On Feb. 29, 1631, the
President and Council for
New England granted to
Robert Aldworth and
Giles Elbridge 100 acres of land for every person whom they should transport to the province of
Maine within seven years, who should continue there three years, and an absolute grant of 12,000 acres of land as “their proper inheritance forever,” to be laid out near the
Pemaquid River.
In 1677
Governor Andros sent a sloop, with some forces, to take possession of the territory in
Maine called
Cornwall, which had been granted to the
Duke of
York.
He caused Fort Frederick to be built at
Pemaquid Point, a headland of the southwest entrance to
Bristol Bay.
The Eastern Indians, who, ever since King Philip's War, had been hostile, then appeared friendly, and a treaty was made with them at
Casco, April 12, 1678, by the commissioners, which put an end to a distressing war. In 1692
Sir William Phipps, with 450 men, built a large stone fort there, which was superior to any structure of the kind that had been built by the
English in
America.
It was called
Fort William Henry, and was garrisoned by sixty men. There, in 1693, a treaty was made with the Indians, by which they acknowledged subjection to the crown
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of
England, and delivered hostages as a pledge of their fidelity; but, instigated by the
French, they violated the treaty the next year.
The
French, regarding the fort at
Pemaquid as “controlling all Acadia.,” determined to expel the
English from it. An expedition against it was committed to
Iberville and Bonaventure, who anchored at Pentagoet, Aug. 7, 1696, where they were joined by the
Baron de Castine, with 200
Indians.
These auxiliaries went forward in canoes, the
French in their vessels, and invested the fort on the 14th.
Major Chubb was in command.
To a summons from
Iberville to surrender, the major replied, “If the sea were covered with French vessels and the land with
Indians, yet I would not give up the fort.”
Some skirmishing occurred that day, and, having completed a battery, the next day
Iberville threw some bombs into the fort, which greatly terrified the garrison.
Castine sent a letter, assuring the garrison that, if the place should be taken by assault, they would be left to the Indians, who would give no quarter; he had seen the
King's letter to that effect.
The garrison, compelling
Chubb to surrender, were sent to
Boston, to be exchanged for French and Indian prisoners, and the costly fort was demolished.
