"In the valley of Green River there are some tracts of land capable
of cultivation, but the greater portion of it is a hard, rocky soil,
covered with a growth of poplar and trees of that description. Some
of the most desirable spots for farms had been formerly taken up by
settlers from the Madawaska settlement, but although the land is as
good as that on the river St. John, they were obliged to abandon their
clearings on account of the early frosts and the black flies. It can
hardly be conceived that the latter would be a sufficient cause for
leaving valuable land to waste, but such is the fact, as I have been
informed by some of those who made the attempt to settle, and I can
well believe it from my own experience there."
3. The explorations of 1840, in which the ground lying between the
western sources of Green River and Squattuck, a branch of Tuladi, was
traversed, showed a considerable extent of better land than any other in
the ceded territory. The commissioner traveled for a part of two days
along a table-land of no great elevation, covered with rock, maple, and
a thick undergrowth of moosewood, both said to be signs of good soil;
of this there may be from seven to ten thousand acres, and it is a far
larger body of tillable land than is to be found in any other part of
the country north of the settlements on the St. John.
4. By far the greater portion of the territory in question is composed
of the highlands in which the streams that flow to the St. Lawrence and
the Atlantic take their rise. With but three exceptions no part of this
is less than 1,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is a perfect
labyrinth of small lakes, cedar and alder swamps, and ridges covered
with a thick but small growth of fir and spruce, or, more rarely, of
birch. No portion of it appears to be fit for tillage.
5. In respect to timber, it was found that the pine, the only tree
considered of any value, ceased to grow in rising from the St. Lawrence
at less than 1,000 feet above the level of the sea. Only one extensive
tract of pine was seen by any of the parties; this lies around the
sources of the St. Francis, and may cover three or four thousand acres.
This river, however, discharges itself from Lake St. Francis through a
bed of bowlders, and is sometimes wholly lost to the view. This tract,
therefore, although repeatedly examined by the proprietors of sawmills
on the St. Lawrence and the St. John, has been hitherto found
inaccessible. The pine timber on the seigniory of Temiscouata has been
in a great degree cut off or burnt by fires in the woods. There is still
some timber on the waters of Squattuck, but it has been diminished by
two or three years of active lumbering, while that around Tuladi, if it
were ever abundant, has disappeared. It would, however, appear from
report that on the waters of the North Branch of Restigouche to the
eastward of the exploring meridian there is some valuable timber. This
is the only portion of the district which has not been explored.
6. As to the valley of Green River, the engineer who has already been
quoted reports as follows:
"This river has had the reputation of having on it large quantities of
pine timber, but as far as I have been able to judge it is small and
rather sparsely scattered along the slopes of the ridges. Above the
third falls of the river, which are rather more than 30 miles from its
mouth, there is scarcely any to be seen. Some of the Madawaska settlers,
who have explored nearly every tributary of the river, report that there
is good timber on some of them. Judging from the language that they used
in relation to some that I saw myself, I infer that what they call good
would not be so considered by the lumbermen of the Penobscot. The people
who lumber in this vicinity do it on a small scale when compared with
the operators in Maine. They rarely use more than two horses to draw
their lumber to the stream, so that a tract which would not afford more
than a month's work to an extensive operator would keep one of these
people employed for years."
7. As respects climate, the country would be considered unfit for
habitation by those accustomed to the climates even of the southern
parts of Maine and of New Hampshire. Frosts continue on the St. John
until late in May, and set in early in September. In 1840 ice was found
on the Grand River on the 12th of that month, and snow fell in the first
week of October on Lake Temiscouata. In the highland region during the
last week of July, although the thermometer rose above 80°, and was once
above 90°, white frost was formed every clear night. Upon the whole,
therefore, it may be concluded that there is little in this country
calculated to attract either settlers or speculators in lumber. The
former were driven to it under circumstances of peculiar hardship and
of almost paramount necessity. Their industry and perseverance under
adverse circumstances is remarkable, but they would have been hardly
able to overcome them had not the very question of the disputed boundary
led to an expenditure of considerable money among them.