An Island Unsuited

 

On this past Monday morning I launched into a tidal river from Red Beach Cove and paddled under cloudy skies toward a small island of about 6.5 acres.  I'd been longing to visit the island since reading Champlain's Voyages (translated from the French by Charles Pomeroy Otis) over the past winter.  Had I been approaching this island in mid-May of 1605 I'd have found a French settlement in a state of despair.  The settlement had begun the previous winter with a population of 79 men (a mix of noblemen, artisans, and soldiers), but a particularly harsh winter combined with an outbreak of scurvy claimed the lives of 35 men.  Thus the settlement's population had been reduced to 44 men (20 of whom were ill).  The expected ships bringing supplies from France had not arrived (expected in late April) leaving the survivors to wonder if they'd ever be re-supplied.

Favorable tide and wind conditions allowed my passage towards the small islets at the island's south tip (photo by Mrs. Trashpaddler)...

I entered the island's small sheltered cove...

...and landed above the tide's 18-foot reach near a wooden stairway...

The view towards the island proper from the sand spit connecting the island and islets...

 The staircase brought me topside where I headed northward...

...towards a 45-foot tower located at about the center of the island.  An osprey has taken up residence...

...at the tower's top leaving me to wonder if the solar-powered aid-to-navigation light is still functioning.

These white 5-petal wildflowers were in bloom...

Near the island's northern end I found this historical marker dating from 1904...

...which tells a bit of the story...

Before leaving the island I looked southward towards the Bay of Fundy...

...where the settlement's residents perhaps looked daily in hopes of seeing approaching ships.  Though the expected ships did finally arrive in June, the decision was made to relocate the settlement to Port Royal in present-day Nova Scotia.  St. Croix Island was understandably a "one and done" but why was the island chosen for the settlement in the first place?  According to Otis' translation of the expedition's chronicler, Samuel Champlain:  "It (the island) is by its nature very well situated, except in one place, where for about forty paces it is lower than elsewhere: this, however, is easily fortified, the banks of the main land being distant on both sides some nine hundred to a thousand paces.  Vessels could pass up the river only at the mercy of the cannon on this island, and we deemed the location the most advantageous, not only on account of its situation and good foil, but also on account of the intercourse which we proposed with the savages of these coasts and of the interior, as we should be in the midst of them."  Note he used the words "we deemed" perhaps meaning there was a consensus among the expedition's leadership.

St. Croix Island is today an International Historic Site located on the outskirts of Calais, ME...

Though the island is in the middle of the St. Croix River, which forms the border between the United States and Canada, it is technically within the United States.  There are Visitor Centers on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the river.  Informative plaques at both Visitor Centers tell the story:

...how it started (Canadian Visitor Center)...

A representation of the settlement they built (U.S. Visitor Center)...

...then the deaths, and on-island burials (Canadian Visitor Center)...

...during their winter of despair (Canadian Visitor Center)...

...leading to the decision to move on (Canadian Visitor Center)...

Samuel Champlain's map of the island settlement (Canadian Visitor center)...

Map showing island's relationship to the Bay of Fundy (Canadian Visitor Center)...

There are several bronze life-sized statues at the U.S. Visitor Center:

Sieur De Monts, the leader of the St. Croix settlement...

...he is also referred to as Pierre Dugua, sieur de Mons or sometimes just De Monts.  He was the expedition's leader.  The expedition's flagship was the 150-ton La Bonne-Renommee. 

Samuel Champlain played a key role as the expedition's cartographer, chronicler, and did considerable reconnaissance of the coast in search of harbors suitable for their vessel  .  He was 34 years old and this was his second visit to North America.  At that time Champlain was in the early stages of what would become an illustrious lifetime.  He is described by Wikipedia as follows: Explorer, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler.  He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean.  In a letter Champlain wrote to the King's mother he explains which of those descriptors was his favorite: "Of all the most useful and excellent arts, that of navigation has always seemed to me to occupy the first place. For the more hazardous it is, and the more numerous the perils and losses by which it is attended, so much the more it is esteemed and exalted above all others, being wholly unsuited to the timid and irresolute."  Champlain would later found Quebec City and come to be called the "Father of New France".  He died in Quebec City in 1635 and unfortunately his place of burial was lost over the ages.  Historians are still searching for it.

It's said that St. Croix Island looks much as it did in 1604.  Now having landed and walked upon it I can say with certainty that I've walked in Samuel Champlain's footprints, especially on the exposed bedrock.

Both the U.S. and Canadian Visitor Centers mention the perspective of the Native Passamaquoddy people who'd lived (and continue to live) in the region for thousands of years.  It's mentioned that they used the island as a place to store food safe from wolves as well as a place for fishing.  The U.S. Visitor Center also has a small museum which contains some Passamaquoddy petroglyphs related to the encounter with Europeans.  The museum opened for the season the Saturday following my visit.

A statue of this Passamaquoddy woman with baby greets those visiting the site...

 
  

Following my visit to St. Croix Island I crossed the international border into New Brunswick, Canada and caught this last look at the island from the Canadian side...

Then it was on to the beautiful town of St. Andrews which included a stay with good friends.

While there I launched into Chamcook Harbor and paddled out to the 500-acre Ministers Island which is only 9 miles from St. Croix Island.  This was my first encounter with the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay...

 

...looking out to the big Bay...

  After turning back I saw this Ministers Island eagle...

 

The large island offered many sandy spots to briefly land...

...leaving my boat and me with continuous smiles.

Some of the island's cliffs have a layer of red stone which was later seen on an island home's exterior walls...

Post paddle and after the tide went out Mrs Trashpaddler, myself, and our friends drove across the bar  to the island for a pre-scheduled visit to the estate of Sir William Van Horne, who once was president of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.   Folks there call it "driving across the ocean floor".  The bar roadway...

Upon reaching the bar road's other end we drove past the elegant barn and creamery for the working dairy farm...

Today Ministers Island is a National and Provincial Historic Site.  Van Horne's 50-room summer house, Covenhoven, is open for tours (dependent on tide schedules).  Displayed inside are posters of the railroad he ran...

...and definitely brought to mind Gordon Lightfoot's song Canadian Railroad Trilogy.

Covenhoven also has a Passamaquoddy Room with information about the island's Native American history when it was known as Qonasqamqi Monihkuk to the Passamaquoddy people.

The village of St. Andrews is a special place with its own unique vibe...which included several wildlife encounters: 

Deer, packs of whom roam the streets...in the daytime...

...and this leaf-munching porcupine...

...who lived in a culvert in front of the house we were staying in.  We, on the other hand, found good dining among the many restaurants along Water Street.

Not a piece of trash was encountered.