He has been described, variously, by local historians as a “Noble Native,” a “skulking bloody savage”, and an “uncompromising foe of the white settlers.” Chief Polin, one of the most controversial and colorful figures from Windham’s early past, was the venerable leader of the 18th century Presumpscot/Sebago Indian band. The historical record suggests he was a smart and highly respected Native leader and feared greatly by the newly settled English inhabitants of the Presumpscot River region and the recently formed township of New Marblehead.
During
the span of the 17th and 18th centuries the great tribes
of the Northeast – Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, Micmac and certain
groups of Abenaki, formed a loose confederation known as the Wabanaki Nation
(Land of the Dawn - when the sun sheds first light on the continent).
Their
language and culture were similar, and all faced the pressures of an
ever-growing European infiltration. Together, they were stronger. As described
by anthropologist Alvin Morrison (mawooshenresearch.com – 2013), there was a “great
deal of Wabanaki rearranging & relocating continually taking place because
of English pushing and French pulling.”
From
about 1675 onward displaced groups and individuals began mixing through
kinship, intermarriage or other reasons. This social fluidity, or Dawnland
Diaspora (Morrison), was evident in the “family” of Natives led by the Sachem
(Sakamo or Chief) Polin who may have taken up seasonal residence on the south
shore of the Sobagw (Sebago Pond). As noted in the last installment of this
series, Polin’s band seems also to have had a home-base near Fryeburg on the
Saco River, or Pigwacket village.
In
times of scarcity or danger the group is known to have repaired to the safety
of a French missionary at St. Francis in Quebec. Because he was from all of
them, Morrison states Polin could properly be called “all of these
(Presumpscot, Pigwacket or St. Francis Ardosagntacook).” But due to the wide,
far-ranging intermingling, the most accurate tribal association for Polin is
probably Wabanaki. He adds they were definitely not Rockameecook or Sokokis.
It
was also because of the splintering bands that there was a call for more
leaders. Known as mobile-managers or circulating-sakamos, Natives such as
Polin, who possessed superior hunting and leadership qualities were called upon
to command small bands, or families. All their locations were seasonal as they
followed nature’s script for sustenance.
For
reasons outlined in previous installments of The Historical Record, Polin felt
compelled to join hostilities against the English in both King George’s War
(1744 -1749) and The French & Indian War (1754 -1756 locally). Although the
wars experienced temporary periods of peace, the inhabitants of New Marblehead,
with aid from the government in Boston, were compelled to build a fort and
stockade where several families lived out the war. Log homes were also
garrisoned for added protection. Local militia units formed to stand guard over
the fort and nearby homes and to accompany farmers into the fields as they
tended crops.
Polin
and his band of warriors entered the area, which today is the vicinity of the
Maine Correctional Center and Parson Smith House. They burned dams along the
Presumpscot and threatened and intimidated the inhabitants by scattering
cattle, damaging property and kidnapping young men.
The
end came on the morning of May 14, 1756. According to Windham historian Samuel
T. Dole (Windham in the Past, 1916), citing oral tradition as the source of his
story, farmers Ezra Brown and Ephraim Winship and eight armed guards (four of
whom were barely out of their teens) left the fort for spring planting on
Brown’s farm, located about one mile east (along today’s Anderson Road).
Familiar with the habits of the settlers, Polin and approximately 12 warriors
waited in thick brush adjacent to the fields. Brown and Winship arrived first
and were opening a gate when Polin fired his musket at Brown, killing him
instantly. A second and third volley took down Winship with a bullet through
his arm and the other destroying sight in one eye. Thinking both were dead, the
warriors advanced from their hiding spots to secure scalps – taking two from
Winship (one from each side of the head.)
Upon
hearing shots and knowing immediately what had happened, the older guards sent
the younger men back to the fort for additional help and raced forward to
confront the attackers. They were Abraham Anderson, Stephen Manchester, Gershom
Winship and Timothy Cloutman, four resolute members of Windham’s founding
families. Blasts of gunfire and soaring arrows ensued. Polin fired at Anderson
from behind a tree and missed, then became briefly exposed to Manchester while
he reloaded.
Taking
quick aim, Manchester fired. In that moment the noble chief, the uncompromising
enemy of the white settler, fell dead. Confused and fearful over the death of
their faithful leader, the remaining Indians yelped with rage – sounds never
again to be heard in these woods. They carried off their dead chief and
wounded, making their successful escape to the southwest shore of Great Sebago
Pond.
The
French & Indian War continued until 1763. But in the Presumpscot watershed
region, fighting stopped due to the death of the noble, uncompromising sachem.
The
solemn burial of the great chief, beneath the roots of a young beech tree, was
memorialized decades later by the poet John Greenleaf Whittier:
They
heave the stubborn trunk aside,
The
firm roots from the earth divide.
The earth beneath yawns dark and wide.
And there the fallen
chief is laid,
In tasseled garbs of
skins arrayed,
And girded with his wampum braid.
‘Tis done: the roots are backward sent,
The beechen tree stands up unbent,
The Indian’s fitting
monument.
No
primary-source documentation exists surrounding the chief’s final battle, and
while the details are quite possibly embellished, the story has remained
unchanged since Windham’s earliest days.
Other
creative myths and legends about Polin, however, have surfaced. He supposedly
stood atop a large rock on the shoreline of Thomas Pond in Casco to address his
band – thus, Pulpit Rock.
Another narrative - unproven, favors Polin as the
namesake for the town of Poland. Still another, which has at least gotten lip
service from at least one professional historian, concerns Polin’s physical
stature. He was said to have been a large man – tall and muscular, sporting a
large jaw. As the story goes, bones believed to be that of an ancient Indian
were unearthed near Sebago shore, possibly during construction of the
Cumberland & Oxford Canal early in the 19th century.
The
skull had a large jaw bone and was rumored to be that of Chief Polin. It was
kept and handed down by generations of a family living near Sebago Basin.
Supposedly, at the insistence of the lady of the house, the skull was re-buried
under a weeping willow overlooking the lake.
The
historian Morrison has speculated that if the story is true and it was the
partial remains of Polin, it’s possible that the Chief suffered from a medical
condition called acromegaly, a rare disease that causes swelling and growth of
some soft organs.
Windham
history buffs, kids and others have always been fascinated by Chief Polin.
Morrison suggests more of the historical record is yet to be discovered and
recommends a merger of the amateur and the professional historian: “Our common
goal should be to try to get Chief Polin and the Presumpscot people out of the
hearsay-shadows and into documentable substance.”
Indeed,
but while we wait, the stories will continue to pique our interest.
Next
time, the pine tree that officially established the northeast boundary of the
new township of New Marblehead. And Windham’s founding family.
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