| Madawaska Historical Society History of the Madawaska Territory Historiography and general information |
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Geography:
If you were to ask someone what 'Madawaska' is, you may get any one of three or four distinct answers. At the
present, Madawaska is mostly known as a little town along the St. John River that is home to one of the largest
remaining paper producing mills in the State of Maine. Someone else might tell you its the place where a group of
French Acadians settled after being displaced from their farms in 1780s Acadia by the British. Still others may tell
you it is a territory, named by the Maliseet Indians of the area for the junction of the Madawaska St. John Rivers,
that stretches along the Maine-New Brunswick border from Allagash to Grand Falls. The latter is the definition the
Madawaska Historical Society is most concerned with, for it is from the history of this area from which we draw
our heritage.
The territory is an area of vast woodlands rising up from river valleys and cedar swamps into high, hilly ridges
along multiple, large, flowing waterways which stretch for hundreds of miles between great chains of lakes. The
river basin of the St. John River in Maine alone encompasses 4,600 square miles, beginning at the Little St. John
Lake in the West until it flows into Canada at the little town of Hamlin in the East.
Summers are warm or hot but not necessarily humid. Winters are long, cold and snowy, allowing the area to
become a haven for snowmobilers and winter sports enthusiasts. Fishing is bountiful in the lakes, rivers and
streams, even in the winter months. In the fall, the area becomes a chief destination for those looking to hunt wild
game, or simply glance at the vibrant colors of the hills as the birch and maple leaves change color before they are
shed.
The soil of the area is very fertile and farming is still the chief occupation of many who live here. The areas climate
and air are extremely clean and healthful and its people are relaxed and friendly, not having been bound up in large
closely grouped populations. When all of its virtues are combined, the area is truly one of the most attractive on the
Eastern Seaboard.
If you were to ask someone what 'Madawaska' is, you may get any one of three or four distinct answers. At the
present, Madawaska is mostly known as a little town along the St. John River that is home to one of the largest
remaining paper producing mills in the State of Maine. Someone else might tell you its the place where a group of
French Acadians settled after being displaced from their farms in 1780s Acadia by the British. Still others may tell
you it is a territory, named by the Maliseet Indians of the area for the junction of the Madawaska St. John Rivers,
that stretches along the Maine-New Brunswick border from Allagash to Grand Falls. The latter is the definition the
Madawaska Historical Society is most concerned with, for it is from the history of this area from which we draw
our heritage.
The territory is an area of vast woodlands rising up from river valleys and cedar swamps into high, hilly ridges
along multiple, large, flowing waterways which stretch for hundreds of miles between great chains of lakes. The
river basin of the St. John River in Maine alone encompasses 4,600 square miles, beginning at the Little St. John
Lake in the West until it flows into Canada at the little town of Hamlin in the East.
Summers are warm or hot but not necessarily humid. Winters are long, cold and snowy, allowing the area to
become a haven for snowmobilers and winter sports enthusiasts. Fishing is bountiful in the lakes, rivers and
streams, even in the winter months. In the fall, the area becomes a chief destination for those looking to hunt wild
game, or simply glance at the vibrant colors of the hills as the birch and maple leaves change color before they are
shed.
The soil of the area is very fertile and farming is still the chief occupation of many who live here. The areas climate
and air are extremely clean and healthful and its people are relaxed and friendly, not having been bound up in large
closely grouped populations. When all of its virtues are combined, the area is truly one of the most attractive on the
Eastern Seaboard.
Historiography:
There are many good works on the history of the area and its people. It is impossible to include them all, so here are
a select few. All are available at the Madawaska Public Library.
Madawaska and the St. John Valley (as town and territory):
Albert, Julie. Madawaska Centennial:1869-1969. (1969)
Albert, Thomas The History of Madawaska. (1989 reprint)
Doty, C. Stewart. Acadian Hard Times: The Farm Security Administration in Maine's St. John
Valley, 1940-1943. (1991)
Dubay, Guy. Chez Nous: The St. John Valley. (1983)
Dubay, Guy. Light on the Past: Documentation of Our Acadian Heritage. (1995)
Fort Kent Historical Society. Fort Kent Centennial: 1869-1969.
Gauvin, Marie Anne Linguistic and Cultural Heritage of the Acadians in Maine and New
Brunswick.
Lucey, William The Catholic Church in Maine. (1957)
McGrath, Anna F.(ed.) The County: Land of Promise. (1989)
Melvin, Charlotte. Madawaska: A Chapter in Maine-New Brunswick Relations. (1975)
Michaud, A.J. An Acadian Heritage: From the St. John River Valley. (1972)
Paradis, Roger (ed.) Les Papiers de Prudent Mercure: Histoire du Madawaska. (1998)
Pelletier, Martine. Van Buren: 1881-1981. (1981)
Pozzuto, Cecile. Madoueskak, 1785-1985. (1985)
Pullen, Clarence. In Fair Aroostook. (1902)
Raymond, David R. The History of the Ste. Agathe Parish: 1889-1989. (1989)
Scott, Geraldine Tidd. Ties of Comon Blood: A History of Maine's Northeast Boundary
Dispute With Great Britain. (1992)
Underhill, Hal; Underhill, Emma. A History of Frenchville. 1994
Violette, Lawrence. How the Acadians Came to Maine. (1979)
The Acadians:
Arseneault, Bona. History of the Acadians. (1978)
Cyr, Leo G. Madawaska Heritage. (1981) <Traces the History of Madawaska's Cyr
Family back to Acadia).
Faragher, John M. A Great and Noble Scheme: the Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French
Acadians From Their American Homeland. (2005)
Griffiths, Naomi From Migrant to Acadian. (2005)
Mahaffie, Charles. A Land of Discord Always: Acadia from Its Beginnings to the Expulsion of Its
People, 1604-1755. (1995)
Perrin, Warren Acadian Redemption: From Beausoleil Brossard to the Queen's Royal
Proclamation. (2004)
Webster, John Clarence. Acadia at the End of the 17th Century. (1934)
French Quebec:
Eccles, W.J. The Canadian Frontier, 1534-1760. (1969)
Greer, Alan. Peasant, Lord, and Merchant: Rural Society in Quebec,1740-1840. (1985)
Moogk, Peter. La Nouvelle France: the Making of French Canada, a Cultural History. (2000)
The First Nations:
Bourque, Bruce. 12,000 Years: American Indians in Maine. (2001)
Karr, Ronald (ed.) Indian New England, 1524-1674. Eyewittness Accounts of Native American
Life. (1999)
Johnson, Michael. Indian Tribes of the New England Frontier. (2006)
Leavitt, Robert M. Maliseet and Micmac: The First Nations of the Maritimes. (1996)
Mechling, William H. The Malecite Indians, with Notes on the Micmacs.
Anthropologia 7:1-160; 8:161-274 (photocopy)
Paul, Daniel N. We Were Not the Savages: A Mi'kmaq Perspective on the Collision Between
European and Native American Civilizations. (2002)
Teeter, Karl (ed.) Tales From Maliseet Country: The Maliseet Texts of Karl Teeter. (2007)
Trueman, Stuart. The ordeal of John Gyles; being an account of his odd adventures, strange
deliverances etc. as a slave of the Maliseets. (1966)
Logging and Lumbering:
Conners-Carlson, Shirlee. Landings,Logging and Lumbermen: Memories from St. John, ME,
1901-2001. (2001)
Dietz, Lew. The Allagash. (1978) <Focus on the Allagash as a logging area)
Judd, Richard. Aroostook: A Century of Logging in Northern Maine. (1989)
Other:
Campbell, Gary. The Road to Canada: the Grand Comunications Route From St. John to
Quebec. (2005) <A treatise on the reason for the importance of the St. John
River waterway to the English and to Canada.>
There are many good works on the history of the area and its people. It is impossible to include them all, so here are
a select few. All are available at the Madawaska Public Library.
Madawaska and the St. John Valley (as town and territory):
Albert, Julie. Madawaska Centennial:1869-1969. (1969)
Albert, Thomas The History of Madawaska. (1989 reprint)
Doty, C. Stewart. Acadian Hard Times: The Farm Security Administration in Maine's St. John
Valley, 1940-1943. (1991)
Dubay, Guy. Chez Nous: The St. John Valley. (1983)
Dubay, Guy. Light on the Past: Documentation of Our Acadian Heritage. (1995)
Fort Kent Historical Society. Fort Kent Centennial: 1869-1969.
Gauvin, Marie Anne Linguistic and Cultural Heritage of the Acadians in Maine and New
Brunswick.
Lucey, William The Catholic Church in Maine. (1957)
McGrath, Anna F.(ed.) The County: Land of Promise. (1989)
Melvin, Charlotte. Madawaska: A Chapter in Maine-New Brunswick Relations. (1975)
Michaud, A.J. An Acadian Heritage: From the St. John River Valley. (1972)
Paradis, Roger (ed.) Les Papiers de Prudent Mercure: Histoire du Madawaska. (1998)
Pelletier, Martine. Van Buren: 1881-1981. (1981)
Pozzuto, Cecile. Madoueskak, 1785-1985. (1985)
Pullen, Clarence. In Fair Aroostook. (1902)
Raymond, David R. The History of the Ste. Agathe Parish: 1889-1989. (1989)
Scott, Geraldine Tidd. Ties of Comon Blood: A History of Maine's Northeast Boundary
Dispute With Great Britain. (1992)
Underhill, Hal; Underhill, Emma. A History of Frenchville. 1994
Violette, Lawrence. How the Acadians Came to Maine. (1979)
The Acadians:
Arseneault, Bona. History of the Acadians. (1978)
Cyr, Leo G. Madawaska Heritage. (1981) <Traces the History of Madawaska's Cyr
Family back to Acadia).
Faragher, John M. A Great and Noble Scheme: the Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French
Acadians From Their American Homeland. (2005)
Griffiths, Naomi From Migrant to Acadian. (2005)
Mahaffie, Charles. A Land of Discord Always: Acadia from Its Beginnings to the Expulsion of Its
People, 1604-1755. (1995)
Perrin, Warren Acadian Redemption: From Beausoleil Brossard to the Queen's Royal
Proclamation. (2004)
Webster, John Clarence. Acadia at the End of the 17th Century. (1934)
French Quebec:
Eccles, W.J. The Canadian Frontier, 1534-1760. (1969)
Greer, Alan. Peasant, Lord, and Merchant: Rural Society in Quebec,1740-1840. (1985)
Moogk, Peter. La Nouvelle France: the Making of French Canada, a Cultural History. (2000)
The First Nations:
Bourque, Bruce. 12,000 Years: American Indians in Maine. (2001)
Karr, Ronald (ed.) Indian New England, 1524-1674. Eyewittness Accounts of Native American
Life. (1999)
Johnson, Michael. Indian Tribes of the New England Frontier. (2006)
Leavitt, Robert M. Maliseet and Micmac: The First Nations of the Maritimes. (1996)
Mechling, William H. The Malecite Indians, with Notes on the Micmacs.
Anthropologia 7:1-160; 8:161-274 (photocopy)
Paul, Daniel N. We Were Not the Savages: A Mi'kmaq Perspective on the Collision Between
European and Native American Civilizations. (2002)
Teeter, Karl (ed.) Tales From Maliseet Country: The Maliseet Texts of Karl Teeter. (2007)
Trueman, Stuart. The ordeal of John Gyles; being an account of his odd adventures, strange
deliverances etc. as a slave of the Maliseets. (1966)
Logging and Lumbering:
Conners-Carlson, Shirlee. Landings,Logging and Lumbermen: Memories from St. John, ME,
1901-2001. (2001)
Dietz, Lew. The Allagash. (1978) <Focus on the Allagash as a logging area)
Judd, Richard. Aroostook: A Century of Logging in Northern Maine. (1989)
Other:
Campbell, Gary. The Road to Canada: the Grand Comunications Route From St. John to
Quebec. (2005) <A treatise on the reason for the importance of the St. John
River waterway to the English and to Canada.>
The People:
How do we go about explaining what is undoubtedly a distinctive culture? One old gentleman, when asked the
inevitable question as to what he "was" simply replied "C'est Madawaskayan!" The character of the people of
Madawaska was initially the merger of two peoples who were both French, Roman Catholic, and of hardy pioneering
immigrant stock-but who were also singular provincial types within the French Colonial Empire.
How do we go about explaining what is undoubtedly a distinctive culture? One old gentleman, when asked the
inevitable question as to what he "was" simply replied "C'est Madawaskayan!" The character of the people of
Madawaska was initially the merger of two peoples who were both French, Roman Catholic, and of hardy pioneering
immigrant stock-but who were also singular provincial types within the French Colonial Empire.