Republic of Indian Stream

Republic of Indian Stream
Unrecognized state
1832–1835
Map showing location of the Republic of Indian Stream.
Capital		Pittsburg, New Hampshire
Languages		English
Government		Republic
President		Luther Parker
Sheriff		Reuben Sawyer
History
•	Independence declared	July 9, 1832
•	Voluntarily annexed by New Hampshire	1835
Area
•	1830
Population
•	1830 est.	300
Density
Preceded by Succeeded by Lower Canada New Hampshire

The Republic of Indian Stream or Indian Stream Republic was an unrecognized constitutional republic in North America, along the section of the US–Canada border that divides the Canadian province of Quebec from the US state of New Hampshire. It existed from July 9, 1832 to 1835. Described as "Indian Stream Territory, so-called" by the United States census-taker in 1830, the area was named for Indian Stream, a small watercourse. It had an organized elected government and constitution, and served about three hundred citizens.

History

The area was first settled by Europeans under a land grant, not from the King of Great Britain, but from the St. Francis Indian chief, called King Philip by his white neighbors, after the King Philip who had led many successful raids on New England settlements during the 1670s.

This grant was sold to one land-speculation company, while a second group of Indians from the same tribe made representations to another company of Europeans that their chief had been deposed and that they were empowered to issue a grant to the second company. Following the Revolutionary War, both companies surveyed the territories and issued their own land grants to settlers, which frequently overlapped one another. After the War of 1812, when both companies were in financial straits, they merged and reconciled all land claims.

The establishment of Indian Stream as an independent nation was, essentially, the result of the ambiguous boundary between the United States and Canada as defined in the Treaty of Paris. There were three possible interpretations of where "the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River" might be. As a result, the area (in and around the three tributaries that fed into the head of the Connecticut River) was not definitively under the jurisdiction of either the United States or Canada.

The relevant text from the Treaty reads:

" ... (westward) along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude ... "

The Republic encompassed the northern reaches of what is now the state of New Hampshire, including the four Connecticut Lakes. While the British claimed the southeasternmost branch (the chain of Connecticut Lakes), the U.S. claimed the border as we know it today (i.e., Hall's Stream, to the west, which is, arguably, the "northwesternmost headwater" of the Connecticut). Both sides sent in tax-collectors and debt-collecting sheriffs. The double taxation angered the population, and the Republic was formed to put an end to the issue until such time as the United States and Great Britain could reach a settlement on the boundary line.

The Constitution of Indian Stream states in "Part Second - Form of Government":

"The people inhabiting the Territory formerly called Indian Stream Territory do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a body politic by the name of Indian Stream and in that capacity to exercise all the powers of a free, sovereign and independent state, so far as it relates to our own internal Government till such time as we can ascertain to what government we properly belong."

The Republic ceased to operate independently in 1835 when the New Hampshire Militia occupied the area, following a vote by the Indian Stream Council authorizing annexation to the United States. The vote arose from disquiet regarding a prior incident in which a group of "streamers" invaded Canada to free a fellow citizen who had been arrested by a British sheriff and magistrate. The reason for the arrest was an unpaid hardware-store debt, and the offender faced confinement in a Canadian debtors' prison. The invading posse shot up the judge's home where their comrade was being held, and this international incident caused a diplomatic crisis. The British ambassador to the United States was appalled at the idea of a war over a matter so trivial as a hardware-store debt and quickly agreed to engage in negotiations to resolve the border disputes that had remained outstanding since the time of the Treaty of Paris (1783).

Britain relinquished its claim in January 1836, and American jurisdiction was acknowledged in May 1836. The area was still described as Indian Stream at the time of the 1840 United States Census taken on June 1, 1840; the local population totalled 315. The area was incorporated as the town of Pittsburg in 1840. The town covers 291.4 square miles (755 km²), of which 282.3 sq mi (731 km²) is land area and 9 sq mi (23 km²) is inland water.

In 1842, the land dispute was definitively resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, and the land was assigned to New Hampshire. However, the 1845 Lewis Robinson Map of New Hampshire based on the latest authorities, shows the boundary north of the town of Clarksville but just south of modern-day Pittsburg.

See also

• Aroostook War
• Caroline Affair
• Republic of Madawaska

Further reading

• Brown, Roger Hamilton. The Struggle for the Indian Stream Territory. Cleveland, OH: Western Reserve University Press, 1955.
• Doan, Daniel. Indian Stream Republic: Settling a New England Frontier, 1785–1842. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 1997.
• Harmon, Joshua. Quinnehtukqut. Buffalo: Starcherone Books, 2007.
• Lent, Jeffrey. Lost Nation. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002. (historical fiction)
• Pike, Robert E. Tall Trees, Tough Men. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1967.
• Pike, Robert E. Spiked Boots: Sketches of the North Country. Woodstock, VT: The Countryman Press, 1999 [reprint].
• Audet, François Joseph. La République d'Indian Stream. Toronto: The Copp-Clark Co., 1906

External links

• Historic USGS Maps of New England & New York: Indian Stream, NH-VT Quadrangle