After my paddle to and from the Great Carrying Place (previous post), I drove to Eustis ME and set up camp at Cathedral Pines Campground...
After reading the first-hand accounts of 14 participants provided in Kenneth Roberts March to Quebec there were several locations I was more than a little curious to see/experience. One such spot was the presently submerged confluence of the Dead River's north and south branches. To get there required paddling south and downstream from the campground. The Bigelow Range of mountains loomed in the distance...
Once at the confluence I looked downstream from the confluence towards the direction the Arnold Expedition would have approached from...
According to the journal of John Henry, a member of the advance party, on Oct. 4, 1775 they found near this spot a "piece of neatly folded birch bark...when opening the bark, we perceived a very perfect delineation of the streams above us, with several marks which must have denoted the hunting camps, or real abodes of the map-maker. There were some lines, in a direction from the head of one branch to that of another, which we took to be the course of the paths that the Indians intended to take that season, This map we attributed to either Natanis or to his brother Sabatis, who, as we afterwards knew, lived about seven miles up this westerly stream."
The use of bark for drawings was also mentioned in the journal of John Pierce, the expedition's surveyor: "we found on some barks rolled off from Hemlock trees by the Indians a number of hieroglyphicks such as moose, otter, deer, musquash, sable, and beaver - and birds of several sorts which must represent the number of beasts and birds they catched and killed. We discovered a great number of their characters but could not explain but a few of them." I would later discover that the surveyor and I share a common ancestor, 5 generations back for him and 11 for me.
The expedition reached this confluence some 18 miles after they'd completed the 12 mile long portage at the Great Carrying Place from the Kennebec. At the confluence they took a right into the North Branch Dead River...and headed WNW. The river grew narrower and swifter with several falls. At about this point of time they were dealing with a 3 day rainstorm that many historians believe was a late season hurricane. I, on the other hand, experienced ideal weather and paddled on top of their route for about 5 miles to the dam in Eustis...
The approximate 10 mile drive between Eustis Dam and the southern end of the Chain of Ponds included 3 stops at falls along the way.
The first of these was about 2 miles upstream from Eustis Dam and may be known as Ledge Falls. This photo looks downstream...
I had the place to myself and tried as best I could to envision their passage here. A red trillium grew along the portage trail...
This may be the location where Arnold's party awoke at 4 am to a rapidly rising Dead River. Arnold wrote: "..very wet & much fatigued, having Paddled (Arnold was in a birch-bark canoe) up near four leagues, thro' the rain which continued incessantly. It was now quite dark so that we had little time to encamp, & it was near 11 o clock before we could dry our Clothes & take a little refreshment, when we wrapped ourselves in our Blankets & slept very comfortably untill 4 o clock in the morning, when we were awakened by the freshet which came rushing on us like a torrent, having rose 8 feet perpendicular in 9 hours....luckily for us we had a small hill to retreat to."
One member of the expedition, John Henry, described being shown the medicinal value of balsam fir sap in maintaining one's health during wet and cold conditions: "Getchel, our guide, taught me its use. In the morning when we rose, placing the edge of a broad knife at the underside of the blister (on the side of fir tree), and my lips at the opposite part, on the back of the knife, which was declined, the liquor flowed into my mouth freely. It was heating and cordial to the stomach, attended by an agreeable pungency. This practice, which we all adopted, in all likelihood contributed to the preservation of health..." Reading his account reminds me of the sap gum I tasted when visiting Sturbridge Village more than a few decades ago.
The next falls visited, Shadagee Falls, was about another 5 miles further upstream. According to Roberts this location is believed to have been where Arnold convened a council of war to discuss the dire predicament they now found themselves in...
Arnold's journal describes some of the men marching by land having taken a wrong turn up Alder Stream and it taking 2 hours to retrieve them. "When the whole were formed we proceeded up the River against a very Rapid Stream about three miles to the 7th carrying place...here we had the misfortune of oversetting 7 battoes and losing all the provisions. Here the whole division encamped." It's understandable why the men called it "Camp Disaster".
A moose had visited the spot earlier...
In reflecting on the Arnold Expedition I believe it is one of the longest journeys (primarily via a water route) undertaken by non-Native Americans in New England. The expedition marched from Cambridge, MA to Newburyport, MA where they boarded ships for the ocean portion from the Merrimack River to the Kennebec River; went up the Kennebec to the Great Carrying Place where they portaged to the Dead River; up the Dead to another tough portage across the Height of Land to Lac Megantic; then down the Chaudiere River to the Saint Lawrence River. A total distance of 350 miles.
...and headed down the Kennebec to Waterville which is where I jumped onto Rt. 95 for the trip back to Massachusetts.
The third falls I stopped at was Sarampus...
...which didn't look too formidable on this day...
Next came the "Chain of Ponds" where I launched my boat at an unmarked spot near the Chain of Ponds south end and headed upstream from the small dam at the outlet...
...and passed through one of the narrows where I suspect a portage was done by the expedition...
The terrain is rugged on both sides of the ponds...
At a marshy area near Indian Stream a sandy beach drew me to land there...
Eventually after about 4.5 miles the north end is approached...
The mountains in the distance are in Canada where unfortunately the border station is closed...
Had I been able to enter Canada, my original plan was to drive to Piopolis, Quebec and paddle the south end of Lac Megantic to a "bark house" that many of the men described in their journals. Had that been possible this would have been my welcome back into the US...
At the Chain of Ponds overlook there were several interpretive plaques. One was this image of a 1887 guidebook which could have been useful to the Arnold Expedition...
Also at the overlook was this description of the expedition...
However, my favorite plaque included artist Albert F. Blaisdell's 1903 drawing entitled "Arnold's Men Marching through the Flooded Wilderness"...
On a side trip up the South Branch Dead River I ran into these possible stonefly nymphs?...
Also encountered an unfortunate creature's ribcage...
The South Branch is quite beautiful in its own way...
Loons were seen and/or heard each day and a moose crossed Route 201 in Bingham.
There was still some snow on the slopes of Sugarloaf...
Very little trash was encountered over the 4 days I paddled in the area. This was it...
The most interesting piece of flotsam to me was this water bottle celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act...
On my drive home I stopped at the McDonalds in Skowhegan, picked up a breakfast sandwich and cup of coffee and enjoyed them alongside the Kennebec River near Pishon Ferry. It was only fitting that while there a trainload of Maine woods paper was being hauled out from the sprawling Sappi paper mill...
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