"Loud behind us grow the murmursOf the age to come,Clang of smiths and tread of farmers,Bearing harvests home!Here her virgin lap with treasuresShall the green earth fill,Waving wheat and golden maize-earsCrown each beechen hill."
"Loud behind us grow the murmursOf the age to come,Clang of smiths and tread of farmers,Bearing harvests home!Here her virgin lap with treasuresShall the green earth fill,Waving wheat and golden maize-earsCrown each beechen hill."
"Loud behind us grow the murmurs
Of the age to come,
Clang of smiths and tread of farmers,
Bearing harvests home!
Here her virgin lap with treasures
Shall the green earth fill,
Waving wheat and golden maize-ears
Crown each beechen hill."
The reader may be asked, in conclusion, to estimate the results of fifty years' lumbering on the Penobscot. What a vast revenue, in addition to the agricultural interests of the contiguous country! When we look to Bangor, so favorably located at the head of navigation, the grand center of all these great interests, it would seem not irrational to predict for it a glorious career in growth, wealth, and importance, nor improbable that the same may be fully realized. She is surrounded by resources of wealth altogether beyond any other town or city in the state, of which neither her citizens, with all their foresight, nor capitalists, seem to be fully aware.
Of one great disadvantage, which must retard her progress, mention may be made, viz., capitalistsabroadown too much of the territory on her river. A judicious policy in business must be steadily pursued, else she may only prove the mereoutletthrough which the wealth of her territory shall pass to other hands, leaving her with the bitter inheritance of one day becoming possessed of the knowledge, when too late, of what shemight have been.
Trees, a river and a distant mountain
Seboois River—Sugar-loaf Mountain, 1900 feet high.
CHAPTER V.
Length of Kennebeck.—Moose-head Lake.—Its peculiar Shape.—Its Islands.—Burned Jacket.—Interesting Deposit.—Mount Kineo.—The Prospect from its Summit.—Moose River.—Old Indian.—The Banks of the Kennebeck.—Beauties of the Country, &c.—Lumber on Dead River. —Falls at Waterville.—Skowhegan Falls.—Arnold's Encampment.— Nau-lau-chu-wak.—Caritunk Falls.—Lumber.—Statistics.—Author's Acknowledgments.—Androscoggin.—Course and other Peculiarities.—A question of Rivalry.—Water Power.—Original Indications.—Interesting Sketch of Rumford Falls.—Estimated Water Power.—Lumber Statistics. —Droughts and Freshets.—Umbagog Lake.—The serpentine Megalloway. —Granite Mountains.—Beautiful Foliage.—Romantic Falls.—Character of Country.—Manner of Life in Log-cutting, &c.—Statistics, &c.— Presumpscot River, great Water-powers of.—Warmth of Water.— Statistical Remarks.—Saco River.
The beautiful Kennebeck lies about sixty miles west of the Penobscot River, running from north to south, nearly parallel with the latter, constituting one of those great marks of designation which divide the state longitudinally into three sections south of the 46th degree of north latitude to the sea-coast inclusive.
A boat on a lake
View of Lily Bay, on Moose-head Lake.
The Kennebeck takes its rise in the southwest section of Moose-head Lake (according to Mitchel's Atlas), so called, probably, from the near resemblance it has, with its numerous coves, arms, and bays, to the branchy horns of the moose. As laid down on some maps, particularly on the map of the Eastern States in Smith's Atlas, published by J. Paine, of Hartford, it requires but a small exercise of the imagination to see in its outlines the form of an immense animal, making the portage from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean with fearful strides of fifteen miles each. The figure of the lake, as laid down on Mitchel's maps, corresponds more exactly with the branching appearance of a moose horn. "Its whole extent, from north to south, is about forty miles, and varies in width from one to eight miles, and very irregular in shape, owing to its deep coves, bays, and islands, which in some parts almost fill the lake. Many of these islands are mere ledges of slate, covered with a scanty growth of cedar and fir, rising perpendicularly from the surface of the water, which fall suddenly to a great depth by their sides. Others are large islands of many acres, well wooded, and bordered by beaches of sand, as well as by ledges of rock. On the eastern side, a few miles from the foot of the lake, rises a high rocky point, called Burned Jacket. It is composed of gneiss, curiously crossed in every direction by veins of quartz. Its sides are covered with huge blocks of gneiss which have fallen from the top, forming long dens and passages between them. On a small, low island, northwest from Moose Island, I found the beach almost covered with fine black ferruginous sand. It is the common black sand used in writing. It lies upon and in a strata with the yellow beach sand, and may be collected in great abundance. Such sand is commonly sold, when put up in pound papers, at six cents each. To obtain large quantities, it might be scooped up with shovels, and afterward separated from the yellow sand by powerful magnets." Take your knife-blade, when charged with the magnet, and immerse it in your sand-box, and quantities will adhere to it, leaving whatever is foreign to itself. "Mount Kineo, to which allusion has already been made, has the appearance of a huge artificial wall of stone rising directly out of the water on the eastern side of the lake, opposite the mouth of Moose River." "We paddled under its cliffs, which jutted out over our heads at a height of five or six hundred feet. Below, they descend perpendicularly ninety feet. The northern and western sides are covered with trees, and slope so that one can reach the top by a path along the edge of the precipice. From its summit is enjoyed a beautiful prospect of the lake, with its islands, and of the adjoining country, forming a most picturesque landscape. The country, to the northward and westward, is generally low. Moose River is seen making its way through it, and finally emptying into the lake on the opposite side. To the eastward the country is more hilly, until the view is lost among the mountains of the Ktaadn group. On looking down from the edge of the precipice, we see the water directly beneath; and so steep and overhanging is the rock, that by a single leap one might throw himself from almost the highest point, and strike the water six hundred feet below, and many feet distant from the base of the mountain. Mount Kineo receives its name from that of an old Indian who formerly lived and hunted in its vicinity."
The most striking feature of the Kennebeck is derived from the well-cultivated and beautiful country through which its waters flow. "From Anson to Bath," a distance of about eighty miles, it passes through a particularly well-cultivated section, presenting an extent of territory probably under a higher state of cultivation than any other division of the state.
To use the complimentary and probably truthful remarks of a gentleman long a resident at the capital, Augusta, "No river in the United States, within the same distance, can be found with more pleasant and delightful scenery, more beautiful villages, or a more thriving population." "The principal business places on its banks are, beginning at its mouth, Bath, Richmond, Gardiner, Pittston, Hallowell, Augusta, Waterville, Fairfield, Bloomfield, Millburn, Norridgewock, and Anson. Bath has long been known for its ship-building, having furnished many of the finest ships engaged in our European trade. Richmond, Gardiner, Pittston, and some other towns on the river, have also built many fine vessels. From Merry-meeting Bay (the confluence of the Kennebeck and Androscoggin from the west) to the Dead River is a fine farming country, while the lumbering region on the Kennebeck, for the most part, extends northward to the lake, around it and its tributaries, and at the Dead River. Formerly a considerable quantity of lumber was cut on the Sebasticook; but now the quantity is very much diminished, owing to the scarcity of logs on that river."
There are several noted falls on the river; the first is at Waterville. "The Kennebeck River is there observed rushing through a breach which has been formed by the disruption of stratified argillaceous slate." "The fall of water is from a ledge of these rocks, and varies from eighteen to twenty feet, according to the state of the river."
The next considerable fall on the river is at Skowhegan, "produced by the falling of the Kennebeck over a rocky ledge to the distance of from ten to twelve feet. During the fatal campaign of Arnold, his army encamped upon an island near the falls, and occasionally relics of the encampment are now found, such as pipes, coins, &c."
A building along side a river
Skowhegan Falls, on the Kennebeck.
At Norridgewock the Kennebeck plunges about ten feet over ledges of hard argillaceous slate, which constitute another step in the series of pitches over which the river passes, seeking its home and level in the bosom of the Atlantic Ocean. Nau-lau-chu-wak is said to be the original and true Indian orthography, the sense of which is this: these falls, or this place, is the only obstruction to navigation.
At Caritunk Falls, still further up river, and half a mile from Solon village, "the Kennebeck dashes over hard quartz rock and mica slate ledges, which run northeast, southwest, and dip northwest 60°. Measured barometrically, the fall is sixteen feet perpendicular, but is said sometimes to be upward of twenty feet. The gorge through which the water passes is fifty feet."[21]
The lumbering interests on the Kennebeck still hold a marked prominence.
There is reported on this river and its tributaries, from Bath northward, including all its tributaries (not including the Androscoggin as one), one hundred and fifty saw-mills, several of which, from Augusta down, are driven by steam.
Averaging the various amounts of long lumber, as reported from sources the most reliable, we report 66,900,000 feet as the amount of long lumber sawed in one year, though not the invariable amount, as this differs on all rivers more or less, as the various influences to which this business is subjected operate. The average price of long lumber has been variously estimated by different gentlemen who have given an opinion, but, from the best evidences before me, I venture to put it down at $12 perM.
But the question here occurs, and to my own mind with distinct impressiveness, Why is there so great a disparity in the prices of long lumber on the Kennebeck and the Penobscot? This question I can not satisfactorily answer to myself, and to it I venture but one suggestion in reply. The probability is, that, in the wholesale slaughter (so to speak) of lumber on the Penobscot, there may be a larger proportion of the fourth, fifth, and sixth qualities of lumber—as it is there distinguished—than on the Kennebeck.
Having made application to some of the most intelligent lumbermen on the Penobscot for a solution of this question, I may yet be able to append such facts as the inquiry may elicit.
From the best sources of information to which I have had access, the following is furnished as a tolerable approximation to the truth in relation to the amount and value of short lumber:
The "Gardiner Fountain" for January 28, 1848, reports the following as the amount of the various denominations of lumber manufactured at Gardiner and Pittston:
"Long lumber, 20,824M.; Shingles, 16,302M.; Clap-boards, 1905M.; and of pickets, 50M." The editor remarks that "the amount of money received for sales on the above lumber is $445,000." In addition to other kinds of lumber, there are large quantities of door and blind stuff not enumerated.
There remains but one observation to be made touching the lumber business on the Kennebeck. It is estimated by good judges that the present annual amount of lumber on this river may be hauled for ten successive years, after which it will depreciate one fourth every ten years, and thus, in forty years, exhaust the resources of the river.
For the principal facts involved in the above statements, not duly credited already, I am indebted to Mr. A. W. Babcock, an intelligent gentleman and extensive operator on the Penobscot; also to Mr. E. Bartlett, of Augusta, whose zeal in furnishing answers to the various questions proposed for consideration has only been equaled by the degree of readiness which he has manifested to assist me; and to M. Springer, Esq., deputy collector of the customs for the port of Gardiner, Maine.
Statistics of Lumber on the Kennebeck.
Taking leave of the beautiful Kennebeck, the flourishing villages which skirt its borders, and its rich, productive farms, spreading east and west, our attention is next arrested by the serpentine Androscoggin, with its vast water power.
"From Merry-meeting Bay, into which it empties, to Lewiston Falls, it formerly went by the name of Peyepscook or Pyepscook, which means crooked, like a diving snake," strikingly expressive of the zigzag course of the stream, and the numerous pitches in its channel, giving it the appearance, or at least suggesting the idea, of the movements of a diving eel.
The length of this river is set down at two hundred and fifty miles, though the distance, in a direct line from the point where it takes its rise to its mouth, does not probably exceed one hundred miles. It is this circumstance which gives it an opportunity to drain a large territory, and, though less numerously attended with tributary streams than either the Kennebeck or Penobscot, it is said to discharge more water during the year than either of the latter rivers.
To glance at the map and institute a comparison between the Penobscot and Androscoggin, the former sixty miles longer, with its hundreds of lakes, numerous branches and tributaries, ramifying nearly one third the area of the entire state, in the regions of ice and snow, mountains and wildernesses, then survey the Androscoggin, with comparatively few tributaries or lakes, and the thing seems incredible that the latter annually pours into the Atlantic more water than the former; yet actual surveys, made by the late Colonel Baldwin, J. A. Beard, Esq., and others, have demonstrated this result with mathematical certainty. In time of freshets, in the spring and fall, doubtless the Penobscot disgorges more water; but during the summer and winter months the waters of the Androscoggin exceed in quantity.
The country through which this river flows, "from Brunswick," a few miles from its junction with the Kennebeck, "to Dixfield, sixty miles distant, is not remarkable in its features; but from the latter place to Umbagog Lake," the grand reservoir of the Androscoggin, "and from Phillips, in Franklin county, westward, up the Megalloway River," the extreme north tributary of the Androscoggin, "some thirty or forty miles, the country is said to be wonderful for its mountains."
Respecting the water power and privileges on this river, Colonel A. J. Stone, to whom I am chiefly under obligations for the facts involved in this part of my work, says, "I doubt whether there is a state in the Union that can show so many as we can on the Androscoggin and its tributaries."
A waterfall and river
Rumford Falls, Androscoggin River.
"There are now three or four water-falls at Rumford, on this river, while anciently there must have been others of greater magnitude, for deep holes are seen worn high up on the rocky banks, where the waters never ran in modern times. Now the whole descent is divided into two principal and two minor falls, the first two being from six to ten feet, the middle seventy feet perpendicular, and the fourth twenty feet, while the whole pitch is estimated at one hundred and eighty feet. It is the middle fall, however, that will attract the attention of the traveler, for there the torrent of water pouring down with the noise of thunder, and dashing itself into foam as it chafes the rocky walls, produces an effect full of grandeur."—Geological Reports.
"In the distance of half a mile on the river, at this place (Brunswick), we have forty-one feet fall (three dams across the river), consequently the water may be used in this distance three times." "By a survey made by the late Colonel Baldwin, the capacity of the Androscoggin is sufficient for carrying two hundred thousand spindles." Numerous privileges of the same capacity are of frequent occurrence. All that is requisite to make this river the seat of the most extensive factory operations in the world is capital, and from the superior water power here presented, it is fair to presume that the attention of capitalists may ultimately lead to investments in manufacturing on a magnificent scale.
At Livermore some incipient movements are making for the erection of factories by a company. At Brunswick, a cotton factory, with four thousand six hundred spindles, is already in operation.
In relation to the lumbering business on this river, the chief object of attention in noticing this and the rivers already alluded to, there are "from two to three million feet of lumber run down, and about the same amount is purchased (in the log) on the Kennebeck, and taken up through Merry-meeting Bay, and manufactured at Brunswick yearly."
"Five millions are manufactured into boards, and about one million into clap-boards and shingles, &c. About one half of the five millions manufactured into boards are shipped to Boston, Mass., Providence and Fall River, R.I., and to the West Indies. The remaining half are manufactured here into sugar-box shooks for the Havana market."
The mean or average price which lumber bears perM.here is $14.30. The "resources for lumber on this river are very limited. The principal dealers are about leaving the business, though lumber, in small quantities, will probably be run for twenty or thirty years."
Logs are driven about one hundred and fifty miles, this being the longest drive. Others are hauled on to the river within forty miles of Brunswick.
From the causes alluded to, the Androscoggin is not much affected with drought, nor so seriously by freshets as most rivers, the mills being protected by ledges. "The river is very crooked, and when we have anicefreshet, it is piled up in large quantities in the bends of the river, in some instances for five or six miles. Such was the case nine years since—also last spring; but the damage to our mills in these two ice freshets was but trifling."
A lake
View of Umbagog Lake—source of the Androscoggin.
Umbagog Lake, from which the Androscoggin takes its rise, from the construction of its shores, acts as a regulator upon the height of the water. When the Megalloway rises, it flows into the Androscoggin, and raises its waters, so that they run back into the lake for the distance of two miles, having the appearance of a river running back to its source. The Androscoggin rises from the western side of the lake, and here is a sluggish stream, with low, grassy banks five feet high, covered with scattering swamp Maple-trees. "The Megalloway River is extremely serpentine and wild in its course, winding its way amid high mountains, while its banks are composed of sandy loam, covered thickly with Maple-trees."
Two waterfalls on a mountainside
Frye's Falls, on a tributary of Ellis River.
"The Umbagog Lake is an irregular, shallow sheet of water, with grassy and boggy shores, and is surrounded by lofty mountains of granite, which in September are clothed with the red and yellow foliage of Maple and Birch trees, the former greatly predominating, and covering the mountains to their very summits." Among other objects of romantic interest are "Frye's Falls, in Andover Surplus," upon Frye's Stream, so called. "This stream rushes over a precipitous mass of granite, gneiss, and mica slate rocks, precipitating itself by a fall of twenty-five feet into a rocky basin below. The chasm is fifteen feet wide, and the basin fifty-five feet broad. Here the waters form a beautiful pool, and then leap again, by a second fall of twenty feet, into another larger and shallower reservoir, from which they descend gradually to Sawyer's Brook, running into Ellis River."
A bridge spanning a river
Rumford Bridge, Androscoggin River.
There are about sixty saw-mills on this river and its tributaries, thirty-two of which are at Brunswick and Topsham; about two hundred shingle machines, most of which manufacture for home consumption; ten only, or thereabouts, manufacture for markets abroad, which cut about three hundred thousand to a machine. Average price perM., $2.75. Though there are said to be fifty clap-board machines of some sort on the river, yet only "nine can be reckoned as manufacturing for market," "which, owing to the scanty supply of timber, cut only about fiftyM." to a machine. Average price of clap-boards perM., $22.50. There are only nine lath machines, which, as is reported, for want of material, cut only about two hundred and fifty thousand to a machine. Average price perM., $1.18.
Throwing the whole, then, into a tabular form, we have presented for our inspection the results of the lumbering operations on the Androscoggin, for the market, as follows:
Androscoggin.
There is also a small amount of lumber manufactured on the Presumpscot, a small river about fifty miles long, if we include Sebago Pond as a connecting link between Presumpscot Proper and the continuation of the inlet stream, which takes its rise about twenty miles east of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, running southwest, and finally emptying into Casco Bay, a few miles north of Portland.
"There are said to be seventeen falls of water on this river within twenty miles of Portland, each affording a good site for mills, and a sufficient volume of water on each pitch to carry eight hundred looms, together with all other needed machinery for such purposes." "Sebago Lake is a thoroughfare and feeder of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal, and there are between the lake and the sea twenty-six locks of nearly ten feet each, making the fall equal to two hundred and fifty-five feet." The fountains of this river are so springy that "the water never freezes so as to prevent or impede operations," nor are they troubled with droughts; the current is ever-living.
At Sacarappa, on the Presumpscot, there are six saws for long lumber, two shingle and two lath machines. At Great Falls there are four saws, also four more a few miles up the river, and four shingle and four lath machines. Above Sebago Pond there are also four more saw-mills, the produce of which finds a domestic market in the neighboring towns.
The resources for lumber on this river are nearly exhausted, as must be evident from the settled condition of the country through which it runs its short career.
Having no means by which to ascertain the various amounts of lumber manufactured on this river, I will venture upon a calculation, with a view to make results more tangible, keeping in view the scanty resources lumbermen must have in such a country for logs.
There are fourteen saws reported which manufacture for exportation. With a proper head of water and a sufficient number of logs, one saw is capable of cutting a million feet per annum. But, in the absence of the necessary supply of logs, we should feel inclined to limit the amount manufactured per saw to one hundred and fifty thousand feet, board measure, the average price of which is said to be $12 perM.
Of lath machines there are six reported, capable, under favorable circumstances, of cutting one million pieces per annum to a machine. But in this instance, from the scanty supply of material, we should not feel warranted in an estimate exceeding two hundred thousand to each machine as the average product, worth probably about the same as similar kinds of lumber on the Androscoggin.
Six shingle machines may be supposed to produce a limited amount of this kind of lumber, for the same general reason assigned for the scanty supply of other kinds. Two hundred and fifty thousand to each machine, worth two dollars and fifty cents perM., may therefore be considered not extravagant.
Some attention has been given to factory operations on this river at Sacarappa, where there is one mill with three hundred and sixty looms, whether for cotton or wool I am uninformed.
Table.
Though this is comparatively a small lumber operation, still, provided the truth has been approximated in the estimates made, this done annually amounts to no mean revenue, and affords employment to not a few persons, supplying bread for many mouths, and enriching those who conduct the business. While such operations build up many beautiful villages along the romantic banks of those fine streams and rivers where falls occur, they also give an impulse to the farming interests of the country contiguous, and serve as so many little hearts in the great system, whose pulsations vibrate with general intelligence, education, and improved manners throughout the interior.
For the principalfactsinvolved in the view given of the Presumpscot and its lumbering interests, I am mainly indebted to the kindness of E. Clarke, M.D., of Portland, Maine.
The next considerable river is Saco, which rises among the White Mountains of New Hampshire, at thenotchnear where the Ammonoosuc River takes its rise. The Saco, from its source to the Atlantic Ocean, into which it empties, is about one hundred and forty miles in length, its current rapid, and waters clear. In common with many other rivers, some portion of it is exceedingly crooked. Within the single town of Fryeburg its serpentine windings are said to be thirty-six miles, making in this meandering only four miles on a direct line. Fine intervale lands abound in this vicinity, and also in Brownfield.
There are four noted falls on this river. The first is calledGreat Falls, at Hiram, where the water plunges down a ledge of rugged rocks seventy-two feet. At Lemington are theSteep Falls, of twenty feet. At Buxton areSalmon Falls, of thirty feet; and ten miles below we come toSaco Falls, where the river is divided byIndian Island, containing thirty acres, and on each side the river tumbles over a precipice of rocks forty-two feet high, and disappears amid the waves of the Atlantic. From the east side of the above-named island, which is fertile and pleasant, the appearance of these falls is majestic.
This river is easily affected by freshets. At such times the water rises ten feet, and sometimes it has risen twenty-five feet; when in many places it overflows its banks, and makes great havoc with property.
This was particularly the case in the great flood of October, 1775, when a large stream, calledNew River, broke out of theWhite Mountains, and bore down every thing in its way, till it found a channel in Ellis River. The Saco, being swelled enormously by this accession to its waters, swept away mills, bridges, domestic animals, and great quantities of lumber.
The burst of New River from the mountains was a great phenomenon; and as its waters were of a reddish brown or blood color, the people considered it an ill omen in those times of revolution.[22]
In regard to the lumbering interests on this river we know but little, save that in years gone by it has constituted a large share of the business done on the river, and that at the present time it has so much diminished as to be comparatively unimportant.[23]
CHAPTER VI.
NEW BRUNSWICK.
Object of the Chapter.—Description of St. John's River.—First Falls.—Contiguous Country.—"Mars Hill."—Prospect.—Grand Falls. —The Acadians, curious Facts respecting them.—The Mirimachi River.—Immense amount of Timber shipped.—Riots.—State of Morals.—The great Mirimachi Fire.—Hurricane.—Destruction of Human Life.—Area of the Fire.—Vessels in Harbor.—Painfully disgusting Sights.—Destruction among Fish.—Fire, rapidity of Progress.—Curious instance of Escape.—Ristigouche River, its Length.—Capacious Harbor.—Appearance of the Country.—High Banks.—Groves of Pine.—A Statistical Table.
With a view to give a general outline of the immense capacities of the strip of country lying east of the St. Lawrence, between the latitudes of 42° and 44° north, I shall include (as the terminus of Maine, not regarding geographical lines) that part of the country known as the province of New Brunswick, whose lumber in quality has, in years past, quite outrivaled that of Maine.
The River St. John's, the Mississippi of the East, "has a course of nearly six hundred miles from its source, near the Chaudière, in Lower Canada, to where it falls into the Bay of Fundy. At its entrance into the harbor the river passes through a fissure of solid and overhanging rock, exhibiting every appearance of having been formed by some convulsion of nature. The volume of water collected in a course of so many hundred miles, being here compelled to pass through so narrow a passage as thirteen hundred feet, occasions what are called the Falls of St. John's, which are merely a sluice on a grand scale. At times of great floods, the appearance from the overhanging precipices is truly wonderful, and the noise tremendous, particularly on the ebb of tide. The ordinary rise of the tide above the falls is only six feet, and then only when the river is not swollen. The tide must flow twelve feet below before the river becomes passable for vessels; the time for such passage lasts about twenty minutes after the rise of tide creates a fall from below; on the returning tide the water becomes level for the same space of time, and thus only at four times in the twenty-four hours can vessels enter St. John's harbor, in which the rise of tide is from twenty-five to thirty feet. Above the falls the river widens, and forms a bay of some magnitude, surrounded by high and rugged woodland. Passing up the bay, huge calcareous rocks, and vast, dark pine forests stretch up the sides of lofty hills and promontories."
From the city of St. John's, which is contiguous to the falls, up to Fredericton (the seat of government), ninety miles distant, there is much to admire in the bays and beautiful islands which dot its limpid waters. A great portion of the land skirting its banks is alluvial, running back to beautiful ridges which swell up in the distance, and "the result is a luxuriant landscape." "For one hundred and thirty miles further the river flows through a fertile wooded country." "Sixty-three miles above Fredericton are the towns of Northampton and Woodstock. The next conspicuous place we reach is Mars Hill, about five miles and a half west of the River St. John's, and one hundred from Fredericton. This town has considerable interest attached to it from the circumstance of its being the point fixed on by the British commissioners as the commencement of the range of highlands forming the boundary of the United States. The mountain is about three miles in length, with a base upward of four miles, an elevation of two thousand feet above the sea, and twelve hundred above the source of the St. Croix. Near the summit it is almost perpendicular. As it is the highest point in its vicinity, the prospect commands a great extent of territory. Immediately beneath stretch the vast forests of which the adjacent country is composed, whose undulatory swells, 'clothed with the somber evergreen of the Fir, Spruce, Hemlock, and Pine, and the lighter green of the Beech, the Birch, and Maple, resembling, while they exceed, the stupendous waves of the ocean.' About twenty-five miles north, on the St. John's, we come to the Grand Falls, where the river passes, greatly contracted, between rugged cliffs, overhung with trees, sweeping along a descent of several feet with fearful impetuosity, until the interruption of a ridge of rocks changes the hitherto unbroken volume into one vast body of turbulent foam, which thunders over a perpendicular precipice, about fifty feet in height, into a deep vortex among huge black rocks, when the St. John's rolls out impetuously through a channel still more confined in width over a succession of falls for about a mile, the cliffs here overhanging the river so much as to conceal it."
"When the sun's rays fall upon the mists and spray perpetually rising from the cataract, a gorgeousirisis seen floating in the air, waving its rich colors over the white foam, and forming a beautiful contrast with the somber rocks, covered with dark cedars and pines, which overhang the abyss."
"The St. John's is much broader above the falls than it is below; and there are but few rapids, and none of them dangerous to navigate." About thirty miles above the falls we come to the 'Madawaska settlement, the population of which is estimated at three thousand souls.' "Most of the settlers are French neutrals or Acadians, who were driven by British violence from their homes in Nova Scotia (called by the French Acadia) on the 17th of July, 1775. These people at first established themselves above Fredericton, and subsequently removed above the Grand Falls, and effected this settlement. The Acadians are a very peculiar people, remarkable for the simplicity of their manners and their fidelity to their employers. Although they are said to be 'sharp at a bargain,' they are remarkably honest, industrious, and respectful, and are polite and hospitable to each other and to strangers. It is curious to observe how perfectly they have retained all their French peculiarities. The forms of their houses, the decorations of their apartments, dress, mode of cookery, &c., are exactly such as they originally were in the land of their ancestors. They speak a kind ofpatois, or corrupted French, but perfectly understand the modern language as spoken in Paris. But few persons can be found who can understand or speak English, and these are such as, from the necessities of trade, have learned a few words of the language. None of the women or children either understand or speak English.
"The Acadians are a cheerful, contented, and happy people, social in their intercourse, and never pass each other without a kind salutation. While they thus retain all the marked characteristics of the French peasantry, it is a curious fact that they appear to know but little respecting the country from which they originated, and but few of them have the least idea of its geographical situation. Thus we were asked, when we spoke of France, if it were not separated from England by a river, or if it were near the coast of Nova Scotia; and one inquired if Bethlehem, where Christ was born, were not a town in France!! Since they have no schools, and their knowledge is but traditional, it is not surprising that they should remain thus ignorant of geography and history. I can account for their understanding the pure French language from the circumstance that they are supplied with Catholic priests from the mother country, who of course speak to them in that tongue. Those who visit Madawaska must remember that no money passes current there but silver, for the people do not know how to read, and will not take bank-notes, as they have often been imposed upon, since they are unable to distinguish a £5 from a $5 or five shilling note. As there are no regular taverns in this settlement, every family the traveler calls upon will furnish accommodations, for which they expect a reasonable compensation, and he will be always sure of kind treatment, which is beyond price. I have been thus particular to speak of the Acadian settlers of Madawaska, because little is generally known of their manners and customs, many people having the idea that they are demi-savages, because, like the aboriginal inhabitants, they live principally by hunting."[24]
There are several important tributaries to the St. John's, and among them mention may be made of the Aroostook, which, from its historical associations with the boundary question between the States and Great Britain, has become familiar to all. "This river is a broad and beautiful stream, having a gradual descent, free from obstructions, so that a raft may run to the falls at its confluence with the St. John's," a distance of over one hundred miles. "Its bottom is composed of pebbles for the principal part of its course, and there are a few low islands in its midst." The soil varies on different sections of the river as you pass down, sometimes being of a "chocolate brown" or "yellow loam," the latter being in some places covered with "a black vegetable mold several inches deep." The country around is covered with a majestic grove, composed of towering Pines, Rock-maple, and the various Birches, Spruce, Fir, &c. Where the attempt has been made, the soil is found to be exceedingly productive. Its principal products are square timber, hewn from the giant Pines found upon its borders, and sugar, produced from the sap of the Rock-maple, magnificent groves of which grow upon its banks. Beds of iron ore are found in its vicinity, and in some places limestone abounds; 'and, from indications, it is highly probable that beds of anthracite coal will, when necessity shall prompt investigation, be found in its vicinity.' In an agricultural point of view, it has been remarked, by competent judges, that "there were never greater natural advantages offered to the farmer than are to be found upon this river," and that it "will" in time "become, as it is destined by nature to be, the granary of the North."
A waterfall
Aroostook Falls, on Aroostook River.
Among the most interesting objects to be met are the Ox-bow and Aroostook Falls. The former consists of a crook in the river, which "forms a curvature of one mile, while the neck of land included between the two portions of the curve is but twenty rods across, so that it is customary for the Indians to carry their canoes over this portage." The falls occur near its junction with the St. John's. "The water is very rapid, and rushes over ledges of slate and limestone rocks for three fourths of a mile." "Then the river precipitates itself over a steep and broken ledge fifteen feet into a wide basin below." In the rocks there are "pot-holes," "five feet in diameter and four feet deep," "worn in the limestone by the grinding motion of rounded stones moved by the impetuous current."
The reader will see in the cut a picturesque view of a section of this beautiful water-fall, with its high ledges, overhung with a heavy growth of cedar-trees. The country in the vicinity of the falls "becomes more elevated, and lofty precipices of limestone and calciferous slate rise on each bank of the river, while the country in the rear is broken, hilly, and covered with an abundant mixed growth of forest trees."
We next turn our attention to the "Mirimachi," one of the principal rivers of the province, "which falls into the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 47° 10′ north latitude, 64° 40′ west longitude, forming at its estuary a capacious bay, with several islands, and a ship channel for vessels of seven hundred tons burden, and navigable upward of thirty miles from the sea. Chatham, Douglass, and Newcastle are the principal towns, situated on the banks of the river, about twenty-five miles from its mouth. At these settlements upward of two hundred vessels annually load with timber for Great Britain, &c. Seven miles above Chatham the Mirimachi divides into two branches, one running southwest and the other northwest. The southwest branch of the river contains more water than the River Thames from London upward. The sea-coast of Mirimachi is low, but inland the country rises in some places, consisting of extensive and rich intervales, in others of a rugged, rocky territory."
This river is particularly prominent, in the history of New Brunswick, for the astonishing amount of ton timber which was formerly procured from the territory bordering it, and as the scene of a bloody and protracted riot on the part of the Irish population, chiefly emigrants, who roseen masse, and attempted to drive the Americans, who had flocked there in large numbers, from the country. Desperate encounters took place from time to time between small parties, but the Americans maintained their ground against fearful odds, and after the lapse of a few months quiet and order again prevailed. But in a more particular and impressive sense will the Mirimachi be remembered as the scene of one of the "most terrible natural conflagrations of which we have any record in the history of the world." The annexed account[25]will be found deeply interesting.
"The person who has never been out of Europe," and, we may add, out ofourcities and older portions of country in the States, "can have little conception of the fury and rapidity with which fires rage after a continuation of hot seasons in North America and New Holland, when the dry underwood and fallen leaves, in addition to the resinous quality of the timber, afford combustible materials in the greatest abundance. I have seen the side of a mountain thirty miles long burning in New Holland, and illumining the sky for many miles; but the following description by an eye-witness (Mr. Coony), of the great Mirimachi fire, exceeds any thing of the kind that ever occurred."
"The summer of 1825 was unusually warm in both hemispheres, particularly in America, where its effects were fatally visible in the prevalence of epidemical disorders. During July and August, extensive fires raged in different parts of Nova Scotia, especially in the eastern division of the peninsula. The protracted drought of the summer, acting upon the aridity of the forests, had rendered them more than naturally combustible; and this, facilitating both the dispersion and the progress of the fires that appeared in the early part of the season, produced an unusual warmth. On the 6th of October, the fire was evidently approaching New Castle; at different intervals fitful blazes and flashes were observed to issue from different parts of the woods, particularly up the northwest, at the rear of New Castle, in the vicinity of Douglasstown and Moorfields, and along the banks of the Bartibog. Many persons heard the crackling of falling trees and shriveled branches, while a hoarse, rumbling noise, not dissimilar to the roaring of distant thunder, and divided by pauses, like the intermittent discharges of artillery, was distinct and audible. On the 7th of October the heat increased to such a degree, and became so very oppressive, that many complained of its enervating effects. About twelve o'clock, a pale, sickly mist, lightly tinged with purple, emerged from the forest and settled over it.
"This cloud soon retreated before a large dark one, which, occupying its place, wrapped the firmament in a pall of vapor. This encumbrance retaining its position till about three o'clock, the heat became tormentingly sultry. There was not a breath of air; the atmosphere was overloaded; and irresistible lassitude seized the people. A stupefying dullness seemed to pervade every place but the woods, which now trembled, and rustled, and shook with an incessant and thrilling noise of explosions, rapidly following each other, and mingling their reports with a discordant variety of loud and boisterous sounds. At this time the whole country appeared to be encircled by afiery zone, which, gradually contracting its circle by the devastation it had made, seemed as if it would not converge into a point while any thing remained to be destroyed. A little after four o'clock, an immense pillar of smoke rose, in a vertical direction, at some distance northwest of New Castle for a while, and the sky was absolutely blackened by this huge cloud; but a light northerly breeze springing up, it gradually distended, and then dissipated into a variety of shapeless mists. About an hour after, or probably at half past five, innumerable large spires of smoke, issuing from different parts of the woods, and illuminated by flames that seemed to pierce them, mounted the sky. A heavy and suffocating canopy, extending to the utmost verge of observation, and appearing more terrific by the vivid flashes and blazes that darted irregularly through it, now hung over New Castle and Douglass in threatening suspension, while showers of flaming brands, calcined leaves, ashes, and cinders seemed to scream through the growling noise that prevailed in the woods. About nine o'clock (P.M.), or shortly after, a succession of loud and appalling roars thundered through the forests. Peal after peal, crash after crash, announced the sentence of destruction. Every succeeding shock created fresh alarm; every clap came loaded with its own destructive energy. With greedy rapidity did the flames advance to the devoted scene of their ministry; nothing could impede their progress. They removed every obstacle by the desolation they occasioned, andseveral hundred miles of prostrate forestsand smitten woods marked their devastating way.
"The river, tortured into violence by the hurricane, foamed with rage, and flung its boiling spray upon the land. The thunder pealed along the vault of heaven—the lightning appeared to rend the firmament. For a moment all was still, and a deep and awful silence reigned over every thing. All nature appeared to be hushed, when suddenly a lengthened and sullen roar came booming through the forests, driving a thousand massive and devouring flames before it. Then New Castle and Douglasstown, and the whole northern side of the river, extending from Bartibog to the Naashwaak, a distance of more than one hundred miles in length, became enveloped in an immense sheet of flame, that spread over nearlysix thousand square miles! That the stranger may form a faint idea of the desolation and misery which no pen can describe, he must picture to himself a large and rapid river, thickly settled for one hundred miles or more on both sides of it. He must also fancy four thriving towns, two on each side of this river, and then reflect that these towns and settlements were all composed of wooden houses, stores, stables, and barns; that these barns and stables were filled with crops, and that the arrival of the fall importations had stocked the warehouses and stores with spirits, powder, and a variety of combustible articles, as well as with the necessary supplies for the approaching winter. He must then remember that the cultivated or settled part of the river is but a long, narrow strip, about a quarter of a mile wide, lying between the river and almost interminable forests, stretching along the very edge of its precincts and all around it. Extending his conception, he will see the forests thickly expanding over more than six thousand square miles, and absolutely parched into tinder by the protracted heat of a long summer.
"Let him then animate the picture by scattering countless tribes of wild animals, and hundreds of domestic ones, and even thousands of men in the interior. Having done all this, he will have before him a feeble outline of the extent, features, and general circumstances of the country which, in the course of a few hours, was suddenly enveloped in fire. A more ghastly or a more revolting picture of human misery can not well be imagined.
"The whole district of cultivated land was shrouded in the agonizing memorials of some dreadful deforming havoc. The songs of gladness that formerly resounded through it were no longer heard, for the voice of misery had hushed them. Nothing broke upon the ear but the accents of distress; the eye saw nothing but ruin, and desolation, and death. New Castle, yesterday a flourishing town, full of trade and spirit, and containing nearly one thousand inhabitants, was now a heap of smoking ruins; and Douglasstown, nearly one third of its size, was reduced to the same miserable condition. Of the two hundred and sixty houses and store-houses that composed the former, but twelve remained; and of the seventy that comprised the latter, but six were left. The confusion on board of one hundred and fifty large vessels, then lying in the Mirimachi, and exposed to imminent danger, was terrible—some burned to the water's edge, others burning, and the remainder occasionally on fire.
"Dispersed groups of half-famished, half-naked, and houseless creatures, all more or less injured in their persons, many lamenting the loss of some property, or children, or relations and friends, were wandering through the country. Of the human bodies, some were seen with their bowels protruding, others with the flesh all consumed, and the blackened skeletons smoking; some with headless trunks and severed extremities; some bodies burned to cinders, others reduced to ashes; many bloated and swollen by suffocation, and several lying in the last distorted position of convulsing torture; brief and violent was their passage from life to death, and rude and melancholy was their sepulcher—'unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.' The immediate loss of life was upward of five hundred beings! Thousands of wild beasts, too, had perished in the woods, and from their putrescent carcasses issued streams of effluvium and stench that formed contagious domes over the dismantled settlements. Domestic animals of all kinds lay dead and dying in different parts of the country. Myriads of salmon, trout, bass, and other fish, which, poisoned by the alkali formed by the ashes precipitated into the river, now lay dead or floundering and gasping on the scorched shores and beaches, and the countless variety of wild fowl and reptiles shared a similar fate."
Such was the violence of the hurricane, that large bodies of ignited timber, and portions of the trunks of trees, and severed limbs, and also parts of flaming buildings, shingles, boards, &c., were hurried along through the frowning heavens with terrible velocity, outstripping the fleetest horses, spreading destruction far in the advance, thus cutting off retreat. The shrieks of the affrighted inhabitants mingling with the discordant bellowing of cattle, the neighing of horses, the howling of dogs, and the strange notes of distress and fright from other domestic animals, strangely blending with the roar of the flames and the thunder of the tornado, beggars description.
Their only means of safety was the river, to which there was a simultaneous rush, seizing whatever was buoyant, however inadequate; many attempted to effect a crossing; some succeeded; others failed, and were drowned. One woman actually seized an ox by the tail just as he plunged into the river, and was safely towed to the opposite shore. Those who were unable to make their escape across plunged into the water to their necks, and, by a constant application of water to the head while in this submerged condition, escaped the dreadful burning. In some portions of the country the cattle were nearly all destroyed. Whole crews of men, camping in the interior, and engaged in timber-making, were consumed.
Such was the awful conflagration of 1825 on the Mirimachi.
This event, of course, put a great check upon the lumbering operations of that section; but since that period, the places named, "phœnix-like, have risen from their ashes finer towns than they were before the period of that terrific conflagration." Hundreds of shipping annually load with lumber, which is exported to the mother country.
The next considerable river in this region is the Ristigouche, larger than the Mirimachi, "two hundred and twenty miles long." "The entrance to this river is about three miles wide, formed by two high promontories of red sandstone." "For eighteen miles up this river, one continuous, safe, and commodious harbor for the largest class of ships is found." "Two hundred miles from its embouchure, whither the tide flows, it is upward of a mile wide; and from thence to within forty miles of its source it is navigable for barges and canoes." "The appearance of the country" on this river "is exceedingly grand and impressive; wherever the eye wanders, nothing is to be seen but an immeasurable dispersion of gigantic hills, with an infinite number of lakes and streams, glens and valleys. Some of the mountains are clothed with the tall and beautiful Pine; others sustain a fine growth of hard-wood; many have swampy summits, and several terminate in rich meadows and plains; in form some are conical, others exhibit considerable rotundity, many lank and attenuated, and not a few of most grotesque shapes. Sometimes the precipitous banks of the river are three hundred feet above its bed. Seventy miles from the sea the country becomes comparatively level, and all the way to the head of the Ristigouche is a fine, bold, open territory, consisting of a rich upland, skirted with large tracks of intervale, and covered with a dense and unviolated growth of mixed wood, in which large groves of Pine are very conspicuous." On this river the Pine is said to be of a very superior quality.
Other rivers might be named of no ordinary interest and capacity.
The following table gives an account of the lumbering installments and products of New Brunswick, as taken from the "History of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton," &c., &c.:
To this amount of manufactured lumber may be added about two hundred and fifty thousand tons of square timber; this is not far from the annual amount manufactured in this province. Four dollars per ton is about a medium price; this gives a product of $1,000,000. To this we may add, as the product of masts, staves, shingles, per annum, $20,000.[26]
Grand total of the lumbering produce in dollars, reckoning four dollars to the pound: