Guide to the Cultural and Natural History of the Four Soldiers Path

Native Peoples:
The Israel River and Moose River Valley Region

“We have very little that remains from this long history,
making it all the more important to preserve and respect it. . . .” — Dr. Richard
Boisvert, New Hampshire’s state archeologist

At the end of the most recent glaciation, some 12,000 years ago, Paleo-Indian peoples migrated into the then treeless region, probably from the west, carrying their caribou-hunting culture with them. These were cold-adapted peoples, most likely following migrating caribou herds on east-west routes.Much of the time, they moved considerable distances in extended family groups, meeting some times in larger groups for celebrations. In addition to caribou, these people also hunted smaller game, such as birds, and collected plant foods.

Since only their stone artifacts have survived, archeologists have merely a tiny view of Paleo-Indian lifestyle and must piece together information from these
extant tools by studying how other peoples have lived in similar places and circumstances. Based on the design, some of their stone tools appear to have been well suited to work on bone and ivory, though bone and ivory artifacts have not survived.

Around 9,500 years ago, the climate was warmer, and a mixed northern hardwood forest covered the land. Depending on the climate, which varied over time, conifers were sometimes in the ascendancy, while at other times, it was oak, beech, and hemlock. The native people of this era did not travel great distances as in earlier times, they instead moved around their home base hunting, gathering, and fishing. They made woodworking tools such as axes, and probably fashioned dugout canoes. None of the wood artifacts have survived.

Some 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, these natives, now called Woodland peoples, added gardening and pottery-making to their hunting skills. Given the harsh northern New England climate, gardening was a supplement, not a focus.

Their population grew slowly over time, up to the point of European contact, around 1600. Tribes formed during this period. The ancestors of today’s Abenaki peoples lived in the area, although there were also other groups of native people. The fur trade was another important means through which the Europeans and native peoples came in contact with one another.

In the early 1700s, the Iroquois and the Mohawks made long raids from what is now upper New York State. Native peoples were used as proxies in European territorial wars.When Europeans came to dominate the region, native peoples slipped into the local fabric, hiding in plain sight by adopting current customs. Some were more aware of their ancestral heritage than others.

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