Foundation seeks recognition of Aroostook War

LINCOLN – The Aroostook War was a defining moment for the state of Maine, quite literally, and the names that populate its history are among the most illustrious and most commonly found names in the state.

Chamberlain. Cummings. Michaud. Small. Batchelder. Chase. Towle. Black.

That’s why The 1837 Foundation of Northern Maine announced plans at the town office on Tuesday to begin a campaign and memorial drive for national recognition of the route the Aroostook War expeditionary militia took as it journeyed north to defend this nation’s borders against incursion from Great Britain.

The group hopes to create and achieve national recognition for the route, which started at the militia’s rendezvous site in Lincoln and ended at the site of the defensive breastworks in Masardis, Aroostook County, said Roxanne J. Munksgaard, the foundation’s executive director.

The group also yearns to create a battlefield memorial and assorted gift shops, historical displays and memorabilia at a site yet to be determined, Munksgaard said.

“We envision it as a sort of mini-Gettysburg,” Munksgaard said Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, who attended the press conference in Lincoln and whose forefathers helped the militia to organize, said he supported the plan and would work to get federal funding allocated for it.

“We have in the past provided funding for certain trails of an historic nature, like this one,” Michaud said. “This will definitely be a high priority on my list.”

The war is generally defined as an undeclared confrontation in 1838-39 between Americans and the United Kingdom regarding the international boundary between British North America and the United States. The dispute resulted in a mutually accepted boundary between the present-day state of Maine and provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.

It is often referred to as a bloodless conflict, a notion disputed by Roberta Williams of LaGrange, chief researcher and genealogist for the Bangor-based foundation. It was a war with fighting and casualties, she said.

Recognition and funding for the effort are likely to take at least a year, Michaud said.

Among the group’s next steps: to seek scenic byway status for the route and to meet with local governments and historical societies along the route to gain support for their efforts, Munksgaard said.

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