Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-03-10
AROOSTOOK. n.
1 Graphic Surrey n The Extent Of this
Empire Of The East.


sousces. The northern part Of the State
Of Marie 10 thrust like big thamb away
up into the British possessions, sht line
drawn from the northeast corner Of the
State IL New Hampshire eastward to the
head Of Passansfaodty Bay, veaid GU Of
. nDe biz Of land which cur Provincial
osigb bors are wont 70 look upon ~ifh a
eoystous eye. a. naturally Intended TO De
long 10 tLsir Inheritance. II ~iil probably
co6tinus however 10 be . part ef Yankee
lard despite the envious longings OF our
BIuen0se friends. AMI will still tnnmo-sike.
protru9e into the Dsminioo. ~ II Uncle
Sam we're shambiDg his nose at John Bull,
10 good -natared exaltStion At having wrest
ed % goodly portion Of this western con
,inspt from his tyrannical gra.p. This
northern portion Of our State, though some
what remote from the sesbosfd, ard until
quits recently 70 carried BY the older settled
portions Of the State someshzt A. tle
I'll ghisn1s Of Scotland we're 10 olasn time
By the dxsIiers south Of the Perth, Is
destined In the future TO be the bone
Of large and thriving population
and It's development will AID many millions
to the wealth Of Maine.
Aside from iis great value ~ \ lumber
producing country, large portion Of Il e.
ing covered with magnificent forest growth
sbouDding 10 trees suitable for the finest
timber, IL vas found TO possess a soil Of IN
equalsd fertility. and to be peculiarly adapt
ed to saising many Of the staple products
required az food for man ard beast. The
prinei pal river system Of Aroostook 10 the
81 John and It's branches, though the south
western portion OF the county ia drained BY
tributaries Of the Penobscot The st John
ls Indeed q magnificent river and RUS
through Aroostook for many miles before
Il becomes the boundary Some OF its
branches are also notle rivers. The chief
Of these 10 the AFoostook, broad ard
smoothly ns~iDg stream. which rises In the
northern part of Fisoatsquis conotJ and
flows In q most tortu0us course, often doub
ling upon itself and forming any ''ox
bows" but hoi!igg q general n0riheastsrly
direction across the county, leaving il In
the town Of Fort fairfield and empty
ing in'o the St. John a few miles hes ond
the boundary. Fish river. which empties
into tn. 81. John at Fort Keat, is also a
fine RIVER and has upon Its waters one Of
the grsndest chains of lakes in the world
The Ailegash is river of much Impor
lance A. It drains n splendid lumber region
and finds its way into the st. John some
twenty five miles above Fort Kent The
Msduxnekeag. upon the south branch Of
which the beautiful village of Honlton is
situated, is also an important stream. Its
north branch runs down through the town
of Monticello and. crossing the border,
unites with the south branch and eaters the
st John at Woodsiock All f these rivers
have numerous branches and abound III
lakes OF greater or less dimension, which
makes Aroostook one of the best watered
sections in Me- EnglaD l. The scsnefy
around these woodland lakes and rivers is
most picturesque and beautiful and a.
their waters are well stocked with fisl
ani the forest abouod IN game. the
" Hide rness portion of the county is
= veii' able sportsman's paradise. In ex-
tent of area the county of AroOstook is
large enough to make two or three good
sized principalities of tile old wofli and
has sufficient Il rritory for a State, II EN-
braces more than one fifth OF the area of
Maine, is nearly AS large as Massachusetts,
almost third larger than Connec ticut,
while Rhode Island could be tucked awsy
in its northern forests anil have II good
brosd fringe of woodland on every side
In order to understand something Of the
extent of this empire county let us start
and travel around il. CONNIE cling at the
south eastern corner of the town of Wes-
ton, we have for an eastern boundary the
irregular iudenti'iOns of the sh re OF
Grand Lake which we follow norghwari
through Weston and a large part Of Orient
We then ascend a tributary of the Lake
called Monument Stream, through the re
mainder of Orient and the greater portion
of the town of Anity until we come to the
head Of the stream, where we find an iron
monument some two miles below the
northern line Of Amity. This monu-
ment wac placed there at the time
of the treaty by the commissioner Of the
two governments as markipg the head waters
OF the St. Crox, from which the boundary
starts by the compass in due north course
and continues regardless of rivers or streams
for distance of nearly eighty miles until it
strike. the St John r yer few miles north
of the south line of Hsmiio plantation. The
st. John river is now the boundary ard as
We follow up the windihgs Of this beautiful
river. with Its broad and fertile intervales
and lovely islands, We find our general
course TO be about northwest through Ham
lin (pamed after that grand oil statesman
Of spoiless fame Van Buren,. Grand Isle
and Madawaska. until we come TO the east
line of the town of Freuchvllle, where
AN abrupt turn is made spd tor few
miles the course is dge sOuh We then
come to a most beautiful bend In the river
where the view which Is here opened out is
uuiy magnificent aud the scenery on both
banks is grand and picturesque. Turoing
this bend. where by the way We always lose
our bearings, the sun obstinttely persisting
in being in the east " hen it should be in the
west and rfce versa, we start off on course
a little south of west through Frenchville,
Fort Kent, St John and ST Francis until
We come ID the mouth of the st Francis
river. From Van Buren, to this point we
nave travelled through All almost continuous
village of French settlers for dis
auce of about ninety miles. The
natural features Of this section Of the
county bordering upon the st. John are ex
tremely beautiful and the people living here,
many of whom are descendants of tn. ex
lied Acadians, are noted for their hospitality
and kind attention to strangers. We shall
have occasion to speak of this most inter
esting portion Of our county more in detail
in future communication.
run tht mOuti VI TUG ~ IftNlr Nfc
ST. Joh2 is wholly within the couuty and the
St. Francis becomes the boundary. We
have now reached the northern limit of the
border settlements and must strike off into
the grand old woods. We have also
reached the end of the road and must
now continue our journey in "pirogue"
which IL simply "dugout' or else in a
bark canoe which is lighter but not so safe
or serviceabe. The ST, Fr,ncis is a swift
running stream with frequent rapids and
the task of polling canoe against it's cur
rent is no psstime. We work our way up
the stream in q Borthwesterly direction
a org the eastern border of township Is.
X. 10, going through GIaser Lake, when We
start off in due north course through St.
Francis Lake which borders township 10
X. /. The line between New Brunswick
and Canada s;rkes Aroos.ook in this town.
ship, ard We now have Canada for our
neighbor across the river Reaching the
head of the lake We continue o the erooke d
river, It'll in q uortheFly course along the
eutire eastern border of township No. 90
X. III aud ~, when the course changes to a
little north of west along the north line of
Big Twenty until we strike the northern
most limit Of the county in latitude A. deg.
IS min north, longitude 50 deg. 20 min
west. From this point We start on the
western boundary Of the county aud
run through the wilderness by the compass
10 . nearly southwesterly direction for
about IS miles, crossing many tributaries
of the ST. John, until we strike its north
branch rear the 10th meridian of west
longitude in township No. l2, X
L., The road from Seven Islands
to 81. Jean Port Joh, on the ST
Lawrence, crosses this boundary line
in township No. "a, R. ls. This road is
the grand thoroushfsre for supplies for the
immense lumber operations of this upper
country. The supplies are brought by the
Grand Trunk Il. X. to ST Jean Port Joli,