Vermont for young Vermonters

Preface

" The greater part of a man's education is that which he gives himself." Self-culture comes largely through contact with nature, experience with men, and the reading of books. More than any other kind of literature history tends to broaden one's mental vision, and enlarge his conceptions of the dignity and worth of life. Hence it should be the aim of every teacher of history to create in the mind of the pupil a genuine love for the reading of history, and for the mastering of those myriad currents which have finally blended in the great stream of modern civilization. This, rather than the mere memorizing of facts, should be the constant aim of the instructor.

The text-book itself should be an inspiration to further study : like a continued story, it should constantly deepen the interest of the reader and whet his appetite for that which is farther on. Its lessons should be clearly told in familiar language, and a connecting thread should run through the entire book so that the recollection of any one part will inevitably tend to bring all correlated facts to mind. Anecdotes are often like doors to let the sunlight into a dark period, and a true story will many times give the pupil a better understanding of the period than the mere recital of many facts.

Vermont history is of rare interest ; rightly told its vii viii PKEFACE

pages should breathe and its words should burn into the deepest consciousness of the student. President McKinley once said, " The people of Vermont have always been true to the best ideals and highest obligations of duty." We believe this to be true and we desire its perpetuity. Whatever may be its success, it is the aim of "Vermont for Young Vermonters " to create in the minds of Vermont youth a desire to know more of the history of their own State ; cause them to feel a just pride in its past record ; awaken in them a desire to preserve its old-time honor and integrity, its social and political purity ; and give them some conception of the great value of their birthright as sons and daughters of the Green Mountain State, impressing upon them that an ever-increasing obligation rests upon them to be worthy of their heritage.

The book has been made in the schoolroom, being a series of lessons prepared for seventh and eighth grade pupils, special care being given to express the thought in as clear and concise a manner as possible, and to arrange material in such a way as to make the whole seem like a connected story of the people of Vermont. Every lesson has been tested in class. The question, " What does it mean ?" from the lips of a pupil, has not been without its suggestion ; and the author has invariably profited thereby.

It is not uncommon in other States to teach the history of the State through a reader. The crowded course of study of its schools makes this method especially desirable in the State of Vermont. "Vermont for Young Vermonters" is so arranged that it may conveniently be used in this way, though it is equally suitable as a regular text-book of Vermont history. The contents of the book fully cover the requirements of the Vermont State law in

PEEFACE ix

respect to the teaching of the history, civil government, and geography of the State.

The work consists of the Introduction, the Blackboard Analysis, the History Proper, and lessons on the Geography and Civil Government of the State. The Introduction should be the first lesson, the Blackboard Analysis the second ; the pupil then having a good foundation upon which to work, is ready to take up the different periods of Vermont history in their order.

To Hon. William P. Dillingham, U. S. Senator, Ex- Governor and Mrs. S. E. Pingree, Hon. J. L. Martin, U. S. District Attorney, Hon. F. A. Howland, and others, the author is indebted for the reading of the whole or portions of the manuscript, and for many valuable suggestions. Thanks are also due to Lee & Shepard, publishers of Drake's " Burgoyne's Invasion," the Vermont Central Eailway, Norwich University, and to Prof. Geo. H. Perkins and others, for material furnished for illustrations, maps, and the like.

CON T K NTS

PAGE

Introduction and Blackboard Analysis 1

HISTORY First Period (Tue Indian)

CHAPTKB

I. French Discoveries — First Inliiibitants of Vermont . . 5 II. Indian Customs — Indian Hostilities 17

Second Period (The French and Indian Wars)

III. Cause of Frencli and Indian Wars — King William's War

— Queen Anne's War 23

IV. Forts Built — Settlements Begun — Boundary between Mas-

sachusetts and New Hampshire Determined . . 32 V. Fortifications Strengthened — King George's War — Grants

made by Governor Wentworth 39

VI. The French and Indian War — Vermont at the Close of

the Long Contest 46

Third Period (Early Settlement)

VII. New Hampshire Grants — Grantees — New York Jurisdiction 54

VIII. Home Life of the Early Settler 62

IX. Schools — Churches — Occupations — Recreations . . 74

X. The Grants under New York Control — Their Discontent

— Patents — Patentees 86 xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XL Acts of the Committees of Safety and of the Green

Mountain Boys 94

XII. Indications of War with Great Britain — First Blood

Spilled .103

Fourth Period (The Revolution)

XIII. Americans Possess Lake Champlain — First Regiment of

Green Mountain Boys 110

XIV. Patriot Army Invade Canada — Their Victories — Their

Retreat 119

XV. Americans Fortify themselves on the Lake — Vermonters Declare their Independence of New York and Adopt

a Constitution 138

XVI. British Advance — Their Victories 140

XVII. British Losses— Their Retreat ...... 148

XVIII. State Government — First Governor — Return of Ethan

Allen 159

XIX. Vermont Maintains Her Independence — Internal and

External Resistance 168

XX. Events of the Burning of Royalton .... 175 XXI. Further Acts of the Vermont Government — Ilaldimand

Correspondence — Close of War .... 183

Fifth Period (Rapid Settlement)

XXII. Vermont's Prosperity — Her Admission into the Union . 193

XXin. Governmental 202

XXIV. Religion — Education — Invention 213

XXV. Occupations — Commerce 224

Sixth Period (The War of 1812) XXVL A Second War with Great Britain 233

CONTENTS xiii

Seventh Period (Transitions)

CHAPTBB PAGB

XXVIl. Social, Industrial and Commercial Changes . . 245 XXVIII. Passing of the Old Stock— Educational . . .259

XXIX. Political 271

XXX. Two Kinds of Railroads 279

Eighth Period (The Civii, War)

XXXI. The War of the Rebellion 286

Ninth Period (Vermont Since the Civil War)

XXXII. The Fenian Raid— Educational 301

XXXIII. Miscellaneous Items of Interest — Industries . . 311

XXXIV. Prominent Verraonters 319

GEOGRAPHY OP VERMONT

Descriptive Geography 330

Geography Questions (Consult maps) 336

The National Government 338

The State Government 341

Legislative Department 341

Executive Department 344

Judicial Department 344, 369

Support of the Government — Political Parties and their

Meetings — Some Elections . . . . . . 351

Other Governments 356

County 357

Town 360

City 368

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS

PAGE

Ethan Allen Monument, Burlington . . . Frontispiece

Defeat of the Iroquois on Lake Champlain 8

Sculptures at Bellows Falls 13

Indian Rock, Brattleboro 14

Jar dug up at Bolton Palls in 1903 15

Iroquois long house 17

Indian battle-axe 18

Indian war-club 18

Triumplial entry into Caughnawaga 31

A stockade fort 39

A blockhouse 41

Indian mode of warfare 47

Loading packhorses 52

An old fireplace 66

Borrowing coals 67

Bake kettle or Dutch oven 69

A hand loom 70

A wool wheel 71

Spinning flax 73

The little red schoolhouse 74

Sounding-board, Union Church, Strafford 76

Old Dothan Church at Hartford 77

Square box-pews of an old church in Rockingham ... 78

A beaver dam . 82

Court-house and jail at Westminster 90

Ethan Allen 95

XV xvi LIST OF ILLU8T11ATI0NS

PAGE

Catamount Tavern at Bennington 101

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga . . . .• . , . . 112

An old gun of Ethan Allen's 120

Old Constitution House at Windsor 138

John Stark 149

Colonel Baum's sword 152

Two of the cannon captured at Bennington .... 153

Catamount Monument 154

Bennington Battle Monument 155

Thomas Chittenden 164

State seal 165

Middlesex Narrows, Winooski River 179

Ira Allen 187

A post-rider 195

Early Vermont coins 196

Stocks 203

Pillory 204

Toll-gate near the Connecticut River 206

First State House, Montpelier 211

Billings Library (University of Vermont), Burlington . . 218

Some of the Middlebiiry College buildings 219

Old printing-press at the State House 221

A group of Morgan hoi-ses 226

Falls of the Otter Creek, at Vergennes 239

The Connecticut River, at Bellows Falls 248

A Franklin stove 251

Part of a marble quarry, West Rutland 255

Section of a granite quarry, Woodbury 256

View in a slate quarry in western Vermont 257

Emigrant (Conestoga) wagon and carriages 260

Captain Alden Partridge 262

Colonel Truman B. Ransom 263

Norwich University Buildings in 1846 264

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS xvii

PAGE

John G. Saxe 267

Statue of Ethan Allen at the United States Capitol, Washington 368

Statue of Ethan Allen at the State House 269

University of Vermont 272

Grassniount (University of Vermont) 273

State flag 274

State coat of arms 274

Second State House, Erected in 1838 276

Present State House 277

One of the Brattleboro stamps 281

A convenient way-station for tlie underground railroad . . 283

Norwich University buildings in 1904 288

General Alonzo Jackman 289

Artillery drill at Norwich University 290

Vermont Soldiers' Home, Bennington 292

General George J. Stannard 296

Johnson Normal School 302

Castleton Normal School 304

Randolph Normal School 306

Egbert Starr Library (Middlebury College) 308

The Athena-um, St. Johnsbury 309

Fort Ethan Allen, at Essex . . . . . . . . 312

Vermont State Hospital for the Insane, Waterbury . . . 313

Burns IMonument, Barre 315

Front panel of Burns Monument 317

Hon. Justin S. Morrill 320

George F. Edmunds 320

Edward J. Phelps 321

Rowland E. Robinson 322

George Dewey 324

Admiral Dewey's birthplace at Montpelier 324

Charles E. Clark 325

Birthplace of Admiral Clark, at Bradford 326 xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGK

Mount Mansfield, as seen from Stowe 331

Thompson's Point, Lake Champlain 332

Notch Koad, Mount Mansfield 333

Railroad bridge over Quechee Gulf, Woodstock Railroad . . 339

Mark Skinner Library, Manchester 343

Winooski Valley, near North Duxbury 345

Montpelier Seminary 347

Saxton's River Academy 349

Goodrich Memorial Library, Newport 352

Norman Williams Library, Woodstock 354

Camel's Hump, as seen from Montpelier 357

Lake Dunmore 359

New iron bridge at Brattleboro . . . . . . . 361

Lamoille River, near Milton 363

Poster announcing town meeting 364

Facsimile (reduced) of a ballot for a State election . Facing 366

Memorial Building, Stowe 367

Missisquoi River, near Swanton 371

Government building, St. Albans 375

LIST OP MAPS

Indian tribes 10

Indian villages 12

Forts and Indian roads 26

Plan of Fort Dummer 34

Original plan of the town of Bennington 56

First political divisions of Vermont 89

Naval battle on Lake Champlain, 1776 132

Map showing the region of Burgoyne's invasion .... 146

Map of Vermont 329

Geological map of Vermont 335

Map showing counties, towns, and railroads . . Facing 342

INTEODUCTION

The history of Vermont naturally divides itself into nine periods :

1. The Indian. — This period extends to the opening of the French and Indian wars in 1689. In this portion of the work a brief sketch is given of the red men who once inhabited or traversed the territory now included in the State of Vermont. During this period Lake Champlaiu and its shores are for the first time looked upon by white men. Half a century after its discovery, the French build and garrison a fort upon one of its islands, and thus become the first white men to occupy any portion of the present State.

2. The French and Indian Wars. — This period extends from 1689 to 1760, during which time the French and English are at war. The Wilderness, as Vermont is now called, is used as a thoroughfare by both parties and their Indian allies, and sometimes also as a battle-ground. Both nations grant townships in the Wilderness and make feeble attempts at settlement, building forts or block-houses for their protection.

3. Early Settlement. — The early settlement period extends from the close of the French and Indian wars in 1760 to the breaking out of the Revolutionary War in

1775. During this time many townships are granted by the Governor of New Hampshire, under the name of tlie New Hampshire Grants, and settlements are made. This gives rise to a controversy over the ownership of the lands, which lasts many years, and finally results in making the grants an independent State. This portion of the work gives an account of this controversy, and relates some of the novel methods employed by the New Hampshire grantees in defense of their rights, giving also something of a history of the life of the pioneer and his family.

4. The Revolutionary War. — Although extending over a space of about eight years only, this period (1775-1783) is rich in events. During the entire time the grants are involved in a twofold struggle : they are at war with England and at war with their neighbors. They also declare themselves independent, organize a government of their own, and become practically a republic, at the same time appealing to Congress to recognize them as an independent State, and grant them admission into the Union.

5. Rajiid Settlement. — This period extends from the close of the Revolutionary War in 1783 to the breaking out of the War of 1812. Settlements spring up and grow rapidly, and a majority of the counties are formed. Vermont stoutly maintains her independence, and is finally admitted into the Union with the full consent of all concerned. Then follows a period of great growth and prosperity, and the settlers in the new State are happy and contented.

6. War of 1812. — This is a period of about two years, during which time the United States is at war with Great Britain, Vermont doing her full share in defending the frontier.

INTllODUCTION 3

7. Transitions. — During this time slowly but surely great changes are being wrought — social, industrial, and commercial. These are brought about by various causes, prominent among which are the War of 1812, the development of resources, the emigration of the old stock, the incoming of a foreign element, the telegraph, and the railroads. This period of nearly half a century extends from 1814 to 1861.

8. TJie Civil War. — This period extends from the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861 till its close in 1865. Vermonters make quick and generous response to the appeal to arms, and take an honorable part in a war whose sole object is the preservation of the Union.

9. Vermont since the Civil War. — This period extends from the close of the Civil War in 1865 to the present time (1904), giving something of an account of the growth and changes in these latter days and noting some of the important events of the period.

BLACKBOARD ANALYSIS

( The Red Men.

< Lake Chaniplaiu discovered.

( First Occupation of Vermont by White Men.

_, T r French and English at War.

Fkench and Indian I Vermont used as a Thoroughfare.

Mfiflo ^fyftn ^ 1 Grants made by French and English.

(lb»J-i/bU.) [Attempts made at Settlement.

o r Many Townships granted.

Settlement. g^.^^i;

Early

(1760-1775.)

ttlements made.

Life and Customs of First Settlers- Land Controversy arises.

'Colonies at War with Great Britain.

The Revolutionary Vermont's Part in the Contest. ^Y^jj J Controversy over Lands goes on.

(1775-1783.)

Vermont organizes a Government and becomes

a Republic.

Vermont Ajjpeals for Admission into the Union.

„ _, fRapid Growth in Population.

n-r'i^fl'^oT^'''^-'- J Mosi of the Counties formed. (17ad-l»ii5 ) < Vermont Admitted into the Union.

[Her Prosperity.

Civil War

(1861-1865.)

U. S. at War with Great Britain.

Vermont helps Guard the Frontier.

C f Industrial.

Changes -j Commercial.

I Social.

Development of Resources.

War of 1812.

Railroads.

Telegraph.

Emigration. [ Immigration.

and

Causes

Civil Strife in the United States.

Vermont makes an Honorable Record.

Vermont Since the Civil j /-, ., />,, , ^ ^ .

Yj^j^j^ f Growth, Changes, and Important

FIRST PERIOD

Chapter I French Discoveries — First Inhabitants Of Vermont

First Inhabitants. — In a remote age, long before the discovery of Lake Champlain by white men, a tribe of Indians is supj)osed to have dwelt upon its eastern shores. There is nothing to show to which of the many races of Indians, dwelling upon the American continent at the coming of the white man, this tribe belonged ; or whether they were an entirely distinct people, perhaps annihilated by succeeding races ; but that such a people lived there seems to be little doubt, as many of the relics, found in the river valleys in the western part of the State, indicate an age antedating by far that of the Indian whom the white man found when he came here to settle.

First Knowledge of Lake Champlain. — In the year 1G08, Samuel de Champlain, a Frenchman, sailed up the St. Lawrence River and planted a colony at Quebec — the first colony made by white men in Canada. Europeans had, for at least a century, fished upon the banks of Newfoundland ; but, up to that time, had made no permanent settlements.

Cliainplain, possessing to a great degree the love for adventure and conquest common to the times, and hearing from the Indians of a beautiful lake at the southwest, determined to explore it.

Discovery of Lake Champlain. — The Algonquin (Algon'kin) Indians, who knew something of the country, agreed to accompany him on his adventurous undertaking on condition that he aid them in battle against the Iroquois (Iro-quoi'), their deadly enemies, should they encounter them.

With two other Frenchmen and about sixty Indians, Champlain slowly paddled his way up the St. Lawrence and Richelieu rivers, and on July 3, 1609, sighted a sheet of water to the south, which, set in a wilderness of luxuriant green, was indeed beautiful, as the Indians had said. The next day he entered the lake. He spent three weeks exploring it and its shores, going as far south as Crown Point or Ticonderoga, perhaps farther ; and this was probably the first time that any part of Vermont had ever been looked upon by white men. It was but a month later that Captain Henry Hudson entered New York Harbor and sailed up the Hudson River to where Albany now stands.

Champlain' s Allusion to the Green Mountains ; Lamoille River Discovered. — The following is Champlain's own account of his discovery of the Green Mountains: "Continuing our route along the west side of the lake, contemplating the country, I saw on the east side very high mountains capped with snow. I asked the Indians if those parts were inhabited. They answered me 'yes,' and that they (the inhabitants) were Iroquois, and that there were in those parts beautiful valleys, and fields fertile in corn as good as I had ever eaten in the country, with an infinitilde of other fruits." They also tokl him that the ishmds of the hike were formerly occupied by the Iroquois, but had now for some time been abandoned because of war between the Iroquois and their own nation.

On this expedition a river to the east is said to liave been discovered by Champhiin and called by him '"La Mouette," the French name for gull, a fowl abundant at its mouth. Through the carelessness of the engraver the t's were not crossed, when it was put on the French map of "New Discoveries," and the name became Lauioille.

An Encounter with the Iroquois. — On the evening of July 12, while skirting the west sliore of the lake near where Ticonderoga now stands, the little fleet met a force of the Iroquois three times as large as their own. The Iroquois quickly landed and began to make preparations for the morrow's conflict.

Unaccustomed to defeat, confidently they advanced to meet tlie invaders at early dawn of the following morning; but the sight of the steel-clad warriors, from whose firearms flashed the death-giving bolts, which prostrated one after another of their brave men, filled them with terror, and they fled, leaving about fifty of their number dead on the field. For the first time the Iroquois had seen the white man's weapon, which he afterward learned to use with such deadly effect upon those who taught him its use.

Champhiin and his companions took several prisoners and some booty, and these they carried witli them on their return to Canada.

Tills battle, though seemingly of little importance, may possibly be classed among the world's decisive victories. The haughty Iroquois could hardly be expected to overlook this hnmiliation, and were thereafter the implacable enemies of the French. If instead of adopting the course they did the French had sought to gain the friendship of this people, the result of the subsequent contest between the French and English for the possession of the Champlain- Hudson Valley might have been different.

French Claims By virtue of Champlain's discovery

and succeeding explorations by himself and French missionaries, the French claimed the Champlain and Lake

Defeat of the Iroquois on Lake Champlain.

plain.)

(Drawn by Cham-

George valleys as a part of New France. This claim included the greater part of western Vermont. Upon the map of his discoveries which Champlain made later, he called the mountains he had seen at the east ''Verd Mont/' or Green Mountains, the name probably suggested by the dense growth of evergreen trees which covered their slopes; and he gave the lake his own name, " Champlain/'

Two Great Races — At the time of Champlain's discovery, two great races of Indians dwelt in the northeast section of the United States and to the north in Canada. They were the Iroquois and the Algonquins,

The Iroquois possessed what is now New York, quite a stretch of country to the west of it, and at least that portion of Vermont west of the Green Mountains. The Algonquins occupied most of Canada and the New England States, and much of the country between the Delaware and Mississippi rivers. In a word, they completely surrounded the Iroquois.

Now, although the Algonquins greatly outnumbered the Iroquois, they lived in constant fear of them. In the first place, the Algonquin tribes were widely distributed and could not easily join forces when necessary to fight that nation ; while the Iroquois, from their very situation, were more closely bound togetlier. Besides this, the Iroquois were braver, more enlightened, had better homes and more strongly fortified villages, a stronger government, and were in every way superior to the Algonquins as a race.

The territory occupied by these two races was particularly well fitted for the Indians' savage mode of living, the woods abounding in game and the rivers and lakes in fish, and the climate being well adapted to the growth of Indian corn and beans, which constituted a large part of their food supply. We can not wonder, then, that they were so loath to give up their right to this territory, and fought so desperately, yet hopelessly, the white man who came to take their lands from them.

Tribes. — These races of Indians were divided into many small tribes or families, each of which was composed of

10 VEUMOKT FOR YOUNG VEKMONTERS

kinsmen. The tribes dwelt in small villages, seldom of more tlian five hundred inhabitants each. These villages were enclosed by stockades consisting of one, two, and sometimes three rows of posts set upright in the ground and close together. Each tribe had a chief who led in

Map showing Indian tribes.

war, directed in hunting, and was considered authority in matters of weight. In times of great danger all the tribes of a race united, and usually put themselves under the leadership of the chief of the most powerful tribe.

The Iroquois had five principal divisions, consisting of the Mo'hawks, Onei'das, Sen'ecas, Cayu'gas, and Onondii'gas ; hence they were often styled the Five Nations. The Tuscard'ras, living to the south of them, were added at a later date ; after which they were called the Six Nations. Among the neighboring Algonquin tribes were the Pennacook, Massachusett, Mohegan, and Abena'ki. After a time the Abenaki became generally known as the St. Francis Indians, probably because one of their most powerful families lived at St. Francis.

Indian Occupancy. — It is quite probable that the land between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut Kiver — which will now be known as the Wilderness — was for ages mostly unoccupied. It was, as it were, a broad hunting-ground between the two races, where both hunted and fought and which each claimed in turn by right of conquest. Their homes, however, because of their fear of each other, they built upon the outskirts of this territory or beyond its limits.

At the coming of Champlain, the valleys to the east of Lake Champlain were probably not then occupied by the Iroquois so much as at an earlier date, if at all ; but no doubt their hunting-ground then included the whole of the western portion of the State, though it is doubtful if they often extended their wanderings across the mountains. Three Indian villages are known to have existed in the present State of Vermont.

Indian Village at Vernon. — An Indian village called Squakheag (Squaw'keeg) comprised what is now Hinsdale, N. H. ; Northfield, Mass.; and Vernon, Vt. The Squakheags and Pocum'tucks occupied jointly this territory. The former are thought to have been the remnant of the Mohegan tribe, who were driven out of eastern New York by the Mohawks, and who had fled for refuge across the

Iiuliau ^•illages. 12

Green Mountains, placing themselves under the protection of the Pocumtucks.

Mr. George Sheldon, the historian of Deerfield, in recent investigations, has discovered '' Indian barns " (as tliey were called by the first settlers) in all three of the beforenamed places. These barns were excavations made in the earth (always on a watershed) and used by the Indians for t h e s to r i ng of p ro- r—

visions. He also found heaps of stones such as were used by the Indians in cooking food. The manner in which such cooking was done was as follows : Placing the material to be cooked in a kettle, with a sufficient quantity of water, the Indians lieated the stones Sculptures at Bellows Falls.

red hot, and then continued to throw them into the kettle until the food was cooked to their satisfaction.

The village of Squakheag was in existence as late as 1064 or 1G65, when the inhabitants were almost annihilated by their old enemy, the Mohawks.

Indian Village at Newbury; Indian Sculptures. — The Abenaki dwelt origiiudly in Maine, New Hampshire, and perhaps Massachusetts ; but later they seem to have spread over the country to the nortli. A portion of this tribe settled in the Coos' country (Coos signifying the pines), on the upper waters of the Connecticut ; and these went by the name of the Cossucks, a name which indicated that they dwelt, on the river by the pines.

When the first settlers came to Newbury,, the remains of an Indian fort were still visible ; to this the children and squaws were accustomed to go for safety when the red men were on the war-path. Among other evidences of

Indian Rock. Brattleboro.

Indian occupation, were found a stone mortar and pestle, arrow-heads, and an old burying-grouiid which showed that the Indians were buried in a sitting posture.

The Cossucks dwelt here until the year 1725, when, becoming alarmed over the defeat of a large force of Indians in New Hampshire, they removed to Canada and became identified with the St. Francis Indians.

At the close of the French and Indian wars, a few families returned to Coos and remained there till they became extinct. Notable among those who returned were

Molly and Joe,, for whom Molly's and Joe's ponds, in the town of Oabot, were named.

At Brattleboro and Bellows Falls were fonnd Indian sculptures upon rocks. These were rude drawings of the human head, animals, etc.; and they were supposed to have commemorated victories, as it was the custom of the

Jar dug up at Bolton Falls in 1903.

savages to leave such records upon rocks and trees on their way home from successful campaigns. The number of heads may have indicated the number of scalps taken in war. Residents tell us that traces of these sculptures may still be seen.

Village at Swanton. — As the Iroquois gradually retired to the west of Lake Champlain, the rich lands of the

Missisqiioi Valley began to be occupied by a portion of the Abenaki. Quite a flourishing Indian village was found at Swanton, when the French built their fort on Isle La Motte in 1666, and it is thought to have been begun as early as 1650.

All til rough this section interesting and valuable relics have been discovered, which indicate different ages of occupation. These consist of places of burial ; implements of warfare, hunting, and fishing; vases, urns, mortars, and pestles. There was also a castle at Swanton, w,ljich we find represented upon some of the old French and English maps.

An urn was dug up at Colchester with a capacity of about four quarts ; and one at Middlebury, of about twenty quarts. An urn similar to these was also found at Bolton ; and at St. Albans Buy a pestle was dug up which had a well-defined bird's head ujion it. A second time the soil of BoltoQ yielded up its archaeological treasures, when, in August of the year 1903, an Indian jar remarkably well preserved was unearthed at Bolton Falls. Tiiis is ten inches in height, and will hold twelve quarts.