Maine Memory Network

Joshua Scottow was the principle landed proprietor and garrison commander at Black Point, in the Wabanaki homeland of Owascoag (Scarborough). This first-hand account of the Treaty at Pemaquid provides a snapshot of the diplomacy that ended the First Indian War, also known as the northern front of King Philip’s War.

Scottow arrived at Pemaquid by ship, with a cargo hold of Wabanaki captives. Kennebec leader Madoasquarbet sought to reclaim relations from the ship’s hold, as well as the final return of the captives at the end of the treaty negotiations.

Scottow documented the large number of Wabanaki diplomats who attended the Pemaquid Treaty, arriving in thirteen large canoes. The treaty was negotiated through the diplomacy of Wabanaki leaders from the Kennebec River, and the intervention of colonial leaders from New York colony, empowered by the British crown, in part, to protect their own claims against the French to the land at Pemaquid.