Aroostook War - Growing Tensions

Growing Tensions

Mostly early Acadians (descendants of the original French colonists) settled Saint John and Madawaska River basins. Some Americans then settled in the Aroostook River Valley. During 1826-1830, provincial timber interests also settled the west bank of the Saint John river and its tributaries, and British families built homes in Woodstock, Tobique, and Grand Falls, New Brunswick.

The French-speaking population of Madawaska were "Brayons" — nominally British subjects — who (at least rhetorically) considered themselves to belong to the unofficial "République du Madawaska", and thus professed allegiance to neither Americans nor British. The population of the area swelled with outsiders, however, when winter freed lumbermen from farm work to "long-pole" up the Saint John River to the valley. These migrant seasonal lumbermen caused particular tension for the governments of Maine and Massachusetts, responsible for the protection of resources and revenues of their respective states. Some itinerant lumbermen eventually settled year-round in the Saint John valley. Most settlers found themselves too remote from the authorities to apply formally for land. Disputes heated as factions maneuvered for control over the best stands of trees.

John Baker on 4 July 1827 raised an American flag, which his wife made, on the western side of the junction of Baker Brook and the Saint John River. British Colonial authorities subsequently arrested Baker, fined him £25, and held him in jail until he paid his fine.