The declaration of war by Great Britain against France and Spain on the 29th of March, 1744, was followed by its procla mation at Boston in the month of June following. An Indian war was a necessary appendage in the American colonies to a war with France, and during this contest, called by some the first French war, and by others the Cape Breton war, the almost daily cruelties practised by the Indians were witness to their long-fostered determination of vengeance for the misfortunes which they had suffered on account of the whites. The Indian commissioners who had resided at Fort Dummer since the year 1734, and had become used to English ways and customs, would, it was supposed, remain during the war where they had so long lived, and endeavor by their influence to afford some protection to their friends from the ravages of the enemy. But the lust of gain, and the desire of plunder, broke down the nicer barriers which had sprung from friendly communication and social intercourse; and not only was Fort Dummer deserted by the Indians, but also all the stations in the vicinity where they had dwelt, their numbers going to augment the forces of the hostile tribes in Canada. At the same time the truck establishment at Fort Dummer was also discontinued.

The traffic which during the sixteen years previous had been there carried on with the Indians by the government of Massachusetts, had proved of no pecuniary profit to the latter. Deducting the charge of transportation, and a remuneration for the waste incidental thereto, the Indians were supplied with goods at nearly first cost, while for their furs, deer skins, moose skins, and tallow, they were allowed the Boston market-prices. The province had also a transport sloop in pay for the use of this fort, and of Forts Richmond and Georges on the eastern frontiers, which forts were also used as trading houses in time of peace. Had it not been deemed necessary to supply the Indians with goods in order to protect them from the abuses of private traders, and to turn their attention as much as possible from unfriendly and warlike designs, the government would not have continued a trade so disadvantageous and one-sided, so long as they did.

Since its erection by Massachusetts, Fort Dummer had been maintained and garrisoned at the expense of that province; but by the late determination of the boundary lines between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the fort was supposed by many to have fallen within the limits of the latter province. Massa

1744.]

MAINTENANCE OF FORT DUMMER.

29

chusetts, however, continued to support and maintain it until war was declared in 1744, when Governor Shirley opened a communication with the home government on the subject. In his letters to the Lord President of the King's Council and to the Duke of Newcastle, one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, he clearly showed that the great expense which the province was likely to incur in providing for its own defence in many other places, would no longer justify it in continuing the establishment of Fort Dummer. At the same time he declared it to be of the last importance at that time, that this post should be strongly fortified, not only for the defence of the settlers in the immediate neighborhood, but also on account of the position of the fort, it being situated within three or four days' march of the French fort at Crown Point, which latter place was a constant retreat and resort for the French and Indians in all their expeditions against the English settlements. He further stated that the Massachusetts government did not think it their duty to provide for a fort no longer their own, and proposed that the province of New Hampshire, to which it properly belonged, should make provision for its support.

On the receipt of this representation, the King in Council, on the 6th of September, ordered that the fort and its garrison should be maintained, and that the Governor of New Hampshire should move the Assembly of that province in his Majesty's name, to make a proper provision for that service, and at the same time inform them, that in case they should refuse to comply with a proposal so necessary and reasonable, his Majesty would restore the fort, and a "proper district contiguous thereto," to the Massachusetts Bay. In view of the importance of the station, and of the sad results which might follow, should it fall into the hands of the enemy, Governor Shirley was ordered in the same report to represent to the Provincial Assembly of the Massachusetts Bay, the necessity of continuing to provide for Fort Dummer until a final answer should be obtained from New Hampshire, and his Majesty's pleasure in relation to the subject, further signified.

This order, together with a message from Governor Shirley, was presented to the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, and that body, with the concurrence of the Council, in consideration of the great danger there was that the inhabitants from Contoocook,* in New Hampshire, to Connecticut river,

* Boscawen

would be driven from their settlements should the fort be taken, unanimously voted that "the captain-general be desired to cause the same number of officers and men as were in the last establishment at said fort, to be enlisted and there posted; and that the same allowance as before be made for their wages and subsistence, for a term not exceeding three months, provided that this vote or grant shall not be deemed or urged as a precedent for this government's taking into their pay at any time hereafter this fort, or any other fort which may serve as a protection to any inhabitants or estates, the jurisdiction whereof is claimed by any other government." It was also voted that the term of three months should commence with the 20th of January, 1745. For the better security of this garrison, the strongest, and, with the exception of the stockade then building on the Great Meadows, the most northern, two swivel guns and two four-pounders were added to its munitions.

In accordance with his instructions, Governor Shirley informed Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, on the 25th of February, of the nature of the order he had received from his Majesty, and of the action of the Massachusetts Assembly thereon. He further requested his Excellency to make provision for the future sustenance of the garrison, or at least to come to a speedy resolution on the subject, in order that an answer might be returned without delay to the King. The subject was brought before the New Hampshire Assembly on the 3d of May, but a majority of the lower house declined making any grant for this purpose, and adduced, in support of this determination, the following reasons:-"That the fort was fifty miles distant from any towns which had been settled by the government or people of New Hampshire; that the people had no right to the lands which, by the dividing line, had fallen within New Hampshire, notwithstanding the plausible arguments which had been used to induce them to bear the expense of the line, viz. that the land would be given to them, or else would be sold to pay that expense; that the charge of maintaining that fort, at so great a distance, and to which there was no communication by roads, would exceed what had been the whole expense of government before the line was established; that the great load of debt contracted on that account, and the yearly support of government, with the unavoidable expenses of the war, were as much as the people could bear; that if they should take upon them to maintain this fort, there was another much better.

1745.]

DISPUTES WITH MASSACHUSETTS.

31

and more convenient fort at a place called Number Four, besides several other settlements, which they should, also, be obliged to defend; and, finally, that there was no danger that these forts would want support, since it was the interest of Massachusetts, by whom they were erected, to maintain them as a cover to their frontier."*

Upon this declaration, the Governor dissolved the Assembly and called another, to whom, in the most pressing and eloquent terms, he recommended the same measure. In accordance with his wishes, that body resolved, on the 15th of June, that his Excellency the Captain General be desired to enlist or impress twenty good, effective men, to be by him employed in his Majesty's service for six months, as a garrison for Fort Dummer. This resolution was notified to Governor Shirley by Governor Wentworth, and was accompanied with a request that the fort might be delivered to New Hampshire, and the Massachusetts forces be drawn within the bounds of that province. In answer, Governor Shirley desired Governor Wentworth to take possession, and sent orders to Capt. Willard to deliver the fort to his charge on demand. Previous to this, however, the Assembly of New Hampshire, as has been seen, had refused to support the fort, and Massachusetts had thereupon agreed to maintain it. By consequence, when Governor Shirley acquainted his Majesty's Council of Massachusetts with his action on the last resolve of the Assembly of New Hampshire, they were of opinion that he could not, according to the terms of his Majesty's order, be justified in delivering up the fort until his Majesty's pleasure should be known. A suspicion prevailed that the Assembly of New Hampshire intended to provide for the fort, only until they could obtain full possession of it, and that they would then slight it. It was also well known that the allowance proposed by New Hampshire for the support of the soldiers, was not half as large as that given by Massachusetts, which many deemed too small. Under these considerations, Governor Shirley judged it best to countermand his orders, and the fort was again supported by Massachusetts.

* Belknap's Hist. N. H., ii. 236, 237.

The wages allowed are thus stated: "One Captain to have 25 shillings per month; one Lieutenant to have 138. 6d. per month; one Sergeant to have 13s. 6d. per month; one Corporal to have 128. per month; and sixteen Centinels to have, each, 108. per month; and each of the said twenty men be allowed 8s. per month for providing themselves with provisions."

+

In this condition the subject remained until 1747, when Governor Shirley again wrote to Governor Wentworth, to know whether he would take upon himself the charge of supporting the fort. After a long delay, his Excellency, on the 28th of October, 1748, signified his unwillingness to bear the expense, and the subject was then brought before the Board of Trade in consequence of a letter from Governor Shirley to that body. This communication contained an account of the condition of Fort Dummer, and an offer to forward to the Board of Trade a schedule of the charges incurred for supporting the fort since the commencement of the war. The committee to whom the matter was referred, reported on the 3d of August, 1749, that it was proper for New Hampshire to reimburse Massachusetts for maintaining the fort, and advised that the Governor of New Hampshire should be directed to recommend to the Assembly of his province, a permanent provision for the fort, and that it should be allowed to remain where it was, since, were it removed within the lines, it would be in the midst of garrison houses, and would thus defeat the object of its erection, which was to keep the enemy at a distance.

Although this report was favorable to Massachusetts, yet when Parliament granted to New Hampshire a reimbursement for the Canada expedition, the petition of the government of Massachusetts praying that a deduction might be made in their favor from this fund, was denied. This denial was owing to the vigilance and address of Capt. John Thomlinson, formerly a sea captain, but at that time the agent at London for New Hampshire.

As soon as the declaration of war between England and France was proclaimed at Boston in June, 1744, orders were issued by Governor Shirley for the building of a line of forts, more effectually to protect the western frontiers of Massachusetts from the ravages of the Indians. Of the routes which had been pursued by the enemy in the former wars in approaching the frontiers from Canada, the most northern was by the river St. Francis, through Lake Memphramagog, thence by portage to the Passumsic, down that river to the Connecticut, and thence to the settlements bordering the banks of the latter stream. Sometimes the enemy, having sailed down Lake Champlain as far as Whitehall, would proceed up Pawlet river to its sources, thence across the mountains to West river and down that stream to the Connecticut. At other times they would approach that river by following up Otter creek to its sources.