|
The road, too, was later habitually used by
Indian and French war parties, going to or returning from their
depredations against English settlements, particularly Halifax, Dartmouth
and Lunenburg. Captives, such as Pote* and Casteel** were taken over it by
the Indian captors on their long, hard way into captivity.
It now cannot be placed within any degree of
exactitude. The French maps of that period, so far as they relate to the
interior of the country are little better than rough sketches and on a
small scale. The references to the road to be found in the diaries or in
the official and military documents of that period are also indefinite. It
is clear, however, that it began on the West side of the Isogonish River
near, or where the present military road to Debert Military Camp leaves
the main highway. Thence it went up the Isgonish till it reached a
carrying place where the river, because of its cascades, rapids and rocks
was no longer passable. There the Indians hid their canoes and continued
on the portage, till the waters of the French River, navigable for their
canoes, were reached. There, they again embarked in the canoes.*** All the
maps agree that the road came out on the West side of the French River
above Donaldson's and followed near the West bank of the French River,
down stream, till about the present main highway where it turned West, in
much the same course as is followed by the highway.
*William Pote, Jr;
of Falmouth, Maine was born in 1718 and died in 1756. He had long
experience, if not training, as a Mariner and a Surveyor. In 1745, he was
Master of the schooner "Montague" which was captured by French and Indians
near Goat Island about five miles from Annapolis Royal. He was taken
prisoner and by a circuitous route taken by his Indian captors to Quebec
where he was held in prison till July 30, 1747. During his captivity ha
kept a journal which on his release escaped confiscation by its being
concealed on the person of a female prisoner. The whereabouts of this
journal till shortly before it was discovered in Switzerland in 1890 is
still unknown. "The Journal of Capt. W. Pote, Jr." John Fletcher Hurst.
**Anthony Casteel was captured at Jeddore by Indians in May 1753. He was
taken by the Shubenacadie River to Cobequid and thence to Tatamagouche.
Traveling by Remsheg (now Wallace) the Indians brought Casteel to Fort
Gasperaux on Bay Verte where a Frenchman Jacques Morris saved him from
scalping by paying a ransom of 300 livres. N.S. Archives, Vol. I p.698
***"Remarks" by Morris, printed in Coll. of N. S. History. Soc. Vol., 4.
Back   Next
Home |