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By John McDonald
The column I wrote on icebergs recently prompted several interesting emails, including this one from Edith in Port Clyde.
She writes: “John, I enjoyed your column on icebergs. I’m sure you’re aware from reading Maine history that our rocky coastline is a product of mile-high glaciers which, as they melted, created its share of icebergs. The last glacier to slide slowly over what would become Maine managed to cut hundreds of inlets and bays out of what had been a straight coastline.”
Thanks for the email, Edith. You are right in saying Maine’s picturesque coastline was created by the mile-high glaciers that covered and then slid over our state. As difficult as it is to believe, Edith, the glaciers did all that creative coastal carving without one high-priced design consultant or even a facilitator. Once the ice was gone the first human inhabitants — known as Red Paint people — began arriving in Maine, getting some great waterfront real estate buys in the process, I might add.
Their name came from their custom of lining the graves of their dead with red paint. As you might expect, some historians first wanted to call them the Sherwin-Williams people; others, not to be outdone, insisted we call them the Tru-Value Hardware people. Regardless of what they’re called, two things about the Red Paint people are indisputable — they were the first people here and they were really into paint.
As for Europeans, the first of that lot supposedly arrived here in Maine 500 years before Admiral Columbus. Leif Ericson and a hearty crew of Vikings are believed to have sailed along the coast of Maine around the year 1,000 or so. We’re pretty sure they were here because they left behind an ancient Norse coin found on the ground in front of what historians assume was an equally ancient, malfunctioning vending machine.
Because Massachusetts hadn’t even been invented yet, real estate prices along the coast of Maine in the year 1000 were quite reasonable and the Vikings even considered building a settlement here. Some historians believe early environmentalists might have put the kibosh on the settlement plans. They also assume that this was the first use of the word “kibosh” in the New World.
Historians also say they don’t think any more Europeans came through these waters until around 1498, six years after the Great Admiral “discovered” the New World. That European was John Cabot, who may have sailed around Maine’s shoreline around that time. He was an Italian explorer being paid for his efforts by King Henry VII of England. The problem with Cabot’s 15th century visit is he left no records — he didn’t send one postcard.
There may have been a few European ships visiting these waters briefly around 1600, but as far as we know, all they did is come ashore to make repairs and process their fish catches. The first Europeans to come ashore in Maine to stay established Popham in 1607. If that date sounds familiar it should; 1607 was the same year the folks in Jamestown, Va., arrived to build their settlement. Not surprisingly, the Popham colonists didn’t survive the first harsh Maine winter and headed for Florida, becoming America’s first snow birds.
There were more than a few English settlements that tried to get something going here in the 1600s, but not surprisingly they couldn’t take the cold weather. Frequent Indian attacks didn’t make it any easier. A lot of people think our “thing” with Massachusetts is a recent development in our history. It isn’t. It goes way back. By the early 1700s, our neighbors in Massachusetts had bought up most of the land titles in what was called Maine’s wilderness territory, a predicament that would continue until 1820, when Maine become our nation’s 23rd state.
This may be more information than you wanted to know, Edith, but once I started writing, I found it difficult to stop. If you have any questions just let me know.
Maine storyteller John McDonald is the author of several bestselling books including “The Maine Dictionary,” “A Moose and a Lobster Walk into a Bar” and “John McDonald’s Maine Trivia.” His latest book, “Moose Memoirs and Lobster Tails,” is a sequel to “A Moose and a Lobster.” McDonald also entertains throughout New England, telling his Maine stories at banquets, conventions, conferences and other special events. Contact him at 207 899 1868 or maineauthorjohn.mcdonald@yahoo.com
