In late 1775, a few months a¬fter the first shots of the Revolution were fired, Benedict Arnold led more than one thousand troops into Quebec to attack the British there. Departing from Massachusetts, by the time they reached Pittston, Maine, they were in desperate need of supplies and equipment to carry them the rest of the way. Many patriotic Mainers contributed, including Major Reuben Colburn, who constructed a flotilla of bateaux for the weary troops. Despite his service in the Continental army, many blamed Colburn when several of the vessels did not withstand the harsh journey. In this narrative, the roles played by Colburn and his fellow Mainers in Arnold's march are reexamined and revealed.
Mark A. York is a journalist, biologist and novelist. He has worked as a carpenter, actor and fisheries biologist all over the West and Alaska and was a full-time reporter at the Livingston Enterprise in Livingston, Montana. He has written a blog that focuses on environmental issues since 2003 and wrote special projects in 2011 for the Idaho Mountain Express in Ketchum, Idaho, where he resides. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.