Thomas Westbrook letter to William Pepperrell about ship masts, York, 1734
Item 25387 info
Maine Historical Society
Thomas Westbrook of York, the King's mast agent charged with growing the colonial logging industry, wrote to William Pepperell mentioning the possibility of war with the Wabanaki Confederacy, and asking whether Pepperell wanted him to charter a vessel and ship a load of small masts.
Despite attempts at diplomacy and petitions by Wabanaki leaders to cease new settlements and forts in their Homelands, the English continued to colonize Maine, leading to a nearly continuous series of wars involving English, French, and Wabanaki Nations from 1675 to 1763. Wabanaki leader Polin led a 17 year-long dispute over the great dam that Thomas Westbrook was building, which blocked the vital fish runs on the Presumpscot River and compromised planting grounds.
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