The Museum in the Streets

An endless quest for riches brought Europeans to the Kennebec River by 1607 and to Augusta by 1625. In 1628, the Plymouth (Massachusetts) Colony constructed Cushnoc Trading Post on the Kennebec riverbank at the head of navigation, and active trade began with the Abenaki people in the area. Wealth gained from central Maine's fur-bearing animals helped the Colony pay off debt to their English sponsors. By 1661, Cushnoc was no longer profitable, so the post and patent granting trading rights were sold to four Boston merchants who continued sporadic trade for fourteen years. Continued English encroachment and Abenaki efforts to preserve their way of life led to increased conflict on the Maine frontier—conflict that would last for over 80 years.
C'est la poursuite insatiable de richesse qui mena les Européens au fleuve Kennebec en 1607 et à Augusta en 1625. En 1628, la colonie de Plymouth (Massachusetts) construisit le comptoir commercial de Cushnoc sur la berge du Kennebec à la limite de la navigation et commenca un commerce florissant avec la population Abénaki de la région. La richesse acquise par le commerce de la fourrure au centre du Maine permit à la Colonie de s'acquitter de ses dettes envers ses promoteurs anglais. En 1661, Cushnoc n'était plus profitable, alors le magasin et la licence commerciale furent
vendus à quatre marchands de Boston qui y firent un commerce sproadique pendant quartorze ans. L'empiètement continu des Anglais sur les Abénakis et les efforts de ces derniers pour préserver leur mode de vie occasionnaient de nombreux conflits à la frontière du Maine - des conflits qui durèrent plus de 80 ans.
[Illustration caption reads]
Sketch of trading post from the cover of Cushnoc: The History and Archaeology of Plymouth Colony Traders on the Kennebec, by Leon Crannec

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Show me all markers in:  Sidney, ME  |  Kennebec County  |  04330  |  Maine  |  United States of America

1775 Quebec Expedition
Cushnoc Trading Post
Gunshots Reverberate on the Kennebec / Des coups de fusil résonnent sur le fleuve Kennebec
Birds and Fish of the Kennebec
Old Fort Western / Le vieux Fort Western
First Kennebec Bridge / Le premier pont du Kennebec
Sousa the nonpariel / L'incomparable Souza
Steamboat Landing / L'embarquement des bateaux à vapeur
Old Fort Western on the Kennebec
The Great Fire / Le Grand incendie

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