Natives v Settlers: New England Wabanaki War 1722-1725

As we've seen in other instances, Colonial powers often made treaties settling the disposition of Colonial holdings in North American without consulting the Native inhabitants on the ground.  And, as always, it ended up in tragedy.  This war between New England and Nova Scotia settlers and the tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy is sometimes called Dummer's War (after the then Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts), Father Rale's War (after the French missionary priest who supposedly incited the Abenaki to fight), Lovell's War (after one of the New England commanders), the 4th Anglo-Abenaki War, the Three Years' War or Greylock's War (after one of the Native commanders).  We'll stick with the most generic name, the New England Abenaki War of 1722-1725.

We'll begin in Europe, where a Spanish Bourbon Prince backed by France had been placed on the throne of Spain against the wishes of England.  This family inheritance situation caused a conflict known as the War of the Spanish succession but, in reality, was a conflict between England and France over power on the high seas and in North America.  The European conflict was settled by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.  French Acadia was ceded to Great Britain and later became Nova Scotia.  However, there remained a question of where the boundary line actually lay, along the Kennebec River, in what is now eastern Maine, or the Isthmus of Chignecto, in modern-day New Brunswick.  The land in question was occupied by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy.  The Governor of Massachusetts, who had control of what is now Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, met with Wabanaki leaders and agreed that the boundary lay in New Brunswick, but demanded that the English have the right to set up trading posts in the area.  This was agreed in the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1713.  Abenaki leaders signed off on the treaty, not understanding that, in fact, it contained language ceding their land in this area to Britain.  Leaders from the other Wabanaki tribes did not sign and did not feel themselves bound by its terms.

Following the treaty, as usual, settlers poured across the Kennebec River and fishermen began operating in the rich waters of Nova Scotia.  Not to be outdone, the French authorities in New France sent missionaries into the area, who were also building churches and other settlements.  In 1717, New England and Native representatives met again to clarify the boundaries of settlement.  The Natives were rudely brushed off with the comment, "we only mean to have what is ours, and that we will have."  The resulting treaty only angered and alienated the Wabanaki.  Fast forward to 1720, when a settlement of fishermen in Canso, Nova Scotia was attacked by French and Mikmaq forces.  Massachusetts authorities protested and demanded the removal of Sebastian Rale, a Jesuit priest in charge of the mission at Norridgewock, who they believed was inciting the Natives.  The Wabanaki refused and demanded the release of some captives taken earlier by the Colonists.  Massachusetts didn't respond.

Probably with Rale's help, the Wabanaki in 1721 drew up a treaty of their own, delineating what they believed to be the correct boundaries.  Massachusetts dismissed their offer.  Fed up with the continuing raids, Massachusetts sent a raiding party to capture Rale in 1722 and liberated his personal strongbox of documents.  In it, they found documentation proving that Rale was, in fact, an agent of France, promising the Natives enough ammunition to drive the English out of Nova Scotia.  The Governor of Massachusetts complained to the Governor of New France.  He responded that, while the French still contested the disputed land, in reality it was the Wabanaki who locally owned it and pointed out that White idea of land and property use differed from that of the Natives.   He suggested that Massachusetts take matters up with the Natives.

In March, 1722, Mikmaq and Maliseet warriors massed at what is now Grand Pre, Nova Scotia to lay siege to Annapolis Royal.  They blockaded the capitol of Nova Scotia with the intent of starving out the inhabitants.  The Abenaki laid siege to Fort George in June, 1722, and was reinforced in July by more Native units lead by another Jesuit priest.  The fort managed to hold out and the warriors burned the surrounding countryside before retreating.   The Governor of Massachusetts formally declared war on the Wabanaki tribes, then sailed for England to consult with authorities there about unrelated disputes with the Colonial Assembly, leaving control of the war to Lieutenant Governor William Dummer.  In September, 1722, St. Francis Abenaki and Mikmaq warriors attacked Arrowsic in what is now Maine.  The fort managed to hold out until the Natives withdrew, destroying other settlements along their route. 

Things died down during the winter but hostilities resumed in March, 1723, when New England soldiers attacked a vacant Penobscot village and burned it to the ground.  Through April to December, 1723, the Wabanaki Confederacy launched over a dozen raids on English settlements in Maine.  Dummer ordered the local inhabitants to pull back to areas where blockhouses had been built to provide some shelter against the attacks.  The raids continued throughout 1724, making portions of Maine virtually uninhabitable for Settlers.  The fighting spread as far as what is now Dover, New Hampshire.  On August, 22, 1724, Colonial forces advanced on Norridgewock in present-day Madison, Maine to kill Sebastian Rale and destroy the settlement.  Rale was killed when most of the Abenaki in the town chose to flee rather than fight.  The English followed up their success by destroying the Abenaki village of St. Francis and the town of Becancour, Quebec.  Meanwhile, another New England commander, John Lovell, made several raids against the Abenaki and their allies, pursuing them into the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  One of his aims was to collect the scalp bounties offered by Massachusetts authorities to anyone who would join the fighting. 

The fighting in the Maine-New Hampshire theater terminated in the Battle of Pequawket on April 16, 1725.  Lovell had built a fort at what is now Ossipee and was leading a party of men to raid the Pequawket tribe near present-day Fryeburg, Maine.  As they gathered for morning prayer, someone spotted a lone Abenaki warrior and the whole group took the bait, chasing after him while Pequawket warriors led by Paugus raided the supplies they had left behind near the prayer circle.  After one of the Settlers killed the lone warrior, they returned for the packs and Paugus sprung his trap.  Lovell and several of his men were killed.  The survivors retreated to a stronger position and held off the Natives, killing Paugus.  After the death of their leader, the Pequawket withdrew. 

Meanwhile, in Vermont and northern Massachusetts, a war within a war was taking place which is sometimes given its own designation of Greylock's War.  In August, 1723, Abenaki under Greylock raided Northfield, Massachusetts.  Fort the next several weeks, his men raided the surrounding countryside.  Dummer ordered the construction of a fort near the present-day site of Brattleboro, Vermont to deal with this threat.  It became the first permanent European settlement in Vermont.  In June,  1724, Greylock struck again, near Hatfield, Massachusetts and also in Deerfield, Northfield again, and Westfield.  He struck Fort Dummer at Brattleboro in October, 1724.

In Nova Scotia, in 1722, the Royal Governor there managed to end the Native blockade of Annapolis Royal and build a fort at Canso to hold off further raiding.  Not to be outdone, the Mikmaq again raided Annapolis in 1724.  They struck Canso again in 1725.  By this time, with portions of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and now four New England states were
depopulated, under arms and scared to death, authorities realized that they had better take the Governor of New France up on his suggestion to deal with the people who really owned the land, the Wabanaki Confederacy.  The Wabanaki and Dummer agreed to cessation of hostilities in July, 1725.  They were allowed to retain Catholic missionaries, but Dummer refused to make any land concessions.  The Wabanaki also refused to acknowledge British sovereignty.  The peace talks broke up until 1726, when the Abenaki were finally convinced, probably through mistranslation of the treaty terms, to agree to Dummer's demands.  Other peace councils conciliated most of the Wabanaki leaders except Greylock, who refused to come in for talks.  His raids continued until 1727, when he disappeared from the record and probably died. 

As a result of the war, Native presence on the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers declined and western Maine came under complete British control.  There would be relative peace in the area until King George's War in the 1740's.  Though the terms of the treaties in regard to land concessions remained questionable, this war marked the first time English and Colonial authorities realized they would have to treat with the Natives for the use of what was, after all, their land, not simply push them aside and try to use force to get possession of it.   By the mechanism of treaties, the English were acknowledging, grudgingly, that Natives had a right of possession in their land.  Meanwhile, New Brunswick remained under French control.  That would change decades later, in another war to be discussed later. 

Lovell's fight at Pequawket was celebrated by New England poets and novelists in the 19th century.  The town of Lovell, Maine is named for him.  Paugus Bay, Paugus Mill, now part of Albany, New Hampshire, and Mount Paugus were named for the Kennebec leader.  The site of Norridgewock, now Madison, Maine is a National historic landmark.