A Brief History
On July 25, 1722, a war started in Maine later referred to as “Dummer’s War,” among other names.
Digging Deeper
We have previously discussed some of the goofy names given to various conflicts, and today’s entry is one so appropriately named that we just could not resist! Of course we speak of “Dummer’s War,” a conflict between New England European settlers and their Mohawk allies against the Wabanaki Confederacy of Native American tribes aligned with the French settlers of North America between 1722 and 1725 in the contested region between Maine and Nova Scotia, Canada. The war ended in December of 1725 with the signing of Dummer’s Treaty.
Another aspect of the unique naming of this particular war is the fact that it also has a dizzying array of alternate names, including the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, Lovewell’s War, Father Rale’s War, Greylock’s War, or even the 4th Anglo-Abenaki War. While many other wars go by various names, this one may just possibly take the naming cake!
Question for students (and subscribers): Which war do you think has the goofiest name? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Abbot, John. The History of Maine from the Earliest Discovery of the Region By the Northmen Until the Present Time. Ravenio Books, 2014.
Dekker, Michael. French & Indian Wars in Maine. Arcadia Publishing, 2015.
The featured image in this article, “Death of Father Sebastian Rale of the Society of Jesus. Killed by the English and Mohawks at Norridgewock, Aug. 23, 1724;” frontispiece from Indian Good Book by Eugene Vetromile (1819-1880), is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1927, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation.
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