The Most difficult aspect of the Masting trade was getting the ten ton logs to the nearest large river thru what was often ten miles of hilly wilderness. Hills killed so many oxen, spares were stationed all along the route. The crushed animals were just cut out of the harness and quickly replaced and the log never stopped. Logs were moved during the winter and great preparation of ice tracks were an important preparation. What moves Duck Pond to the front of the line with just a cursory examination of the location can be seen today driving on Route 302 from the power line (below Hawkes Plaza) to the Dunkin Donut shop (and look left down the power line). You travel a short, remarkably flat, gentle downward slope all the way to the River. Duck Pond Masts would almost deliver themselves to the Presumpscott with a push. It would be a quicker trip requiring far fewer Oxen, Men, and Supplies transported across the Atlantic, and very few replacement Oxen too.
"Ship of the Line" masts were the nuclear bombs of their day. They decided National Power Balances. Great Pines suitable as masts for ships of the line were far and few between*, let alone easily accessible ones. Masting began in Maine in 1634. Just 20 years after Plymouth Rock, “Masting” became New England’s first major industry by 1640. By 1700, the easiest masts were 20 miles from a river in Northern Maine. Surveys for Masts would have spotted this site well before 1650. It was a bit beyond Wildcatters grabbing a few masts as cargo for the return voyage to England. They had been grabbing the easiest for 20 years. But it would have been a perfect target for Prides organized crew in a planned raid from England in a military emergency. So when the fate of the British Empire hung in the balance on the supply of ship masts in Naval Mast crisis of 1652, it would have been THE most logical place for Lord Prides highly skilled, and experienced lumberjacks, fresh out of the now denuded Nonesuch Forest to go.
In the early 1650's when Mast road would have gotten its start from whomever, there were 13 Familys in Portland, and 7 at Presumpscott Falls. This very clearly indicates that Mast Road was one of the first roads ever created in Maine, and definitely the first in Cumberland County.
Lord Prides work orders were reported to still exist as of 1926 in Navy Board Records by Forests and Seapower (including Duck pond ?) but it may take a trip to London this fall to get copies if they still exist. Robert Albion thought they were "threatened" at the time, and WW2 may have done them in.
*Forests and Seapower - Robert Albion P 241
Tall Trees Tough Men - Robert Pike P 49
Maritime History of Maine - William Hutchinson. ROWE P 34
New England masts and the King's Broad Arrow - Samuel F Manning P 28
