Most of us who were participating in Saturday's massacre were staying at the
Friday night, May 17, myself included.
The fort has a way of bringing out a great sense of camaraderie in the people there, and our host Jon Soule always
makes sure we are well fed and have enough to drink (of all sorts of stuff). I had brought two bottles of shrub, which
I was happy to share with everyone. That Friday evening we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, which reflected on the
wood of the fort walls and made for a really lovely picture.
Click on the thumbnails below to see the real picture.
I heard it rain early in the morning but when I finally got up, the rain had turned to snow -- it was May 17 and we
had snow!! It probably the first snowfall I had seen in more than 15 months, so I was very happy to see it (our
winter in lower NY having been entirely devoid of snow). Obviously, we worried about the weather stopping
the reenactment, but it as the snow began to let up later in the
morning, the green light was given for a 2:00 massacre.
Click on the thumbnails below to see the real picture.
My biggest concern was having enough warm clothes, as I really
had not planned on this weather! Fortunately, enough guys had warm clothes to lend me (wool stockings, a big wool weskit,
a big grey wool hunting shirt...) that I was pretty toasty. So shortly after 12:00 noon, we piled into our cars
and headed out to Salmon Hole. Our numbers ended up pretty diminished, though, as many people assumed we would cancel because
of the snow and they made other plans. The Indians in particular backed out, which was too bad. Only Med Chandler showed
up to represent les Sauvages.
The event itself was organized by Rob Rowell and
his wife Sue who live not far away and who have long had an interest
in what happened at Salmon Hole -- one of a great many such massacres during
the mid-18th century. Rob began serious research on the history during 2001
and began to coordinate a reenactment, including bringing in Jon Soule,
commander of the Royal Roussillion for the French and Indians. Also, Rob
could not have pulled this off without considerable help and interest from
the Salmon Hole caretaker and his wife, Dennis and Linda Rosa, and their
staff of Rae Marie, Paul, and Melissa. Thanks so much from all of us to
all of them, for their help and their photos!!!
The park has a variety of camping areas where we considered staying on Friday night, but it was supposed
to be quite cold that night, so most of us stayed at the
for the weekend. We all rendezvoused at
about 1:00pm Saturday the 18th. The leaders scouted the area, and we kicked off
the reenactment at 2:00. The Rowells, with Ali and Flint, had arrived earlier
and Sue was in the process of roasting a huge ham on a spit over a fire.
The Salmon Hole area was a nice location.
(Click here to see a map of the area.)
The trees, shrubs and grass reflected by their bright and fresh greenery just how
new spring was to the area. Salmon Hole still exists and the brochure says it is used for swimming today. That
May 18 was MUCH too cold for swimming. Because of recent rains (and snow earlier that morning),
the water seemed to be running a bit high, higher than we would have liked, as we had only a little bit of the bank to
work with. But we had to be on the bank, so we worked with what we had.
Rob took the role of Capt. Melvin, leading a small group of British militia,
while the French commander was Jon Soule. His Indian ally that day was Med Chandler. The rest of us were
either French soldiers (and one milice) or British militia coming south from Fort at No. 4 in New Hampshire to Fort Dummer.
Captain Melvin's Report written by Rob begins with the following:
I awoke the morning of May 18 to see snow falling outside my window.
Fortunately for me I was in a warm bed and not out on the track of the West River
making my way back from Lake Champlain like Captain Eleazer Melvin in May of 1748.
Now the doubts came to mind, it was the day of the First Annual Salmon Hole Massacre
at the exact spot it happened on May 31, 1748 and the first time I ever tried to organize a
reenactment myself. Commitments being commitments I rolled out of bed and into my 18th Century Provincial
dress, brown breeches, TWO pair of thigh high wool stockings, center seam moccasins, shirt, wool waistcoat,
covered by a green linen hunting shirt and a wide leather belt. We loaded the museum wedge tent and awning
into the truck, fastened the poles on the roof and fortunately got a phone call from Jon Soule at
the Fort at No. 4 confirming he and a crew of hardy reenactors were indeed on their way. Thank the Almighty,
this was going to happen.
Salmon Hole in the West River
A little background, I read about the Salmon Hole Massacre when I was about 11 years old and that
started a lifelong fascination with the struggle between the French and the English for control of
North America, which culminated in the French and Indian war that ran from 1755 to 1763 and my
immersion in Living History for the last several years.
So off to Jamaica State Park with my daughter Ali, both in our 18th Century clothing stopping
only at the turn off Route 30 to the park to grab the old axe and fasten a sign to a pole.
The sight of a man so dressed with wild shoulder-length hair carrying an axe on the roadside
in the rain did draw some concerned stares from passersby. When you reenact for a
hobby you get used to those!
At the park we were greeted by Dennis and Linda Rosa who are the stewards of the site.
They were glad to see us having worried we would cancel due to the increasingly inclement
weather. The park staff was extremely helpful and built us a roaring fire while Ali and
I pitched the big white canvas tent and awning in the cold drizzle. At least the snow had
stopped. After warming up a bit by the fire I went down to the river to look over the site
for the battle. By this time my feet were squishing inside my moccasins, and they wouldn't be
dry again until much, much later. The river was high but there was plenty of flat space
at the edge for the English to make their way down just as they had 254 years earlier and
there was terrific cover for the French and their Indian allies to lie in wait. Perfect!
All I needed now were those very same English, French, and Indians!!!
Time passed at the camp site with me nervously checking my wrist sundial (hard to read in
the rain), people weren't showing yet and I was starting to feel much the same desperation
the Capt. Melvin must have felt when the muskets began firing at him from the woods. I mean,
what if I really did give a war and nobody came? My wife Sue and young squire Flint arrived
with the kitchen equipment, we skewered a 20 pound ham and placed it over the coals. Sue's job
now was to slowly cook it while basting it with Maple Syrup to feed a crew of cold, wet,
and hungry reenactors. The air filled with the smell of ham roasting over a wood fire, things
were looking up.
Lo and behold, a line of cars pulled in and the French, an Indian, and the rest of my English
Provincials piled out. All old friends and acquaintances I was glad to see for many reasons,
my season of reenacting was beginning!
So we did it, I hiked up river a bit with the English while the French got into position and
then after a proper interval we made our way downstream. Then it hit, the moments I live for
in this avocation, the reenacting moment when I look around, see where I am, how I'm dressed
and what I'm doing and go "WOW, this is what it was like, right here, back then!!!" Suddenly
I was Capt. Eleazer Melvin out on sortie from Fort Dummer.
