Davis writes to General Blake in his capacity as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, concerning the fishing rights to Shad Island, as well as other unnamed islands, which had apparently been ceded to Native Americans that year. However, Davis promises future legal action in the dispute to recover what he considers his rights to possession of these islands.

       “Dear Sir,

           Yours of the 23^d Ins^t. inclosing the agreement of Mr. Treat and others by which the right to fish on Shad Island is surrendered to the Indians, for this year, has been duly rec^d – I am so far satisfied with this arrangement, that I shall take no further measures to recover possession of this or the other Islands, until after the next Session of the General Court. I expect, however, that early application will be made to the next Legislature, and something finally be done, by Mr. Treat and others, or I shall consider myself obligated to carry into effect the provisions of the last Resolves and I consent to this delay, wholly upon your Representation that the “Indians will be satisfied with Shad Island for thus year” –

Your Ob Serv^t

Daniel Davis

      P.S. I presume you will be vigilant in executing the provisions of the late resolve for the preservation of the timber upon the publick lands on your river – I shall be ready and happy to advise you at all times upon the subject of your duty – But as the powers given you by the resolve are so full your duty will be extremely plain in future.

D. Davis”

          Daniel Davis was a prominent lawyer, state legislator, and government official of Maine when that easternmost territory of the United States was still part of the state of Massachusetts. A died-in-the-wool Federalist, Davis had been appointed by President John Adams US Attorney for Maine, a position he gave up after Thomas Jefferson’s election, moving to Boston to become Solicitor General of Massachusetts, in which sinecure he wrote a shelf of legal treatises and saw Maine “secede” from Massachusetts to become a state in its own right. This letter was written by Davis as lawyer for Massachusetts, which had sold to Major Joseph Treat, an Army officer and surveyor, several islands off the coast of Maine, with the proviso that the Penosbscot Indians, who considered this their ancestral home, could continue to fish from the islands for Shad.

               Acting on behalf of the Indians was their “Agent” – that is, the representative selected for them by the white government – Superintendent of Indian Affairs John Blake, a wealthy man who also held the rank of General in the Maine Militia. The Indians actually despised Blake and spent two decades trying, in vain, to get him replaced. That they failed was remarkable considering what became of Blake three months after he received this letter, when war broke out between the United States and Great Britain.

            The largely undefended eastern region of Maine was occupied by British forces, planning to annex the entire territory to Canada. Open conflict ensued in the spring 1814 when a force of 6,000 British troops and 5 warships assembled in Nova Scotia and began their campaign of conquest by attacking the town of Castine on the eastern coast of Penobscot Bay. A small contingent of US Army troops and Marines prepared to fight the invaders, begging Militia General Blake for assistance. He responded by sending 550 militiamen to their aid.  But the untrained troops caught one sight of the Recoats and ran away, leaving Lewis and Morris to save themselves. The British proceeded to occupy the town of Hampden, which Blake chose to defend, against the wishes of the alarmed residents.  After a small battle – small because Blake’s militia men again ran away – the British pillaged the town, while holding the terrorized residents captive, and then withdrew.

           When the War ended, the Hampden locals, who lost much of their property, blamed their misfortunes on the horrendously inefficient General Blake and his cowardly militiamen.  Charged with cowardice and even treason, burned in effigy while his life was threatened, he was eventually court-martialed but acquitted on every charge except one – total incompetence. His exoneration was particularly disappointing to the Indians.  He remained their Agent even after Maine became the 23rd state of the Union. Whether they ever recovered their fishing rights is unknown.