The location of this island will take us down the bay beyond Peaks Island, and about three miles due east from Long Island.
Many stories have been written about Cliff Island. Some were fact and others were legendary. We will try to stay with the facts as close as possible. First a little about the geography of Cliff Island. It has great coves, low sand bars, and many lush pine groves; a nicer haven for the artist, scholar, or traveler, has not been found. The Island has not always been known as Cliff; for it originally was called, “Crotch” Island, named after a curious “H” shaped chasm that was hewn out of the solid ledge on the southeastern side of the island. On each side of the “crotch”, are great coves which should be given your undivided attention, as to metal detection.
Near Gravelly Cove, there once stood an old house, built in the early 1700’s. Its walls were constructed of hand-hewn wooden planks, stood on end. It was termed a “piggin”, a type of dwelling very uncommon in Maine, there being only one other like it built at Kittery Point, about 1630. It is said to have been erected by John Merriman, one of the earliest settlers.
One of the Indian battle grounds was the field above the old wharf at Strouts Point. Here many of the early settlers met their death at the hands of the savages.
On May 2, 1780, a party of Colonial soldiers camped on the island for several days, while on their way to the eastward in search of British cruisers.
There is one prominent legend of the island that the natives keep alive. It concerns the notorious, “Captain Kief”, who was believed to be a smuggler and one-time pirate. He lived alone in a hut and during the stormy weather, would fasten a lighted lantern to his horse’s neck; riding up and down the narrow stretch of the island, in the hope of luring passing vessels to their doom on the treacherous reefs. Unsuspecting pilots soon found their ships pounded to pieces and their cargoes salvaged and confiscated by this island ghoul. He got rich out of the spoils.
Today the islanders hate to point out to the curious, the “Captain’s” own private graveyard, a pretty, grassy meadow which ever since has been known as “Kief’s Garden”, and where his innocent victims are said to sleep their last long sleep.
Now the reader should understand, that by reading the preceding tale, you have a good location here on Cliff, for a real treasure hunt. The Author wishes you good hunting.
CHAPTER IX
RICHMOND’S ISLAND
Here we have one of the earliest settlements in the Casco Bay area. In 1604, Champlain, the great explorer, landed here on Richmond’s Island. This was, of course, sixteen years before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. In other words, this island has a real old history in the annals of time.