Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-12-12

I. =. Aaea.a. village Of c..ssoe.
To ~ Edtsov If ne xs.sesee Journal:

70 tAs Editor VI ne Ksxassee Journal;
Il sppssss to b~ the conclusion Of DR..
Layham that because the Ply Deush coIoaists
Iesassd trailing house up shove In ys river,
u - most COVE lent place for trafe," ard
- tbs place sas sft<rs ards lie sisnated BY the
besai Indian name Of Cushnoc, therefore
sncient Casbnoc wss the place where tho
Wsding hoase stood. II he lsmirs the mean
Ing Of ancient cushDoc 10 the occupancy Of
hist spot by the Ply mouth uaters for the
psriod Of thirty four years. his We've are cor
Vscs; bat 4 By that term IL meant. - have
ssppo,~d the fssorits or general camping
gsesnd Of the lndiAas fos many year, before
aud after the white men came 10 these psrts,
! think the facts give u right 10 disagree
with him.
rvo place. 10 this vicinity have been rec
egniz~d ~ being uhqasstoosbly the sites OF
Isdiss e. cxmpmebts. One, aiistej to BY
Dy. Lspbsm. IL at IIAIios ell, along the south
sSn bosder Of the plan. south Of the Gene
terry, overlooking long reach Of the RIVER
- Is passes by the city. This spss has pro
luesd great many indian relics for three
generations. Every piosins throws new ones
70 the surface. They consist Of hssch~ss,
knives. ebissIs. Eosaes. and Other tools Of
este thai this vas more than . casusi resting
placs Of tie trib-s IN their misrations, snd
that At come period it vas . place Of habit
sci rssort and residence. The soil 10
sAnAy and light such - the IndiSns always
chose for their fuds husbandry. The ioca-
a6n, be.id.s being sightiy, vas not far from
the eshsss rapids 1t the head Of the tide, nor
from the cascades of the cree considerable
bsook--now called Vaughan stream shich
NE gratory fishes once frsqusnssd. Of
shis klacs OF habitst!on ~e have no written
record or tradition Capt. Giiberts party
(1eO7J tia not see II; no later visitor m 30
sions II. But We have the impressive testi-
mopy Of articles wrought into many forms
by human hands for various uses, that there
sacs stood village Of people whose advance
10 the line Of progress had not passed the
stone age When Ne consider that these
implements were evolved by the necessities
u unciviIxet Iife--,bst they sere shaped
and finished By 40 ine1pres.ibiy slos and
ssdious process and that they we're the sole
barrier between the rude Af,ineers and starvA
asn in . how ling wilderness, ~e wonder Why
% many we're bsediessly Jeff among the for
est mold and ashes of the sncsmpmenf. to BE-
recovered 10 future century BY another race
Of people. Th. question cannot we'll be an
svsvsd
The place may have been abandoned when
the Whit. traders began To frequent this part
Of the river At the time Edward WinsIow
Arss sailed up in his shsiiop 1929 the mem
DRY Of the brutal kidnapping by Weymouth
fIC06) and Others on the coast, ard the wan
ssn outrages Of the Pophsm coioaists, was
s,ill vivid to the unforgetiing natives who
long after~srds rsgArdsd the English with
dissrust and fear IL 10 r. corded that Edward
Winsiow himself once narrowly escaped
death $3.50. from the hands of . Jealous
ksnnebee savage.
II 10 not probable that the Indians had =
village at Keedamcook during the time the
Plymouth traders occupied the spot which
vas called Cu.haoc. else some hint Of II
would have come down to US. Dnring the
period Of the lndsn vars 1878 1850 there
vas no Indian village below Magorxumah-
soosooh seven mile Brook Therefore ii
SCENE reasonable TO conclude that the vii
Iags At Ksedumcook (Ialio~sliJ was inll,
abandoned as early at least AZ the building Of
the trading house half = lesgne above.
The other spot In this vicinity that was once
the site of an Indian village is within the
limits OF Augusta. Unlike the one at Hal
lowell IL can be Identified both by thu writ
tss record and the articles of Indian
0anufAttuft lDh nave bftb fbhnu titt re-
rhS extent ~ surface o which the vesiige.
Of this village have already been traced l..
shout 4 fourth Of mile and eithi0 few
rods Of the rivers bank. The place has
heretofor. bees referred to and partly de
scrib-d in the Journal. II is called locally
sibley's Point. From the shore there il an
nnobs,ru,tied ami beautiful view of more than
Q leagues DISTANCE do-n the river, and
northerly thu view il siso unohstructed to
Five Mil lsi@ni In va.slboro'. Like the
eagle whose instiact guides it to nest on the
highest crag, the wary savsges always Sc
iecte'i The most .ighls and commanding
locations . ,ssble for their most permanent
sneampments. ani this nns VAS an admirable
hlu trtt,h' pt their habit An approaching
foe could be- from afar. rs we'll ~
tric't. r,tu'ulug IN their canoes alden With
nsh or d ali fus the waiting, hungry commu
n,b 1h, dome site fires by the rivers edge
we're vslblr to- the night a. gsiie to the be-
lated bpntr's ~eAry ~ith the weight Of game
and furs csptareI In the chsse.
The i,ni ~ river terrace Of rolling sur
fac. and q. os fenced into small portions
VI three or four farms There are ridges of
sand IN which The shallow grave. of the dead
iu,ybt have been tug with sh ,es of shells
and bark AMI where the ~rId rites OF
savage burial may have been performed.
The plaesu Is bout ded on the south
bv long. deep r,vine which was the
outlet OF brook be fore its sources
-,r~ trel up by the clearing Of
III. land. THIS brook joins the river at
sueh an angie that II cuts the soutl.rIy end
Of the plateau into a peEinsulsr ard shsrpens
il to n point This pcnipsulsr is a prominent
feature IN the topography of the place Be
N,re h. luu nnr nft haI
original forss', the formation must have been
even more noticeable THAI it is now. For
the dislaues Of twenty rods the rsvine is a
river bayou of usp9nii sa'sr where even
to-day an hundred canoes might find a coy
haven.
This vas fine location for village suited
" the Indians mode of life. The moAt-lik ra-
vine partly surrounding Il was good bulw ark
against surprises from prosling enemies;
and Il vas near the best hships grounds from
which at certain seasons the tribes obtained
With crude devices, a great part of their food.
The coil was cas-, To work
OF the existence of this sneient Indian
village there 10 sssoln'e historic certainty.
Its memory has been preserved In imps risha-
Bile writing. We know that two centuries
aud . half ago the blessed name Of the Saw.
iour Of the world Was first spoken at this
spot to the benigh,ed natives; and for this
fact alone it is worthy Of being cslie,, - the
remembrance Of the present generation.
Was this the kwesshnweik from which the
Pilgrims derived the name which WAS ap-
piled to their trading posti The eminent
Rev. Dr Ballard gave a. his best judgment
(North's History, p. +53) that the word
msans peninsulsr, presa'Isle. literally
they who live in the penipsutsr." OF pre-
eisely the same opinion was Mr.. Trumbull.
the great Indian authority, who sail Up. $50
the word "m.ans on the point, or ON pc
ninsulAr that runs to = point, :" and that lit
10 not likely to have been given to any place
where there 10 not a well defined river point.
not merely q headland." "A Pc
ninsular terminating in sharp point
81 Augusta would bear the name
kouesanoueik. or Qaesauxiek as we may
write IT. observing tn. English sounds Of the
letters" MIR. North selected "heSd of the
tide" ~ the mesnirg saving. apparent
ly In explanation. that he did 80 be-
cause I'VE have no peninsalar or
river point of note or prominence. nor
Indian hurying ground" when the history
Of Augusta VAS written the site of Father
Druiilettss mission chapel was locally I'M
known. Ii has been found. and With IL
trace Of the village in which IL stood, on or
near - ~ell-defued river point. or peninsu-
lar tel minating in sharp point" The locA-
ton has all of the peculiar features which
the descriptive word k~esannwsik in Rallies
Dictionary calls for IL the concurring inter !
pretations Of DR.. Ballard and Mr.. Trumbull.