Editor's Reply: The most recent Red Paint was actually written by the author of our article, Brian Robinson, who is at the University of Maine in Orono: (Robinson 1996, "A Regional Analysis of the Moorehead Burial Tradition" Archaeology of Eastern North America, Volume 24). This article refers to most published reports on the Red Paint People, but not the Red Ocher Culture which is a more recent burial pattern in the Great Lakes Area. Warren K. Moorehead's 1922 book, The Archaeology of Maine, is an old classic. You might want to start with the NOVA video episode on the Red Paint People produced by WGBH, the PBS TV station in Boston. (JDR)

RED PAINT ARTIFACT?
About 1970 in my back yard, I dug up a hollowed-out egg filled with dark reddish powder (under a layer of dirt) and covered with a petrified mud that was decorated with small stones. I had found the egg very close to the surface, under a tree. I wonder if it could have been a Red Paint artifact. There were also numerous arrowheads there. It was in Vineland, New Jersey.
Lisa Iezzi-Inoue

(Readers who find artifacts, check out
our prehistoric artifact page TODAY!)
Brian Robinson Responds: It is difficult to tell from your description of the "egg" whether it is a natural or cultural artifact. If it was a polished egg-shaped artifact with a wide hole drilled lengthwise, it may be a spear thrower weight or atl-atl, which was used in the Archaic period in New Jersey. If the stone was rough and spalling with sand and pebbles adhering to the outside, it may be a natural concretion or stone cemented together with iron oxide, which is the natural form of red ocher. New Jersey is not known to have representatives of the "Red Paint People" proper, but there are red ocher deposits with artifacts from the Archaic Period (Ca. 4000 years ago) and from more recent times. The arrow heads should allow the date of the site as a whole to be estimated I would recommend contacting the local New Jersey archaeological society if you think the site is interesting.

Editor's Reply: We sent along directions via e-mail, but don't bring a suitcase unless you know someone there. The famous Rockingham, built by Frank Jones near the turn of the century, is now all condos. The Library Restaurant is on the bottom floor beyond the golden Victorian lions that guard the entrance. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: We are in the process of tracking down just that info for a projected 1999 theme site. The rise and fallout of Pease AFB is at the heart of 20th century seacoast history. Some of our most heartwarming e-mail comes from former residents who miss this region. Stay tuned. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: It's in the works as part of our 19th Century section which is long overdue. Again, NH's influence is mostly missed by history -- but not for long. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: We've sent your attached info along to our NH prehistory experts and are waiting on their response. Analysis of any "found" object is always tricky since so much of archeological study depends on precise location. While we're waiting for the expert opinion, check out the unique "whale plummet" found nearby in the 1800s? (click to see).

Editor's Reply: There's no question we have something unusual near the Seacoast at Mystery Hill. But the jury is still out on its origins and significance. We've heard claims over the years of everything from astrological significance to a site for human sacrifice. The professional studies I've seen show colonial American architecture mixed in with so-called "primitive" elements. There may be Native American artifacts nearby, but how do we know they are related? The only thing we know for sure, is that the site is still a mystery. (JDR)

For more on this topic, check out:
VERMONT'S STONE CHAMBERS:
Their Myth and Their History
By Giovanna Neudorfer
Vermont History, Vol. 47 #2, 1979
Published by Vermont Historical
Society, Montpelier, VT

Editor's Response: According to Ray Brighton's biography (in our Seacoast Store) the former secretary to President Washington took his own life with a pistol in the garden of his Virginia home near Washington, D.C. where he was accountant of the War Department. He died in the morning, after breakfast, on October 11, 1816. He was buried in a "table monument" in Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: For an essay on how we got so darned historical, check out this month's "As I Please" which traces the origins of historical awareness in the Seacoast. Then stay tuned for our coverage of the region's 375th birthday all year. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: I'm afraid we'll have to wear the dunce cap on this one. Maritime readers, please, bail us out! (JDR)

Editor's Reply: These are tough questions! A quick check of the lists of NH Revolutionary soldiers shows an Isaac Smith, 37, and an Ichabod Smith, 28. Neither appears to have been from Portsmouth. We'll take a waiver on this one and offer a few flag sites as compensation. (JDR)

US Flags

Flag seller

Betsy Ross Homepage

Flag Links

Editor's Reply: The Granite State was named for the region in England where its owner, the adventurer John Mason, was from. Although he sailed to the northern New World, there is no evidence that Mason ever traveled far enough south to see this region. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: Portsmouth is called "the Port City" and also "city of the open door." I've also heard it called "Po-Town" because of the active night scene. Originally Portsmouth was a fishing village called Piscataqua and then Strawbery Banke. It is named after Portsmouth, England because its founder Capt. John Mason had been captain of that port. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: According to local author Rod Philbrick, the film version of the "The Mighty" will be released to theaters by Miramax in March, so you won't be seeing it on video with this group of students. But there's more good news. The sequel, "Max The Mighty" will be published in April. The story chronicles the fast-paced adventures of Maxwell Kane and his friend Worm (short for "Bookworm") as they try to outrun Worm's abusive stepfather. They flee to the desolate ghost town of Chivalry, Montana, in search of Worm's real father. There, in the dark abandoned mineshafts, Max and Worm must confront something more terrifying than death itself. For more on The Mighty, use the SEARCH engine on our home page. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: We've been sending Larry updates all month and are proud to report that the state's plan to expand the already dangerously busy traffic circle is dead in the NH legislature. We are totally unbiased, of course, but the proposal seemed to be about as well planned as the time Dover's Col. Waldron tried to rip off the local Indians at his trading post and then invited a few of them to spend the night at the fort. Click here for the 1689 Cocheco Massacre story. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: Yes, we discover it daily since the Thomas Bailey Aldrich House is right behind our office. A popular poet, Aldrich became editor of the prestigious Atlantic Monthly. His autobiographical "Story of a Bad Boy" is still highly readable and is proclaimed as the first authentic depiction of an American boy and a key influence on his friend Mark Twain who wrote Tom Sawyer six years later. According to the Strawbery Banke Museum guidebook, the "Nutter" house, as Aldrich called it because of his fictionalized grandfather, was built soon after 1797 and has changed little since then. We had the good fortune to photograph the house a few years ago for a documentary since it also served as the first Portsmouth Hospital or "pest house" back in the 1880s. When Aldrich died in 1907, his widow Lillian saw to it that the house was restored. Mark Twain attended the Portsmouth dedication. (JDR)

Editor's Reply: I believe your Pilgrim source is what led us years ago to realize that NH's David Thompson had met with the Plymouth group in 1623.

We have been very unkind to the founders of Taxachusetts lately, so here's a few key links to repay our debit. (JDR)

MAYFLOWER WEB
All passengers are here. Go to Edmund Wilson and you will find the "Mourt" fully on the web and more. Email the amazing web master.

PLIMOUTH PLANTATION

MAYFLOWER 2000 RECONSTRUCTED SHIP

Editor's Reply: Ayup, first git yerself a hummer of a lighthouse. Then git lotsa wicked tall skinny furniture and make sure it's waterproof. Whale grease still works best. Useta find nice pieces up Rye way come dump day. Buy all yer accessories over to LL Bean, course. Make darn sure you got a ol' wood lobsta trap coffee table smack center in that there livin' room, and a good cast iron pump handle at the sink. Remember, ya got to cover the well hole or the dog will go missin' one day when ya need him most. Call if we can hep with more décor ideas. And tell that Bobby Redford, we jist loved his last Sundance catalog. Ma says that man's got some style. (JDR)