The 1838 Battle Of Caribou

Black bear plays key part in the conflict

by John Murray

During the winter of 1838 in the forest landmass which would later become the city of Caribou, a verbal conflict had erupted between two groups of armed men. These armed men were loggers who were competing for timber territory. Unbeknownst to the men, a nearby bear would play a key part in the conflict that would be the catalyst for the Aroostook War.

This bear was a female, and by all reported accounts was quite a large specimen. None of the involved men were aware that the female black bear had previously crawled underneath the remains of a large fallen tree. Upon settling within a crevice underneath the collapsed tree, the bear’s eyes were weary, and her urge to sleep was strong. It was nearing the end of December, and a typical black bear in northern Maine would have already settled into the long slumber of winter hibernation. Curled tightly up against her body was a cub bear, which the mother had given birth to during the last winter. The cub was one fourth the size of the mother bear, and the rapid continuous growth rate of the cub meant that the cub was always hungry. This insatiable hunger of the cub was directly linked to

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the delayed hibernation of the mother bear. Nature required her to build up a body mass of fat, which was necessary to sustain her throughout the long winter hibernation period. It was only recently that the mother black bear had finally accomplished this feat of acquiring the required body mass. The delay in hibernation occurred because the mother bear actually had the dual task of harvesting food for both herself and the dependent cub. A sudden sound of angry human voices startled the mother black bear from her drowsiness. Her sensitive ears twitched to locate the source of the nearby human presence. Raising her nose into the air, she sniffed her acute nose into the air above her. The scent of human was strong in the air, and she recoiled in fright. Previous encounters with humans solidified the fact that these smelly two legged creatures were a direct threat, and she knew that she had to rapidly leave the area. Emerging quickly from underneath the fallen tree, she vocally huffed at her lingering cub, who was still underneath the tree due to confusion about the actions of the mother bear.

The source of the human voices were emitting from the agitated shouts which consisted of two different groups of loggers. One group of loggers was from Maine, and the other group of loggers were from New Brunswick. Cutting timber was the lumberjack’s livelihood, and both groups were in direct competition for the valuable timber. To complicate matters, the lumberjacks from Maine and New Brunswick each considered the immediate area in Aroostook County to be their rightful property.

Confusion of the disputed border between the two countries originated back to the American Revolutionary War, and the vague matter established by the treaty of Paris as to where the true border actually was between America and New Brunswick. The British would occupy the landmass in question and other areas along eastern Maine for nearly eight months during the War Of 1812, and were intending to permanently claim the area as British territory during this time. After the war of 1812 ended, the treaty of Ghent reverted back to the vague border established by the treaty of Paris.

A language barrier between Maine and New Brunswick was further complicating matters between the competing lumberjacks and their dual claim for the disputed land. The majority of the lumberjacks from New Brunswick spoke French, and the Maine lumberjacks spoke English. Tensions were high, and each group of lumberjacks from the different borders had started to arm themselves with muskets after previous confrontations. On this fateful day of December 29, 1838, the tensions between the armed lumberjacks would

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(cont. from page 23) boil over, and would be directly linked to the mother black bear, adding fuel to the fire.

Upon their encounter in the woods, both groups of lumberjacks from the different countries were yelling verbal threats, along with pointing their muskets in a menacing manner to prompt the other men to leave the area. Historians speculate that neither group was likely to fire upon the other as these verbal challenges were made, but the mother black bear and cub would drastically change the equation.

Upon emerging from underneath the fallen tree, the mother black bear broke into a run to put space between her and the encroaching human threat of the nearby New Brunswick lumberjacks. Fully expecting her cub to be following directly behind, the mother bear skidded to a dead stop, then rotated in reverse when she heard her cub cry out in fear. Probably due to confusion of the mother’s sudden actions to bolt, the cub was left behind, and three of the New Brunswick lumberjacks had inadvertently approached the location of the black bear cub.

Mother black bears are fiercely protective of their cubs, and this protectiveness is dramatically increased when the mother believes the cub is in danger. Instinctively, the mother black bear ran quickly towards the three New Brunswick lumberjacks who had mistakenly put themselves in the space between the mother and her cub in distress. Huffing loudly as a verbal threat to the New Brunswick loggers, the mother went into a full speed run and knocked one of the lumberjacks to the ground, then turned her rage towards the other two men.

The New Brunswick lumberjacks were completely caught off guard by the sudden attack of the angry black bear. Black bears were fairly common in the forested areas of the north woods, but they were never active during the winter months due to their need to hibernate. Both of the French speaking New Brunswick lumberjacks shouted “Ours!” in a frightened surprise — which translates to “Bear” in English — and unsuccessfully attempted to flee from the charging black bear. Another logger was pummeled to the forest floor by the raging bear and mauled. The third logger screamed “Ours!” again to alert the other New Brunswick lumberjacks, and fired his musket at the angry bear.

Totally unaware of the black bear attack that was occurring nearby, the Maine lumberjacks heard the yells of “Ours!” — which they mistakenly assumed the New Brunswick lumberjacks were angrily shouting that the disputed

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land belonged to them, and then were shocked to hear the accompanying musket shot — that they rightfully believed was fired in their direction.

In a defensive response, the Maine lumberjacks fired their muskets at the New Brunswick lumberjacks. With the combined chaos of the attacking black bear and the gunfire from the Maine lumberjacks, the entire group of New Brunswick lumberjacks retreated to safety. No one was injured by the resulting gunfire, but the two New Brunswick lumberjacks had sustained injuries from the black bear attack. In the aftermath, each group of lumberjacks informed their respective government officials with different versions of what had occurred, and a militia was rapidly formed by both countries. The events that had transpired would become known as the battle of Caribou.

Shortly thereafter, the governor of Maine ordered the arrest of the timber thieves from New Brunswick, and when the government land agent from Maine crossed the border in question to do this, he was taken into custody by the New Brunswick lumberjacks. This prompted an international crisis, and several more skirmishes occurred during the next year. The resulting confrontation was called the Aroostook War.

Neither country wanted a war, as it would have dramatically impacted the blossoming trade between the two countries. Senator Daniel Webster was enlisted to settle the matter in a peaceful political matter. In 1842, the Webster — Ashburton treaty was signed, and that agreement formalized the borders that are still in effect today.

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