The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1908-02-13
ALONG ARNOLD'S TRAIL
FROM MAINE TO CANADA.
BY FRANK w. GOWEN.

i
beautiful Kennebec What a fascina-
ting romance or tragic story could De
written of this historic place, II one
could weld the pen like Hawthorne,
oraSir Walter Scott. Here it was for
many wears that Rev. Sebastian Rasle
taught the Indians the principles OF
Christianity, and also urged them 10
abstain from strong drink. But the
moor Indians needed not the noble ad-
vice of Father Rasle, and gave way to
their strong passion for liquor, fur
nished by the hand of the white man,
and were cut down like ripe grain be-
fore the reaper. To me one OF the
sweetest thoughts i'll connection WIN
the life and works of this great priest
is the fact that he was a total ao-
stainer, liquor or wine never passing
his lips think as citizens or the state
of Maine, famed in all parts OF the
world for temperance work, thaC we are
prone to lose sight OF the tact tnat
Father Rasle was not only the hrst
Christian martyr in Maine, but also
one of the first, if not the hrst, ChrlS-
tian minister in our commonwealth
to teach temperance among the In
dians, His suffering ana prlvatlons
were great He often, it is said, llved
for DAYS only on acorns and nuts, ana
in rnde hints Far different was his
home life in sunny France, but he had
left his natiyel and ana those dear to
him to carry the gospel of Christ to the
savage races i'll the new world. Here
il was, where Arnold and his army
biyouaced: that he and his Indians were
massacred without mercy by the Eng
hsh on summer day in 1924.
Nearly two hundred years have passed
since this great tragedy occurred, ana
the dew and rain long since washed
away the red stains on the soft earth.
AS stood on this historic spot on
beautiful summer day and looked at
the monument erected to the memory
of this great and noble man anu
thought of mis- sad fate, although an
alien to his faith, l felt to say: Zoo
bless his memory. Long will 1t live,
long will it stand among the brightest
stars as a lover of Christ, of temper
ance and humanity
After leaving NorridgeWock General
Arnold and his soldiers plunged into
the deep forest which extended from
Indian Old Point to Canada. Some
idea of the hardships and difficulties
they encountered along the march may
be gathered from the fact that SIX days
after leaving NorridgeWock Arnold
and his weary soldiers found them
selves on the 10th Of October only at
the great carrying place, or dividing
ridge between the Kennebec and Dead
river. Many of his soldiers were Ill
and suffering and so Arnold encamped
at this place for few days to refresh
his army. Not far from the place
where the army encamped are three
beautiful flakes, nesting among the
mountains, which are called Big carry
lake Middle Garry lake and East Carry
lake. There was nothing to greet the
ewes of Arnold and his army when they
marched through this region but the
wild scenery of rugged mountains and
hills and the waters of these lovely
lakes sparkling in the chilly October
sun. Today how different. One finds
fine camps along these lakes fitted up
with every luxury for summer tourists
who come here from the great cltleS. TO
enjoy the fishing and to live in the
open air and glory IN the sunshine. a
few summers ago | visited this section
and on the second evening of my stay
as sat chatting with a friend near the
shore of the iake we fell into converse
ton on Arnold's march through this
region. What villain that man
was" SAID my friend. "He ought to
have been hung with the British spy,
Andre" "Well, guess you are rig hit, :"
| said, 'but then haven't you anything
to say of his good qualities Il never
knew that he had any, said my friend,
and | laughed heartily at his sharp
retort.
"a traitor and his meanness should
ever be despised," | said, ''but our old
Continental Congress treated Arnold a
little unjustly. H was one of the old
est brigadier generals in the Revolution
and had fought and bled for his country
and earnestly desired to be promoted
as major general. Washington, who
trusted him then, strongly urged Con-
gress to promote Arnold to this rank in
the military service, but it was not 10
be. Some claim that this great disap-
pointment of his ambition assisted very
materially in embittering his life"
"Wel,' said my friend, was that
sufficient reason why he should later
betray his country" "No, SIR | re-
piled, "no true patriot would ever turn
traitor" but what | mean is this, that
our early Congress should have been
more considerable of his personal weak
ness, or temper AS was Washington.
81 guess you are right there, SAID
my friend, and then we both fell into
SlltlC6 lOl u llliO 40 W. iooASN ~ wv
moonlit waters of the lake over which
this traitor led his army over $50 years
ago. AS we rose to return to the camp
for the night said, poor Arnold, how
he suffered for his great wrong" L
learned during my last trip to Europe,
while i'll London, that the last years of
his life in that great city were very I'M
happy. He was man without coun-
try, but his faithful wife chung to him
until the end and bore him children
who lived honorable and useful lives
beyond the sea.
In leaving the carrying place for the
Mt. Bigelow House at Lower Dead
River a tote road was followed for IA
miles through the wilderness, and this
was the route followed by Arnold after
crossing the lakes before mentioned. L
forgot to state that Big Garry Lake is
two miles long, Middle Garry Lake one
and half miles long, while East Carry
Lake is quite small. The distance from
Big Garry Lake to Middle Carry Lake
by land is something like two miles, and
between the Middle Lake and the last
lake somewhat less than mile. Thus
it will be seen that Arnold's soldiers
had good deal of work to do in drag
ging their boats between these lakes
and i'll carrying them fourteen miles or
more farther on through the deep for