NEW ENGLAND--CANADIAN PORTAGES
The territory lying between the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic
seaboard offers an unexcelled field for the study of portage paths and
their part in the history of the continent. The student of this branch
of archæology finds at his disposal the admirable studies of Dr. William
F. Ganong, which cover an important portion of this field.[35] From
these studies (the best published account) the following general
statements concerning Indian routes of travel are very enlightening:
"The Indians of New Brunswick, like others of North America, were,
within certain limits, great wanderers. For hunting, war, or treaty
making, they passed incessantly not only throughout their own
territory, but over that limit into the lands of other tribes. The
Indian tribes of Acadia have never, within historic times, been at war
with one another, but they joined in war against other tribes and
mingled often with one another for that and other reasons. In facilities
for such travels our Indians were exceptionally fortunate, for the
Province is everywhere intersected by rivers readily navigable by their
light canoes. Indeed I doubt if anywhere else in the world is an equal
extent of territory so completely watered by navigable streams, or
whether in any other country canoe navigation was ever brought to such a
pitch of perfection or so exclusively relied upon for locomotion. The
principal streams of the Province lead together curiously in pairs, the
country is almost invariably easy to travel between their sources, and a
route may be found in almost any desired direction.... No doubt, an
Indian in selecting his route of travel to a given point, where more
than one offered, would average up, as a white man would do, the
advantages and drawbacks of each for that particular season, taking
account of the length of the routes, amount of falls and portaging, the
height of the water, etc., and his decision would be a resultant of all
the conditions and would be different in different seasons. It is not
easy to understand why so many routes from the St. John to Quebec were
in use, unless some offered advantages at one time, others at another.
Between the heads of the principal rivers were portage paths. Some of
these are but a mile or two long--others longer. Some of these portages
are still in use and uninfluenced by civilization. A good type is that
between Nictor Lake and Nepisiguit Lake, which I have recently seen. The
path is but wide enough to allow a man and canoe to pass. Where it is
crossed by newly fallen trees the first passer either cuts them out,
steps over them, or goes round, as may be easiest, and his example is
followed by the next. In this way the exact line of the path is
constantly changing though in the main its course is kept. No doubt some
of these paths are of great antiquity. Gesner states that one of the
most used, that between Eel River Lake and North Lake, on the route
from the St. John to the Penobscot, had been used so long that the solid
rocks had been worn into furrows by the tread of moccasined feet; and
Kidder quotes this and comments upon it as probably the most ancient
evidence of mankind in New England. A somewhat similar statement is made
by Monro as to the Misseguash--Baie Verte portage. I have seen something
very similar on the old portage path around Indian Falls on the
Nepisiguit, but I am inclined to think it is the hob-nailed and spiked
shoes of the lumbermen which have scored these rocks, and not Indian
moccasins and it is altogether likely that this explanation will apply
also to the case mentioned by Gesner, whose over-enthusiastic
temperament led him into exaggerated statements. In New Brunswick the
lines of regular travel seem to have followed exclusively the rivers and
the portage paths between their heads, and there is no evidence whatever
of former extensive trails leading from one locality to another through
the woods, such as are well known to have existed in Massachusetts. The
difference in the distribution and navigability of the rivers amply
explains this difference. It is not, of course, to be supposed that the
Indians never departed from these routes; in their hunting expeditions
they undoubtedly wandered far and wide, and especially in the valleys of
the smaller and navigable brooks. Moreover, they undoubtedly had
portages used only on rare occasions, and also at times forced their way
over between streams where there was no regular route, but in general
the main rivers gave them ample facilities for through travel from one
part of the Province to another, and they had no other method. The birch
canoe was the universal vehicle of locomotion to the New Brunswick
Indian; it was to him what the pony is to the Indian of the West.
"The labour of crossing the portages was always severe, but the Indians
took, and take, it philosophically, as they do everything that cannot be
helped. While canoe travel in good weather, on full and easy rivers, is
altogether charming, it becomes otherwise when low water, long portages
and bad weather prevail. We obtain vivid pictures of its hardships from
the narratives of St. Valier, and from several of the Jesuit
missionaries. Since many of the portage paths are still in use by
Indians, hunters, and lumbermen, their positions are easy to identify,
and many of them are marked upon the excellent maps of the Geological
Survey. Many others, however, have been long disused, and have been more
or less obliterated by settlement, or by roads which follow them, and
these are not marked upon our recent maps. I have made a special effort
to determine the exact courses of these portages before they are lost
forever, and where I have been able to find them by the aid of residents
I have given them on the small maps accompanying this paper. All
portages known to me are marked upon the map of New Brunswick, in the
Pre-historic or Indian period accompanying this paper, and their routes
of travel are in red on the same map. The lines show how thoroughly
intersected the Province was by their routes. This map does not by any
means mark all the navigable rivers, but only those which form parts of
through routes of travel. The relative importance of routes I have
tried to represent by the breadth of the lines, the most important
routes having the broadest lines. Many of the most ancient portages had
distinct names but I have not recovered any of these. Kidder gives as
the ancient Indian name of Eel River--North Lake Portage the name
Metagmouchchesh (variously spelled by him), and I have heard that more
than one was called simply "The Hunters' Portage" by the Indians,
possibly to distinguish the less important ones used only in hunting
from those of the through routes. When Portages are spoken of at this
day they are usually given the name of the place towards which they
lead; thus, a person on the Tobique would refer to the portage at the
head of that river as the Nepisiguit, or the Bathurst Portage, and on
the Nepisiguit, he would speak of it as the Tobique Portage. This usage
seems to be old and perhaps it is widespread. Thus Bishop Plessis, in
his journal of 1812, speaking of the portage between Tracadie and
Tabusintac Rivers (the latter leading to Neguac), says (page 169): 'We
reached a portage of two miles which the people of Tracadie call the
Nigauek Portage, and those of Nigauek the Tracadie Portage.'
"The situations of many of the old portages are preserved to us in place
names. Thus we have _Portage Bridge_, at the head of the Misseguash;
_Portage Bank_, on the Miramichi, near Boiestown (not on the maps);
_Portage River_, on the Northwest Miramichi, also as a branch of the
Tracadie, also west of Point Escuminac, and also south of it; _Portage
Brook_, on the Nepisiguit, leading to the Upsalquitch; _Portage Lake_,
between Long and Serpentine Lakes; _Portage Station_, on the
Intercolonial Railway. Kingston Creek, at the mouth of the Belleisle,
was formerly called _Portage Creek_. _Anagance_ is the Maliseet word for
Portage; and _Wagan_ and _Wagansis_, on the Restigouche and Grand River,
are the Micmac for Portage, and a diminutive of it."[36]
The chief routes of travel were along the sea-coasts and up and down the
valley of the St. John River--the latter routes being of most
importance.
"Of all Indian routes," writes Dr. Ganong, "in what is now the Province
of New Brunswick, the most important by far was that along the River St.
John. This river was, and is, an ideal stream for canoe navigation. It
not only has easy communication with every other river system in this
and the neighbouring provinces, but it is in itself very easy to
travel.... The St. John rises in Maine and its head waters interlock
with those of the Penobscot, and with the Etechemin flowing into the St.
Lawrence near Quebec."
Under the system of the St. John-Restigouche portage Dr. Ganong thus
describes the Grand River--Wagan path:
"This was the most travelled of all routes across the Province. The
Grand River is easy of navigation up to the Wagansis (i.e., Little
Wagan), up which canoes could be taken for some two miles. A level
portage of two or three miles leads into the Wagan (Micmac _O-wok-un_,
'a portage') a muddy, winding brook, which flows into the Restigouche,
which to its mouth is a swift but smooth-flowing stream, unbroken by a
fall, and almost without rapids. The total fall from the portage is not
over 500 feet, and hence it is far easier to ascend than the
Nepisiguit, and consequently was the main route across from Bay Chaleur
to the St. John. For the upper waters of the St. John a route from the
mouth of the Nepisiguit by Bay Chaleur to the Restigouche and thence to
the St. John would be both considerably shorter and much easier than by
the Nepisiguit--Tobique route.
"This portage is marked on Bouchette, 1815, Bonner, 1820, Lockwood,
1826, Wilkinson, 1859, and the Geological Survey Map. On Van Velden's
original survey map of the Restigouche, 1786, a 'Carrying-place across
the highlands' about nine miles is given, doubtless a portage directly
from Wagan to Grand River. This route was taken by Plessis in 1812,
(Journal, 267), by Gordon (p. 23), who fully describes it, and by many
others. It is said in McGregor's British America, 1833 (II., 66), that
the courier then travelled up this river with mails for New Brunswick
and Canada, evidently by this route. Formerly the alders which blocked
the Wagan and Wagansis were cut out by travellers, and even by workmen
paid by the Provincial Government (as I have been told), but since a
road has been cut within a few years from the St. John directly through
to the Restigouche at the mouth of the Wagan, this route is no longer
used, and probably is now practically impassable."
Of the St. John--St. Lawrence system Dr. Ganong describes seven routes;
we use his own words:
TOULADI--TROIS PISTOLES PORTAGE
This was one of the principal routes from the St. John to Quebec. It led
through Lake Temiscouata by the Touladi River to Lac des Aigles, thence
to Lac des Islets, thence by a short portage path to the Bois-bouscache
River and down the Trois Pistoles. This route is described in Bailey and
McInnes' Geological Report of 1888, M, pages 26, 28, 29, where it is
called "one of the main highways ... between the St. John River and the
St. Lawrence."
ASHBERISH--TROIS PISTOLES PORTAGE
Another route from Temiscouata to Trois Pistoles was by way of the
Ashberish River. This portage is marked on Bouchette, 1831, and is
mentioned by him in his Topographical Dictionary, and by Bailey in his
'St. John River' (page 48). It was by either this or the last-mentioned
route that Captain Pote was taken to Quebec in 1745, as he describes in
his Journal, but the description is not clear as to which route was
followed. The compass directions and the portages and lakes mentioned by
him would rather indicate the Ashberish route, though the editor of the
Journal sends him by the Lac des Aigles. This route is shown on the
Franquelin-DeMeulles Map of 1686, with the continuous line used on that
map for portage routes, and it is probably this route that is marked on
Bellin of 1744, and on many following him.
TEMISCOUTA--RIVIÈRE DU LOUP PORTAGE
As early as 1746 a portage path was projected along this route where now
runs the highway road. A document of 1746 (Quebec MS. IV., 311) reads,
"Nous donnons les ordres nécessaires pour faire pratiquer un chemin ou
sentier d'environ 3 pieds dans le portage depuis la Rivière du Loup à 40
lieues audessous de Québec jusques au Lac Témisquata d'ou l'on va en
canot par la rivière St. Jean jusqu'à Beaubassin, et ce pour faciliter
la communication avec l'Escadre et pour y faire passer quelques
détachement de françois et sauvages s'il est nécessaire." Whether or not
this path was made we do not know. In 1761 this route was examined by
Captain Peach (as a map in the Public Record Office shows), and about
1785, a road was cut along it as a part of the post route from Quebec to
Nova Scotia. From that time to the present it has been much travelled,
and is often referred to in documents and books.
ST. FRANCIS--RIVIÈRE DU LOUP PORTAGE
The exact course of this portage I have not been able to locate, but it
probably ran from Lake Pohenegamook to some of the lakes on the La
Fourche branch of the Rivière du Loup. The Indian name of the St.
Francis, _Peech-un-ee-gan-uk_ means the Long Portage (_Peech_, long,
_oo-ne-gun_, a portage, _uk_, locative). The first recorded use of this
portage is in Le Clercq in his "Établissement de la Foi." He states that
about 1624, Rècollet missionaries came to Acadia from Acquitaine, and
thence went to Quebec in canoes by the River Loup with two Frenchmen
and five Indians. It is first shown roughly on a manuscript map of 1688,
very clearly on Bellin, of 1744, and on several others following him,
and on Bouchette of 1815. It is mentioned in a document of 1700 (Quebec
MS. V. 348) as four leagues in length. It was by this route St. Valier
came from Quebec to Acadia in 1686 or 1687, and a very detailed account
of the difficulties of the voyage is given in his narrative. He states
that he travelled a short distance on the Rivière du Loup and Rivière
des Branches and a long distance on the St. Francis. This route he
describes as shorter but harder than that ordinarily used.
On the unpublished DeRozier map of 1699 two portages are shown in this
region, one from some branch of what is apparently the St. Francis to
the Trois Pistoles, and one from another river to the westward of the
St. Francis, perhaps from Lac de l'Est, to the Rivière du Loup, but they
are given too inaccurately to admit of identification.
Between the Temiscouata and St. Francis basins are several portages;
one from Long Lake at the head of the Cabano to the St. Francis, and
another from Long Lake to Baker Lake; and there are other minor ones,
all marked on the Geological Survey map.
BLACK RIVER--OUELLE PORTAGE
On some early maps, such as Bellin, 1744, the Ouelle is made to head
with a branch of the St. John, which can be only the Black River. The
Morris map of 1749 marks a portage from the St. John to the Ouelle, and
has this statement: "Expresses have passed in seven days by these Rivers
from Chiegnecto to Quebec." The exact route of this portage I have not
been able to determine.
NORTH-WEST BRANCH--RIVIÈRE DU SUD PORTAGE
This portage is first referred to in a letter of 1685 from Dénonville to
the Minister: "Je joins a cette carte un petit dessin du chemin le plus
court pour se rendre d'icy en huict jours de temps au Port Royal en
Acadie, par une rivière que l'on nomme du Sud et qui n'est qu'a huict ou
dix lieues au dessous de Quebec. On le ramonte environ dix lieues et
par un portage de trois lieues on tombe dans celle de St. Jean qui entre
dans la baye du Port Royal." This is probably the Grand Portage referred
to by Ward Chipman in one of his letters of the last century.
ST. JOHN LAKE-ETCHEMIN PORTAGE
Portages between these rivers are mentioned by Bouchette under
"Etchemin" in his Topographical Dictionary. The river received its name
from its use by the Etchemins (Maliseets and Penobscots) as a route to
Quebec.
A large portion of the St. John Valley lies in the state of Maine and
all that was true of New Brunswick, so far as early methods of
locomotion are concerned, was and is true of Maine in a great measure.
Maine, however, was not bounded on two sides by the ocean.
Both the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers were ancient and important routes
of travel between Quebec and the sea. Of the two the Penobscot was,
perhaps, the easier to navigate but the Kennebec was the more important
route. James Sullivan writing of the Kennebec in the last decade of the
eighteenth century observes: "The Kenebeck ... receives the eastern
branch, at fifty miles distance from Noridgewock. The main branch of the
Kenebeck, winding into the wilderness, forms a necessity for several
carrying places, one of which, called the Great Carrying Place, is five
miles across, and the river's course gives a distance of thirty-five
miles, for that which is gained by five on the dry land. At one hundred
miles distance, or perhaps more from the mouth of the eastern branch,
the source of the main or western branch of the Kenebeck is found
extended a great distance along side the river Chaudière, which carries
the waters from the high lands into the St. Lawrence. The best
description of this branch of the Kenebeck, is had from the Officers who
passed this route under the command of General Arnold, in 1775.... The
carrying place from boatable waters in it, to boatable waters in the
river Chaudière, is only five miles over."[37]
Among the most interesting maps of the Kennebec-Chaudière route may be
mentioned Montresor's map of 1761, "A Draught of a route from Quebec to
Fort Halifax," in the British Museum.[38] The route is there given as up
the "Yadatsou Chaudiere or Kettle River." When Wolf River was reached it
was ascended; then to "River Ahoudaounkese." Here was a portage of five
miles to within about that distance of Lake Oukeahoungauta; portage of
about one half mile to Loon Lake; thence into Moosehead Lake at the head
of the east branch of the Kennebec. A portage could be made into the
Penobscot; and at the southeastern extremity of Moosehead Lake are the
words "Portage to the Penobscot." The return route was up the Kennebec
to "The Great Carrying Place to River of Tewyongyadight or the Dead
River." This was Arnold's route, already referred to by Mr. Sullivan.
Ascending the Dead to "The Amaguntic Carrying Place" (a portage of about
four miles) the route is marked to "the River of Mekantique" and through
"The meadow of Mekantique;" thence through "Lake of Me' Kantique de St
Augustin" and into the Chaudière.
Perhaps the earliest map showing a road throughout the Kennebec and
Chaudière valleys is "A New Map of Nova Scotia & Cape Britain" (1755) in
the British Public Records Office.[39] The road bears the name "Kenebec
Road."
Among the Haldimand Papers in the British Museum[40] is a most
interesting "Journal from the last settlements on the Chaudiere to the
first Inhabitants on Kennebec River kept by Hugh Finley, from the 13th
of September that he left Quebec until the 30th that he arrived at
Falmouth in Casco Bay in the P[r]ovince of the Massachusets Bay--1773."
Finley had been appointed "Surveyor of Post roads on the Continent of
North America" and, in view of the tedious length and the common
retardments of the Lake Champlain route between Canada and New England,
determined to explore the Chaudière-Kennebec route. Four Indian guides
accompanied the surveyor, who were "to mark (as they should pass along
in their rough way) the Path by which a good road might be cut." The
last farm on the Chaudière was "52 Miles S. Easterly of Quebec." "The
reaches in this river are long between rapid and rapid, but navigable
for batteaus only." On the fifteenth the party had reached "Rapide du
Diable;" seven miles further was "La Famine" River where were two huts.
Four miles further they arrived at "des loups" River. This was the
common upward route of travel as the upper Chaudière route was
interrupted by ponds, swamps, etc. Concerning Indian maps Mr. Finley
makes an interesting statement: "It is impossible to guess distances
from an Indian draft, that people have no idea of proportion."
On the eighteenth the party encamped early in the afternoon "on purpose
to pack up our Provisions &c in proper Packages to be distributed in
proportional burthens to each of the party as we were next day to
proceed thro the woods." Then came a desperate journey of nine miles in
nine hours up steeps, over and under trees which tore the canoes and
almost exhausted their bearers. At the end of two small lakes a half
mile portage brought the travelers to another lake. "Half over this
carrying place is the just hight of Land between Canada & New England,"
wrote Mr. Finley, "consequently the boundary line between the Province
of Quebec and Massachusets Bay will be a line drawn half way between the
Lake we just left and this Lake."
According to Finley this portage was ninety-six miles from Quebec and
forty-six from the last house on the Chaudière--by the route he had
traversed. He proceeded down the Kennebec, up the "Androcogkin" to
Brunswick and across by land to Casco Bay.
miles
"It appears by this Journal, that the distance from Quebec
to Launieres the last house on the River Chaudiere in a
good road is 52
From Launier's house to carry a road in the best path through
a country dry and level (as appears by the proper rout
projected) down to Noridgiwalk, the first and nearest
settlement in New England 150
From Noridgewalk to Oaks's or Wassarunset R 10
From Oaks's or Wassarunset to Casco Bay 98
---
In all from Quebec to Falmouth [Portland] 310"
It is clear that the route from Quebec to the Kennebec was by way of
"des loups" River to Moosehead Lake--named, writes Finley, "from a very
remarkable Mountain [on] the S side about nine miles down. the Indians
say that it resembles a moose deer stooping." It is equally clear that
the route from the Kennebec to Quebec was by way of the western branch,
the Dead River and the Chaudière.
This route was made historic by Arnold's famous campaign of 1775 and has
recently been described with intense feeling by Professor Justin H.
Smith.[41]
"Arnold's men found lower Dead River, as we can see from their journals,
much as it now is. On both sides luxuriant grass covered the plain, or
faded out in the reaches of poorer soil; tall evergreens, rather thinly
planted, soughed and swayed above it; while here and there a glimpse
could be had of goodly mountains, the confines of the valley." Professor
Smith graphically describes the trials of those who traveled by water.
Those who attempted to travel the "Kenebec Road" suffered even worse:
"The land parties fared no better. It was impossible to keep along the
river. Detours and wide circuits multiplied all distances. Swollen
rivulets had to be followed up until a narrow place was found and a tree
could be felled across for a bridge. Once, if not more than once, a
party marched for miles up a stream only to discover that it was not
Dead River at all. At night many of the men were unable to find the
boats and had to bivouac as they could, without supper and without
breakfast." At last the brave band neared the portage to the
north-flowing waters. Despite their distressing fatigues "there was only
one thought:" writes Professor Smith, "advance; and the army set
forward as rapidly as possible on the twenty-fifth and longest portage,
four miles and a quarter over the Height of Land. For once their
misfortunes wore the look of blessings: there was little freight. The
provisions weighed only four or five pounds per man. A large part of the
gunpowder proved to be damaged, and was thrown away.... The bateaux had
broken up one by one, until some of the companies had scarcely any left.
Morgan had preserved seven, and was determined on taking them across,
for there was no other way to transport his military stores down the
Chaudière; but resolution of such a temper was now beyond mere men. An
attempt was made to trail the bateaux up a brook that enters Arnold
Pond; but the attempt had to be given up, and each company, except
Morgan's, took only a single boat over the portage.
"Even in this light order, the troops were hardly able to conquer the
mountain. There was a trail, to be sure, and Steele's pioneers had
bettered it; but a mountain trail, even when good, is not a highway,
except in altitude. 'Rubbish' had been collecting here ever since
creation, as it seemed to Morrison, and a handful of tired men could not
remove it all in a few days' time. Ten acres of trees blown down across
the path had to be left there. A wet place half a mile wide could not be
rooted up. Rocks, dead logs, gorges, and precipices had to be stumbled
over. The snow, hiding pitfalls and stones, betrayed many a foot into a
wrench and a bruise. Those who carried the boats--and no doubt all
carried in turn--suffered still more, for bateaux and carriers often
fell together pell-mell down a slope into the snow. 'The Terrible
Carrying-place'--that was the soldiers' name for it."
The portages between the Connecticut River and the Canadian waters were
of great local importance during the Old French War and the Revolution;
they were not as important to the country at large as those of the
northeast. The two of special significance were routes to the St.
Francis River, Lake Memframagog and Otter Creek (flowing into Lake
Champlain). Fort Number Four "had been built by Massachusetts when it
was supposed to be within its limits. It was projected by Colonel
Stoddard, of Northampton, and was well situated, in connection with the
other forts, on the western frontier, to command all the paths, by which
the Indians travelled from Canada to New-England."[42] This fort was on
the celebrated highway from the Connecticut across country to Fort
Edward on the Hudson River, so largely traveled throughout the period of
military operations. In 1755 during Sir William Johnston's campaign
against Fort Crown Point, New Hampshire raised five hundred men, under
the command of Colonel Joseph Blanchard. "The Governor," writes Belknap,
"ordered them to Connecticut river, to build a fort at Cohos, supposing
it to be in their way to Crown Point. They first marched to
Baker's-town, where they began to build batteaux, and consumed time and
provisions to no purpose. By Shirley's advice they quitted that futile
employment, and made a fatiguing march through the woods, by the way of
Number-four, to Albany."[43] The failure to capture Crown Point this
year brought down a scourge of Indians upon New Hampshire, particularly
from the St. Francis River, between which and the Connecticut there was
"a safe and easy communication by short carrying-places."[44] But the
white men found this route ere long and themselves carried destruction
up the St. Francis Valley.[45]
When in 1759, General Amherst was preparing to complete Wolfe's victory
by reducing the remainder of Canada, eight hundred New Hampshire men
proceeded under Colonel John Goffe to Fort Number Four. "But instead of
taking the old route, to Albany, they cut a road through the woods,
directly toward Crown Point. In this work they made such dispatch, as to
join that part of the army which Amherst had left at Crown Point, twelve
days before their embarkation."[46] This road was built over the portage
to Otter Creek. It "began at Wentworth's ferry, two miles above the fort
at No. 4, and was cut 26 miles; at the end of which, they found a path,
made the year before; in which they passed over the mountain to Otter
Creek; where they found a good road, which led to Crown Point. Their
stores were brought in waggons, as far as the 26 miles extended; and
then transported on horses over the mountains. A drove of cattle for the
supply of the army went from No. 4, by this route to Crown Point."[47]
This carrying place is conspicuously marked on a Board of Trade Map of
1755 in the British Public Records Office and described "_From_ Crown
Point _to_ Stephens Fort _about_ 60 _Miles_ N. 25° W _nearly_."[48] Fort
Stephens is placed on the "Konektikut or Long R." near the mouth of
Black River. "A Survey of Lake Champlain" by William Brassier dated 1762
shows the line of this road southeast of Crown Point passing up Otter
Creek. The legend reads "The Road was opened by the New Hampshire
Regiments during the last War."[49]