SUN JOURNAL • April 6, 2026
On Sept. 14, 1690, a military leader named Benjamin Church led his men along the Androscoggin as part of a colonial effort to control the territory. His report said the expedition “killed six or seven” and took 11 other natives prisoner, leaving behind only “two old squaws” in the ruins to tell the story of what had transpired there. Church was allowed to sell any native captives taken into slavery. It appears about 80 of them were hauled off in chains during King Philip’s War, most sent to die on the sugar plantations of the Caribbean. It’s encouraging that so many candidates for governor see that while we can’t undo the crimes of the past, we can create a new relationship based on mutual understanding that acknowledges the dignity of people who have been mistreated and ignored for generations.~ Steve Collins