Enjoying the Summer and Still Searching for Mascoma (Mascommah)

It's been hot, It's been hot but beautiful this week.  The crackerjack thunderstorms on Tuesday night served to clear the air and today was just gorgeous.  It seemed like it thundered all night.  We lost power early on and I was afraid we wouldn't get up on time but we did.  There were news posts on Facebook that said that our area wouldn't get power until Thursday morning, but thanks to all the hard working tree and power companies, we got home Wednesday afternoon to the power back on and the promise of a hot shower. 
     I was planning on wrapping up the Mascommah articles this week but I ran into a few snags.  I really don't want to post the whole land deed here, but the part of the deed that describes the boundaries of the land fascinate me.  The deed describes the land by stating,

"to the north of Fort Dummer bounded as follows – viz – south of the mouth of a brook emptying itself into the Connecticut River on the East side of said river about three quarters of a mile below the Great Meadow so called near against which near the west side of said river is a large ledge of rocks called the white rocks extending up said river and bounded north at the mouth of a brook on the west side of said river emptying itself into said river between two and three miles above the great meadow aforesaid, against the second island in said river north of said great meadow extending east twenty miles from said river and west also twenty miles, into the wilderness." The easiest way to read the whole deed is to google "Mascommah" and click on "Indian Deeds of Hampden County by Harry Andrew Wright.  The deed that I am quoting is the deed entitled "Southern Vermont and New Hampshire".

     After studying the deed for days, and following the Connecticut River from Brattleboro to Bellows Falls on Google Earth, and studying a map of the Connecticut River, my husband, The Old Redneck, and I decided that we would take a canoe from Walpole, New Hampshire to Brattleboro, and look for these sites.  Now, the Old Redneck is pretty much game for anything, but he is getting sick of hearing about Mascommah.  But he was pretty much into the idea of looking for these boundaries.  Except that.....on the appointed day, when we got to the put in site at Walpole, and we unloaded the canoe and were going to go to Brattleboro to drop the truck off and return to Walpole in the car, he said, "Weeeeelllllll, the truck has a tire that is worn all the way down to the threads and I'm not sure it will make it to Brattleboro. Why don't we just paddle down river, see if we can find the island boundary, then paddle back and go to Brattleboro after we replace the tire?"

        "So we're going to paddle back against the current?"

        "Sure, it won't be that hard."

         So we set out down the river in the canoe to look for the second island, the one with the brook on the west side emptying itself against the river.  And we're positive we found it, and took pictures.  The ride down the river was amazing.  It really does seem like you are on a highway, not unlike Rte 91 in that the sides are the same on both sides.  The river is surrounded by a thick, unbroken green underbrush and tall trees.  We were on the river alone that day and it was easy to imagine how it was in Mascommah's day.  It's completely understandable why they would use the places the brooks come in as markers for boundaries, because these are clear breaks in the wall of green coming up from the river, much like our highway exits.  I bet the Indians used these brook inlets as exits, too,  It makes perfect sense.  Mascommah and the other Schaghticoke Indians travelled up and down the Connecticut River to trade with the English at Fort Dummer, and they knew these brook outlets as well as we know the exits on the interstates. 

     Although we didn't get all the way down the river, we were excited to find the island and the brook inlet from the deed, and we had a great time.  At one point my husband was explaining how to steer the canoe  "feathering" with the paddle.  He said, "You know how I know that?"

       "How?"

        "Mascommah showed me how to do that.  In a vision."

        Another time, he reached into the cooler and pulled out a Michelob Ultra (due to carb issues) and said, "Cheers, Chief Mascommah.  Here's to firewater.

        "Hey, no way.  Mascommah was alcohol free."

        " Ah, maybe he partook of the hemp."

        "Are you kidding me?  No way.  He was substance free."

        Truly, I guess we'll never know.  That's the great thing about history.  He can imagine a partying Mascommah and I can imagine a virtuous fearless leader.

     Since then, I have done some more research and we now know that the "Great Meadow" refers to what is now Putney, so the south boundary must be south of Putney.  Next weekend, we are going to take another canoe trip putting in at Putney and getting out in Hinsdale to see if we can find the other boundary. In the meantime, we have to replace that one dead tire on the truck.