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Penobscot Indians, 1805 Receipt Signed by Six Indians!
Penobscot Indians, 1805 Receipt Signed by Six Indians!
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Description:

Native American



Penobscot Indians, 1805 Receipt Signed by Six Indians!

 

One page, 7.25" x 7.25", Bangor; November 5, 1805. A receipt for supplies (blue cloth, powder, and shot) signed by six individual Penobscot Indians from Quartermaster General of Massachusetts, Amasa Davis. The document is written and signed on behalf of General Davis by Captain Park Holland. The signatures include those of "Esquire Orson, [illegible] Nicholas, C. Neptune, John Orson, Sol. Sabattis, and Joseph Mary Neptune", with each signing an "X" next to their Christian name. Flattened folds with toning and browning around top and bottom edges. Small pencil notations have been made on the front and verso. Irregular margins, else very good.

 

Throughout their history, the Penobscot Indians have formed numerous relationships with other native groups, traders, agents, governments, and nature. Before Europeans arrived, the Penobscots depended upon their relationship with nature and the cosmos to direct their lives. However, when the Penobscots finally did encounter Europeans, past relationships drastically changed and new ones were created. Now they had to communicate with the white man and learn his ways as their environment continued to change with the emergence of deadly diseases, new religions, long wars, and foreign governments that came to dominate the New World. Rival European nations competed with one another for the loyalty of the Penobscots and their Indian neighbors. As time passed, more and more Europeans arrived in America and rapidly consumed most of the resources of many native groups such as their land, timber, and game. However, in the case of the Penobscots, many of their resources and much of their land remained plentiful well into the nineteenth century. It was trade and the native dependence on trade goods that led the Penobscots to communicate more regularly with whites for their much needed supplies. The superb manuscript signed document transcribed below shows one such example of a trade agreement:

 

"Bangor Nov 5th 1805

Rec'd of Amasa Davis quarter Master General by the hand of Park Holland Esq two Hundred bushels of Indian Corn seventy five yards of blue cloth two Hundred pounds of shot and fifty pounds of powder agreeable to Resolve of General Court … "

 

The Penobscot people long inhabited the area between present-day Old Town and Bangor, and still occupy tribal land on the nearby Penobscot Indian Island Reservation. The first European to visit the site was probably in 1524, from Spain. followed by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1605. Champlain was looking for the mythical city of Norumbega, thought to be where Bangor now lies. French missionary priests settled among the Penobscot. This valley was contested between France and Britain into the 1750s; after Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, the territory became dominated by England. It was one of the last northern regions to become part of New England.

 

As a result of their friendship and fidelity during the American Revolution, the government promised to protect the Penobscot lands. In July, 1784, the Massachusetts government appointed a commission to negotiate with the chiefs of the tribe to come to an agreement over the location of boundaries, which would involve the sale of some Penobscot territory. Thomas Rice, William Lithgow, and Rufus Putnam were the commissioners responsible for negotiating with the Penobscots. Lithgow declined his appointment, leaving his position to Benjamin Lincoln. These three men would work with the chiefs to construct a treaty concerning land issues.15 By way of this treaty, all lands above Mattawamkeag and Piscataquis were left as "hunting grounds" for the natives and would not be settled by the state. From a native perspective, this sounds like an official acknowledgement of their entitlement, or "privilege," to all of northern Maine. William D. Williamson explains the particulars of the arrangement: The Indians released all claims to the lands on the Penobscot, from the head of the tide to the mouth of the Piscataquis, on the western side, and to the Metawamkeag, on the eastern side; reserving only to themselves, Old-town Island, and all others in the river above it, to the extent mentioned. In consideration of which the government engaged, that the tribe should enjoy in fee all reserved Islands, and also White Island and Black Island, near Naskeag point, [opposite Sedgwick]; that all the lands on the waters of Penobscot River, above Piscataquis and Metawamkeag, 'should lie as hunting grounds for the Indians, and should not be laid out or settled by the State, or engrossed by individuals;' and that 350 blankets, 200 pounds of powder, with a suitable proportion of shot and flints, should be given them as a present.16 This 1784 or 1785 arrangement was not ratified because the Penobscots refused to sign the treaty. The dispute over this unsigned treaty lasted for twelve years. Penobscot leaders may have finally conceded that they could not claim exclusive privilege over land lying between Eddington and Mattawamkeag; but they nevertheless asserted their rights to all the islands and to the northern territory while setting up camps throughout the whole river valley. 15Williamson, vol. II, pp. 516-17. l6Ibid, vol. II, p. 517. The Penobscots signed a treaty with Massachusetts in 1796, about twelve years after the last treaty was proposed. "It called for them to yield almost 200,000 acres of their land in Penobscot Valley in return for an annual supply of 150 yards of blue cloth, 400 pounds of shot and 100 pounds of powder; 100 bushels of corn and 13 bushels of salt; and 1 barrel of rum."17 According to the terms of this treaty, the Penobscots lost land 30 miles north of Bangor on both sides of the Penobscot River. They did retain the Upper Penobscot Valley. However, even after the signing of this particular treaty, the Penobscots continued to fish at Shad Island and set up camps in Bangor, Brewer, Belfast, Blue Hill, Orland, Bucksport, etc, once again disregarding the Commonwealth's boundaries.

 

The Penobscot relinquished their land claims in exchange for a reservation in what is present-day Washington County, Maine. Park Holland (1752-1844) served as a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War and became a surveyor after the war ended. It is likely that he served as an agent for the Penobscot Indians during this and perhaps other transactions.


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