he St. John river tribe
in May, 1728, was fairly observed by the Indians until war was
declared between England and France in 1744.

During this war the St. John river was much used as a means of
communication between Quebec and the French settlements of Acadia,
smart young Indians with light birch canoes being employed to carry
express messages, and on various occasions large parties of French and
Indians travelled by this route from the St. Lawrence to the Bay of
Fundy. The Indian villages of Medoctec and Aukpaque afforded
convenient stopping places.

In the year 1746 a great war party, including the Abenakis of Quebec
as well as their kinsmen of the upper St. John, arrived at Aukpaque.
Thence they took their way in company with the missionary Germain to
Chignecto. They had choice of two routes of travel, one by way of the
Kennebecasis and Anagance to the Petitcodiac, the other by way of the
Washademoak lake and the Canaan to the same river. As the war
proceeded the Maliseets actively supported their old allies the
French. Some of them took part in the midwinter night attack, under
Coulon de Villiers, on Colonel Noble's post at Grand Pre. The English
on this occasion were taken utterly by surprise; Noble himself fell
fighting in his shirt, and his entire party were killed, wounded or
made prisoners. From the military point of view this was one of the
most brilliant exploits in the annals of Acadia, and, what is better,
the victors behaved with great humanity to the vanquished.

The missionaries le Loutre and Germain were naturally very desirous of
seeing French supremacy restored in Acadia and the latter proposed an
expedition against Annapolis. With that end in view he proceeded to
Quebec and returned with a supply of powder, lead and ball for his
Maliseet warriors. However, in October, 1748, the peace of Aix la
Chapelle put a stop to open hostilities.

Immediately after the declaration of peace, Captain Gorham, with his
rangers and a detachment of auxiliaries, proceeded in two ships to the
River St. John and ordered the French inhabitants to send deputies to
Annapolis to give an account of their conduct during the war.

Count de la Galissonniere strongly protested against Gorham's
interference with the Acadians on the St. John, which he described as
"a river situated on the Continent of Canada, and much on this side of
the Kennebec, where by common consent the bounds of New England have
been placed." This utte