Garrisons, Block-Houses, and Forts in the Saco Valley

Saco Fort in 1699

During the Indian wars various kinds of fortifications were built by the settlers along the Saco river. Some of these were put up by individuals for the better protection of their own families, and others were built by authority of the Provincial Government and paid for from appropriations voted “for the defense of the frontier.” When the Indians threatened the settlement along the coast the people importuned the Great and General Court for funds to erect forts and blockhouses. These were to be built of stockades, or square timber, in such places as would best accommodate the inhabitants in each … Read more

Lovewell’s Defeat in the Saco Valley

saco valley settlements and families cover

Our grandfathers have related this old fireside story with much animation and circumstantiality. It has been handed down to us upon the historic page attended with many inconsistent, and some contradictory, statements. We have not found one published account of the march, battle, and retreat that would stand the first shock of intelligent criticism. Successive authors have followed the beaten track; if they discovered inharmonies, and encountered insuperable difficulties, they have been content to repeat the same unreasonable statements formulated by their predecessors without criticism or comment. Some writers have ignored geography; others, the cardinal points. The tradition about John … Read more