The War In The North Part 2


The original settlers in the St. John Valley were Acadians, Brayons, who were nominally British subjects, but considered themselves, at least in their hearts, to be citizens of the Republique du Madawaska, which comprised the northwestern corner of New Brunswick within the disputed region. The more recent settlers to the Aroostook Valley were Americans coming up from the south.
In 1825, one such settler, John Baker, petitioned to have the area annexed to the State of Maine. To this end, he and his wife raised a homemade American flag at the junction of Baker Brook (named later for him) and the St. John River, which is now in the town of Ft. Kent. On August 10 he and a few others announced their intention to establish a formal Republic of Madawaska. Acting swiftly, the local British magistrate had Baker arrested on charges of conspiracy and sedition and jailed for two months until his fine of £25 was paid. And so passed the attempt at creating a separate republic. However in 1938 a flag was designed, which hangs in the city hall of Edmundston, NB, and the mayor assumes the honorary title of President of the Republic of Madawaska.
Meanwhile, in New Hampshire a similar situation developed on that state’s northern border, where the boundary was also in dispute. With both Canada and the United States sending in tax and debt collectors, the citizens formed the Republic of Indian Stream to stop it. In 1835, in response to a request from the Republic’s congress, the New Hampshire militia moved in and occupied the area. This request had followed an incident in which some of the Indian Streamers had “invaded” Canada to rescue a fellow citizen arrested for unpaid debt at a local hardware store. In the process, the “invaders” shot up the local judge’s home. Horrified, the British ambassador in Washington negotiated a settlement, and in 1840, the Republic of Indian Stream entered the U.S. as the town of Pittsburg, NH.
Back in Maine, as winter closed in, farmhands, freed from that work entered the woods as lumberjacks, becoming a source of contention as both Maine and Massachusetts moved to protect their resources.
In 1830, in an attempt to ease the growing tensions, the U.S. and British governments asked William, the King of Holland to arbitrate the dispute and develop a border suitable to both sides. His solution, which ironically, was very similar to the current border was accepted by the British, but rejected by Maine and Massachusetts because it gave away territory inhabited by tax paying Americans. As an incentive, to offset the loss, the Federal government offered one million acres from the territory that was to become Michigan. What Maine would have done with that if accepted can only be left to conjecture. And so the dispute remained unresolved.