Dummer's War
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Dummer's War (c. 1721-1725), also known as Lovewell's War was a series of battles between the English and French. The war had little organized leadership, and was mostly a series of skirmishes. Exactly which of these should be considered part of the war remains a matter of dispute. The root cause of the conflict was tension over the ownership of American territories in Northern New England. At that time, territorial control was split between the French and English. The French had been the first to explore Maine's Kennebec River, with Samuel Champlain reaching it in 1604.
However, the English began to claim areas along the Kennebec through homesteading. This unsettled the French, who allied with the Abenaki Indians to launch raids against the settlers. To defend against these attacks, the English built Fort Dummer in 1724. The fort was named after Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor William Dummer, who was acting governor at the time. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont. It was located near present-day Brattleboro, Vermont. The French were based at Norridgewock, an Abenaki village on the Kennebec. A Jesuit missionary named Sebastian Rasles led that settlement, while an Abenaki named Grey Lock led the raids.
The war began when on August 23, 1724, in response to an Abenaki attack, Captain Jeremiah Moultan led eighty men of the Massachusetts Bay militia and some Mohawk Indians on a raid against Norridgewock. They killed seven Abenaki chiefs, along with Sebastien Rasle. The attack ended with a successful capture of the French settlement. The English had casualties of two militia-men and one Mohawk. Dummer's War is notable because it is the first American conflict during which authorities offered bounties for scalps. The bounty was £100 per head, which adjusted for inflation, is about US $20,000 (£10,000).
Seeking this generous reward, explorer John Lovewell led an expedition to the Winnipiscogee lake region on December 19, 1724. He succeeded in killing and scalping an Indian, and took one child prisoner. Later, at Tamworth, New Hampshire, he and 40 others ambushed and scalped 10 more. During his last Indian expedition, Lovewell died in a fight against the Pigwacket at Fryeburg, Maine, on May 8, 1725.
On April 18, 1725 a Captain Wells and his company of rangers made only the third ascent of Mount Washington then know as Agiocochook while on patrol in northern New Hampshire.
