WAR IN MAINE, PART 1

The adversities which the people met for nearly three-fourths of a century seem to have been too much for human endurance ~ George Varney, History of Wells, Maine

early Wells

You can review Wells and the Littlefields in our previous "The Littlefields" post

Wells, Maine was still wild country in 1675. The town had been settled by followers of the Reverend John Wheelwright in 1641. Banished from Massachsetts Colony, Wheelwright had found a place to worship and preach as he pleased in far-flung Maine. Our grandfather Edmund Littlefield (11GGF) and his eight children followed. While we've made a case for the dangers of living in frontier towns of Massachusetts, the colony of Maine was a true frontier fraught with instability and hardship.

Red = Wells Blue = Boston

The area that became the town of Wells originally belonged to a man named George Gorges who leased that land to Wheelwright and his flock. For over ten years, Wells was its own independent entity. Then, in 1649, Charles I was beheaded and and England became a Commonwealth ruled in effect by Oliver Cromwell. Gorges, who found himself backing the wrong man, had his lands confiscated by the Crown.

Massachusetts Colony took advantage of the situation to step in and claim the northern territories which encompassed New Hampshire and Maine. The townspeople of Wells, including our Littlefield relatives, were not happy. They had traveled north with Reverend Wheelwright to escape the Puritan yoke. Finally, however, Wheelwright and his followers were forced to capitulate and, in 1651, Massachusetts took control of Maine. In the end, submission actually worked to the Littlefield's advantage. Massachusetts granted to all freemen living in Wells ownership of the lands they had previously been leasing from Gorges.

the Littlefields in Maine

Maine may have been a part of Massachusetts but society there differed drastically from that of southern New England. Colonization in Maine had begun slowly from the original seasonal cod fisheries. By 1675, only 3,500 people lived in Maine compared to 50,000 in the southern colonies.

Although united under one government with Massachusetts, the residents of Maine were a diverse lot with extreme cultural, religious, and economic diversity. Some residents of Maine ardently adhered to Puritan tenets and pleaded with authorities in Massachusetts for ministers. Others, the wild bunch, cared only for the cod, timber, and beaver so abundant in those northern lands. Still, the independant-minded Mainers had developed a live and let live accord among the two factions.

Economically, Maine ran the gamut from poor fishermen who raised their crops in coastal swamps to wealthy fur traders and merchants. The members of our Littlefield family were large landowners who had also accumulated numeous sawmills in the years since the patriarch Edmund had built the first one in Wells back in 1642. The Littlefields remained active in the governance of the town. Our grandfather Francis Littlefield (10GGF)), son of Edmund, hosted the General Court in his own home. His brother John (10U) received a land grant that encompassed almost the entire town of Ogunguit, five miles south of Wells. John was commissioned lieutenant in 1668 and placed in command of Wells and the surrounding environs. Brother Francis the younger was an ensign.

Note: Edmund named two of his sons Francis. Our grandfather was the elder Francis.

Red = Wells Blue = Ogunguit

The Native people of Maine

When George Varney, in his History of Wells, Maine, wrote that the adversities for the Englishmen living there "seem to have been too much for human endurance" he was referring in large part to the the "Indian Wars," which were waged from 1675 until the mid-1700s. For seventy-five long years, Wells was in the direct line of attack for a series of wars which must have seemed never ending.

By 1675, Maine had grown into a small but prospering colony. War after war ended that prosperity and the promise of a bright future. To understand the dynamics of what happened in Maine, we need to understand the indegenous people living there. Four main groups of Native people had, for centuries, been roaming throughout that region of the Americas. They were the Micmac, the Etchemin, the Almouchiquois and the Abenaki tribes. In 1604, Samuel de Champlain described them as "a people with no fixed abode."

Living so far north, the Native people of Maine had learned how to adapt to their environment. The Jesuit priest Pierre Biard observed that "...From the month of May up to the middle of September, they are free from all anxiety about their food; for the cod are upon the coast...the water swarms with them. Anyone who has not seen it can scarcely believe it. You cannot put your hand in the water without encountering them." In October and November the Natives moved inland where they hunted for beaver, deer and other game. In December, the salt water bays provided a bounty of turtles. Late winter, however, was the "starving time." Baird worried about the Natives during this time of want but one tribesman told Biard that "...It is all the same to us. We shall stand it well enough: we spend seven and eight days, even ten sometimes without eating anything, yet we do not die."

Intertribal war had certainly contributed to the decline in Native populations in the area but it was contact with Europeans and the diseases they brought that drastically escalated the death toll. In the 1620s, the French missionary Gabriel Sagard wrote from Quebec that "the Saguenay River is bordered by mountains among which live the Etchemins in quite small numbers for they have been nearly all killed in diverse wars and encounters with the Canadians."

Thomas Morton was an early colonist in North America. A lawyer, writer, and social reformer known for his studies of Native American culture, he wrote a moving passage about the utter breakdown of Indian society: "They died on heaps as they lay in their houses; and the living, that were able to shift for themselves, would run away and let them die, and let their carcases lie above ground without burial...left for crows, kites and vermin to prey upon."

the English arrive en masse

The Native decline in population was a definite boon to newly arriving colonists who found abandoned fields ripe for the taking. Christopher Levett, English writer, explorer and naval captain, wrote that he found "good ground, and much aready cleared, fit for planting of corn and other fruits, having heretofore been planted by the savages who are all dead." Many weakened tribes were forced into trade and defensive alliances with the English in order to survive.

In addition, the hoardes of European fishermen working all up and down the Maine Coast forced the coatal Abenakis and Androscoggins into the interior, away from their traditional seasonal fishing grounds. This displacement created an increasing reliance on hunting for the Natives, not only for food but also for the the lucrative fur trade. As the Natives became increasingly reliant on European goods, particularly guns, a fragile interdendency slowly emerged. This dependence became critical when, right before the outbreak of King Philip's War, the Massachusetts Council decided to ban the sale of firearms and ammunition to Natives.

buildup to war

Early on, the small number of planters and Natives in Maine were able to peaceably share land. As the English slowly gained ownership of property, the indigenous people continued to use it unmolested by the colonists for a time. The ever increasing influx of settlers, however, led the Natives to reconsider the wisdom of their extensive land sales. Then, in the early 1670's, an inudation of fur traders drove the price of fur down causing added friction to already fraying relations between the English and Natives. Worse, a few unscrupulous traders and merchants were raiding the coast of Maine for Natives to sell as slaves in the West Indies.

By late 1774, relations between the English and the Natives in the south had broken down to the point where the Massachusetts Council decided to restrict the sale of firearms and ammunition to all indigenous people. This restriction was particularly injurious to the tribes in Maine who had come to rely on their guns for food. Lt. Thomas Gardner, a fur trader living in the area was concerned about the fate of the Natives. He wrote to the Council:

"the Reason of our Troubles...not only by som southern Indianes which come this way, but our own actings...divers person...demanded the Indianes Armes who Came downe Quiettly ...how we Can Take Away their Armes whose livelyhood dependeth on it...I do not find by Any thing...that the Indianes East of us are in the least our ennimies..."

Gardner's effort was futile. By the time his letter reached the Council, Boston had already decided on war with the Wabenaki Nation, the largest confederacy in Maine. They sent out orders for the Maine militia to "persue, kill & destroy" any Natives there. When King Philip, leader of the Native revolt, sent emissaries to Maine to try and convince northern tribes to join his cause, the choice had become an easy one to make.

Before King Philip's War, tensions had only occasionally given way to outbreaks of violence. But when open hostilities finally commenced, they ushered in almost a century of border warfare in Maine. Relations between the English and the indigenous people living there increasingly worsened as both sides built upon the distrust and hatred the war had fostered.

the war ramps up

In September of 1675, Native attacks began in earnest. That month, seven people were killed and a young girl taken prisoner. Maine, depending on Massachusetts for defense, had not prepared for war. Their only fort, the garrison at Black Point, was woefully undermanned and low on supplies. Soldiers there were even dying for lack of warm clothing. To add insult to injury, the Massachusetts Council ordered the Maine militia to surrender all their powder and ammunition to the government. Our uncle, Lieutenant John Littlefield, in charge of defense in the area surrounding Wells, wrote the following letter to Major Richard Waldren in New Hampshire informing him of their dire straits.

Wells ye 19th Sept. 75 at 9 of the clocke at night.

Major Waldron, Sir.

You will se by ye above what a great strait ye are in at sacoe, and we look hourerly for an assalt here. Soe that you cannt expect any assistance from us, we being too weak to defend our selves...ye earnest request to you is that you will rase ann army from Pascataqua with all possible speed for the preservation of our lives and estats; otherwise we cannot expect in an ordinary way long to hold out. The Lord direct you and us all. With out speedy supply you must expect no more posts from us. The enemy snapt twice or thrice at this post coming from Saco, but mist fire as God would have it.

Yours to command, John Littlefield.

Note: Major Waldron was the man who held the "Sham Battle" and tricked Wannalancet, covered in our last post, into surrendering four hundred Natives. Half of these deceived Natives were hanged or sold into slavery. Waldron's family would suffer grievously for that action on his part. We'll see that story in a future post.

The Council's reply, almost three months later, offered none of the hoped for aid:

At a Council held at Boston the 9th of December, 1675 the Court, in essence told Uncle John that the people of Maine would have to fend for themselves:

"The Court taking into consideration the present state of the town of Wells in respect to the unsettled frame of the inhabitants there in this time of danger...Ordered that Lieut. John Littlefield do effectually apply himself, that all who are capable of bearing arms in the town, and put them in their best manner for their mutual safety...Said committee is empowered to impress all persons, ammunition, provisions — no one should desert the place on pain of forfeiting his estate."

Though the settlers were ordered to remain and defend, many fled to the south.

the war in Maine grinds on

For those that stayed the course, the cold winter of the new year, 1676, brought a much needed break in hostilities. Our uncle John Littlefield had been appointed Commissioner of York County. He petitioned the governor and Council of Massachusetts requesting the building of garrisons and the shoring up of military organizations. Nothing fruitful came of his request. As it happened, however, the Natives in Maine seemed to take their cue from Philip's increasingly desperate situation as the year wore on. Spring attacks were surprisingly mild. By August, Philip was dead, his cause lost and the war basically over. Maine residents breathed a sigh of relief but, as it turned out, their relief was premature.

From our "In Bradford" post, you may remember Symon, the Yankee Killer. After killing our Aunt Mercy Haseltine Kimball's (9A) husband, Benjamin, Symon took Mercy and her children captive. The family was later ransomed but, after Mercy's return, Symon made threats on her life. She wrote the Council for help and Symon was summarily arrested and jailed. When he somehow managed to escaped, Symon hightailed it up to Maine where he set about causing even more trouble.

Simon managed to win the ear of Squandro, sachem of the Sokosis tribe of the Wabenaki Nation. He easily convinced Squandro that there was still a chance for the Wabenaki to prevail in Maine where English defense was still weak. One month later, in October of 1676, the Natives attacked and took over the fort at Black Point. Then began a series of devastating raids in which thirty-four people were killed or carried into captivity over the next six months. By June of 1677, the people could live through no more destruction and the entire area was deserted until April of 1678.

In June of 1677, Massachusetts decided it was time to take back the fort at Black Point. We wrote about the ill-fated Black Point Expedition in our last post "The Wamesit and the Lieutenant." The attempt to take the fort was a horrific rout for the English. Our cousin James Richardson (1C10X), beloved friend of the Wamesit, was killed in that battle. Black Point turned out to be the last great engagement of King Philip's War.

the Treaty of Casco

The English, unable to win the war in Maine and exhausted from the effort, now sought to end all hostilities and re-establish peaceful relations with the Natives there. Control of the fort at Black Point turned out to be a huge bargaining chip for the Wabenaki. A peace conference was held at Fort Loyal (now Portland, ME) where the Treaty of Casco was hammered out and signed by the English and multiple Native tribe leaders of Maine. The most significant combatant to sign the treaty was Squando, sachem of the Sokosis. Seven other tribe leaders signed the treaty, as well

The terms of the treaty dictated that all captives on both sides were to be surrendered without ransom. The Natives, with the upper hand, allowed the English to keep their settlements in Maine in return for a fee. Every English family would pay the tribes in their area a peck of corn per year for the use of their land. The land use tax symbolized a continuing Native sovereignty over the lands in Maine. The treaty also provided for closer government regulation of the fur trade to be made more favorable to the Natives.

King Philip's War was finally truly over, though it had lasted longer and killed or displaced a larger proportion of the English population in Maine than did in the more southern colonies. All but four of Maine's thirteen English towns had been abandoned, and the total population of approximately 3,500, about 260 had lost their lives.

Even though most of the Native demands had been agreed to in the Treaty of Casco, the war years had taken their toll. Too many Natives had been killed in battle, died of starvation or been forced from their homelands for them to consider the treaty a victory. Worse, their trust in the English settlers remained at an all time low point. Shortly after the treaty was signed, the Kennebeck tribe warned Governor Leverett: "We are owners of the country and it is wide and full of Indians and we can drive you out but our desire is to be quiet."

The quiet didn't last long. An unsettled peace in the colony of Maine lasted a mere eleven years. In 1688, hostilities broke out anew with the start of King William's War. That conflict up next.

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