Chapter 4, page 118-121.
When Maine became a state in 1820, both Britain and the U.S. were beginning to realize the value of Maine's natural resources and quickly moved to claim the area.
Charles T. Jackson, in the first Geology of the State of Maine, wrote, "At a time when the boundary line between the British provinces and the United States is proposed to be drawn, it is certainly a matter of no small importance that we should know accurately the nature and value of the district in dispute."
Primary Sources for Finding Katahdin Chapter 4, Section 4
Item 6417
Item 6883
Chapter 4, page 118-121.
In 1798, surveyors and map makers were sent by the governments of Britain and the United States to determine the northeast boundary line between the two countries.
This sketch is part of a collection of maps made to help determine the boundary and was taken from one made by an Indian, Francis Joseph, on a piece of birchbark in 1798.
Item 7564
Chapter 4, page 121-122.
Maine resolved in 1839 to give land agents the power to use force to "arrest, detain, and imprison" all non-Mainers taking lumber in the northern portion of the state.
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Item 7210
Chapter 4, page 118-121.
Maine Governor John Fairfield wrote on December 15, 1840 to Rufus McIntyre, a Bangor land agent, about problems in Madawaska. Tensions were rising in northern Maine as a result of the boundary dispute.
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Item 7495
Chapter 4, page 118-122.
Maine soldiers stationed at Houlton, in orders given March 5, 1839, were "called out to enforce the supremacy of civil authority."
The orders called the British the "lawless depredators . . . destroying and plundering the almost invaluable timber on our public domain."
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Item 6642
Chapter 4, page 121.
The last wooden blockhouse built in Maine was constructed at Fort Kent to protect against the Canadians/British during the Aroostook War when the boundary line was in dispute.
Item 7192
Chapter 4, page 121-122.
The Revolution and Statehood had established governmental controls in the southern part of the state, essentially pushing the frontier to the north.
General Winfield Scott was sent to Aroostook County to guard America's interest in the area and prevent the British from controlling the region.
Item 6643
Chapter 4, page 118-122.
Daniel Webster negotiated Maine's northern boundary at the end of the Aroostook War. His statesmanship brought a bloodless ending to the conflict and determined Maine's northern boundary.
His efforts also made the people in the Madawaska area American citizens.
Like their southern counterparts, who a generation before had grappled with a broadened governmental reach, the people in Aroostook suddenly found themselves subject to laws and taxes from a government a great distance away.