THE KENNEBEC VALLEY- Arnold in the Kennebec Valley. S. H. Whitney 1887 Augusta: Sprague, Burleigh & Flynt, Printers to the State. 1887 pages 110-113 ARNOLD IN THE KENNEBEC VALLEY. The passage of Arnold's army up the Kennebec valley was a great event to the early inhabitants; eye witnesses describe the train as several miles in length. Above Norridgewock it was an unbroken and uninhabited wilderness. At Norridge- wock there were about ten familles. Around Fort Halifax there was quite a large group of homesteads, and at Gatchell's Cor- ner in Vassalboro' there were a few families; these were all the settlers there were north of Augusta. Benedict Arnold with one thousand one hundred men arrived at Fort Western about the 20th of September, 1775, en route for Quebec. Fort Western being at the head of navigation upon the Kennebec River, Arnold was obliged to leave his transports at this place and the main army advanced up the river by land whild their supplies were placed in batteaux and conveyed up the river. About the 25th of September, the army left Fort Western. Their progress up the valley was very slow: the banks of the river were lined with heavy forests, through which they were obliged to cut a road, while there were several steep falls in the river that the boats and their burden were carried by. Arnold en- listed a number of boatmen and guides that lived in this section to accompany the army through this almost impassable wilderness. There were tow Indian sachems that lived upon the Kennebec, who offered valuable ser- vices to the army as guides through the wil- derness to Quebec. They were brothers and were know as Natanis and Sabbatis. Natanis abode in Vassalboro and Sabbatis in Skowhegan. In Doctor Senter's journal, in which he gives an interesting account of the passage of the army up the Kennebec valley, he makes mention of these two sachems as being trusty guides and very able boatmen, at one time taking his boat safely through swift rapids which the other boatmen dared not try. These two chieftains accompanied Arnold down the Chaudiere, and were in the siege of Quebec, December 31, 1775, where Na- tanis was wounded and taken prisoner, but soon afterward set at liberty. They were the only Indians known to have been employed by the Americans in the Revolution. But to return to Arnold's march up the Kennebec. About the middle of October the army left Old Point and moved up the valley. As the army passed up the river it rested upon Weston's Island. Arriving at Carratunk Falls, the main army reached the point were they were to leave the Kennebec River and transport their munitions across to Dead River, a distance of about fifteen miles, through a thick forest. Preparations being made, that army bade adieu to the Kennebec and took their journey through the wilder- ness toward the west. Upon reaching Dead River they followed this stream a few miles until they came to a level spot of ground, and here the army of the Kennebec halted. They were nearing the Canadian border; they were upon soil that England claimed, but despite all this, the heroic Arnold climbed to the top of a lofty pine and unfurled to the breeze our country's flag. Arnold encamped upon this spot about two weeks, and then resumed his march toward St. Lawrence. (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Me GenWeb Kennebec County Site ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. ************************************************* * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.