and land at Meductic and attempted to compensate Territorial Reconfiguration in Colonial Acadia,” them with the creation of the Woodstock Reserve Man in the Northeast no. 44 (Fall 1992): 55–72; upriver along the Saint John River. Gary P. Gould Nicholas N. Smith, “Meductic Reassessed, 1981,” and Alan J. Semple, eds., Our Land: The Maritimes, in Cowan, Papers of the Thirteenth Algonquian The Basis of the Indian Claim in the Maritime Provinces Conference, 201–209; W. O. Raymond, “The Old of Canada (Fredericton: Saint Annes Point Press, Meductic Fort,” Collections of the New Brunswick 1980), 64–67; Pierrette Désy and Frédéric Castel, Historical Society 1, no. 3 (1896): 221–261; “Native Reserves: Names and Descriptions,” HAC, George Frederick Clarke, Someone before Us: Our vol. 2, plate 33. Maritime Indians, 2d ed. (1968; reprint, Fredericton: Brunswick Press, 1970), 46–47; William F.

233 234 [page 173]

At one P.M. landed at Watson’s on the E. Side—here we meet Mr. Watson who lives at the Portage—he agrees to furnish us with pro- Journal visions of which we are nearly out—not on hand more than for three and Plans days—We proceed down River to his house on the West side about one of Survey by and a half miles where we land and have to wait to get some bread baked and get our stores &c. and it being to late to pass the Portage we remain Joseph Treat— here this night, at the house of Mr. Alexander Watson.—57 1820

Wednesday 8. November—Cold and appearance of snow storm. After getting our store of Mr. Watson and a man to assist us across the Por- 3 tage—we go /4 mile below to Portage Road and proceed across—ascending a fine hard wood ridge three miles—thence descending hard wood land two miles—thence mixed and low land half a mile to Eel River 1 Portage Landing where we arrived at /2 past two P.M. it commenced snowing at 11.A.M.—After getting some dinner we proceed up.—

57. Mr. Alexander Watson’s residence was on the west shore of the Saint John River and on the north side of the mouth of the Eel River, across from Meductic. On Treat’s survey map, Meductic is labeled as an “old Indian Fort & settlement, now abandoned.” However, around the fort ruins were three rows of Maliseet wigwams. Treat, “Journal,” 172.

235 236 [page 175]

In order to preserve a sketch of my route, and the Country through which we pass, I here draw an imaginary plan of the St. John from the Journal Portage down to Eel River and that River up to the Portage landing on and Plans Eel River which is called six miles in a S. Westerly direction from the of Survey by Portage landing at the River—by the Stream it is said to be ten miles— many falls and rapids—and is impassable for canoes, except in high wa- Joseph Treat— ter and then with light canoes only, and several Portage[s].— 1820 We leave in care of Mr. Watson one of our Birch Canoes, which is nearly worn out, and is of very little value. direct him to sell it for two dollars, if no more can be obtained for it.—

237 238 [page 177]

Up River rapid water about one hundred rods—this is a considerable Stream coming from Eel Lake which is near the Upper Schoodiac Journal Lake.— and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

239 240 [page 179]

Thence a crooked still stream—low banks—Boggy low land on each side—we went up three miles above the Portage and camped on the Journal North side near an old Indian camp on the shore—the snow storm con- and Plans tinues when we land which is half past 4.P.M.— of Survey by Thursday morning 9th November—foggy and rain—it snowed and Joseph Treat— rained all last night—We embark at 8. and proceed up stream which 1820 is very crooked running in a southerly direction 8 miles to the foot of Eel Lake making the distance from the first grand portage to the lake eleven miles.—The land all this distance on both sides is low intervale and bog—very poor land and unfit for cultivation or even for grass for the greater part of the way.—

241 242 [page 181]

Eel Lake is three miles long lying North and South—has three streams emptying into it—There are good hard wood ridges on the East Journal and West sides of the Lake—which is the first good land we have seen and Plans from the Great Portage to the Pond.—Commenced raining fast at three of Survey by 1 P.M.—We arrived at the Portage Landing at /4 past 4 and encamped near the lake.—58 Joseph Treat— 1820 Friday 10 November—Cold morning—Wind hard at N. West the snow fell three inches during the night—much ice on the shore and lake.— 1 At 8.A.M. we cross the Portage over a fine hard wood ridge 2 /2 to 3 miles in a westerly direction to the head of Schoodiac Lake.59—We then proceed down the Lake following close under the West shore— then blowing a gale from the N.W. and extremely cold—the coves full of ice.—

58. According to Watson’s voucher, dated Passamaquoddy,” in Handbook of North American November 9, 1820, at Woodstock, New Indians, William C. Sturtevant, gen. ed., vol. 15, Brunswick, Treat paid him $7.31 for pork, fresh Northeast, ed. Bruce Trigger (Washington, D.C.: beef, bread, six meals, lodging, potatoes, and a Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978), 124. For “carry over river portage” fee. See Joseph Treat, works about Passamaquoddy place-names, see Executive Council Papers, 1820, box 1, folder 40, David Sanger, Micah A. Pawling, and Donald MeSA. G. Soctomah, “Passamaquoddy Homeland and 59. Treat’s surveying party arrived at North Language: The Importance of Place,” in Cross- Lake (“Omquememkeag,” meaning “lake of unripe Cultural Collaboration: Native Peoples and Archaeology cranberries”), the northernmost body of water of in the Northeastern United States, ed. Jordan E. the Chiputneticook Lakes. North Lake is connected Kerber, foreword by Joe Watkins (Lincoln: to Grand Lake (“Ktchikwispan,” meaning “the University of Nebraska Press, 2006), 314–328; biggest lake”) by a thoroughfare. Ryder Scott and Donald Soctomah, project director, and Edward Mike Wilson, What’s in a Name: Exploring the Stories Bassett, producer, Landscapes, Legends, and Language of the Baskahegan Landscape (Bethel, Me.: Northern of the Passamaquoddy People: An Interactive Journey in Forest Center, 2000), 9–15. The Chiputneticook the Land of the Passamaquoddy, Native place-name Lakes, consisting of Grand Lake and Spednik CD, Skicin Records, available at the Maine Indian Lake, was the northern extent of Passamaquoddy Basketmakers Alliance, Old Town, Maine, 2004. homeland. See Vincent O. Erickson, “Maliseet-

243 244 [page 183]

Little Schoodiac Lake is 3 miles long—good hard wood land around it—The Boundary Line between the United States and New-Brunswick Journal passes up this Lake and a branch coming in from the North to its source and Plans in the high lands near Holton Plantation.— of Survey by We pass from this Lake in a Westerly direction through a strait called the Thorofare about one mile to the Great Schoodiac Lake.—We arrived Joseph Treat— at the head of the Lake at 12 at noon and in consequence of a violent gale 1820 of wind from the N. West we could not proceed across the Lake—remained at the Thorofare till 3.P.M. and in the mean time shot three Black Ducks and caught some fine trout—one of which weighs six pounds—we also caught a young salmon weighing two pounds—Some good ridges of land around this Pond—very good along the west shore.—

245 246 [page 185]

At 3.P.M. we left the Thorofare and proceeded down Great Schoo- diac Lake around which there are fine ridges of hard wood land, par- Journal ticularly on the West or American side—there are several Islands in this and Plans Lake—some good pine between the ridges and Lake.— of Survey by We went down six miles and camped 5.o’clock on a point on the West shore—the wind blows hard from the N.W. during the night and very Joseph Treat— cold.— 1820

247 248 [page 187]

Saturday morning 11th November 1820—cold morning—strong breeze from the N. West.—We embark and proceed down the Lake passing Journal three large Bays on our right.—We find it difficult crossing theB ays the and Plans wind continuing to blow hard from N.W.— of Survey by Joseph Treat— 1820

249 250 [page 189]

The last Bay we pass on our right is two miles across in a westerly direction from the opposite Point to the Portage Landing—crossing which Journal we nearly filled our Canoe—large seas and the wind strong from the N. and Plans West, and so cold the sprays freeze on our cloth[e]s and baggage. We of Survey by however with hard paddling gain the west shore and land at the Portage 1 Joseph Treat— at /2 past 12, having come this morning about 7 miles.— We remain here about half an hour to dry our cloth[e]s and get some 1820 refreshment—then proceed across the portage to Baskahegan—We pass over a fine ridge of hard wood land three miles to Baskahegan—this is a considerable Stream coming from the East—good meadow and intervale at the Portage Landing and good land on the S.W. side—fine ridge—we arrive at the Portage at half past three o’clock P.M. and find the stream frozen over—We hold a Council and deliberate whether we had better leave our Canoe and proceed home by land following the ridges to Madanawcook and Cold Stream &c.60

60. After portaging from Davenport Cove on Grand Lake, Treat probably reached the Baskhegan Stream, meaning “at the place where you branch off,” above present-day Danforth, Maine. Scott and Wilson, What’s in a Name, 9–15.

251 252 [page 191]

But this being a long tedious journey say 75 miles to Passadunkee—we give it up hoping to find the Stream open below—And we conclude Journal to go down stream and put our frail bark on the ice and break our way and Plans through ice one inch thick (passing two short open places) one mile and of Survey by camp on the North side—weather very cold.— Joseph Treat— Sunday morning 12 November—very cold and cloudy—appearance of a 1820 snow storm—last night was extremely cold—the ice froze at our Landing place half an inch—we this morning commence our route down stream by carrying our canoe and baggage on the shore—We carry on the shore 1 /4 mile to strong ice—here we make a temporary sled of a crotched tree 1 1 and proceed on the ice /4 mile find marker, then clear a portage /2 a mile by the weak ice—here we make another sled 20 feet long by fixing two poles four feet apart and bark them together with Elm bark attached to cross sticks for bars—and then proceed on the ice one mile and finding many places not more than one inch of ice—Holyoke forward with a stick trying the strength of the ice, Neptune crawling with a line 20 feet long hauling the canoe and myself

253 254 [page 193] with a long pole pushing the canoe—we proceed in this manner on the ice about one mile where we discover open water—here Holyoke and Journal Neptune land on shore—I take off great coat and boots—and run the and Plans canoe near the open water then leap on board and break the ice with a of Survey by 1 pole—then land and take them on board and proceed down stream /2 1 Joseph Treat— mile where we meet the ice /4 mile above Beaver Brook—having left our 1 sled we here break down the ice and get on and haul our canoes /4 mile 1820 to Beaver brook—we venture on ice too far and break in Neptune and Holyoke being near the canoe get on board and I fall in the stream—but after a few minutes get on board with no damage only a complete duck- ing—we then proceed down stream—sometimes clear stream and sometimes breaking ice—we go in this manner one mile and meet the stream full of loose ice—we then land on the south side—it is now 12 o’clock— 1 it commenced snowing at 11 A.M.—we now clear a Portage /2 a mile by the ice which we get done at 4 P.M.— we remain at our Landing place during this night—which continues a severe cold snow storm.—

255 256 [page 195]

Monday morning 13 November.— The snow storm continues—we carry our canoe and baggage over our Journal 1 1 Portage /2 mile and embark and proceed /4 mile and find the steam full and Plans 1 of ice—land on south side and clear a portage road /4 mile by the ice— of Survey by then embark and proceed down stream one mile to the falls—which we 1 Joseph Treat— carry by /4 mile on the north side—then embark and proceed one mile to Madawamkeag River which is full of loose running ice—we proceed 1820 down stream five miles and find the ice stopped. We land on the East 1 side at 3 P.M. and carry our canoe and baggage /2 mile in hopes to get to hard ice to travel on; but we here find the ice soft and loose made from 1 the last snow only, and not frozen—We camp on the E. side at /2 past 4 P.M. in hopes the ice may be strong enough to travel on tomorrow—the snow storm continues till 11 at night.— The land appears very good on the shores of the Madawamkeag some fine intervale but not wide from the stream.—

257 258 [page 197]

Tuesday morning 14 November 1820. Cold clear fine weather wind N. West—the snow is now about ten Journal inches deep.— and Plans We this morning commence our route by land having to make three of Survey by packs and our Canoe—we have to make short stages and one return for the canoe and the other two carry the baggage forward until the canoe Joseph Treat— 3 overtakes us—and we proceed /4 mile to a large stream over which we 1820 make a bridge of small trees to pass the ice—we go a half a mile further and cross another stream in the same manner.—We then proceed over very bad travelling—low intervale very thick growth of trees and ground hemlock—two miles further and camp on the East side near the River.— On examination of our provisions find we have not more than two days rations—and in consequence of which we cook but a small supper—viz: some bread and chocolate—We have this day with the greatest exertion carried our canoe and baggage 3 miles through the woods—the ice not being sufficient to bear us.—

259 260 [page 199]

Wednesday morning 15 November—fair weather—wind west. We go one and a quarter miles down the shore very bad travelling— Journal we this morning leave Neptune’s two traps and two kegs which we hang and Plans up on a spruce tree where we camp—and pack our baggage &c. in two of Survey by packs which Mr. Holyoke and myself make out to carry and Neptune carries the canoe—we proceed one and a quarter miles and find the ice Joseph Treat— sufficiently strong to bear us—here we make a hand sled which we fin- 1820 ish at noon and put on our canoe and baggage and proceed down on the ice which we find in places very weak and we proceed cautiously.— There is a good ridge of land on both sides of the stream from Baska- hegan down to Ettopicklock Stream—thence down on the East a good ridge back of the meadow and bog—the west side low land and boggy— some good pine on west side near this stream.—

261 262 [page 201]

We travelled down stream on the ice from the place we went on this morning about 8 miles—without any accident except Mr. Holyoke and Journal myself falling through the ice once.— and Plans We see a good ridge of land on the East side above Nunksquilossess— of Survey by and another lying two or three miles back below and south East of the meadow—the meadows are very extensive on this and Nunksquilock Joseph Treat— streams.— 1820 The land is low on both sides the shore but is rich intervale—perhaps too low for cultivation except for grass land.— There is some good pine on the north side of Nunksquilock stream which we see from the River.— We camped at 5 P.M. one mile below Nunksuilossess stream on the West side.—

263 264 [page 203]

Thursday morning November 16th. 1820.— Clear cold morning wind N. West.—proceed down River hauling Journal 1 our Canoe and baggage on the ice— /4 miles then we passed a singular and Plans turn in the River called of Survey by here the stream is 30 to 40 rods wide good intervale on each side on the banks, back of which is low meadow or wet intervale—2 miles Joseph Treat— below this comes in a stream from the south called Pon,guan,go,mo, or 1820 Muddy Pond Stream—here we see a fine ridge of hard wood land lying East—and another lying south back of Ponguengomo Pond—there is good meadow on Ponguangomo Stream.—61

61. Treat and his surveying party were in present-day Drew Plantation, west of Kingman Township.

265 266 [page 205]

One mile below Ponguamgomo comes in a small stream from the North called Wask,wee,ta,wal,sa,keek—one mile below this comes in from the Journal South a small stream called Ma,da,qua,woo,dis—half a mile below this and Plans comes in from the N. a small stream called Ptkau,sun,teek—there are of Survey by small meadows on each of these streams—good intervale on the main stream on the banks, but soon fall into low ground as you go back.— Joseph Treat— We haul our canoe on the ice this morning to the head of the Portage 1820 and rapids below Kau,sun,tick Stream, which is about seven miles— here we find the stream open and rapid—here is called the footof Cheem,ska,ta,cook dead water which taking the winding of the stream is 15 miles long—and commences 5 miles below the Baskahegan.—

267 268 [page 207]

We then go about 5 miles by water the river clear of ice—stream rapid till we get near Molunkus Stream and wide dead water—Molunkus is Journal a large stream coming in from the North—has many large ponds on it— and Plans has excellent meadow from its mouth up ten miles—the source of this of Survey by stream is as far North as the E. Branch of Penobscot or Madawamkeag and lies between those Rivers.— Joseph Treat— There is good land on both sides of Madawamkeag from Kausuntick 1820 Stream down to Molunkus—good ridges lie back near the stream.— 1 We break the ice with poles 1 /2 miles through Molunkus dead water— then proceed down clear stream quick water—good land on each side the stream—and a great deal of pine after passing the Molunkus.—62

62. Molunkus Stream flows into the Mattawamkeag River downstream from present- day Kingman, Maine.

269 270 [page 209]

We proceed in our Canoe down the stream which is generally rapid about 5 miles from Molunkus to Gordon’s mill place, passing three short Journal Portages in that distance—thence one mile to Namadumkeeunk Stream and Plans which comes in from the east—this is a considerable stream and two of Survey by ponds—good pine timber up this stream.—There is also good pine on both sides of Madawamkeag from Molunkus down to Namadunkeeunk.— Joseph Treat— 1820

271 272 [page 211]

Then going one mile below Namadunkeeunk we meet the ice in the stream and carried by half a mile—then by water to Madawamkeag Journal Point, where we arrived at 5.P.M.—Thence went one mile down the and Plans Penobscot and camped on the West side.— of Survey by We have no provisions except two quarts of Indian meal and 1/3 of a pound of Pork—a small quantity of ginger and some sugar—We make Joseph Treat— our meal into hasty pudding and eat half of that and the pork for sup- 1820 per—and hope to arrive tomorrow night at Passadumkee where we can replenish our stock of Provisions.— We have seen no person on all our route from Eel River to Penobscot.—

273 [page 212]

Friday morning 17th November.—fair weather.— Journal We embark and proceed down river two miles and find the river full and Plans of ice—we land on an Island and carry by into an open channel and pro- 1 ceed /2 mile.—then break through a bar of ice, and go by water about of Survey by half a mile when we meet solid strong ice across the river—we then haul Joseph Treat— our canoe on the ice about two miles in hopes to find the river open be- 1820 low—but are disappointed and leave our canoe on the east side about half a mile below Woodbury’s clearing—and secure her in the woods— we then proceed down on the east side carrying our baggage about three miles and camp on the East side opposite Kes,seess,kee,nau,gus, or Na- than’s Island with heavy hearts and light suppers.—

274 [page 213]

Saturday morning 18th November.— We resume our journey and travel on the ice to the foot of Journal Ma,da,na,cook dead water, thence on land and ice to Mr. Nolen’s near and Plans Passadunkee, where we procure refreshment, and remain this night hav- of Survey by ing travelled this day about twenty miles.— Joseph Treat— Sunday morning 19th November.— 1820 Proceed by land down river on the East side about 18 miles to Sunk- haze and stop this night at Mr. Amos Bailey’s.—

Monday morning 20th November.— We resume our journey down river and arrive at Mr. Lambert’s in Bangor at nine o’clock in the evening.— We leave our Tent and camp utensils with Capt. Haynes at Passadumkee.— On my return to Bangor I received a letter from Governor King requesting my Report to be

275 [page 214]

to be made as soon as possible, as the Council were to be immediately in Journal Session.— and Plans I forwarded to Governor King the map of Maine on which was marked in Sections the route through which I had passed and a detailed of Survey by Report referring to the map—But thinking this Journal might elucidate Joseph Treat— and more fully explain the Report—I send this Journal, (which I con- 1820 sider my own private property) not having time to copy it, by Honorable William Emerson.— (signed.) Joseph Treat

276 Appendix 1820 Treaty Negotiations between the Penobscot Indian Nation and Maine

In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, treaty councils were open forums in which Wabanaki leaders and Euro-American officials came together to discuss- dip lomatic relations and performed treaty protocol that entailed lengthy speeches and the presentation of wampum to cement alliances. Treaties, which the British and later Amer- icans used to establish a “legal framework” to negotiate agreements with the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies, were the written result of these oral and face-to-face exchanges. For Native peoples, it was the spoken word in the negotiation process that symbolized the agreement. But for the Euro-Americans, only the written text authenticated a treaty agreement, and they benefited from their own interpretations of it. The result of this discrepancy between the treaty text and the oral context was that both groups understood very differently the outcome of treaty councils.1 Unlike most Indian tribes, who made their treaties with the United States government, Wabanaki peoples of Maine, whose diplomatic relations with Massachusetts predated the formation of the federal government, entered into treaties with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and later with the state of Maine. By the nineteenth century, however, treaty negotiations in Maine had changed. Maine still adhered to treaty council format, permitting Native leaders to voice their concerns and stress the importance of the treaty process, but in July 1820 state officials estimated that there were only about 360 Pe- nobscots dispersed across their homeland. Outnumbered by Euro-American settlers, Pe- nobscots were no longer directly involved in the decision process, rendering treaty councils a form of mock compromise. In the 1820 treaty, Penobscots consented to sever their long relationship with Mas- sachusetts and recognized the new state of Maine as accepting responsibility over treaties, lands, and the distribution of annuities. Massachusetts gave $30,000 to Maine for the

1. William C. Wicken, Mi’kmaq Treaties on Trial: University Press, 2001), 133–150; Robert A. History, Land, and Donald Marshall Junior (Toronto: Williams, Jr., Linking Arms Together: American University of Toronto Press, 2002), 3–16; Daniel Indian Treaty Visions of Law and Peace, 1600–1800 K. Richter, Facing East from Indian Country: A Native (New York: Routledge, 1997). History of Early America (Cambridge: Harvard

277 implementation of “certain duties and obligations to the Indians.”2 However, Maine’s statehood in March 1820 had, in fact, left Penobscot leaders with little choice about the political changes. Penobscot delegates’ recognition of statehood was a strategy for cul- Appendix tural survival and helped assure amicable relations with Maine. But there was another reason why the Penobscots acknowledged Maine. The treaty affirmed Penobscot lands established in the 1818 Penobscot treaty with Massachusetts, consisting of the four upper townships, the islands in the Penobscot River, and the repurchase of two acres along the waterfront in Brewer, Maine. The 1820 treaty stipulated that the Penobscots relinquished the fulfillment of their claimed tribal land in Brewer to Massachusetts.3 Joseph Treat and Lieutenant Governor John Neptune were well acquainted before their departure in September 1820. Both had participated in the 1820 Penobscot treaty with Maine, although they had had different roles and stood on opposite sides of the room. In June, at the first treaty council in Maine’s first capital of Portland, John Neptune had spoken on behalf of his people to Governor William King. In August, the treaty council had reconvened at the court house in Bangor to finalize the treaty, where John Neptune signed the treaty as the Penobscots’ lieutenant governor and Joseph Treat signed as a witness. As participants from opposite sides, the two men undoubtedly felt tension over conflicting interests, but their 1820 excursion testifies to the remarkable degree to which they were able to put their apprehension aside and reach a level of trust. Treat was a surveyor who bought and leased Indian land and resources. Neptune was a prestigious leader among his people trying to hold onto the lands they had left. Still, both worked together and relied on each other’s help as they traveled across northern Maine and western New Brunswick. The 1820 Penobscot treaty has received little attention, partly because Indian lands were mostly left unchanged. But for the Penobscots, it was a difficult decision. For gen-

2. Governor William King’s state of the state John Blake explained, “As to the two acres of land address to the new legislature in Portland, June in Brewer I found the purchase of it impractible 2, 1820, p. 10, Maine State Archives, Augusta, [impractical] as the people manifested much reluc- Maine (hereafter MeSA). tance at having the Indians in their neighborhood.” 3. On May 22, 1820, Penobscot Lieutenant See Penobscot deed relinquishing Brewer land, Governor John Neptune and eleven other tribal signed by Lieutenant Governor John Neptune leaders relinquished their claim to the two acres and eleven others, May 22, 1820, Council Files, on the Penobscot River bank in Brewer, Maine, June 13, 1820, box 28, Massachusetts State for $100. Massachusetts’s authorities expressed Archives, Boston, Massachusetts (hereafter concern over the agreement because Penobscot MaSA); Penobscot deed relinquishing Brewer Governor John Attean, who was not present at Old land, signed by Governor John Attean and two Town, did not sign the document. On August 15, other tribal leaders, August 15, 1820, Council 1820, Governor John Attean and two others signed Files, September 13, 1820, box 29, MaSA; Letter a separate document relinquishing tribal claim to to Massachusetts Governor John Brooks from John the two acres in Brewer. The sale of the Penobscots’ Blake, Brewer, May 24, 1820, Council Files, June rights to the two acres was also the result of town 13, 1820, box 28, MaSA. residents’ not wanting Indian neighbors. Agent

278 erations, Penobscots had built a relationship with Massachusetts based on decades of communication and negotiations, and that relationship was now being threatened. Al- though Maine would accept the same political authority as Massachusetts, Penobscots were wary since the change would not only sever their ties to the Commonwealth but Appendix result in Penobscot reliance on a state with which they had no previous experience. By the same token, the new state was inexperienced in forming a relationship with the Pe- nobscots at the same time that it had to rely on their assistance, skills, and knowledge to traverse Wabanaki homeland and further the state’s political aspirations to resolve the international boundary dispute.

This appendix consists of the minutes of 1820 treaty councils, the first of which began in Maine’s first capital of Portland on July 7, 1820. The second treaty council, in which state officials reciprocated in taking the journey to the Penobscot River Valley, convened at Bangor’s court house on August 15, 1820. The minutes of both meetings, compris- ing the original speeches by state and tribal leaders, are followed by a newspaper report of the events. At the end of the appendix is the text of the two-part 1820 treaty, signed in Bangor, between the Penobscot Indians and the state of Maine.

Penobscot Indians4 On Friday last the Lieut. Governor [John Neptune] of the Penobscot Indians, and their chiefs, arrived in this town [of Portland] on a visit, and were introduced to the Governor and Council in the Senate Chamber. A large number of citizens were present at the interview between these Sons of the Forest and the new Government of Maine. The Governor [William King] addressed the chiefs substantially as follows: BROTHERS, Our Chiefs no longer reside at Boston; this is a convenience to you, as well as to us: we have many things to say to you; and we expect you have much to say to us. The persons who set with me, to advise me what to say to you, are your friends; they will see that you have every thing which has been promised you.

4. Eastern Argus (Portland, Me.), vol. 17, no. these two newspapers are nearly identical, they 891, Tuesday, July 11, 1820, p. 3, cols. 1–2; sometimes differ in punctuation and capitalization, Hancock Gazette and Penobscot Patriot (Belfast, Me.), and the transcriber must make decisions based on vol. 1, no. 3, Thursday, July 20, 1820, p. 2, cols. reading clarity. 1–2. Although the treaty minutes published in

279 Your fathers were our friends; a long time since they helped us drive away the red coats [British]; and we shall always remember them. The last war [War of 1812] you did right; you took no part, we did not ask you to help us; because we ourselves were strong enough. Appendix We have many things to say to your Chiefs, when you are ready to hear us. We have chosen Col. [Lathrop] Lewis to talk for us, with whom you are acquainted, who is one of your chiefs; and who is your friend, as well as ours; you can believe every thing he says to you. We shall now consider you as our children; you will have every thing from us, if you request it, which our friends at Boston promised you, but you must say to them, you depend on us alone. We now wish to hear you talk; we shall attend to what you say; we hope you have no complaints to make; if you have any, they shall be attended to. The Lieutenant Governor [John Neptune] replied through an interpreter. I thank your honor for the good you say. You see us well to-day. Christ is our Savior as yours. He is the same to us all—no difference of color. The same Heaven is for the black men and the white men.5 One thing in particular I wish to say to day. Perhaps we get nothing for it. The white people take the fish in the river so that they no get up to us. They take them with wares [weirs], they take them with dip nets. They are all gone before they get to us. The Indians get none. If you can stop them so that we can get fish too we be very glad. There is another thing, our hunting privilege. The white men come and spoil all the game. They catch all the young ones and the old ones. We take the old ones and leave the young ones till they grow bigger and are worth more. We wish the white men to be stopped from hunting. They take the timber, they have teams and oxen to haul the trees. Indians have no teams, no oxen to haul timber. We wish your government to stop the white men from hunting—put their traps in their chests. Let white men have the timber and the Indians have the game. You see us now here very poor. If we were not poor you would see us better dressed. We want you to give us something so when you see us again you will know us. Perhaps a hat, or shoes, or some powder and shot. One word more. We want a new Agent. You have a new government[,] a new state. We want you to give us a new Agent.6

5. Penobscot Lieutenant Governor John 6. This separate paragraph requesting a new Neptune’s statement about “black men” probably Indian agent was only printed in the Eastern Argus refers to Native people. Personal communication paper. with Professor Harald E. L. Prins, February 2005.

280 We hear that a new treaty will be made; we want to know when your chiefs come from Portland to make a new treaty. We want to tell our people so that they may be ready to receive your people. To which the Governor [William King] made the following reply: Appendix BROTHERS: We have heard with attention, what you have said to us; our opinions agree with yours that our Great Father [God] is the same; we hope and we constantly pray, that you as well as ourselves may so conduct, as will be most pleasing to him. What you have said about the wares [weirs], the dip nets and hedges down the Penobscot Bay, and the injury they have done your fishery, will be attended to; we hope they will not be much longer a subject of complaint; when the white people are as well informed on this subject as you are, these obstructions will disappear. We are sorry to be informed that the white people interfere with your hunting; because it is not in our power to prevent it; you say the white people can haul timber, so can you; if they have oxen to do this, you can obtain oxen also; and you will employ them much better than they do, if you will plough your grounds, and become good farmers. You say a new State should have a new agent; to this we have no objections; our wish is, that you should be satisfied: and that the agent should be your friend as well as ours. Col. [Lathorp]Lewis, with whom you are all acquainted, will be at Bangor on Tuesday, the 15th of August; he wishes your Governor [John Attean] to be there with all his writings at the time; there will be much to do, which will there be stated to him, and which your Governor will be pleased with. You request something from us, that when we see you again we may know you. We comply with your request, as we wish always to remember you; and that you should know and remember us as your friends. Gen. [Samuel] Cony [Adjutant General], who has provided for your accommodation, will attend to your requests.

Portland, July 117 On Thursday left a deputation of the Penobscot tribe of Indians, composed of lieutenant[?] Governor, and two or three officers [others?] of inferior grade

7. Salem Gazette (Salem, Mass.), vol. 34, no. 56, Friday, July 14, 1820, p. 3, cols. 1–2.

281 visited the seat of government to declare their adhesion[?] to the new State, and to have a “long talk” with the Governor and Council. On Friday morning they were introduced to the council chamber, and the Governor received them in a manner calculated to conciliate their feelings, and assure them of the favor Appendix and protection of government. He observed, that their dependence was now transferred from Massachusetts to Maine, and they must look to the government of the new State for these instances of good will, which they had been accustomed to receive from the old. He complimented them upon the services their fathers had rendered the country fighting the “red coats” during the revolutionary war: and observed that he did not doubt but they would have been equally prompt in the last war, had their services been requested. He informed them, that Col. Lewis, to whom he presented them, had been appointed their Agent instead of Gen. [John] Blake, and hoped the change would be mutually satisfactory. The Lieut. Governor [John Neptune (1767–1865)], the chief of the deputation, although he could speak and understood English very well, yet choosing to adhere to etiquette, replied in his native language, and his speech was interpreted by one of his party. His course was to go through one subject of his speech, and then give the interpreter an opportunity to explain; the arrangement was method _eal [zeal? real?] and his views and wishes were very intelligible. He observed, that they were all children of one common father, who held in equal regard the white man and the Indian. After some prelimi- nary remarks, he made complaints of the encroachments of the white man upon their accustomed privileges, and wished the Governor to prevent them. He stated, that wares had been set up in their river which had obstructed the fish and inured their means of support—That white men had invaded their hunting grounds, killed their game, and disturbed them in that mode of life; and particularly that they killed the young game which made the destruction more serious, while the Indian only took the old: he observed, that the white men had oxen to draw the logs into the water, and obtained their living in that manner, they ought therefore to be prevented from setting their traps on their soil, and interfering with that business which was important to them, and in which they had been brought up. They complained too that the white men had cut their timber, and were destroying their forests. They asked the protection of government in these particulars. They apologized for their appearance, which was rather shabby, partly by their having no intention to come here when they left home, and partly by their poverty; which they attributed wholly to the encroachments of the whites on their forests, their fisheries, and their game. They insinuated, that some presents would not be unacceptable; a dinner was provided for them by the Governor, and we understand they did not depart

282 empty handed, and it is further understood that medals will be sent to the chiefs by the agent. The Penobscot tribe consists now of about 360 souls. They own four townships of land and some islands in [the] Penobscot river; their village in Indian Appendix Old Town, composed of huts and log houses irregularly built. They have heretofore received a sum of money from Massachusetts for their support, which will be continued to them under the new government.

Treaty with the Penobscot Indians8 Bangor, August 24. The Hon. Lathrop Lewis [of Gorham, Maine], having been appointed Com- missioner by the Governor with advice of Council under authority of a Resolve of the Legislature of Maine to treat with the Penobscot Indians, respecting their claim on Massachusetts, and for transferring the same to the Government of Maine—met the Governor and Chiefs of the tribe by appointment at the Court House in this town, on Tuesday the 15th instant, and made to them the following introductory Speech: BROTHERS, I am happy in meeting at this time, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and so many Chiefs, Captains and men of your tribe—may we all acknowledge with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Supreme Being, who is the Father of us all, for the preservation of our lives to the present moment. Brothers—I come to inform you, that since the last treaty was made with you at this place, the Governor and People of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and our father the President of the United States, have given their consent, that the District of Maine should be formed into a separate and Independent State.—In consequence of this separation our Governor and Chiefs now reside among us, and no longer at Boston.—This we consider a great convenience to us, and hope it will be equally so to you. Brothers—I am directed by the Governor of the new State, and his Chiefs, to say to you, that they are ready and willing to consider you as their Children, and that you shall have everything of them (if you wish it) which your friends at Boston promised you by the last treaty,—Provided you are willing to say to the Governor at Boston, that you have no further claim on him, but depend on the new State alone.

8. Eastern Argus, vol. 18, no. 899, Tuesday, September 5, 1820, p. 2, cols. 2–3.

283 Brothers.—I am authorized by our Governor and his Chiefs to receive from you a release of all your claims under the late treaty on the Government of Mas- sachusetts and enter into a new treaty to secure to you the exact fulfil[l]ment of every thing that was promised you by the old. Appendix Brothers.—You reside among us, and it will be more convenient for you to make known your wants to the Governor and Chiefs of the new State [th]an to the Governor at Boston, and I assure you that it is the wish of our Governor and his Chiefs to consider you as their Children, & that you [and] your tribe may always be prosperous and happy. I hope you will consider what I have said, and agree to what I have proposed to you, and that it will be equally beneficial to you and us. The Governor and Chiefs having attentively heard the above speech, requested time to hold council of the chiefs, captains and men of the tribe to consider the proposition made by Col. Lewis.—And on Thursday the 17th, the Governor, Lieut. Governor and Chiefs assembled at the Court house when Capt. Francis [Lolon], one of their chiefs, made a speech in the Indian language, which was translated and read; and is substantially as follows: Our Good Friend, Col. LEWIS BROTHER, It gives us great satisfaction, that in meeting you as the Commissioner for the State of Maine we also meet an old friend and acquaintance. We join with you in acknowledging the goodness of the Great Spirit, who made us all, the white as well as the red men; to him we look as the source of all good, to him we pray to guide and direct us in all our transactions with each other and our Brothers the white men. Brother—The Good Spirit who made and placed the red men here, before the white men came, gave us all the land from whence the waters run into the Penobscot. He caused the forest to abound with game, and the rivers with fish, for our use and subsistence—we then were contented and happy. When the white men came over the great waters to our country, we received them as friends and brothers; we then were many and strong; they few and weak: we gave them land, and permitted them to live peaceably among us, and have remained their friends. The white men are now very strong; we are weak, and now want them to be our friends. Brother—We have considered on what you have said to us, and are much please with your talk—You say that since the last treaty by the consent of the Governor and people of the old State, and our father, the President of the Unit- ed States, Maine has been formed into a new and independent State; with this we are well pleased, and hope the time will soon come when the land formally

284 owned and inhabited by the once great tribe of Penobscot Indians may contain white men enough to form another new State. You also say that the Governor and people of the new State, wish to take us under their care and protection, and that they will do and perform all things promised us by our good friends Appendix the Governor and people of Massachusetts, if we will relinquish our claim on the old State. Brother—We place the greatest confidence in the Governor, Chiefs and people of the State of Maine, and are willing to put ourselves under their care and protection, hoping and expecting they will perform all their promises to us as faithfully as our good friends the Governor, Chiefs and people of Massachu- setts have done. Brother—By the last treaty made with Massachusetts, we relinquished the claim to our lands, except four townships, and the islands in Penobscot River, above and including Old Town, which our good friends, the commissioners, Messrs, Robins, Davis, and Hill told us we were to hold for our use, improve- ment and benefit, so long as the sun shines; waters run; trees grow, and the world lasts. This is the tenure under which we hold the land we now possess. We wish the government of Maine, to understand this, and fulfil[l] all the promises made us, by our good friends the Governor and Chiefs of the Old State. Brother—We wish to express to your our satisfaction with all the arrangements made for us by our good friends the Governor, Chiefs and people both of the old and new State;—and we hope they will continue to be our friends, and that the new State may always be governed and ruled by good men. And that under the protection of the Great Spirit, it may soon be the most powerful State in the Union. Brother—We are now ready to relinquish our claim on the old, and make a treaty with the new State; and we most sincerely pray that the good Spirit may guide and direct you, and us, to do right in this negotiation—and that He may now and forever have us in His holy keeping. To which Col. Lewis made the following REPLY: BROTHERS, I received with great satisfaction, the communication you have made at this time, and sincerely join with you, in acknowledging the goodness of the Great Spirit, for his unmerited kindness toward us, may we always look to Him, as the source of all good, and constantly pray to him for His guidance and direction, in all our negotiations with each other. Brothers.—I am sensible that your tribe once governed all the country, whose waters run into the Penobscot; and that you were then contented and happy; and when the white men came over the great waters, that you received them

285 as brothers, and gave them lands to cultivate, and that you have remained their friends. The Great Spirit has permitted, that the white people should become strong and that your tribe should become weak;—but I assure you, that as long as you Appendix conduct well, the white people will be your friends. Brothers.—I am glad that you have considered well what I have said to you, and that you place great confidence in the Government of the State of Maine, and are willing to put yourselves under their care and protection. I sincerely hope that your reasonable expectations will not be disappointed and that the new State, will perform all promises to you as faithfully as our good friends, the Governor and people of Massachusetts have heretofore done. Brothers.—I thank you for the satisfaction you express with the arrangements made for you by the Governors and people of the old and new States and I join with you in the hope that they will continue to be your friends, and that the new State may always be governed by good men, and under the smiles of the Great Spirit, become a powerful and happy people. Brothers—I am now ready to accept your relinquishment of all claims on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and to execute a treaty with you on behalf of the State of Maine, and I ardently pray that the Good Spirit may direct us in this negotiation, that he may enlighten your minds in the knowledge of his revealed will, and have you always in his holy keeping. After signing the treaty, Col. Lewis delivers Gov. Ettien [John Attean], and Lieut. Gov. Neptune, a piece of fine scarlet broadcloth, for each of them a coat; and to each of the Chiefs, a silver breast plate, on which was engraved the Arms of the State of Maine—present from Governor King—with which they were highly gratified.9 The Governor and Chiefs conducted with great propriety and decorum during the negotiation, and transactions of the business.

Treaty with the Penobscot Indians10 The Hon. Lathrop Lewis, having been appointed Commissioner, by the Gov- ernor with advice of Council under authority of a Resolve of the Legislature of Maine to treat with the Penobscot Indians, respecting their claim on Mas-

9. For the significance of medals among the Nicholas N. Smith, “Gift Diplomacy: Medals for the Wabanaki, see Harald E. L. Prins, “Two George Wabanaki,” in Papers of the Twenty-fifth Algonquian Washington Medals: Missing Links in the Chain Conference, ed. William Cowan (Ottawa: Carleton of Friendship between the United States and the University Press, 1994), 406–425. Wabanaki Confederacy,” Maine Historical Society 10. Hancock Gazette and Penobscot Patriot, vol. 1, Quarterly 28, no. 4 (Spring 1989): 226–234; no. 9, Thursday, August 31, 1820.

286 sachusetts, and for transferring the same to the Government of Maine—met the Governor and Chiefs of the tribe by appointment at the Court House in this town, on Tuesday, the 15th inst. And made them an introductory Speech, wherein, after some civilities, he stated the separation of Massachusetts; and Appendix that his object was to obtain from them a release of all their claims under the late treaty, on the government of Massachusetts, and to enter into a new treaty to secure to them the exact fulfillment of every thing that was promised to them by the old. The Governor and Chiefs having attentively heard the speech, requested time to hold a Council of the Chiefs, Captains and men of the tribe, to consider the proposition made by Col. Lewis.—And on the 17th, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and Chiefs assembled at the Court House, when Capt. Francis, one of the Chiefs, made a speech in Indian language, which was translated and read; whereby they accepted the offer of Col. Lewis and concluded by observing that “We are now ready to relinquish our claim on the old, and make a treaty with the new State; and we most sincerely pray that the good Spirit may guide and direct you, and us, to do right in this negotiation—and that He may now and ever have us in His holy keeping.” After signing the treaty, Col. Lewis delivered Governor Ettien, and Lieu- tenant Governor Neptune, a piece of fine scarlet broadcloth for each of them a coat; and to each of the Chiefs, a silver breast plate, on which was engraved the Arms of the State of Maine—a present from Governor King—with which they were highly gratified. The Governor and Chiefs conducted with great propriety during the negotiation, and transaction of the business.

Treaty Made with the Penobscot tribe of Indians, August 17, 182011 Whereas, The state of Maine by her commissioner, Lothrop Lewis, Esq., has engaged to assume and perform all the duties and obligations of the commonwealth of Massachusetts towards us and our said tribe, whether the same arise from any writing of indenture, treaty or otherwise at present existing; and whereas said state of Maine has obtained our consent and that our said tribe to said assumption and arrangement—now know all people to whom these presents shall come, that we whose hands and seals are hereunto affixed, for and in

11. State of Maine, “Indian Treaties,” Acts and Smith & Co., 1843), 253–266. For an original Resolves Passed by the Twenty-third Legislature of the copy of the second part of the 1820 treaty, see State of Maine, A.D. 1843 (Augusta: William R. Council Files, October 14, 1820, box 29, MaSA.

287 behalf of ourselves and the Penobscot tribe of Indians, so called, to which we belong and which we represent, in consideration of the premises, do hereby release to said commonwealth of Massachusetts all claims and stipulations of what name or nature soever, which we or all or any of us or our said tribe have Appendix on or against said commonwealth, arising under any writing of indenture, treaty, or otherwise, existing between said commonwealth of Massachusetts, and said Penobscot tribe of Indians. In witness whereof, we the undersigned chiefs, captains and men of the said tribe, representing the whole thereof, have hereunto set our hand and seals this seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty.

his Governor John X Etien mark Lieut. Governor John X Neptune Francis X Lolon, Captain. Captain Etien X Mitchell Piel X Mitchell, Capt. Sock X Sosep, Capt. Piel X Marie, Capt. Suasin X Neptune, Capt. Awasoos X Mitchell, Capt. John X Ossou, Capt. Joseph X Marie Neptune, Esq. Joseph X Lion Glocian X Awasoos. Capt. Nicholas X Tomah Sabattis X Tomah

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us: William D. Williamson Joseph Treat Ebenezer Webster William Emerson Stephen L. Lewis John Blake Eben Webster

288 This writing, indented and made this seventeenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty, by and between Lothrop Lewis of Gorham in the county of Cumberland and state of Maine, esquire, commissioner, appointed by William King, Esquire, governor of said state, by Appendix and with the advise and consent of the council, in conformity to a resolve of the legislature of said state passed the twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty, to treat with the Penobscot tribe of Indians in said state, upon the subject expressed in said resolve, on the one part; and the said Penobscot tribe of Indians, by the undersigned, chiefs, captains and men of said tribe, representing the whole thereof on the other part; Witnesseth; That, the said Penobscot tribe of Indians, in consideration of the covenants and agreements, hereinafter mentioned, on the part of said commissioner, in behalf of the said state, to be performed, kept and fulfilled, do hereby grant, sell, convey, release and quitclaim, to said state, all their, the said tribe’s right, title, interest and estate, in and to all the lands and possessions, granted, sold, and conveyed by us, to the commonwealth of Massachusetts, by our writing of indenture, made with said commonwealth by their commissioners, the honorable Edward H. Robbins, Daniel Davis, and Mark L. Hill, Esquires, June the twenty ninth, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, saving and excepting, the reservations, in said indenture made and expressed. Meaning and intending hereby, to substitute and place, the said state of Maine, in the stead and place, of the said commonwealth of Massachusetts, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as it regards said indenture last mentioned, with the said tribe of Indians, so that all and singular, the lands, rights, immunities or privileges, whatsoever, which said commonwealth of Massachusetts did, might, or could hold, possess, exercise and enjoy, under or by virtue of said indenture, or treaty, or by any other indenture, treaty or agreement whatsoever, shall be held, possessed, exercised and enjoyed in as full and ample a manner by said state of Maine. And the undersigned commissioner, on his part, in behalf of said state of Maine, in consideration of the premises, and of the foregoing covenants and engagements, of said tribe, does hereby covenant with said tribe, that they shall have and enjoy, all the reservations made to them, by virtue of said treaty of the twenty ninth of June, eighteen hundred and eighteen. And the undersigned commissioner, in behalf of the said state of Maine, does hereby further covenant and agree with the said tribe, that, as soon as the commonwealth of Massachusetts, shall have made and fulfilled the stipulations on her part to be done and performed, under and by virtue of the fifth article of an act, “relating to the separation of the district of Maine from Massachusetts proper, and form-

289 ing the same into an independent state,” passed June the nineteenth, eighteen hundred and nineteen, then the said state of Maine, shall and will, annually, and every year, in the month of October, so long as they shall remain a nation, and reside with the said state of Maine, deliver for the use of the said Penob- Appendix scot tribe of Indians, at Oldtown, the following articles; to wit; five hundred bushels of corn, fifteen barrels of wheat flour, seven barrels of clear pork, one hogshead of molasses, and one hundred yards of double breadth broadcloth, to be of red color, one year, and blue the next year, and so on alternately, fifty good blankets, one hundred pounds of gunpowder, four hundred pounds of shot, six boxes of chocolate, one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco, and fifty dollars in silver. It being meant and intended, to assume and perform, all the duties and obligations of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, toward the said Indians, whether the same arise from treaties or otherwise, and to substitute and place, the said state of Maine in this respect, to all intents and purposes whatever, in the stead and place of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, so that said tribe may have continued to them, all the payments, and enjoy all the immunities and privileges, in as full and ample a manner, under this indenture or treaty, as they could have received or enjoyed, under the said treaty, of the twenty ninth of June, eighteen hundred and eighteen, if this present treaty had not been made. Saving and excepting the two acres of land, which were by the treaty of June twenty ninth, eighteen hundred and eighteen, to be purchased for the use of said tribe, in the town of Brewer, the performance of which, has been relinquished by the said tribe to the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Reserving however to the government of this state, the power and right to ratify and confirm, at pleasure, the doings of said commissioner inthe premises. In witness whereof, the parties aforesaid, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the day and year first within written.

Lothrop Lewis his John X Etien, Governor. mark John X Neptune, Lt. Governor. Captain Francis X Lolon. Captain Etien X Mitchell Captain Piel X Mitchell. Sock X Sosep, Captain.

290 Piel X Marie, Captain. Suasin X Neptune, Capt. Awasoos X Mitchell, Capt. John X Ossou, Capt. Appendix Joseph X Marie Neptune, Esq. Joseph X Lion Glocian X Awasoos. Capt. Nicholas X Tomah Sabattis X Tomah

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us: William D. Williamson Joseph Treat Ebenezer Webster William Emerson Stephen L. Lewis John Blake Eben Webster

291

Index

Joseph Treat’s spelling of Wabanaki place-names varied in his journal and on his maps; please see “A Note on Transcription” (p. 66) on the spelling of Native American place-names. Words in parentheses give additional place-names for a particular location in Native languages (Penobscot or Eastern Abenaki and Maliseet-Passamaquoddy), in English, or present-day appellations. Page numbers in bold refer to Joseph Treat’s map manuscripts.

1796 Penobscot-Massachusetts treaty, 15–17, Bailey, Amos, 275 36–37, 49, 53. See also Old Town islands: Baker, Nathan, 174, 175 land disputes over; Penobscot Indians: and Balch, Horatio G., 40–42, 44–45, 46 petitions to Massachusetts Bamecdumcock Bay, 116 1818 Penobscot-Massachusetts treaty, 11n. Bamadumcock Pond (Pamadumcook), 107, 24, 53–54, 93n. 17 108, 109, 113 1820 Penobscot-Maine treaty: background, Bangor, Maine, 54, 63, 107, 71, 72 277–279; negotiating councils, 279–286; Baskahegan Stream: Treat’s expedition on, text of, 286–291 251–256 Basso, Keith, 19 Abolgokk (presumably Abol Deadwater), 119 Battaweekuk Rips and Islands, 98 Acadian settlements, 9, 60–62; near Mada- Bear Island (Awessoos), 80 waska, 177–191. See also Saint John River: Beaver Brook, 254, 255 settlements on, below Grand Falls Beskabagick, 117 Allagash River (Wallagasqueegamook, Beskumgamis Pond, 110, 111 Wallagesqueegoam): Treat’s expedition on, Beskungamick, 116, 117 144–161 Birch Island (Pemsquamkeetock), 78 alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), 27 Birch Stream (Masquaeecook), 76 Alnambiimenahan. See Old Town Island Blackman Stream (Madamiscontis), 27, 75n. 4 Alotqueqanajoos Stream and Pond, 122 Blake, John, 48–49 Ambajejus Lake (Umbojeejos), 107, 108, 109 boundary line, international: Maine–New Aroostook River (Aroostick, Moosiec), 204, Brunswick, 195, 206, 212, 244; British- 205, 208, 209, 210, 211–213; timber cut- American disputes over, 1, 3–4, 9; and Brit- ting on, 229–230 ish activities in disputed territory, 63, 168 Attean, John, 56, 278n. 3, 286; camp at Mat- Brewer, Josiah, 36 tawamkeag Point, 94, 95, 272 British, in disputed territory, 63, 168 Awessoos (Bear Island), 80 Broken Island (Unseedowsil), 78 Ayer’s Rips (Nalumsunkhungan), 27 Burnt Land Island (Musockdowhock Island, Gordon Island), 84 Baamcheenumgamis (Cross Pond), 104, 105 Baamcheenumgamok (Great Cross, Chamber- Campbell, (Colin?), 131 lain Lake), 137, 138–140, 143 Carr, Joseph and James, 32, 34

293 Castagan, W., 78, 79 11. See also land disputes; timber: in 1820 Chamberlain (Baamcheenumgamok) Lake, 137, treaty negotiations 138–140, 143 Euro-American settlements: on Penobscot Cheekacheenagabus Falls, 206–207 River, 8–9, 11–12, 60–62; on upper Saint Index Cheekacheeneegabick (Grand Falls), 196, John River, 133, 167–168, 167–168, 177, 197–198 178, 179–180, 181; on Saint John River Cheekokquangomook, 117 below Grand Falls, 193, 199, 200, 202, Cheemskatacook, 266, 267 214–224, 226, 227–231, 234 Cheesuncook River (West Branch Penobscot), 98–125 farming: Penobscots and Maliseets diligence Chesuncook Lake, 11, 165; Indian camping in, compared,184; crops raised by settlers on grounds on, 58–59, 130, 131 Saint John, 167–168, 181, 193 Chiputneticook Lakes (Schoodiac), 243–250 Fish Hawk Stream (Pogopkehock), 196, 197 Cobissackook (Dead Stream), 77 Fish River (Upqueedossk), 172, 173 Cobosa (Sturgeon) Island, 100 fishing, 12, 103; in 1820 treaty negotiations, Cockobskis, 116 280, 281, 282; by Euro-Americans, 21, 27, Cold Steam (Namaduimas), 82, 251 38; by Treat expedition, 245. See also Penob- Cold Stream Point, 87 scots: fishing and fishing rights of; salmon; Cook, Samuel, 228, 229, 231 shad Craig Island (Chubatacook), 12, 82 Five Islands and Rips, 92, 93, 97 Crooked Island (Bakunjanakeck), 86 Flint Stone Falls or Ledges (Madihhas), 100 cultural brokers, Indian agents as, 28, 40 Fredericton, New Brunswick, 61–63, 179, 204 Dall, William, 21 Freese Island (Nowatkeeheemongon), 71n. 2, dams. See mills, mill dams, and potential mill 76, 77n. 7, 79 sites French Island (Webster, Treat-Webster, Talala- Davis, Daniel, 39, 45 godessick), 21n. 52, 76 Dead Stream (Cobissackook), 77 Gardner’s Falls, 72, 73 Eagle Island (Sowongum), 80 George Bull, 230, 233 Eagle Lake (presumably Pongockwaham Goat Island, 22 Pond), 142, 143 Goodwin, Francis L., 29, 32–33, 38 East Branch. See Penobscot River, East Branch Gordon, John, 44–45; mill on Mattawamkeag Eayres Island (Ayers, Arreksasissack, Ant Is- River, 270, 271 land), 74 Grand Falls (Cheekacheeneegabick), 102, 103; Eayres Falls, 73, 75 portage, 196, 197–198 Eddy, Johathan, 38 Grand Lake, 250 Eel Lake, 241, 242, 243 Grand River, 189, 190, 191, 193, 195 Eel River and portage, 234, 235, 236, 237, Grant, Samuel, 46 238, 239, 240 Grass Island, 94 Eel Weir Rips (Cossanunganumkeeg), 86 Great Island (Chu Manahn, Long Island), 82 Escootis Stream (Scoodiac), 98, 99, 101 Great Works Stream (Namadunkeeunk), 74, 75 Essbonagick Island, 91 Green Island (Manoskoos), 94 Essebontabessess Island, 92 Green River (Quaslisoltikquark), 186, 189, 191 Ettopicklock Stream (Wytopitlock Stream, Greenleaf, Moses, and maps of Maine, 5 Alder), 260, 261 Gumballallass, 91 Euro-Americans, attitudes toward land, 10– Gut Island (Smith Island), 21, 24

294 Hartford, John, 165, 166, 166–167, 169 expedition, 57, 69, 73; and Treat’s report, Hatch, Isaac, 36, 37 275–276; and 1820 treaty, 279–280, 281, Haynes, (Isaac?), 83, 84 286, 287 head of tide (Penobscot River), 72 Kinsley, Martin, 50–51 Hébert, Simon, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181–183, Kokquangomick, 117 Index 185, 187 Ktadne, 14, 95n. 19, 106, 113; measurements Hemlock Stream, 78 and bearings from, 116–117; and Pamola’s Hemolock Island (Kessuskuk), 78 rock, 60; Treat expedition climbs, 113–115, Holland, Park, 19, 30, 52, 58 118, 119 Holton, J., Jr., 232 Kuineja (Otter Stream), 74 Holton, James, 227, 229 Kukunsook (Pigwadook, Pushaw Stream), Holton, Joseph, 227, 228, 231, 233 76, 77 Holton, village of. See Houlton, Maine Kwelbejwanosick (part of Stillwater River), Holyoke, Jacob, 2, 70, 105, 114, 123, 137, 77n. 6 253, 255, 261, 263 Houlton (Holton), Maine, 226, 227, 228–232 Lambert, (unknown), 71, 275 Houston Island, 93n. 16 land, Treat’s descriptions of: on Allagash, 147, Hoyt Brook (Hebesqohon), 80 148, 150, 152, 155, 157, 158; on Baskahe- hunting by Indians, in 1820 treaty negotia- gan Stream, 251; from Chamberlain Lake to tions, 280, 281, 282 Allagash, 138, 139, 145; around Chesun- cook Lake, 127, 129, 131, 132, 135, 136, Indian camps: on Chesuncook Lake, 58–59, 137; around Houlton, 227–228, 229, 232; 130, 131; eel weir camp, 12, 82, 94; at on Mattawamkeag River, 256, 257, 261, Madawaska, 178; at Mattawamkeag and 262, 263, 264, 269; on Penobscot River, Penobscot Rivers, 272 73, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87n. 14, 89, 91, 97; on Indian Island. See Old Town Island Saint John River south of Grand Falls, 199, Indian townships. See Penobscot Indians: and 201, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211–212, 215, upper townships 221, 223, 225, 241, 245; on upper Saint Indians. See Native Americans; Maliseet In- John River, 166, 167, 169, 171, 175, 177, dians; Mi’kmaq Indians; Passamaquoddy 180, 181, 187, 189, 191, 193, 195; on West Indians; Penobscot Indians Branch Penobscot River, 99, 101, 103, Iron Ore Bog, 78 123–124, 125 land disputes: over Old Town islands, 16–18, Jo Pease’s Rips, 76 19, 28–32, 43, 47–52; and settlers’ peti- Johnnot, Gabriel, 37 tions to Massachusetts, 37–38 Lee, John, 54 Kakwangamootook Stream, 129, 132, 135 Lewis, Lathrop, and 1820 treaty negotia- Katahdin (Ktadne), 14, 95n. 19, 106, 113; tions, 54, 56, 280, 281, 282, 283–284, measurements and bearing from, 116–117; 285–286, 287 and Pamola’s rock, 60; Treat expedition Limrick Grant, 229 climbs, 113–115, 118, 119 Lincoln, Maine, 89n. 15 Kausuntick, 266, 267 Little Salmon Stream (Squamakweeseaboo), 92 Kenduskeag Stream (Kenduskee), 72, 73 Loland, Joseph, 53 Kepcheecheewok Pond, 105, 106 Lolar, Joe, 49 Kepchuchuwok, 116 Loling, Joseph, 30, 32 Kesseesskeenaugus (Nathan’s Island), 274 Lolon, Francis, 111, 114; and 1820 treaty, 56, King, William, 1, 55, 56; authorizes Treat’s 284–285, 287

295 Long Island (White Squaw, No Name, Kanon- Marsh Island, 21, 23, 29, 49, 74, 75, 76; on agik), 71, 78, 87 map, 20 Lorain, Joseph, 47–48 Marsh, John, 21, 37, 52 Loring, N. H., 58–59, 131 Masanquabskeek, 204, 205 Index Lower Mohawk Rips, 86 Mashwacook Stream, 151 lumbering, 29; on Aroostook River, 205, 208, Masquaseecook (Birch Stream), 76 230–221; on Saint John south of Grand Massachusetts, Commonwealth of: and Penob- Falls, 230; on upper Saint John River, 167, scots, 15–17, 28–31, 32–33, 38–46; and 168, 208. See also Penobscots: and timber local settlers, 36–38 leases; timber, Treat’s description of Mattamiscontis Stream (Madamiscontis), 86 Mattawamkeag River (Madawamkee), 44, 31, Madamiscontis Stream (Blackman), 27, 74, 75, 35, 94, 97, 116, 209, 228; Treat’s expedi- 85, 116 tion on, 256–273 Madanacook Stream and Island (Mattanaw- McNichol’s Falls, 72 cook), 88, 89, 91, 251, 275 Meductic Reserve (Maducktuck). See Maliseet Madaseeunk Rips, 94, 97 Indians: at Meductic Reserve Madaunce Stream, 72, 73 Medunkeunk Stream, 88 Madawaska River, 176, 187, 204 Meduxnekeag River (Maduxenukeek), 226, Madawaska settlement, 12, 133, 177, 178, 227, 228, 230 179, 229; Acadians, 62, 179–180; and Mellen, Frederick, 5 crops and houses, 181–182 Melopsquangan Pond, 117 Madithaz Rips, 101 Mercure, Louis, and settlement of Madawaska, Madquawoodis, 266, 267 62 Madunkeeunk, 89 Mi’kmaq Indians, 1n. 2, 39n. 88 Magaimquassabam, 117 Michael, Atian, petitions Massachusetts, Magajous Mountain, 116 42–46 Mahleacook (Orono Island), 76 Millinocket Stream (Milinoqick), 101, 102, Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (1980), 103, 107 16n. 38 mills, mill dams, and potential mill sites, 22, Maine statehood, 2–3; Penobscots and, 55– 23, 30–31, 34, 78, 159; on Green River, 56. See also 1820 Penobscot-Maine Treaty 189; on Mattawamkeag River, 270, 271; Maja Obseoose (Pimolo or Pamola’s Rock), 60, on Penobscot, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31, 94, 95 44–46; on Saint John, 188, 206, 216, 222, Maliseet Indians, 11, 12, 13, 39n. 88, 173n. 223, 224, 227, 230, 231–232, 234; and 35, 179n. 37; near Madawaska, 176, 178, map, 20 184; at Meductic Reserve, 12, 184, 233n. Missouri Compromise. See Maine statehood 56, 233, 234; at Tobique Reserve, 214, Mitchell, Joseph, 46 215n. 51 Mohawk Point and Rips (Namockanock), 86 Maneekobontik, 117 Molly, Peal, 22 Manockanock, 87 Molunkus Stream, 268, 269, 271 maps, Native American, 6–7. See also Green- Mooseewadjo Pond, 117 leaf, Moses; Treat expedition: maps in use Mount Katahdin. See Katahdin prior to Muddy Pond, 165 marble quarry, 122, 124–125 Mushqush Island, 71n. 2 Margarits Island, 82 Muskeequangamack, 116 Mars Hill, 229

296 Nalumsunkhungan (Ayer’s Rips), 27 Nicolas, Orson, 53 Namadunkeeunk (Great Works Stream), 31, Nolacmeac Lake, 11n. 24 35, 74, 75, 270, 271, 273 Nolangomick Pond, 122, 124, 123, 125, 127; Namockanock (Mohawk Island), 86 marble quarry at, 122, 124–125 Nasouadnahunkamoosis (Nesowadnehunk Nolen (unknown), 82, 275 Index Pond), 119 Nolimessbokhungon Falls, 74, 75 Nathan’s Island (Kessuskeenaugus), 90 Nolisemack Island and Pond, 101 Native Americans: attitudes toward land, 1, Nolumbagis, 104, 105 5–7, 11; place-names, 5, 7, 57, 59–60, 66. Nowatkeeheemongon (Freese Island), 76, 77 See also Maliseet Indians; Mi’kmaq Indians; Nunksquilossess Stream, 262, 263 Passamaquoddy Indians; Penobscot Indians; Wabanakis Obologockmagessick Stream, 112, 113, 114, Necanummak, 77 115, 119 Neccanunkamick, 116 Odel (William F. Odell?), 131 Neckeetow Island and Point (Nicatow Island), Olamon Island and Stream, 80, 81 32, 97, 98, 99 Old Town, 75, 76, 77 Necsumkamok, 116 Old Town Island (Indian Island, Panawamp- Neejouutokook (Tobique River), 214, 215 skik), 12, 14–15, 18, 21, 76, 238; map of, Nekoune’gan (Old Town Falls carry), 23 20 Neptune, John, 22; and 1820 treaty negotia- Old Town islands (twelve islands south of Old tions, 42, 55–56, 65, 66, 278, 280–81, Town Island), 17–28, 285; land disputes 282, 286, 287; advises return by Mat- over, 16–18, 19, 28–32, 43, 47–52; map tawamkeag, 209; canoes rapids, 147; at of, 20 Chesuncook Lake, 127, 137, 147, 209, 215, Orono Island (Mahleacook, Waalcamego), 75, 253, 255, 261; climbs Katahdin, 114; fam- 76, 77 ily hunting territory of, 15; hauls canoe on Orono, Joseph, 48 ice, 253, 255; portrait of, 8; portages canoe Orson Island (Nesauwamack, Watawem- and baggage, 101, 105, 123, 127, 137, 215, keetook), 34, 76 261; and Treat’s expedition, 57, 58, 59, 60; Orson, Esquire, 32 as tribal leader, 7, 13–15; on West Branch Otter (Kuineja) Stream, 74, 75 Penobscot River, 101, 105, 114, 123 Neptune, Louis, 114 Pamadumcook (Bameedumcock) Lake, 107, Neptune, Nicholas, 32, 35 108, 109 Neptune, Sabatis, 58 Pamola’s Rock (Maja Obseoose), 60, 94, 95 Nesauwamack (Orson Island), 34 Pana’wampskik (Old Town Island), 12, 15, 18, Nesowadnehunk Falls (Nasawatnahank), 117, 21, 76, 238; on map, 20 118, 119 Passadumkeag River (Passadunkee), 54, 82, 83 New Brunswick: and border with Maine, 195, Passadunkee Island (Thorofare Island), 12, 206, 212, 244; Treat’s expedition on Saint 77n. 7, 82 John in, 195–234. See also Saint John River: Passamaquoddy Indians, 1n. 2; Indian Town- settlements on, below Grand Falls; Treat’s ship Reservation, xiv; Pleasant Point (Si- expedition: on Saint John River below payik) Reservation, xiv Grand Falls Patajumkis Stream, 74, 75, 96 Nicatow Island (Neckeetow Island) and Point, Pataquangamiss (Round Ponds), 151, 152, 32, 97, 98, 99 153, 154, 155, 157 Nichola, Captain, 30 Pease, Joseph, 30

297 Peewangamassick, 117 and Chamberlain Lakes, 135, 136, 137 Pemsquamkeetock (Birch Island), 78 Presquile Stream (Prestile), 219, 220 Pemtaquaiusktook (Penobscot River), 72–98, Ptkausunteek, 266, 267 272–275 Ptquakis, 116 Index Penjajawock Stream, 72, 73 Pushaw Stream (Kukunsook, Pigwadook), Penobscot Indians: fishing and fishing rights 76, 77 of, 17, 18–19, 24–28, 29–30, 30–31, 38, Putnam, Aaron, 228, 229n. 54, 231 40–41, 42, 43–44, 55–56; land rights of, disputed, 38–39; Maliseets compared to, Quakis Pond (Red, Quarkish), 104, 105 184; objections to Euro-American explora- Quebec (Lower Canada), xiv, 167 tions, 58–59; and petitions to Massachu- Queeneesungamick, 117 setts, 28–31, 42–46, 47–50; and place- names significance, 59–60; and spirit of “red paint people,” 81n. 11 Katahdin, 60; and timber and hay leases, 29, Rice, S., 230 31–37; and upper townships, 11, 12–13, River de Chute, 230 54, 84, 92–94, 96, 97, 100, 101, 268, Robbins, Edward H., 54 270, 272, 285; violence toward, 46–47. See Romagné, James, 29 also 1818 Penobscot-Massachusetts Treaty; 1820 Penobscot-Maine Treaty; land dis- Sabien, Francis, 32 putes: over Old Town islands Sabion, Franswock, 30 Penobscot Indian Nation’s Department of Cul- St. Croix River, 3 tural and Historic Preservation, 13, 65 St. Francis River (Picheeneegon), 166, 167 Penobscot River (Pemtaquaiusktook), 72–98, Saint John River (Wallastook), 7, 131, 143n. 272–275; East Branch (Wassatauaick), 14, 31; Allagash joins, 161, 162, 163; crops 32, 98, 99, 209; West Branch (Cheesun- raised by settlers on, 167–168, 181, 193; cook), 98–125, 165 settlements on, below Grand Falls, 193, Petowweewee River (around Orson Island), 76 199, 200, 202, 214–224, 226, 227–231, Philamook (Salmon Stream), 32 234; settlements on upper, 133, 167–168, Philamoosis (Little Salmon Stream), 96 167–168, 177, 178, 179–180, 181; Treat Phillips, W., 226, 227, 233 expedition on, 161–234 Picheeneegon (St. Francis River), 166, 167 Saint John Indians. See Maliseet Indians Pigwadook (Kukunsook, Pushaw Stream), 76, salmon (Atlantic, Salmo salar): life cycle, 24– 77 25; and salmon fishing, 22 Pine Island, 22, 23 Salmon Stream (Philamook), 32, 96, 97 Piscataquis Falls (Koskeejocook), 84 Salmon River (Maduxeneekeek), 201 Piscataquis River, 37, 83, 84, 85 Sambootowan (Moosehead Lake), 116, 131 place-names, spelling of, 66 Sand Island, 22 Pogopkehock (Fish Hawk) Stream, 196, 197 Sandy Islands (Manumcook), 92 Pokumkus Stream, 128 Sausoubagonomick Stream, 72, 73 Pollard Brook (Chubalacook), 82 sawmills. See mills, mill dams, and potential Pongockwaham Pond (presumably Eagle Lake), mill sites 142, 143 Schoodiac (Chiputneticook Lakes), 116, Ponguangomo (Muddy Pond and Stream) (on 243–250 Mattawamkeag River) 264, 265 Seaboois Pond, 116 Ponguangomack (Punguangomook, Punguango- Sebattis, Saul, 46 mak, Mud, Muddy Pond): near Ambajejus shad (American, Alosa sapidissima): life cycle, Lake, 110, 111, 117; between Chesuncook 26; and shad fishing, 18, 27, 48, 52

298 Shad Island, 18, 23, 30, 31, 38, 42, 43; on Town, Salem, 37, 49, 52; sale by, of Old Town map, 20 islands, 21 Shad Rips, 21, 76; on map, 20 Treat, Joseph, 1, 3, 13–14, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, Shikatehawk (Seegahock) Stream, 218 52–57, 278; and 1820 treaty, 56, 288, Siegas River, 190, 191 291; fish smoke house of, 42; image of, 8; Index Simobear. See Hébert, Simon leases timber, 31, 43–44; and Old Town Simpson, William, 230 islands, 21, 22, 23, 38, 48, 51–52 Sinskaheaganadjo (Arrow) Mountain, 116 Treat expedition: on Allagash River, 146–61; Smith (Gut) Island, 21, 24; on map, 20 authorization of, 57; on Baskahegan Stream, Smith, Alain, 230, 233 251–256; from Chamberlain Lake to Al- Smith, Benjamin, 230 lagash River, 138–146; on Chesuncook Smith, Ezra, 32, 34 Lake, 126–138; on Chiputneticook Lakes, Smith, Richard, 230 243–250; on Eel River Portage, 236–246; Sologismoodic Point, 99 map of route, xiv; maps in use prior to, Speck, Frank G., 24, 25 4–5; on Mattawamkeag River, 256–272; Stillwater River, 21, 22, 74, 75, 76, 77 on Penobscot River, 72–98, 272–275; Strong, Caleb, 30 preparations for, 70–71; report of, 63–64, Sugar Island (Pajalamonahn, Pimskwamkiki- 275–276; on Saint John River, 162–227, ak), 79, 80, 81, 95n. 19 233–245; on West Branch Penobscot Riv- Sullivan, James, 42 er, 98–126. See also land: Treat’s descrip- Sunkhaze Stream, 71, 75, 76, 77, 79 tions of; timber, Treat’s descriptions of Treat-Webster Island (Webster, French, Ta- Talalagodessick (French, Webster, Treat-Web- lalagodessick), 21n. 52, 29, 76 ster Island), 21n. 52, 29, 76 treaties. See 1796 Penobscot-Massachusetts Tcook Falls, 76 treaty; 1818 Penobscot-Massachusetts Tepskanugick Pond, 110, 111, 117 treaty; 1820 Penobscot-Maine treaty Thoreau, Henry David, 5, 64 trespassers: on state lands, 2, 3–4, 38–39; on Thorofare Island (Passadunkee), 12, 77n. 7, 82 Indian lands, 33, 40–42 (See also Old Town timber: Treat looks for agent for, 225, 227; in islands: land disputes over) 1820 treaty negotiations, 280, 281, 282 Turner, Charles, 14, 115n. 27 timber, Treat’s description of: on Allagash River, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, Umbadomkeg Rips, 96 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, Umbadumkessok Island, 78 160, 161; on Aroostook River, 211–212; Umbazooksus Stream and Pond, 131, 134, 135 on Baskahegan Stream, 251, 252, 256; from Umbojeejoos Pond (Ambajejus), 107, 108, 109 Chamberlain Lake to Allagash River, 139, Umbojeejoos Point, 116 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, Umsaskis Lake (Unsaskuk Pond), 86, 88, 148, 148; around Chesuncook, 123, 126, 127, 150 128, 129, 130, 131, 134, 135, 137, 138; on Unguntabunt, 117 Mattawamkeag River, 256, 261, 265, 266, Unsaskeek (Unsaskik) Ponds, 147, 148, 149, 268, 269, 271; on Penobscot River, 79, 81, 150, 151 83, 85, 93; Saint John River south of Grand Unsuagaskwatik Streams, 100 Falls, 200, 201, 202, 203, 205, 227; on Upqueedossk (Fish River), 172, 173 West Branch of Penobscot, 99, 101, 103, 105, 109, 118. See also lumbering Valettes, Francis, 190, 191 Tobique River (Tobeck, Neejouutokook), 214, 215

299 Waalbuckwanusick (part of Stillwater River), Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842), 63, 64 77 Webster, Daniel, 38; purchases Old Town Wabenungkutok, 76 islands, 21, 22, 48; sells Old Town islands, Wabanakis: defined, 1n. 2; homelands, 1, 8–9, 51–52 Index 13; seasonal mobility of, 10, 11 Webster, Ebenezer, 48, 51–52 Wallagasqueegamook (Wallagesqueegoam, Webster Island (Treat-Webster, French, Ta- Bark Wigwam) Pond, 143n. 31, 144, 145 lalagodessick), 21n. 52, 29, 76 Wallagesqueegoam (presumably Allagash White Mans Island (Wombymando, Socs River), 144 Island), 80 Wallastook (Walloostook, Good, Saint John White Squaw Island, 71n. 2 River), 143n. 31, 144, 162–227, 235–245 Whitehead, Lyman, 201 Wareeniptaweekek, 116 Willet, John and Carrie, 192, 193, 195 Warreeniptaweekeek Pond, 106 Winslow, Richard, 23, 30, 31, 34; map of Waskweetawalsakeek Stream, 266, 267 dam, 20 Wassatauaick (East Branch Penobscot River), Wollastaquagaquakungomo, 117 14, 32, 98, 99, 209 Wollunquangomo, 117 Watertown Conference (1775), 39, 53 Wytopitlock Stream (Ettopicklock, Alder waterways, importance as travel routes, 9–10 Stream), 260, 261 Watson, Alexander, 234, 235 participated and which were successfully con- In late September 1820, hoping to lay claim cluded just over a month before their expedition to territory then under dispute between Great departed from Bangor, Maine. Despite conflict- “This book should find readers among ethnohistorians, historical geographers, pawling Britain and the United States, Governor William ing interests and mutual suspicions, they were cartographers, Wabanaki people, Maine history buffs, and others with an Wabanaki Homeland and King of the newly founded state of Maine dis- able to work together and cultivate a measure of interest in the Penobscot Valley. Micah Pawling’s introduction sets the local Wabanaki patched Major Joseph Treat to survey public trust as they traveled across northern Maine and context but also points to its larger significance. It offers a window onto a Homeland the New State of Maine lands on the Penobscot and Saint John Rivers. western New Brunswick, mapping an old world Traveling well beyond the limits of colonial Native world at a time of dramatic change and it gives depth and detail to, and and the together while envisioning its uncertain future. The 1820 Journal and Plans of Survey of Joseph Treat settlement, Treat relied heavily on the cultural New State alternative understandings and readings of, a landscape that is being contested knowledge and expertise of John Neptune, lieu- Micah A. Pawling is a Ph.D. candidate in and transferred. The original journal and maps, like the book itself, are the of tenant governor of the Penobscot tribe, to guide history at the University of Maine. product of intercultural collaboration.”—Colin G. Calloway, author of The Maine Edited with an introduction by him across the Wabanaki homeland. Along the Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of America m way Treat recorded his daily experiences in a Micah A. Pawling journal and drew detailed maps, documenting The 1820 the interactions of the Wabanaki peoples with Journal and the land and space they knew as home. Plans of Edited, annotated, and with an introduc- Survey of tion by Micah Pawling, this volume includes a Joseph complete transcription of Treat’s journal, repro- Treat ductions of dozens of hand-drawn maps, and records pertaining to the 1820 treaty between the Penobscot Nation and the governing authorities of Maine. As Pawling points out, Treat’s journal Published in conjunction with the Penobscot Indian offers more than the observations of a state agent Nation, Indian Island, Maine conducting a survey. It re-creates a dialogue between Euro-Americans and Native peoples, A volume in the series showing how different perceptions of the land Native Americans of the Northeast: were negotiated and disseminated, and expos- History, Culture, and the Contemporary ing the tensions that surfaced when assumptions and expectations clashed. In large part because of Neptune’s influence, the maps, in addition to Jacket design by Jack Harrison detailing the location of Wabanaki settlements, Jacket art: Detail of map from the Journal and Plans of Survey by Joseph Treat—1820. Courtesy of the The Maine State Archives. reflect a river-oriented Native perspective that would later serve as a key to Euro-American University of Massachusetts Press access to the region’s interior. Amherst The groundwork for cooperation between www.umass.edu/umpress Treat and Neptune had been laid during the 1820 treaty negotiations, in which both men Massachusetts

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