John GaleJohn Gale had had enough. Beothuks had stolen his supplies and destroyed his fishing gear. Mi'kmaqs were killing bear and beaver in his trapping area. The Indians sold their furs to local merchants. They were cutting him out of the business. Didn't he, John Gale, own land and trapping rights? Wasn't he a British citizen? Hadn't he worked hard to build up his land and his traplines? He had not come out to this wild and lonely part of Newfoundland just to be scared off by Indians. It was time for a little action. He would send a letter to the government. He would demand help. John Gale could not write. But he knew someone who could. He'd get that letter written right away. Morton's Harbor To His Excellency The Mi'kmaq Indians infest White Bay in a manner that makes it impossible for me or any other person settled here to make a life of it by catching fur. I have two hundred traps and used to catch three hundred pounds of fur a winter. But now I do not catch forty or fifty pounds in consequence of the Mi'kmaqs infesting that bay. They also infest the Bay of Islands, Boon Bay, and the Bay of St. George's. I am informed by those that live there that they do a great deal of injury to the fur catchers in that quarter. Their principle place is in St. George's Bay, where they are in the habit of selling their fur to a Jersey merchant. I am fully convinced that if an order was sent to the principle people of the above places it would deter them in the future. A Man-of-War would make them keep off. I am your Excellency's His Witness (signed) |
*Note: The X placed between John and Gale shows Mr. Gale could not sign his own name. He probably could not write at all. He must have told someone else, perhaps the witness Henry Knight, what to write down in his letter. John Gale's letter was sent to the Governor's Office in St. John's. The letter is part of the Governors Records collection, kept on microfilm at the Provincial Archives |
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