130 FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 



grants, except one afterwards confirmed by Massachusetts have 

 been held good, as the very fact of this French occupation and 

 claims prevented any effective settlements or grants of this 

 territory during that period when the remainder of the Maine 

 coast was being settled and made the subject of grants. Not 

 until near the close of the war of 1756 — treaty was made in 

 1763 — were any effective settlements or grants made, and even 

 these grants as they required confirmation by the Crown — the 

 trouble preceding the Revolution coming on and preventing 

 same — were not confirmed until after 1783, and then by Massa- 

 chusetts. 



French Occupation. 



The coast of Maine was a bone of contention between Eng- 

 land and France for over two hundred years, both claiming it 

 by right of discovery. By a Royal Patent November 8, 1603, 

 Henry IV of France granted Acadia to De Monts being all the 

 territory between the fortieth and the forty-sixth degrees of 

 northern latitude — Cape Breton to the Hudson. A settlement 

 was made on the St. Croix as early as 1604. A Jesuit settlement 

 was made at Mt. Desert in May of 1613. These settlements 

 were destroyed by Captain Argall and a fleet of fishing vessels 

 from Virginia. Settlements were made as far east as the 

 Penobscot — Castine. 



The eastern coast of Maine followed the fortunes of Acadia, 

 being alternately in the possession of England and France, and 

 having its coast continually ravaged and its settlements broken 

 up by the numerous wars between those two countries. During 

 this period England held without much contention the coast as 

 far east as the Kennebec, and France the coast from the Penob- 

 scot, except those periods when England was in possession of 

 same by treaties; the coast in between was always a subject for 

 dispute between them. 



The treaty of St. Germains March 20, 1632, ceded Acadia to 

 France. In 1655 the Province was confirmed to the English 

 who held it for thirteen years. By treaty of Breda July 31, 1667, 

 Acadia was again ceded to France. Her agents extended their 

 jurisdiction westward to the Penobscot, and laid claims to the 

 coast as far west as the Kennebec. By the treaty of Utrecht 

 March 30, 1713, Acadia again come into possession of the Eng- 



