Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-12-21

hindered passage east, and when the
dawn broke along the coast of Maine
there was the picturesque river that to
an excited imagination ran straight
out of the heart of Canada! Just get
| up that river! Quebec was at the end, or
| a short way beyond. Washington sent
to Congress an itinerary, saying that in
a straight line from the mouth of the
| Kennebec to Quebec the distance was
two hundred and ten miles. 1t is
all staked off on this plan how far you
| can go in sloops, then in flatbot-
toned boats. AS the river runs, it is
then thrty-one miles to Norridgewock,
and about thirty miles farther is the
first carrying place.
Let us do little arithmetic. Why,
adding up the figures of the itinerary.
one hundred and twenty-one miles of
the journey to Quebec already have
been conquered. Let us return to the
| first carrying place, four miles," which
means just an agreeable change Of
method. then a pond to cross and
another carrying place" and so on,
the plan introducing such CHEEKY local
| tiles as Dead river. Up this river of
sepulchral name one goes, ''as it runs,
thirty miles" only to find some
small falls and short carrying places
around them Intervening Then you
come to the height of the land and
about six miles carrying place, into q
branch which leads into Ammegun-
tick pond. the head of Chaudiere
river. which falls into the St. Law
renee river, about four miles above
Quebec" And so the journey was ac-
complished, and there was the Cana
dian plum all ready for picking. Shake
| a stick at it and il would come down
promptly.
But who as leader expected to see
this triumphant harvesting? At the
| head of the column of the eleven hum
dred at the mouth of the Kennebec,
| Sept 20, was Benedict Arnold. \ pity
| that man having so many good
qualities should ever have had a poor
one When his character is sifted. |
| find in the cinder heap such adjectives
as ''avaricious, 'sordidly- avaricious.'
But he was plucky, brave even To
temerity." of great endurance, and the
man at the head was popular with the
men that followed. His soldiers loved
him. He was very persuasive in man
ner In his person, he is described as
short and stout, and he had a rudy
| face His influence in the army must
| have been felt like that of a trumpet
| ever sounding in a hopeful blast. There
| is a little book with the title Account
| of Arnolds Campaign Against Quebec,
and of the Hardships and Sufferings
of that Band of Heroes Who TRAY
ersed the Wilderness Of Maine from
| Cambridge to the st. Lawrence in the
Autumn of no" Its author was one
of the survivors, John Joseph
Henry. He was not seventeen when.
as "a tall and hardy youth we'll
skilled in the use of the rife and the
ways of the forest he Joined a COM
pany of Pennsylvania riflemen that
went to serve in the American army
| before Boston. Henry was one of
Arnod's heroes. Arnold sent ahead an
| officer and seven men TO find out and
| mark paths in the wilderness, and
| finally to learn the course of the river
| Chaudiere in Canada. Henry was
elected to this band Of pioneers, and
his story is before me.
T, With all the importance Of ambassa
doris from the old world to a new one
in the wilderness, that vanguard went
| forward in two canoes. They reached
and passed places with such sounding
names as Fort Halifax. at Ticonic,
where the Sebasticook slips into the
Kennebec, and then Fort Western at
Cushnoc. our modern Augusta. Nor
ridgewock was reached Oct. >. Three
things marked it. Here We're traces of
the insane attack by the English upon
Father Rash the Jesuit. and his sun
day-worshipping flock. Father Rash
was killed at the altar. This too was
a carrying place that meant heavy
work for vanguard and army. The
knights in simple Continental armoI
were reminded also that it was tho
last settlement of whites, and beyond
was the wilderness. What wild beasts
mythical monsters, unearthly grifflns
might block the way on to Quebec
they could not say. Forward was
the imperative word.
The fourth Of october. Arnold and hi
band were tOiling through the hlStorl'
scene Of RaSh's laborS at NorrldgeWock
The town could never forget. and did No
wish 10 forget. that burst Of noisy Con
ltinental warriors upon the Secluslon Of IL
sleepy meadows, and then their quici
lpaSSa gp up the river, their bateduX van
ishing like the craft Of a very exciting
unreal dream. In various ways wer'
memorials gathered ana preserved il
NorridgeNOck. ! have heard Of one olt
llady In the earlier half Of this nineteenth
century who had in her little old hous
By the river-bank a kind OF museum. %
an old-faShioned mahogany centre tabl'
she had a collection Of curios carefully
lscrepn-d under a cover OF pastebOard
For tive cents she was willing To remove
the mysterious cover and show 10 gaping
awe-struck children these memorials o
the past When Arnolu vas going up tn
river to Canada, his boats got caugh
! on the ribs" said the old lady. and
piece splintered off. and her husband go
lit and secured il Tor treasure. The my :
FERROUS paStebOard cover was lifted, am
10. b. the side of relic like bottle -
water from the Jordan. was 4 dark ole
splinter telling Of bold Arnold and Ms
knights,
| What a sorry time they had in the vii
deruess that they had attacked. Autumn
was painting the rustling woods by tn
river, that in response 10 the uEerhanS
ling bougnS had q dream of touches by tn
old masters OF cathedral windows q
stones from the walls OF the New Jeru
salom-but all q dream and how nasty
There was no dreaming for the hard,
Coutinentals tuSging at their boats roun'
hard carrying places, Wadlng m IN
lChilling waters or ploughing through Dos
and morass. The toll across the carry
ling place between tie kennebec ana tina
lugubrious stream. Dead River, was Sc
re indeed
! The Journey had it's yaria lions. Wht