FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 53 



So firmly fixed had become this custom, that in later years, 

 when ]\Iaine had become a separate state, her citizens depended 

 largely upon the revenue from the wild lands. For years 

 the new state depended upon the sales of lands and 

 timber for money to pay current expenses. Public institutions, 

 like schools and colleges, were endowed with lands, citizens were 

 by this means helped individually and collectively, and, when 

 the state house was constructed, twelve townships of land were 

 sold by act of the legislature, the proceeds being used for the 

 erection of the building. 



Even after Maine became a state little was known of the great 

 tracts of lands in the northern and eastern sections. Very 

 erroneous opinions were held in relation to the value of these 

 lands. Some considered they were of little value, and others 

 looked upon them as being very rich in resources. It is an 

 interesting fact that, when the famous Bingham purchase was 

 made in 1793, the price per acre was only 12 1-2 cents an acre. 

 This tract comprised 1,000,000 acres on the Kennebec, and 

 1,107,396 between the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy. In 

 1816, one supposed to be an authority, in writing of this tract, 

 said : "In the tract on the Kennebec are a few good townships, 

 but most of it is mountainous and barren." This man estimated 

 that the land was not worth over 17 cents an acre, and declared 

 its entire value was not over 12 cents per acre. 



In later times the wild lands were not regarded as being of 

 what might be termed great value. In i860 a commission was 

 appointed by the legislature to ascertain the number of acres 

 of land in the State and its value. The chairman, E. Wells, 

 reported as follows on the lands in the eight counties where the 

 most of them were located : 



Counties. Acres. Valuation. 



Aroostook 2,859,497 $679,921 



Franklin 428,520 88,350 



Hancock 344,520 210,875 



Oxford 271,934 57.500 



Penobscot 847,442 167,100 



Piscataquis 1,768.683 374.575 



Somerset 1,190,425 259.020 



Washington 762,840 447,645 



Grand total 8,473,861 $2,284,986 



