$19.95
Paperback, 6″ x 9″
247 pages
ISBN 978-1-63381-451-6
by Barry S. Wright
A remote land shaped by glaciers and inhabited by wild animals. Aboriginal home to nomadic people, the forebears of the Maliseet Indians, who hunted in its forests and canoed the pristine waters of its many lakes and rivers. Its natural riches attracted fur trappers and traders from France, young idealists from the majestic Scottish Highlands, and other, remorseless men, relentless in their quest to exact vengeance on those living at Presqu’ile.
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Thanks to the curiosity and imagination of Barry Wright, we have new insight on the land and cultures that preceded the European settlement of what is now Presque Isle, Maine. In his carefully researched book Presqu’ile, Wright traces stages in the development of the terrain, flora, and fauna of the region, from the end of the most recent ice age through the settlements of Maliseet Indians and their eventual interaction with French trappers and traders, and finally with the Scots. Forty years in the making, Presqu’ile blends historical fact and fictional characters to create an understanding of the interplay between what was occurring in Europe and America between the late 1500s and early 1600s. In writing both eloquent and poetic, readers see the beauty of the woods, waters, and star-filled night skies of northern Maine known to both the region’s earliest settlers and today’s residents.
—Kathryn Olmstead, former editor of Echoes magazine and associate professor emerita of journalism, University of Maine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Barry S. Wright taught history, French, and English in the Presque Isle school system for thirty years. He is an ex-Marine and a licensed registered Maine Guide. He likes to read, hike, camp, and kayak the rivers and streams of northern Aroostook County. He is now retired and lives with his wife, Kimberley, in Mapleton, Maine.