It would seem that there were no Indian settlements where Chatham and Douglastown are found today. But the Micmacs did travel and hunt near these places which were just woods at the time. Most Micmacs had settlements downriver near present day Burnt Church. Other settlements were found upriver above Newcastle.
The first white settler on the river was Nicholas Denys, a Frenchman. When he died in the 1680’s, his son, Richard Denys, stayed on. He brought more French settlers out to the new land. Denys wrote that there were about 500 Micmacs living in about 80 wigwams at that time.
Richard Denys built a small fort near Burnt Church. It is likely that there was no real need for a fort. It seems that the French got along very well with the Micmacs. In fact, the word “Micmac” is a European word meaning “allies”. Allies are people who are friends. People who live together and go to war on the same side are called allies. The French used this word as a way to meet their Indian friends.
From the beginning the Micmacs got along much better with the French than the English who came here in the 1760’s. In wartime the Micmacs took the French side. One reason for this might be that the French were more interested in the fur trade. Also, the French and Indians travelled and hunted together. The English were more interested in building towns and starting farms. This took away some of the Indian hunting grounds. As well, the English settlers came in much greater numbers than the French. This made the Micmacs uneasy and afraid of their future. The French used these fears to get their allies in wartime to turn against the English settlers. An example of this was the Indian raids on William Davidson’s settlement near Newcastle in the 1770’s. The Micmacs caused him to leave the Miramichi for a number of years.