The Line of Forts: Historical Archaeology on the Colonial Frontier of Massachusetts

by Coe, Michael D.

• ISBN13: 9781584655428
• ISBN10: 1584655429
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-06-30
• Publisher: Univ Pr of New England

Summary

During the mid-eighteenth century, colonists constructed a line of forts along the northwest boundary of Massachusetts as a defense against the French and their Indian allies. Many of these "forts" were simply reinforced houses. Of the three major forts in the line, one, Fort Massachusetts, is now buried beneath a parking lot in North Adams. Of the two remaining forts, Fort Shirley in the town of Heath was excavated by Michael D. Coe of Yale University; the other, Fort Pelham in Rowe, was excavated by Daniel Ingersoll of the University of Massachusetts. To the casual observer, the sites might not seem significant--but as Coe argues, two circumstances make these forts more important to the study of eighteenth-century life in the American colonies than their modest size would indicate. First, their period of occupation was extremely short: they were built in 1744, abandoned in 1754, and never used again. Thus, they give a unique snapshot of the material culture of the time. Second, the Line of Forts is abundantly documented. The Williams family of western Massachusetts (chief among the "River Gods," the group of elite families who people Coe's story) controlled most of the colony from the Connecticut River valley west to the New York line. The Williamses were the forts' leading officers and ran their commissaries. This powerful family left voluminous documents that provide a unique window into daily life on the Massachusetts frontier and help interpret what was found in the remains of the forts. From Williams family archives and artifacts from Fort Shirley and Fort Pelham, Coe weaves a rich drama. His tale comprises the final standoff between New England's English settlers and Native Americans, the ideological conflict between Calvinistic Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, the occasional frictions between colonial militia and the British regular army, and the larger struggle between England and France for North America.

Author Biography

MICHAEL D. COE is Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, at Yale University. He was for many years Chairman of the Council on Archaeological Studies at Yale. Renowned in the field of Mayan anthropology and archaeology, Coe has written over a dozen books on Mesoamerican archaeology and culture. His most recent book is Angkor and the Khymer Civilization (2005).

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(6)
The River Gods	3	(2)
The Forts	5	(1)
The Documents	5	(2)
The Natural Setting	7	(9)
Geology and Landscape	7	(1)
Climate	8	(2)
Flora	10	(1)
Fauna	11	(5)
General History of the Conflict	16	(36)
The Indian Background	16	(2)
King William's War (1690--1697)	18	(1)
Queen Anne's War (1702--1713)	19	(2)
The False Peace (1713--1744)	21	(2)
King George's War (1744--1748)	23	(1)
The Building of Fort Shirley and Fort Pelham	24	(4)
The Siege and Capture of Louisbourg	28	(1)
The Building of Fort Massachusetts	29	(2)
The Fall of Fort Massachusetts in 1746	31	(3)
The Rebuilding of Fort Massachusetts	34	(2)
The Second Attack on Fort Massachusetts	36	(2)
Another Peace (1748--1754)	38	(2)
The French and Indian War (1754--1763) Begins	40	(3)
Fort Massachusetts and Crown Point	43	(2)
The Dark Days	45	(2)
Turn of the Tide and the Close of the War	47	(2)
The End of the Line of Forts	49	(3)
Fort Shirley	52	(23)
Construction and Occupation of the Fort	52	(1)
Post-abandonment History of Fort Shirley	53	(4)
Surface Features	57	(3)
Excavations and Stratigraphy	60	(2)
Excavation of the Well	62	(6)
Interpretation of the Excavated Well and Its Construction	68	(2)
Architecture and Activity Areas	70	(5)
Fort Pelham	75	(15)
Post-abandonment History of the Site	75	(3)
Surface Features of the Site	78	(1)
Excavations and Stratigraphy	79	(2)
The ``Powder Magazine''	81	(3)
The Well	84	(1)
The ``Garden'' Area	84	(1)
Artifact Density and Distribution	85	(2)
Architecture and Activity Areas	87	(3)
The Artifacts of Shirley and Pelham	90	(27)
Prefatory Remarks	90	(1)
Ceramics	90	(3)
Glass	93	(2)
Table Implements	95	(3)
Jackknives	98	(1)
Clay Smoking Pipes	98	(3)
Coins	101	(2)
Clothing Hardware	103	(1)
Miscellaneous Brass Artifacts	103	(2)
Bone or Ivory Comb	105	(1)
Tin-plated Iron Artifacts	106	(1)
Miscellaneous Iron Artifacts	106	(3)
Lead	109	(3)
Gunflints	112	(1)
The Wood in Shirley's Well	112	(1)
Overview	113	(4)
Daily Life in the Line of Forts	117	(17)
The People in the Forts	117	(2)
Material Culture	119	(2)
Military Artifacts	121	(1)
Food and Drink	121	(4)
Health and Sanitation	125	(2)
Recreation and Self-improvement	127	(2)
Religion on the Massachusetts Frontier	129	(5)
Summary and Conclusions	134	(85)
The Patronage Pyramid	134	(2)
The Consumer Revolution on the Massachusetts Frontier	136	(2)
Social Differentiation	138	(1)
The Line of Forts as a Real Estate Venture	139	(2)
Aftermath: Twilight of the River Gods	141	(6)
Appendixes
Military Foodways at Fort Pelham, a Faunal Analysis (by Joanne Bowen)	147	(22)
Paleobotanical Remains	169	(5)
Forts in the Line and Related Forts	174	(2)
Biographical Sketches	176	(19)
John Hawks's Journal	195	(24)
Bibliography	219	(8)
Index	227