AUKPAQUE, THE VILLAGE AT THE HEAD OF THE TIDE.
On the west bank of the St. John, about six miles above the City of
Fredericton, is the site of the old Indian village of Aukpaque. It
looks out upon a charming panorama of interval and islands, amidst
which the river creeps lazily with many windings. In the background
across the river there rises the steep slope of Currie's Mountain,
volcanic in its origin. Weird legends connected with this mountain
have been handed down from ancient days, which the Indian guides will
sometimes rehearse when they find appreciative listeners.
The surroundings of Aukpaque are indeed very beautiful, and as long
ago as 1686 they won the admiration of Monseigneur St. Vallier, who,
after describing the extent and varied scenery of the river, its
smoothly flowing waters and fertile islands embosomed by the tide,
says: "Some fine settlements might be made between Medoctec and
Jemseg, especially at a certain place which we have named Sainte
Marie, where the river enlarges and the waters are divided by a large
number of islands that apparently would be very fertile if cultivated.
A mission for the savages would be well placed there; the land has not
as yet any owner in particular, neither the King nor the governor
having made a grant to any one."
Evidently there was not at this time any Indian village at Aukpaque,
but it is probable the place was occasionally used as a camping
ground. In the course of the next half century, however, there grew
into existence a village that rivalled and in time eclipsed the more
ancient village of Medoctec. Doubtless the presence of the French on
the lower St. John, and the establishment of Villebon's fort, at the
mouth of the Nashwaak, served to draw the savages in that direction.
At the time of Monseigneur St. Vallier's visit they were beginning
very generally to embrace Christianity. The Indians and the Acadians
were visited occasionally by Claude Moireau, a Recollet missionary,
who went up the river as far at least as Fort Jemseg where, in July,
1680, he baptized nine Indian children of ages varying from five
months to nineteen years. Their names, with those of their parents and
sponsors, are duly recorded in his register. One or two of the entries
are here inserted as of historic interest:--
"The year of grace 1680, the 7 July: I have baptized at Jemseg,
according to the forms of our Holy Church, Claude, son of Soksim,
savage, and of Apolline Kedekouit, Christian, aged 18 years, and
named at the font Claude by Claude Petipas, notary royal, and
Isabella Petipas, his sponsors.
[Signed] Claude Moireau, Recol.
"The same day baptized Marie, sauvagesse, aged one year, daughter
of Tobuk and of Marie Noktomkiache, Christian, and named at the
font Marie by Rene Lambert and Catherine Bugaret, her sponsors.
[Signed] Cl. Moireau, Recol."
Two baptisms in the following year, one at Jemseg and the other at St.
John, are of equal interest:--
"At Jemsek, the year of grace 1681, the 25 May, have baptized
according to the forms of our Holy Church, Marie Anne Denis, aged
4 months, daughter of Sieur Richard Denis, Esquire, and of Anne
Partarabego, sauvagesse, and has been held at the font by
damoiselle Marie Chartier, dame de Marson, her godmother, who has
named her Marie Anne.
[Signed] Claude Moireau, Recol.
"At Menagoueck, the year of grace 1681, the 2 June, have baptized
according to the forms of the Church, Jeanne Guidry, child of
Claude Guirdy dit la Verdure and of Keskoua, sauvagesse, who has
been held at the font by Claude Petipas and Jeanne de la Tour,
wife of Martignon, her sponsors, who have named her Jeanne.
[Signed] Claude Moireau, Recol.
A little later Father Simon of the Recollet order became the
missionary of the Indians on the river with headquarters at Medoctec.
Some account of his interesting personality and of his zealous labors
will be found in a previous chapter. After his death the work among
the Indians passed into the hands of the Jesuit missionary, Joseph
Aubery, and his successors Jean Baptiste Loyard, Jean P. Danielou and
Charles Germain. The whole river was included in the mission and the
priest had many journeys to make, but Medoctec, as the principal
village, was for years the headquarters of the mission. This was so
down to the time of Loyard's death. His successor, Danielou,
ministered to the Indians of Medoctec, also, as is shown by the
presence of his name on the slate-stone tablet of the Medoctec chapel.
But it is probable that Danielou was frequently at Aukpaque, and he
certainly had the spiritual oversight of the Acadians at St. Anne's
Point.
[Illustration: Inscription on Medoctec Stone]
The Indians of the River St. John were regarded by the English as the
most powerful and warlike tribe of Acadia and the Governor of Nova
Scotia endeavored to gain their good-will, and to induce them to
adhere to the treaty made with the eastern tribes by the authorities
of New England and Nova Scotia in 1725. In the year 1732 Lieut.
Governor Armstrong of Nova Scotia sent Paul Mascarene to Boston to
treat with Governor Belcher about the erection of a "truck-house" for
the Indian trade on the St. John river, and Mascarene was instructed
to recommend the lands on the St. John to the people of Massachusetts
as a very desirable place of settlement. Belcher expressed the opinion
that unless the crown would build a fort at the mouth of the river,
the "truck-house" project would fail, but in case of its erection
Massachusetts would probably send a sloop with goods to the Indians
Spring and Fall. However the idea of an English post at the mouth of
the St. John remained in abeyance until the surrender of Beausejour.
So far as known to the author, the first mention of the Indian village
of Aukpaque occurs in connection with the census of 1733 which states
that fifteen French families reside below the "Village d'Ecoupay."
From this time onward there are frequent references to Aukpaque, some
of which are indicated in the foot-note below.[48]
[48] Probably the name of no place in New Brunswick has appeared in
so many varied forms as that of this Indian village. The list
that follows does not pretend to be exhaustive, but will
suffice for illustration:--
(1.) Ecoupay--Census, 1733. (2.) Ocpaque--Lt.-Gov.
Armstrong's letter, 1735. (3.) Apoge--Capt. Pote's Journal,
1745. (4.) Octpagh--Treaty proceedings at Halifax, 1749.
(5.) Ekauba--Report of Abbe de L'isle-Dieu, 1753. (6.)
Ocpaque--Letter of James Simonds, 1765. (7.) Aughpack--Map
of Charles Morris, 1765. (8.) Ekouipahag--Register of l'Abbe
Bailly, 1767. (9.) Aughpaugh--Letter of James Simonds,
1768. (10.) Ekoupahag--Indian negotiations at Halifax, 1768.
(11.) Okpaak--Report of Rev. T. Wood's, 1769. (12.)
Augpeake--Letter Lt. Gov. Franklin, 1777. (13.) Auque
Pawhaque--Letter of Indians to Major Studholme, 1778. (14.)
Aupaque--Letter of Gen'l Haldimand, 1782. Oak Park--Letter of
Sam'l Peabody, 1782, also report of Exploration Committee to
Major Studholme, 1783. (16.) Ek-pa-hawk--Modern Indians.
The little colony of fifteen families mentioned in the census of 1733
seems to have settled in the vicinity of St. Anne's Point a few years
previously. It was a typical Acadian hamlet. Its people were of simple
habits and wished to live in peace. Naturally they were loyal to their
mother country and devout members of their mother church. But
France--sunny France--with all her marvellous resources and splendid
opportunities, proved an unworthy mother. And what has been the
result? A colonial empire shrunken almost to insignificance. And even
if her colonial empire were today what it was in the days of Louis
XIV, the colonies would be as empty cradles for which there are no
children. The progress and development of the Acadians of the maritime
provinces and of the French Canadians of the Dominion tell what France
might have been if her people had been true to high ideals.
The colony of New France was never supported as it should have been.
While New England was making rapid progress and the tide of
immigration set strongly in that direction, Canada was left to take
care of itself. After the days of Frontenac the governors of Quebec
were haunted by the fear of encroachments on their territory on the
part of the people to the south. It became their policy to employ the
Indians and Acadians as buttresses against the inflowing tide of the
Anglo-Saxons. The Acadians would fain have lived in peace but, alas
the trend of events left little room for neutrality.
The Maliseets of the St. John were naturally disposed to resent the
intrusion of the whites on their hunting grounds, and the French
encouraged this sentiment as regards any advance made by the English.
In the year 1735, Francis Germaine, "chief of Ockpaque," with one of
his captains came to Annapolis Royal to complain of the conduct of
some English surveyors, whom they seem to have regarded as trespassers
on their lands. For some reason they missed seeing the governor, but
he wrote them a very friendly letter, assuring them of his favor and
protection. This, however, did not satisfy the Indians, for a few
months afterwards they interfered with the loading of a vessel that
had been sent to St. John for limestone by the ordnance storekeeper
at Annapolis and robbed the sailors of their clothes and provisions,
claiming that the lands and quarries belonged to them. Not long
afterwards the Governor of Nova Scotia addressed a letter to "The
Reverend Father Danilou, priest of St. John's River," complaining that
a party of Maliseets under Thoma, their chief, had surprised, Stephen
Jones, an English trader, as he lay sleeping aboard his vessel at
Piziquid [Windsor, N. S.] and robbed him of goods to the value of L900
and of his book of accounts valued at L700 more, and he hoped the
missionary would use his influence to induce the Indians to keep the
peace and, if possible, obtain redress for the unfortunate man they
had robbed.
Two of the principal Acadians, living at or near St. Ann's, Mich'l
Bergeron and Joseph Bellefontaine, had an interview with Governor
Armstrong in 1736, and by request gave him a list of the Acadians then
living on the river, numbering in all 77 souls, besides the missionary
Jean Pierre Danielou. The governor ordered the Acadians to make their
submission to the British government and not to receive any missionary
without his approbation. It does not appear, however, that he was on
unfriendly terms with Danielou, who came to Annapolis the next year
and exercised the functions of his ministry.
Under the care of Danielou's successor Germain, the Acadians and their
savage allies had a chequered experience indeed, but this has been
already related in the previous chapters.
At the time of Monckton's invasion of the river in 1758 most of the
Indians abandoned the village of Aukpaque and retired with their
missionary, Germain, to Canada, but they returned after the capture of
Quebec and some of their chiefs went to Fort Frederick and took the
oath of allegiance to the English monarch. Colonel Arbuthnot was
directed to encourage them to come to Halifax and make a treaty of
peace and such arrangements as were necessary for trade with the
English.
During the session of the House of Assembly held at Halifax in the
winter of 1759-60, Governor Lawrence urged the House to make provision
for the establishment of "truck-houses" for the Indians; he also
recommended legislation for the purpose of preventing private trade
with them, and the Assembly soon afterwards passed an act for that
purpose.
On the 11th of February, Colonel Arbuthnot came to Halifax from Fort
Frederick, with two Indian chiefs of the Passamaquoddy tribe, to make
peace on the basis of the old Indian Treaty of 1725. Representatives
of the St. John river tribe arrived a few days later. The Indians
appeared before the Governor and Council with an interpreter. They
were received with every courtesy and presented with gold lace
blankets, laced hats, etc. It was agreed that the treaty should be
prepared in English and French, that the chiefs should be sent back in
a vessel to St. John, and that Col. Arbuthnot should accompany them,
taking the treaty with him to be ratified. After a fortnight's
deliberation the treaty was signed, on the 23rd February, by Ballomy
Glode, chief of the St. John Indians, and Michel Neptune, chief of the
Passamaquoddies. The treaty was based on those of 1725 and 1749, with
an additional engagement on the part of the Indians not to aid the
enemies of the English, to confine their traffic to the truck-house at
Fort Frederick and to leave three of each tribe there as hostages to
ensure performance of the articles of the treaty.
In order the better to carry out the provisions of this treaty, and of
similar treaties made at this time with the different tribes of
Acadia, Benjamin Gerrish was appointed Indian commissary. Gerrish
agreed to buy goods and sell them to the Indians for furs, he to
receive 5 per cent on goods purchased and 2-1/2 per cent on furs sold,
and the prices to be so arranged that the Indians could obtain their
goods at least 50 per cent cheaper than hitherto.
At their conference with the Governor and his council the Indians
agreed upon a tariff of prices[49] for the Indian trade, the unit of
value to be one pound of the fur of the spring beaver, commonly known
as "one beaver," equivalent in value to a dollar, or five shillings.
Under the tariff the following articles were to be sold to the Indians
at the following prices: Large blanket, 2 "beavers"; 2 yards stroud, 3
"beavers"; 14 pounds pork, 1 "beaver"; 30 pounds flour, 1 "beaver";
2-1/2 gallons molasses, 1 "beaver"; 2 gallons rum, 1 "beaver"; and
other articles in proportion.
[49] This tariff of prices is given in full in Murdoch's Hist. of
Nova Scotia, Vol. II., p. 395.
Furs and skins sold by the Indians at the "truck-house" were to be
valued by the same standard: Moose skin, 1-1/2 "beavers"; bear skin,
1-1/3 "beavers"; 3 sable skins, 1 "beaver"; 6 mink skins, 1 "beaver";
10 ermine skins, 1 "beaver"; silver fox skin, 2-1/2 "beavers," and so
on for furs and skins of all descriptions. By substituting the cash
value for the value in "beavers," we shall obtain figures that would
amaze the furrier of modern days and prove eminently satisfactory to
the purchaser, for example: Bear skin (large and good), $1.35; moose
skin (large), $1.50; luciffee (large), $2.00; silver fox, $2.50; black
fox, $2.00; red fox, 50cts.; otter, $1.00; mink, 15 cts.; musquash, 10
cts. And yet these prices, ridiculously low as they appear, were
considerably better than the Indians Had received from the French
traders. It was no doubt on such terms as these that Messrs. Simonds,
White and Hazen traded with the Indians after they came to St. John.
Benjamin Gerrish soon afterwards took steps to establish the
"truck-house" promised the Indians, and by order in council of July
19, 1760, Captain Doggett was instructed to proceed directly to the
River St. John and deliver the stores that Mr. Gerrish had shipped on
board his vessel for the truck-master at Fort Frederick.
Colonel Arbuthnot reported that the Indians behaved well and came to
the fort to trade. The delegates from the River St. John, who went to
Halifax, seem to have acted in accordance with the advice of their
missionary Germain, who accepted the logic of events after the fall of
Quebec and advised the Indians to submit to their conquerors. The
establishment of a "truck-house" at St. John was of advantage to them
and the missionary determined to cultivate friendly relations with the
English.
Governor Lawrence reported that he had induced the Assembly of Nova
Scotia to pass a law, with severe penalties, against private trading
with the Indians. The provisions of this act, however, found little
favor with the Lords of Trade, by whom it was considered "an improper
and unreasonable restraint upon trade." Their objection found
expression in the proclamation of George III., at the Court of St.
James, Oct. 7, 1763:--
"We do by the advice of our privy council declare and enjoin that
the trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to all our
subjects whatever, provided that every person who may incline to
trade with the said Indians do take out a license for carrying on
such trade from the governor or commander-in-chief of any of our
colonies where such person shall reside, and also give security to
observe such regulations as we shall at any time think fit to
direct or appoint."
The proclamation required the governor to issue such licenses without
fee or reward, the license to be void and the security forfeited if
the person to whom it was granted failed to observe the regulations
prescribed.
We have now arrived at the period when the first permanent English
settlement was to be made on the St. John river, but before
proceeding to the consideration of that event a glance at the
general situation on the river is necessary. The only foot-hold the
English had as yet obtained was at Fort Frederick on the west side of
St. John harbor. A considerable number of Acadians still lingered
furtively in their hiding places up the river, the majority of them
near the Indian village of Aukpaque. For their benefit, as well as
that of the savages, the missionary Germain desired to remain at his
post. He accordingly made overtures to the Nova Scotia authorities
to be allowed to continue his ministrations, promising to use his
influence in the interests of peace. To this proposition the
Governor and Council cheerfully assented, promising the missionary
a stipend of L50. A year or two afterwards he wrote acknowledging
the receipt of his salary and stating it was his desire to inspire
the Indians with the respect due to the government. He complained
of their irregularities and says that in spite of his efforts to
promote harmony he feared "they will shortly pay no regard to what he
says."
In Kidder's "Military operations in Eastern Maine and Nova Scotia
during the Revolution," the statement is made that Aukpaque signifies
a beautiful expanding of the river occasioned by numerous islands,
but, while this is perfectly correct as descriptive of the locality,
it is more probable that Aukpaque--or its Indian equivalent
Ek-pa-hawk--means "the head of the tide," or beginning of swift water.
Kidder speaks of the site of Aukpaque as "almost unknown and difficult
to locate." Commenting on this statement, the late Sir John C. Allen
(whose grandfather, Colonel Isaac Allen, purchased of the Indians the
site of the village of Aukpaque), makes the following remark:--
"It is an error to suppose that there is any difficulty in
locating Aukpaque. It is laid down, under the name Opack, on a
plan in the Crown Lands office in Fredericton of a survey of land
in the old Township of Sunbury while this province formed a part
of Nova Scotia. In addition to this there are several persons
living who can point out the place that was used as the Indian
burial ground and who remember that a large piece of cleared land
adjacent to it and separated from it by a deep ravine, being a
part of the tract of land reserved for the Indians, was formerly
known as the 'Chapel Field'--no doubt from the fact that the
chapel of the Indian settlement had stood upon it. There is also
further evidence in the plan of the survey of the lands in the
Parish of Kingsclear, the grant of which issued in 1799, upon
which a cross is marked on this lot of land, which is well known
to indicate the site of a church or chapel. There is very little
doubt that at the time of the survey the chapel, or the remains of
it, were standing, as the Indians had been in occupation of the
land till within a few years of that time."
We may add that the claim of the Indians to the lands in the vicinity
of their village was early recognized by the Government of Nova
Scotia, and when the first grant of a large tract of the surrounding
country was made in 1765 to Thomas Falconer and sixty-six other land
speculators, there was expressly reserved for the Indians "500 acres,
including a church and burying ground at Aughpack, and four acres for
a burying ground at St. Ann's point, and the island called Indian (or
Savage) Island." This island is probably that mentioned in 1753 by the
Abbe de L'Isle Dieu as "l'isle d'Ecouba," the residence of the
missionary Charles Germain.
The situation of Aukpaque is shown in the accompanying sketch:--
[Illustration: PLAN OF AUKPAQUE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.]
Although the Indians were ostensibly at peace with the English they
viewed them with suspicion, and were jealous of any infringement of
their aboriginal rights. After the erection of Fort Frederick they
seem, for the most part, to have abandoned the lower part of the
river, and Charles Morris tells us that about the year 1760 they
burned much of the timber along the Long Reach and on both sides of
the Washademoak and probably at other places.
When the exploring party of the Maugerville colony arrived at St.
Anne's point in 1762 and were about to begin their survey, a large
party of Indians came down from their priest's residence, with his
interpreter, their faces painted in divers colors and figures, and
dressed in their war habits. The chiefs informed the adventurers that
they were trespassers on their rights, that the country belonged to
them, and unless they retired immediately they would compel them.
The chiefs claimed that they had some time before had a conference
with Governor Lawrence and had consented that the English should
settle the country up as far as Grimross. The surveyors promised to
remove their camp towards Grimross. This answer did not appear to
fully satisfy the Indians, but they made no reply. The settlement of
the New England people, in consequence of the attitude of the Indians,
did not embrace St. Anne's Point as originally intended.
Plans of the River St. John were made by the Hon. Charles Morris,
surveyor general of Nova Scotia, as early as the year 1761. A little
later he wrote an interesting description of the river. He describes
"Aughpack" as about seven miles from St. Anne's, and says the Acadians
had settlements upon the uplands between the two places but drew their
subsistence from the cultivation of the intervals and islands. At
Aukpaque was the Indian church and the residence of the French
missionary. Their church and buildings adjoining had been demolished
by the Indians themselves. The island opposite Aukpaque, called Indian
Island, was the place where the Indians of the river made their annual
rendezvous.
"On this island," adds Mr. Morris, "is their town, consisting of forty
mean houses, or wigwams, built with slender poles and covered with
bark. In the centre of the town is the grand council chamber
constructed after the same manner as the other houses."
The reason for the destruction by the Indians of their church we need
not go far to seek. In the summer of the year 1763 three chiefs came
to Halifax to inquire why Father Germain had been removed from his
post. They were told that he had gone of his own accord to Quebec and
had been detained there by General Murray, and that the government of
Nova Scotia were not responsible for it. They then desired Lieutenant
Governor Belcher to provide them with another priest, which he
promised to do. The Indians were satisfied and departed with their
usual presents. The intention of the lieutenant governor was
frustrated by an order from the Lords of Trade forbidding the
employment of a French missionary. Governor Wilmot regretted this
action as likely to confirm the Indians in their notion of the English
as "a people of dissimulation and artifice who will deceive and
deprive them of their salvation." He thought it better to use the
Indians generously and mentions the fact of their having lately burned
their church, by direction of the priest detained at Quebec, as a
proof of their devotion to their religious guides.
The site of the old church at Aukpaque was in all probability the old
"chapel field" mentioned by Sir John C. Allen. Hard by, on the other
side of a little ravine, is the old burial ground of the Acadians and
Indians. One of the descendants of the Acadians, who visited the spot
a few years ago, writes mournfully of this little cemetery:
"Not a stone, not a cross, not even an enclosure to divide it from
other fields; here in this corner of the world, remote and almost
unknown, repose the ashes of some of our ancestors, the first
cultivators of the soil of Madawaska. Freed from all the troubles and
vicissitudes of the past they hear only the gentle, harmonious murmur
of the waters of La Riviere St. Jean, the river they loved so well
even in the days of their misfortune."