-11- 



used by the Indians, at least on a seasonal basis 

 (Moorehead, 1931). Because of the island's general 

 inaccessibility it was not readily occupied by the early 

 settlers. They primarily used the island as a source of 

 hay, which was cut from the extensive salt marshes bordering 

 the western edge of the island. This was an extremely 

 valuable asset due to the general lack of open pastures 

 elsewhere in the colony (Jewett, 1949). The early settlers 

 also used the island as a winter grazing area for hogs, 

 horses, cattle, and sheep. During these early years the 

 island was under the jurisdiction of the General Court. In 

 1639 the General Court granted the following towns portions 

 of the island: Ipswich two-fifths, Newbury two-fifths, and 

 Rowley one-fifth (Coffin, 1845; Waters, 1918). Because of 

 the commoners' increasing demand for land, the Town of 

 Ipswich divided its share of the island amongst its 

 residents and it seems that Rowley followed suit (Waters, 

 1918) . It appears that the Town of Newbury maintained 

 ownership of its portion of the island until 1827, when the 

 Town "Proprietors" Committee on undivided lands sold it to 

 Moses Pettingell for $600 (Smith, 1854). 



The unrestricted grazing of animals began to take its 

 toll on the island as early as 1667 (Waters, 1918). In 1679 

 the Selectmen from the Town of Ipswich appealed to the 

 General Court for relief to stop the destruction due to 

 wandering animals owned by residents of Newbury: 



"...the proprietors of Ipswich by reason 

 thereof finding themselves much damnified in 

 that their marshes were trodden to dirt and 

 almost utterly spoiled by a multitude of 

 horses and other cattle put thereon by those 

 of Newbury in the winter to live of what 

 they can get and suffered there to continue 

 till thee middle of May, if no longer which 

 will unavoidably (as experience hath taught 

 us) be the ruin and utter destruction of the 

 whole island, the horses and cattle eating 

 up the grass, that grows upon the sand 

 hills, which gives a stop to the running of 

 the sands in stormy weather, which otherwise 

 would in a very short space cover all the 

 marshes as we have found at Castle Neck. 

 Wherefore we beseech the honored court to 

 prohibit the putting or going of any horses, 

 cattle and so forth, upon the said island 

 and so forth and so forth." (Waters, 1918, 

 p. 11) 



The General Court in 1739 finally passed an Act which made 

 it unlawful to let livestock roam free on the island. The 

 general condition of the vegetation on the island must have 

 become a great concern to the land holders, for they pressed 

 the General Court to also make it unlawful to set fire to 

 the vegetation, apparently a common practice, or to cut down 



