Editor’s Note: While we continue to fix some glitches here, and Asa recovers from his surgery, please enjoy this tour stop from earlier this fall in Calais from Asa’s World Tour of Maine.
Next week once again the Pilgrims will be taking center stage on Thanksgiving. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all they accomplished for a group of unprepared settlers of the New England wilderness on a religious mission. However, once again I’d like to point out that the Pilgrims were NOT the first Europeans to attempt to settle this area. There were countless nameless fishermen and other traders on scattered outposts, who came before them. In fact in 1607, the same year in which Jamestown was settled in Virginia, there was an attempt to establish a permanent English colony in Maine called Popham. Alright, so after a difficult winter Popham folded by 1608 and returned to England, but a few of the crew did stick around, and later assisted the Pilgrims’ survival. Today though, I want to go even farther back in time, to the first attempt at a permanent French settlement in what is today Maine. In 1604 a brave group of explorers set out for the territory that they called l’Acadie, to settled Saint Croix Island, near the mouth of the river which today separates the United States and Canada. From this settlement grew Acadia, New France, and marked the beginning of a French presence on this continent!
Unlike the Pilgrims who came in 1620 to pursue religious freedom, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons and his crew of 78 men, which included Samuel de Champlain, arrived in June of 1604 with the goal of setting up a monopoly on the fur trade, especially beaver pelts. They chose this island because it was defensible, especially against other Europeans who may want to stake a claim to the area. Therefore their first course of action was to build a palisade and install cannons. However, despite their imposing appearance, they were also receptive to setting up a trade relationship with the Passamaquoddy, who had been using this land for thousands of years. The Passamaquoddy supplied the furs the French sought, and in exchange they gave them tools and metal cookware, along with other goods.
The French settlers also began to build a community, with a central square surrounded by houses, service buildings, and warehouses, using supplies they brought with them, as well as the natural resources. It wasn’t long though for them to realize that although the island served as a good spot defensively, the soil was poor for crops. Thus leaving them with no choice but to plant on the mainland. Then winter came, and as with settlers who came after them, they realized the weather here was much harsher than in France. Despite being on an island, there was not access to fresh water, and the ice in the river cut them off from off from fresh water and game on the mainland. By that spring, they lost 35 of the original 79 settlers, due to starvation and sickness, especially scurvy. However, unlike the residents of Popham who headed home after a bad winter, the French took it as a learning opportunity, and with the help of the Passamaquoddy, their health and survival skills improved.
With their strength regained, after exploring the area, they decided in 1605 to dismantle their buildings and move the settlement to the Bay of Fundy. They named it Port Royal, and it became the first European settlement in New France. Located in what is today Nova Scotia, Canada, the site remained active from 1605 until 1613, when it was destroyed by English forces from the colony of Virginia.
If you’d like to learn more about this French settlement in Maine, that pre-dates the Pilgrims, we highly recommend a visit to the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site on the mainland in Calais, Maine. The island itself is not opened to the public, in order to protect the archeology there. In fact archeologists have been studying that island as early at 1789. The information gained from their archeological explorations over the centuries, as well as surviving records from the period, served to create the interpretive trail in Calais, overlooking the island.
On the September day we visited, we learned about the historic significance of this site, told from both the English and Native American perspective, as well as marveled at the lifelike statues that helped tell the tale of the community.
We also saw a model of the idealized map made by Samuel De Champlain for the community on this small island. Although archeological evidence shows that they never quite reached this scale imagined before leaving the island, it shows their ambitious plan to make a permanent community here.
The interpretive trail is short, but packed with information. You can also learn more at the visitor center, and through programs offered at this National Park. Dogs are allowed on-leash, and must be cleaned up after. For more information to plan you visit, go to Saint Croix Island International Historic Site. Also for those visiting on the Canadian side of the Saint Croix River, you can learn more at the St. Croix Island International Historic Site at Bayside, New Brunswick, which also overlooks the island from the mainland.
