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CHAPTER XIII.

THE AROOSTOOK WAR.

HILE boundary matters thus remained unsettled, the earlier exhortations for the exercise of forbearance on the part of the representatives of the two countries in the disputed territory became less and less forceful. With the increase of population, alike in Maine and New Brunswick, both parties were increasingly in evidence, and, as their interests were divergent, clashings naturally followed.

Mr. S. S. Whipple, who had received an appointment as surveyor general of the State of Maine, proceeded in the summer of 1838 to the valley of the Aroostook River with a party of assistants, and was employed in the duties of his office in territory that had long been regarded as clearly within the limits of the State of Maine. June 27, 1838, Mr. James MacLauchlan, a New Brunswick official bearing the title "Warden of the Disputed Territory," addressed a note to Mr. Whipple, informing him that his work appeared to be "in violation of the existing arrangement subsisting between the British government and that of the United States,'' adding that his instructions made it his duty "to protest against any act implying sovereignty or jurisdiction on the part of any government or state, or of the subjects of any government or state, exercised within the territory in dispute betwixt the two governments of Great Britain and the United States and known by the name of the 'Disputed Territory.' He accordingly warned Mr. Whipple to desist from further proceedings until the right to that 1The only United States troops in Maine at this time were three companies, or one hundred and eighteen officers and men, of the first regiment of artillery, at Houlton. Senate Document No. 35, 25th Congress, Third Session, 16.

territory had been decided by negotiation on the part of the two governments.1

In reply, Mr. Whipple informed Mr. MacLauchlan that he was acting, under the authority and by the command of the government of the State of Maine, as a surveyor; but as to the location of settlers in the territory he had no further agency than to note the claims of different persons to certain tracts of land, making a return of the same to the land office in Bangor." There the matter seems to have rested. Complaints, however, with reference to encroachments upon timber lands within what was regarded as Maine territory continued to reach the authorities of Maine and Massachusetts, and on December 14, 1838, the land agents of both states sent George W. Buckmore to the Aroostook and Fish rivers with instructions to obtain information as to the extent of these depredations and such other facts as might come under his observation in boundary concerns.

On Mr. Buckmore's return, Governor Fairfield, in a confidential message, January 23, 1839, communicated to the Legislature the information which the messenger had secured. A large number of men, he said, many of them from the British province as reported, were trespassing extensively upon the lands belonging to the state, and they not only refused to desist, but defied the state authorities to prevent them from cutting timber to any extent they wished. From forty to fifty men were at work on the Grand River, from twenty to thirty on the Green River, and on the Fish River from fifty to seventy-five. The latter had with them sixteen yoke of oxen, ten pair of horses, and more were expected daily. On township H ten men were at work with six oxen and two horses. Seventy-five men, twenty yoke of oxen and ten horses were found on the Little Madawaska River, and at Aroostook Falls fifteen men with six yoke of oxen. The value of the timber which would be cut that winter by these trespassers was estimated at one hundred thousand dollars.

1Manuscript Correspondence, etc., Northeastern Boundary, State Library, IV, 41, 42.

Ib., State Library, IV, 43.

"These facts, it seems to me," added the governor, "present a case in which not merely the property, but the character of the State, is clearly involved. The supremacy of law, as well as the sanctity of right, cannot be thus contemned and set at nought with impunity without impairing the general authority of the government and inviting renewed aggressions on the part of daring and lawless men. Conduct so outrageous and high-handed, as that exhibited by these reckless depredators upon the public property, calls for the most prompt and vigorous action of the government." The governor accordingly recommended that the land agent be instructed to proceed at once to the place of operation on the Aroostook and Fish rivers, with men suitably equipped to seize the teams and provisions, break up the camps, and disperse those who were engaged in the work of devastation and pillage.

The Legislature took action on the same day, directing the land agent to employ forthwith a sufficient force to arrest, detain and imprison all persons found trespassing on the territory of Maine, bounded and established by the treaty of 1783; and the sum of ten thousand dollars was appropriated for the purposes mentioned.'

Under this action of the Legislature the land agent, Rufus McIntire of Parsonsfield, with Major Hastings Strickland of Bangor, sheriff of Penobscot County, and about two hundred men, proceeded early in February to the Aroostook country. A few days later they captured about twenty men who had been lumbering farther up the river, also James MacLauchlan (already mentioned as "Warden of the Disputed Territory") and Captain Tibbets, of the Tobique settlement, sending the last mentioned to Bangor. In the night of February 12th, at a house where Mr. McIntire was spending the night, about fifty of the trespassers arrested the land agent, also two citizens of Bangor, and sent

'Civil Government of the State of Maine, 1839, 148, 149.

2 Ib., 1839, 32.

In this party were Captain Stover Rines and his company from Old Town. * Gustavus G. Cushman and Thomas B. Bartlett.

them to Fredericton, where they were lodged in jail.' Colonel Ebenezer Webster, of Orono, was in Woodstock, New Brunswick, on the arrival of Mr. McIntire and the other prisoners, and endeavored to secure their release. Not only was he unsuccessful, but his efforts led to his own arrest and he was sent to Fredericton with the other prisoners and committed to jail.2

Information concerning the arrest of the land agent and other citizens of Bangor was promptly carried to that important and busy community on the Penobscot, and soon reached all other parts of Maine, causing great excitement and awakening feelings of deep indignation. Governor Fairfield, February 15th, in a special message, conveyed to the Legislature the information he had received from the border. The company that arrested the land agent, he said, was at No. 10 on the Aroostook, fortified, and anticipating an attack in case any attempt should be made by the Maine civil posse to execute the recent legislative action with reference to timber encroachments. He accordingly advised sending a reinforcement of three hundred men to the Aroostook country, and asked authority to appoint temporarily a land agent in place of Mr. McIntire "to lead on the expedition." The authority was granted, and Mr. Charles Jarvis received the appointment.

Three days later the governor hastened a second message to the Legislature with reference to border concerns. A proclamation," issued by the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick February 13th, had come into his hand, stating that a party of armed persons, to the number of two hundred or more, had "invaded a portion of this province, under the jurisdiction of her Majesty's 'Civil Government of the State of Maine, 1839, 151.

Maine Historical Society Coll., First Series, VIII, 76.

Civil Government of the State of Maine, 1839, 151, 152. Mr. Jarvis joined the land agent's party at what is now Fort Fairfield on February 23rd. There he found ten or twelve companies with company commanders, but no officer of higher rank. The next morning he placed Captain Joseph Porter in command with the rank of colonel, but under his direction. Bangor Historical Magazine, II, 123.

House Document No. 222, 25th Congress, Third Session, 13.

government, from the neighboring State of Maine, for the professed object of exercising authority, and driving off persons stated to be cutting timber therein." The governor recalled the circumstances connected with this movement of the land agent's posse, designated by the lieutenant governor as an "invasion" and "outrage," and asked, "Could a greater indignity be offered to any people having a particle of sensibility to its rights and its honor, or to the sacredness of the personal liberty of its citizens? How long are we thus to be trampled upon our rights and claims derided-our power contemned-and the State degraded?" What the governor had done, under these circumstances, was mentioned. He had hastened the departure of the reinforcements then assembled at Bangor awaiting orders; and he had issued an order to Major General Hodsdon, commanding the third division of militia, to detach one thousand men by draft or otherwise to rendezvous at Bangor properly officered and equipped, ready to proceed at the earliest possible moment to the place occupied by the land agent's party, there to render such aid as would enable the land agent to carry into effect the resolve of January 24th. The Legislature gave the governor prompt support by the following action:

"Resolved, That the honor and interest of this state demand that a sufficient military force be forthwith stationed at the Aroostook River west of the boundary line of the state as established by the treaty of 1783; and on the river St. John, if found practicable, at such points as may be best adapted to the object, to prevent further depredations on the public lands, and to protect and preserve the timber and other lumber already cut there by trespassers, and to prevent its removal without the limits of the State.

"Resolved, That the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars be and hereby is appropriated for the purpose of enabling the executive to carry out the purposes of the foregoing resolve, and the resolve passed [approved] January 24, 1839. And that the governor be and hereby is authorized, with the advice of the council, to draw his warrant for the same from time to time as it may be needed for that purpose.

In a postscript Governor Fairfield informed the Legislature that

1Civil Government of the State of Maine, 1839, 152-154.

2 Ib., 1839, 42.