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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
A Brief History Of Colonial Pemaquid
By Nancy Wilson
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
 | | Kelsie Tardiff, Park Manager, Colonial Pemaquid |
Codfish brought them here, and codfish and trading enabled them to stay. In the early 1600s, fishermen came from Europe for the codfish, which are low in fat and resistant to rotting, when salted.
Fish was needed in Europe, where Catholicism was the religion of the time, and Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Friday. The fishermen around Pemaquid went out in shallops, and hand-lined for the cod, which were often five feet long and weighed 125 pounds. When the shallop was full, they rode back to the fish station on either Monhegan or Damariscove Island, and unloaded the fish. (Mid-December was the fishing season.)
At the station, the fish were unloaded into barrels. The aproned fishermen stood in the barrels, took out the fish, headed and split them, pierced the air bladder, spread them open, and salted them. After 24 hours of dry weather, the fish were considered ready, and could last up to three years.
If it rained, they turned the fish skin side up, to protect them. The salt came from Morocco and Spain, countries involved in the triangular trade. Between 1625 and 1629, the stations became permanent settlements.
Kelsie Tardiff, Park Manager at Colonial Pemaquid for the last two years, spoke at last Wednesday's Spectrum Generations lunch about the cod and other historical points of interest.
Before the English came, Tardiff said, the Wawenocks hunted and fished in the area. In some of the archaeological digs, ancient tools, made of bone and stone, have been found, including an arrowhead 7000 years old.
Projectile points of romachert stone, found only in Canada and New England, are proof of the trade routes of the Northeast. Kineorhylite has been found only on Mt. Kineo, indicating wars between tribes, who were decimated by a wave of diseases brought by the Europeans. The native Americans suffered a 90 percent mortality.
Archaeologists have learned a lot about the early settlers. In the 1960s, they found trade beads, gun flints, fish, lead shot, musket and cannon balls, including a pile of 108 cannon balls, fishhooks, scissors, and a pintel (part of a doorstep). Since the natives did not have metals, they came to the warehouse and traded animal furs, beaver skins, and meat for metal.
In 1632, Dixie Bull attacked the fort cum warehouse, but he was later attacked by French marauders, and left with nothing.
The next structure was an important one to the community: a tavern, built in the 1640, in two sections. It offered wine, rum, beer, ale, cider, and tea, but no water, to drink. Thousands of pipe stems, and many bowls (red clay pipes came from the French), as well as utensils, animal bones, and coins have been found at its site. A carving of a sitting human, made of elephant ivory, raises the question, how did it get there, and it serves as proof of the triangular trade.
Fishermen at Pemaquid fed bad cod to the plantation slaves in the Bahamas, where they got sugar to take to Europe, where they dropped off the good cod, then brought salt and ivory back to the Americas. An elephant from West Africa was used for fortune-telling.
A forge, important to every community, was also discovered in the dig. The forge made hinges for doors, tools for cutting trees, shoes for oxen and horses, and all the fishing hardware. In fact, the forge was one of the first buildings built for a community. It was the three-sided structure with a vent at the top. Animals were backed in to get shod.
A few 17th-century buildings were timber-framed, and roofed with wattle and daub.
In another small foundation, most likely a root cellar, pieces of red ware, most likely storing olive oil, have been found.
In 1676, the entire village was burned in King Philip's War. About then, England stopped trading with the Indians, but the Indians became frustrated, and struck back. Pemaquid was abandoned, all the homes destroyed by fire, and the settlers went out to Monhegan.
Fort Charles, a wooden fort, held seven cannons. This was England's first northeastern outpost, but the French, to the north, wanted to move south, and supported the Indians. The fort was severely undermanned, with only 16 men. It was destroyed in 1689.
In 1692, the Maine Bay Colony built Fort William Henry. It held up to 20 cannons. In 1696, the French and Indians attacked it by land, and it fell quickly.
More than 30 years later, Fort Frederick was built. In 1760, it was decommissioned, because it was found not to be necessary, and in 1775, Bristol dismantled it.
In 1908, the State of Maine rebuilt Fort William Henry.
On Aug. 29-30, Colonial Pemaquid will hold a reenactment, with a 17th century encampment. At 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Sun., Sept. 6, Castlebay will play a season's end concert. Colonial Pemaquid itself is open between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
For more information, telephone 677-2423, during the season, and 624-6080, off season, or visit the web site at www.friendsofcolonialpemaquid.org.
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