CHAPTER XXV.
The Great Indian Pow-wow at Fort Howe, and its Consequences.
The establishment of Fort Howe rendered the situation of the people at the mouth of the St. John comparatively secure, but the following summer was a very anxious and trying time to those who lived in the townships up the river. The Indians were restless and dissatisfied. They complained bitterly of being left without a missionary, and it was in vain that Lieut. Gov. Arbuthnot and Colonel Franklin endeavored to keep them in good temper by promising that a missionary would be sent them immediately.
Most of the settlers in the townships were natives of New England, and the threatened Indian uprising was particularly terrifying to them on account of their forefathers’ familiarity with the horrors of savage warfare. The Indians were supposed to be hostile only to those who were in opposition to American Independence, but it was felt that they would not be very nice in their distinctions if they once took the war path, and that the Whig might fare little better than the Tory.
The Indians had probably some grievances, but it is evident that the real disturbing influence emanated, as usual, from Machias. John Allan in his zeal for the conquest of Nova Scotia was determined to make every use of his Indian allies in order, if possible, to drive all English sympathizers from the St. John river. The formal declaration of war sent to Major Studholme was his composition. It was approved by the Maliseets at Machias and then forwarded to Aukpaque and after approval by the Indians there sent to Studholme at Fort Howe. The document read as follows:
“To the British Commanding Officer at the mouth of the River St. John’s:
“The Chiefs, Sachems and young men belonging to the River St. John’s have duly considered the nature of this Great War between America and Old England. They are unanimous that America is right and Old England is wrong. The River on which you are with your soldiers belongs from the most ancient times to our Ancestors, consequently is ours now, and which we are bound to keep for our posterity. You know we are Americans and that this is our Native Country: you know the King of England with his evil councillors has been trying to take away the Lands and Libertys of our Country, but God the King of Heaven, our King, fights for us and says America shall be free. It is so now in spite of all Old England and his Comrades can do.
“The great men of Old England in this country told us that the Americans would not let us enjoy our religion; this is false, not true, for America allows everybody to pray to God as they please; you know Old England never would allow that, but says you must all pray like the king and the great men of his court. We believe America now is right, we find all true they told us for our Old Father the King of France takes their part, he is their friend, he has taken the sword and will defend them. Americans is our Friends, our Brothers and Countrymen; what they do we do, what they say we say, for we are all one and the same family.
“Now as the King of England has no business, nor never had any on this 285 River, we desire you to go away with your men in peace and to take with you all those men who has been fighting and talking against America. If you don’t go directly you must take care of yourself your men and all your English subjects on this River, for if any or all of you are killed it is not our faults, for we give you warning time enough to escape. Adieu for ever.
“Machias, August 11, 1778.
“Auque Pawhaque, August 18th, 1778.
Michael Francklin was able at this critical moment effectually to check-mate the designs of John Allan. During the previous winter an express messenger had been sent to Sir Guy Carleton at Quebec to get permission for Father Bourg, the French missionary, to reside among the Indians of the River St. John. In his reply, dated February 23rd, 1778, Governor Carleton wrote that the missionary had orders to repair to Halifax in order to receive instructions for the establishment of his mission.
Just as Francklin and the missionary were about to leave Halifax they received information “that the Malecetes had plundered an English vessel, taken and ransomed another, robbed and disarmed many of the inhabitants and killed several cattle belonging to the King’s Loyal subjects on the River St. John, whom they had stiled Torys, and that they had even proceeded the length to return to Fort Howe the King’s Flag, accompanied with a formal declaration of war in writing.”
The services of James White at this time were invaluable. As early as the 2nd of April and at various times during the summer he went among the Indians to pacify them at great personal risk, always returning unharmed. This was due to the confidence placed in him by the majority of the savages, who had long known him in the capacity of an Indian trader. Mr. White went up the river to meet the Indian war party. He found among them many of the Penobscots and Passamaquoddies under Nicholas Hawawes, a noted chief. They had been instructed by Allan to return the colors sent the previous year by Major Studholme, to ravage the country in the vicinity of Fort Howe, to take prisoners and encourage the soldiers of the garrison to desert. Allan wrote the Massachusetts congress, “I earnestly and sincerely wish I had a hundred or two good troops at this juncture to go in boats along the shore to act in concert with the Indians.”
Our early historian, Moses H. Perley, says that James White, unarmed and without any escort, met the war party at the head of “Long Reach” as they were coming down the river in ninety canoes. He had a long conference with the chiefs, of whom the majority were disposed to be hostile; but Pierre Tomah, the head chief, said that before giving a final answer he must consult the Divine Being and throwing himself upon his face in the sand lay motionless for the space of nearly an hour. Then rising he informed the other chiefs that he had been counselled by the Great Spirit to keep peace with King George’s men. This decision was not acceptable to several of the chiefs, and Mr. White was still engaged in his negotiations when Colonel Francklin and Father Bourg arrived at St. John, having crossed from Annapolis in the war ship “Scarborough.” Messengers were immediately sent up the river to Mr. White desiring him to come down at once with Pierre 286 Tomah and the other chiefs and captains to meet Col. Francklin and the missionary Bourg, assuring them of a friendly reception. Francklin also wrote a letter to the Indians, which is here given.
“Fort Howe, 14 Sep. 1778.
“To Pierre Thomas and others
the Indians of the River St. John.“BRETHREN:—According to my promise last fall I have brought with me Mr. Bourg, your Priest, to instruct you and to take care of your eternal welfare.
“BRETHREN:—I am come to heal and adjust every difference that may exist between you and your Brethren the faithful subjects of King George your father, my master.
“BRETHREN:—As my heart is good, my hands clean and my intentions as white as snow; I desire Pierre Thomas and two or three other principal Indians do immediately come down to Fort Howe with Mr. White my Deputy to speak to me and to Mr. Bourg that we may settle in what manner to proceed to accomplish my good intentions towards you, and that your minds may be made easy I do hereby pledge myself that no harm shall happen to you from any of the King’s Troops or others His Majesty’s subjects.
“I am your affectionate Brother,
MICH. FRANCKLIN,
“Superintendent of Indian Affairs.”
The Indians promptly accepted the invitation and a conference was held which Francklin terms “A grand meeting of the Indians at Menaguashe in the Harbour of the River St. John near Fort Howe on Thursday, the 24th September, 1778.” There were present on the part of King George the Third:—
Michael Francklin, Superintendent of Indian affairs; Major Studholme, commanding the garrison at Fort Howe; Capt. Mowatt, commanding his Majesty’s ship Albany; Rev. Mr. Bourg, missionary to the Indians; James White, agent for Indian affairs at St. John, and several other officers and gentlemen. The Indian delegates included Pierre Tomah, supreme sachem or chief of St. John River; Francis Xavier, 2nd chief; and four captains and eight principal Indians, representing the Maliseets of the St. John. There were also present delegates of the Micmacs of Richibucto, Miramichi, Chignecto and Minas.
Col. Francklin informed the Indians that according to his promise he had brought them a priest and it was his desire to settle and adjust amicably all differences between the Indians and his Majesty’s subjects. The proceedings of the conference are detailed at length in Francklin’s report to the Governor of Nova Scotia. The Indians after listening to the addresses of Francklin and Monsieur Bourg declared that they had been deceived by John Allan of Machias who had not spoken their sentiments but his own; they acknowledged their offences and offered to restore to the white inhabitants the arms and other articles in their possession (not consumed or destroyed) which they had taken, and promised that they would deliver to James White in the course of the winter, two hundred pounds of Beaver, or as many moose skins, in lieu thereof, towards making good the damage sustained by individuals. They added that they were poor and had been kept from hunting by the idle stories of John Allan and his friends.
Michael Francklin did not lose the opportunity to give Allan “a Rowland for his Oliver.” As Allan had been the author of the Indian declaration of war so would Francklin now dictate the message of reply. This message was couched in the following terms:—
“To John Allan and his Associates at Machias:
“The Chiefs and Great men of the Malecete and Mickmack Indians hereby give thee notice:—
“That their eyes are now open and they see clearly that thou hast endeavored to blind them to serve thy wicked purposes against thy lawful sovereign King George, our forgiving and affectionate Father.
“We have this day settled all misunderstanding that thou didst occasion between us and King George’s men.
“We now desire that thee and Preble, and thy Comrades will remain in your wigwams at Machias and not come to Passamaquadie to beguile and disturb our weak and young Brethren. We will have nothing to do with thee or them or with your storys, for we have found you out; and if you persist in tempting us we warn you to take care of yourselves. We shall not come to Machias to do you harm, but beware of Passamaquodie for we forbid you to come there.
“At Menaguashe, the 24th September, 1778.
[Signed]
Pierre Thomas x, Francis Xavier x, Chiefs of the Malecetes and in their behalf. Jean Baptiste Arimph x, Chief of Richibouctou and in behalf of the Mickmacks.
During the conference Father Bourg produced a letter he had lately received from the Bishop of Quebec instructing him not to suffer any Indian to enter his Church who should molest the white settlers or take part in the rebellion against the constituted authorities of Nova Scotia, and directing him to forward a list of the names of any Indians who should disobey his orders to Quebec that he might “cast them out of the Church as disobedient and undutifull children.”
The Indians were not long in deciding to make terms with the British and in signifying their willingness to take the oath of allegiance to the King. Accordingly the chiefs and captains and other delegates on their knees took a solemn oath in which they pledged themselves to bear faithful and true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third. They also promised to give information to the King’s officers and magistrates of any hostile designs of the enemy that should come to their knowledge; to protect the persons of Michael Francklin and Joseph Mathurin Bourg, their missionary, from insult, outrage or captivity; not to take any part directly or indirectly against the King in the troubles then existing, but to follow their hunting and fishing in a peaceable and quiet manner; not to go to Machias or hold any communication with the people of that neighborhood or other rebellious subjects of his Majesty.
Having taken the oath in behalf of themselves and their several tribes the Indians delivered to Col. Francklin a string of Wampum as a solemn confirmation of their act and deed. They also delivered the presents sent them by Washington together with the treaty they had made with the Massachusetts government on July 19, 1776, in which they had promised to furnish 600 warriors for the service of the United States Congress.
Although the Indians, by the treaty they had just signed, ostensibly settled all the differences between themselves and “King George’s men,” there were still certain functions dear to the savage heart to be performed before the grand pow-wow was ended.
The oath of allegiance having been taken and the treaty duly signed, all the chiefs and captains united with the English delegates in drinking the King’s health, and Colonel Francklin decorated the chiefs and captains with his own hands and distributed to the other Indians a variety of clothing and presents. After this, we are informed, “the night, altho’ rainy, was spent in the open air with great mirth under the British Flag.” The next day the Indians went on board the Albany man-of-war, where they again very cheerfully drank the King’s good health, and were presented with a pound of gunpowder each. They concluded the afternoon and evening on shore “with great satisfaction and good humor.” Colonel Francklin concludes his official report of the proceedings as follows:—
“The 26th September the Indians, being on their departure, were saluted at 12 o’clock by the cannon of Fort Howe and his Majesty’s ship Albany, and it was returned by three Huzzas and an Indian Whoop. Then the Micmac Chief made a handsome speech and delivered to the Superintendent [Francklin] a string of Wampum on behalf of the whole Micmac nation, as their seal of approbation and agreement to everything that had been transacted. This being finished, the Superintendent, Major Studholme and Rev. Mr. Bourg, were desired to seat themselves, when a Malecete captain began a song and dance in honor and praise of the Conference and those concerned therein. On his finishing, a Micmac captain began another song and dance to the same purpose. The Superintendent then, with Major Studholme and the Rev. Mr. Bourg and the other Gentlemen, marched off with the Indians to the portage above the falls of the River St. John and stayed there until Mr. Bourg and the Indians embarked, when the Gentlemen on the landing were saluted by the musquetry from the Indian canoes.”
During the continuance of the conference the Indians received every attention on the part of Francklin, Studholme and the white inhabitants. Francklin kept a table for their entertainment which cost him £40, and the value of the presents and supplies furnished on the occasion amounted to £537 more. The goods required were mostly obtained from the store at Portland Point and the account rendered to Francklin by William Hazen is yet in existence. It contains some curious and interesting items. The presents for the Indians included blankets, hats, ribbons, gold and silver lace, intermixed with axes, pots, kettles, knives and tobacco. Among the more expensive presents were “1 large Silver plated Cross with the figure of our Saviour on it, £3 10 0,” and “1 small Gold plated Cross with the figure of our Saviour on it. £2 6 8.” The heading of the account reads: “The Hon’ble Michael Francklin Esq’r., Superintendent of Indians, to Wm. Hazen Dr. for sundrys paid and supplies furnished by his order for the use of the Indians assembled at Menaguashe, near Fort Howe, from the 13th September to 19th October, 1778.” Some of the expenditures were evidently dictated by motives of policy; see for example the following:—
“Paid Dr. Sharman, surgeon at Fort Howe, for attendance and medicines to Pierre Thoma and four other sick Indians, £5 16 8.
“Pd. Acmobish for 3 Beaver Traps stolen last year by the soldiers, £1 10 0.
“Pd. Charles Nocout ten dollars to make up for an Englishman’s beating of him.
“To sundrys delivered to aged and infirm people, viz. Magdalen Katpat, Magdalen La Porte, Marie Barishe & others, £13 10 0.”
Quite a number of the white settlers and several Acadians were engaged by Francklin in various capacities while the negotiations with the Indians were in progress. Gervas Say and Capt. Quinton received £7 for going to Aukpaque and attending the Indians coming down to Fort Howe. Daniel Leavitt, Lewis Mitchel, John Hartt, Louis Goodine, Augustin LeBlanc and Messrs. Peabody and Brawn acted as couriers, express messengers and negotiators under direction of Francklin, Studholme and James White.
The general result of the grand pow-wow was considered exceedingly fortunate for the Province of Nova Scotia under the circumstances then existing. Sir Richard Hughes, the lieutenant-governor, writing to Lord Germaine, expresses his great satisfaction at the result of the conference and praises the talents, zeal and diligence of Francklin “to whose discreet conduct and steady perseverance,” he says, “assisted by Major Studholme and M. Bourg, the priest, we owe the success of this treaty.” Francklin, on his part, seems disposed to award the meed of praise to Studholme and writes Sir Henry Clinton: “In justice to Major Studholme, commanding at Fort Howe, I am obliged to say that his constant zeal and singular address and prudence has been a great means of keeping the Indians near his post quiet.” But while both Francklin and Studholme are deservedly entitled to credit for the success of their negotiations, there is not the least doubt that the man to whom even greater credit is due is James White, the deputy agent of Indian affairs at the River St. John. Mr. White, although acting in a subordinate capacity, was in direct contact with the savages at the time they were most unfriendly, and it was his tact and fearlessness that paved the way for the subsequent negotiations. For six months he devoted his time and energies to the task of conciliating the Indians, receiving from government the modern sum of one dollar for each day he was so employed.[108] Most potent of all perhaps in the ultimate result of the conference, was the presence of the French missionary Bourg. It was this that inspired the Indians with confidence in the good intentions of the government of Nova Scotia, and when the missionary accompanied them on their return to Aukpaque their satisfaction was unbounded.
The Indians of the River St. John still possess a traditionary knowledge of the treaty made at Fort Howe in September, 1778, and refer to it as the time when the Indian and the Englishman became “all one brother.” Some of the Indians claim that when the treaty was made it was understood that an Indian should always have the right to wander unmolested through the forest and to take the bark of the birch tree for his canoe or the splints of the ash tree for his basket-making 290 regardless of the rights of the white owner of the soil. In many parts of the province there is an unwritten law to this effect, and the Indian roams at pleasure through the woods in quest of the materials for his simple avocations and pitches his tent without let or hindrance.
In order to cultivate friendly relations with the Indians and to guard against the insidious attempts of the people of Machias to wean them from their allegiance it was decided to establish a trading house for their accommodation at the landing place above the falls at the mouth of the St. John. This locality still bears the name of Indiantown, a name derived from the Indian trading post established there in 1779. In old plans Main street, Portland, is called “Road to ye Indian House.”
On the 8th of December, 1778, Colonel Francklin sent instructions to James White to proceed with the building of the Indian House which was to cost only £30. He says in his letter, “The ground should be very well cleared all about or the Brush will sooner or later most assuredly burn it. The boards required may be sawed from the Spruces on the spot if you have a whip-saw. The Shingles can be made by any New England man in the neighborhood.” The house was built in the course of the next few months by James Woodman, who was by trade a shipwright. For some reason the sum of £30 voted by the Council of Nova Scotia for the erection of the building was never paid, and it remained the property of Hazen, Simonds and White. The three partners not long afterwards cleared a road to the Indian House, the course of which was nearly identical with that of the present “Main street.” They also built a wharf at the landing and a small dwelling house which was occupied by one Andrew Lloyd, who has the distinction of being the first settler at Indiantown.
Not many weeks after the signing of the treaty at Fort Howe, Col. John Allan of Machias sent Lieut. Gilman and a band of Penobscot Indians to make a demonstration at the River St. John. They captured a small vessel about sixty miles up the river and plundered one or two of the inhabitants but the only result was to create an alarm amongst the settlers without producing any effect upon the Indians. Pierre Tomah and most of his tribe were at this time encamped at Indian Point on the north side of Grand Lake.
To offset the influence of Father Bourg, Col. John Allan induced the American Congress to obtain a missionary for the Indians at Machias and Passamaquoddy and he hoped by this means to seduce the Indians remaining on the St. John from their allegiance and draw them to Machias. Never in their history did the Maliseets receive such attention as in the Revolutionary war, when they may be said to have lived at the joint expense of the contending parties. The peace of 1783 proved a dismal thing indeed to them. Their friendship became a matter of comparative indifference and the supplies from either party ceased while the immense influx of new settlers drove them from their old hunting grounds and obliged them to look for situations more remote.
After the alliance formed between France and the old English colonies in America was known to the Indians of Acadia, Francklin’s task of keeping them in hand became more difficult and as regards those on the River St. John he might have failed but for the powerful influence of the Abbe Joseph Mathurin Bourg.
The Indians resisted every temptation held out to them by the Americans during the year 1779, and welcomed Colonel Francklin and the Missionary Bourg in their principal villages with great rejoicing.
Major Studholme’s post at Fort Howe was rendered more secure at this time by the capture of Castine, at the mouth of the Penobscot River. The place was then known by its Indian name of Megabagaduce. Had there been a little more energy and foresight on the part of Admiral Collier, Machias would have shared the same fate, and the result might have been greatly to the advantage of the maritime provinces today. The importance of such a move was self-evident. It was seriously discussed both in England and America, and a plan was very nearly adopted that might have altered the map of America to the advantage of the Canadian dominion. This plan was nothing less than to divide the colony of Maine, giving to that part extending from Saco to the River St. Croix the name of New Ireland and settling it with Loyalists who had been driven from the other colonies in rebellion. The project is believed to have been countenanced by the King and the ministry, but eventually it was abandoned in consequence of the opinion of Wedderburne, the English attorney-general, that the whole of Maine was included in the colony of Massachusetts and that the charter of that colony should be respected.
There is extant a very interesting letter, written at New York in 1780 by the Rev. Wm. Walter to his friend, the Rev. Jacob Bailey, then in Nova Scotia, which shows that the project was seriously discussed in America as well as in England. Mr. Walter writes:
“If you have not already heard it permit me to acquaint you that there is a plan in considerable forwardness to erect the Province of Maine into a Province by itself, to extend from Saco to St. Johns river, making Falmouth [now Portland] the capital;[109] to secure this new Province by strong Forts and Garrisons; to invite the Refugees from the other Provinces in rebellion to settle in this, and by liberality of its constitution to show to the other Provinces the great advantages of being a portion of the Empire and living under the protection of British Government. Sir William Pepperrell is talked of as Governor. The large tracts of land belonging to companies and individuals, which are not forfeited, will be purchased and the whole distributed in farms of 200 acres to every settler. These distributions and appointments are to be in the management and recommendaton of a respectable Board of Refugees [Loyalists] which is now forming under the auspices of Government in this city [New York].”
It is a curious fact that a little after the close of the Revolutionary war an attempt was made of a very different character to erect this territory into the “Free and Independent State of New Ireland.” A constitution and frame of government were prepared by a committee for the consideration of a convention of delegates. In the preamble of their report the Loyalists are termed “the Sons of Slavery and Dregs of the human species in America.” The committee evidently entered upon 292 their work of constitution making with great gusto as will appear from the following:
“Agreeable to the trust reposed in us by the good People of New Ireland, We, anticipating the glorious morning of American Freedom, which will shortly shine upon them with a lustre superior to any other spot on the terraqueous Globe, after consluting with the sagest Politicians of the Age, and carefully examining the several frames of Government already erected in this new Empire, and particularly all the advantages which Divine Revelation affords; have drawn up the following Frame of Government for New Ireland, which, from the knowledge we have of the dispositions of our Constituents we have ground to believe will be very acceptable to them, and calculated to render them and their posterity the happiest People on the earth.”
Among the provisions of the Constitution were several that may be mentioned for their oddity. Not only were all tavern keepers debarred from holding office “lest spirituous liquors should influence the choice,” but the legal fraternity were viewed with suspicion and it was ordained that “Practising Lawyers or Attornies shall not be eligible for any office of profit or trust in the State whilst they continue such.”
In order still further to keep the morals of the people pure and uncorrupted, and for the encouragement of piety and virtue and the suppression of vice and immorality, it was provided that “no Stage Plays, Horse-racing, Cock-fighting, Balls and Assemblies, Profane swearing and cursing, Sabbath-breaking, Drunkenness, nocturnal revelling, whoredom, Cards, Dice, and all other games whatsoever, commonly called Games of Chance (Lotteries ordered by the Legislature to raise money for public uses excepted) shall be permitted.”
The would-be founders of New Ireland close their report by expressing their hope that Europeans, panting after the sweets of Liberty and Independence will flock thither. “Here,” say they, “are no griping and racking Landlords to oppress you; no avaricious Priests to extort from you the Tenth of all your increase and labors and whom you must pay for the liberty to come into the world, of being married, of having children and likewise of leaving the world. * * * Send here the frugal and industrious; no half Gentlemen with long pedigrees from Nimrod and Cain, nor any who expect to make their fortunes by any other methods than the plain beaten paths of honest industry, for idle indolent people, unwilling to work, ought not to eat but to live in all places miserable.”
But to return from this digression; it is clear that if the British forces had routed John Allan and his Indians out of Machias in 1779, as they might easily have done if a serious effort had been made, the American congress would then have had no foothold east of Saco, so that Portland and all the coast to the St. Croix would have been, at the close of the war, as firmly in the possession of the English as any part of Nova Scotia. The American writer Kidder, in his interesting account of the military operations in eastern Maine and Nova Scotia during the Revolution, says: “It is now generally conceded that our present boundary was fixed mainly on the ground of occupation, and had we not been able to hold our eastern outpost at Machias, we cannot say what river in Maine would now divide us from a British province.”