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===Mi'kmaq and French communities (before 1765)=== Long prior to European settlement, the Miramichi region was home to members of the [[Mi'kmaq people|Mi'kmaq]] first nation. For the Mi'kmaq, [[Beaubears Island]], at the junction of the Northwest and Main Southwest branches of the [[Miramichi River]] was a natural meeting point. Following the European discovery of the [[Americas]], the Miramichi became part of the French colony of [[Acadia]]. About 1648, [[Nicolas Denys]], Sieur de Fronsac, established a fort and trading post, Fort Fronsac, on the Miramichi. This establishment was apparently constructed "on the North side of the Miramichi, at the forks of the river". According to [[William Francis Ganong|W.F.Ganong]], a Recollet Mission was established in 1686 on the Miramichi "in Nelson", "probably near Beaubear's Island".<ref name="autogenerated2002">English, E.J. (2002) Nelson and its Neighbours: 300 years on the Miramichi, 2nd Ed., Earl J. English, Miramichi</ref><ref name="autogenerated1947">Davidson, W.H. (1947) An account of the life of William Davidson, otherwise John Godsman, of Banffshire and Aberdeenshire in Scotland and Miramichi in British North America. Publ. New Brunswick Museum, Historical Studies No. 6.</ref><ref name="autogenerated1966">Davidson, W.H. (1966) William Davidson 1740–1790. North Shore Leader, Newcastle</ref> Nicolas Denys' son, Richard Denys, was placed in charge of the fort and trading post, and in 1688 Richard states, "Miramichi is the principal place of my residence", and describes his establishment as including about a dozen French and more than 500 indigenous inhabitants. In 1691 Richard died at sea; the post declined.<ref name="autogenerated2002"/><ref name="autogenerated1947"/><ref name="autogenerated1966"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.breadnmolasses.com/2004/05/15/beaubears-island-national-historic-site/|title=Beaubear's Island National Historic Site|author= Cyril Donahue|date=May 15, 2004|work=www.breadnmolasses.com|access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref> The following account from the Dictionary of Miramichi Biography<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archives.gnb.ca/Search/Hamilton/DMB/SearchResults.aspx?culture=en-CA&action=0&page=258|title=Provincial Archives of New Brunswick|website=archives.gnb.ca|access-date=2018-12-22}}</ref> describes in greater detail the extent of the Denys' Miramichi base:<blockquote>"The domain of Nicholas Denys, governor of Acadia, extended along the southerly side of the Gulf of St Lawrence, from Miscou Island to Cape Breton. It may have included a trading post at Miramichi in the 1640s, but the first extensive French establishment on the river was that of Denys's son Richard Denys. He began to cultivate land along the Miramichi in 1684. In 1688 he had a fort with gun emplacements, a house built of freestone, and a storehouse. There were three French families at the fort, and he had men employed catching fish. Nearby there were approximately eighty Micmac wigwams.</blockquote><blockquote>"The site of Denys's establishment, which is considered to have been on the north side of the Miramichi opposite the Point - that is, near the former pulp mill site in Newcastle - was abandoned by 1691. In August of that year, when he was thirty-seven years old, Denys set sail for Quebec in the ship Saint-François-Xavier, which was never heard of again. His estate passed to his widow in 1694 and was still owned by members of the family in Quebec in the 1750s."</blockquote>By about 1740 French villages were well established on [[Miramichi Bay]] at [[Bay du Vin, New Brunswick|Bay du Vin]] and [[Neguac, New Brunswick|Neguac]]. In the current city of Miramichi, a larger village existed at Canadian Point, and a town comprising 200 houses, a chapel, and provision stores occupied "Beaubear's Point". The French maintained batteries of guns at the east end of [[Beaubears Island]] and at [[French Fort Cove]].<ref>Cooney, R. (1832) ''A compendious history of the northern part of the province of New Brunswick and of the District of Gaspé in Lower Canada''. Joseph Howe, Halifax</ref> ====French and Indian War==== The [[French and Indian War]] erupted in 1754. During the war many Acadian homes were destroyed by the British, and their residents were deported (see the [[Expulsion of the Acadians]]). In 1757, the French general, [[Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot]] attempted to evade British troops in the [[Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)|Saint John River]] Valley and the [[Bay of Fundy]], by leading 900 French refugees up the northeast coast of New Brunswick to Miramichi, establishing a camp, "Camp de l’Espérance", on [[Beaubears Island]]. After the [[Siege of Louisbourg (1758)|Siege of Louisbourg]] (1758), Boishebert led a group of Acadians from [[St. Peter's, Nova Scotia]] to Miramichi. Over 200 of the refugees died at the camp. On 13 August 1758 French officer Boishebert left Miramichi with 400 soldiers, including Acadians from [[St. Peter's, Nova Scotia|Port Toulouse]], for Fort St George ([[Thomaston, Maine]]). His detachment reached there on 9 September but was caught in an ambush and had to withdraw. They then went on to raid [[Friendship, Maine]], where British settlers were killed and others taken prisoner.<ref>William Durkee Williamson, ''The history of the state of Maine: from its first discovery, A. D ...,'' Volume II, p. 333</ref> This was Boishébert’s last Acadian expedition. From there, Boishebert and the Acadians went to Quebec and fought in the [[Battle of Quebec (1759)]].<ref>{{cite DCB |first=Phyllis E. |last=Leblanc |title=Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot, Charles |volume=4 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/deschamps_de_boishebert_et_de_raffetot_charles_4E.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=Cyrus |title=History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their First Exploration, 1605; with Family Genealogies |date=1865 |publisher=Masters, Smith & Co |location=Hallowell, Maine |page=77 |url=https://archive.org/details/historythomasto03eatogoog/page/n94}}</ref> In September 1758 Colonel [[James Murray (Quebec governor)|James Murray]] reported spending two days in Miramichi Bay during the [[Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758)|Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign]] looking unsuccessfully for Acadians, but destroying anything he found. This included burning the first stone church built in New Brunswick (at the site of the present-day community of [[Burnt Church First Nation|Burnt Church]]).<ref>John Faragher. ''A Great and Noble Scheme''. Norton. 2005. p. 404</ref> Murray did not sail as far west as Beaubear's Island. Most of the surviving Beaubear's Island refugees soon left the Miramichi, seeking refuge in [[Quebec]]. Some Acadians, however, remained and escaped British attempts at deportation. They eventually established (or re-established) a host of small Acadian communities along the northern and eastern coasts of present-day New Brunswick.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www3.telus.net/charlotte_taylor/Folder1/Destruction_of_Burnt_Church.htm|via=Charlotte Taylor: Her Life and Times|title=Historical - Geographical Documents Relating to New Brunswick|editor=W. F. Ganong|pages=301–307|chapter=Destruction of Burnt Church}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acadian-home.org/miramichi-history.html |title=Miramichi, New Brunswick |access-date=2007-05-28 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507000434/http://www.acadian-home.org/miramichi-history.html |archive-date=2016-05-07 }}</ref>
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