The Atlantic coastline of North America above the newly independent republic of the United States of America was well known to the inhabitants of the former Thirteen Colonies. They had fished and traded there for many years and had conducted military and naval operations in the region. Less familiar was the nature of the inland area. The Saint John River Valley, towards which many Loyalists were headed, was just a line on the map, a line placed in a wilderness about two hundred miles northeast of Massachusetts. Note that the preferred spelling of Saint John has the first word written in its entirety.
The original inhabitants of the Saint John River Valley were the Maliseet Indians, although the mouth of the river was taken over by the Micmacs for a brief period between 1610 and 1630. The centres of Maliseet habitation were principally located upstream from the future site of Saint John. Following the establishment of the town, however, an Indian community grew up nearby.
One colourful contribution of native culture to the folklore of the region is the legend of Gluskap, a legendary person who was said to live among the Indians, protecting them from harm. So great was Gluskap's power that he regulated the forces of nature and controlled the actions of animals. In the legend of Gluskap, the Giant Beaver, another Indian mythological figure, had erected a massive dam on the Saint John River. Water building up in the huge pond beyond the dam soon flooded the surrounding countryside and the endangered inhabitants called upon Gluskap for assistance. He came to their rescue from his home in Blomidon which is today's Nova Scotia in a large war canoe, and with his enormous war club smashed the dam. Pieces of the shattered structure flew off in all directions, and one major portion landed at the mouth of the river and formed what is known now as Partridge Island. Gluskap's discarded war club was left lying at the scene and is now Split Rock, a feature located below the famous Reversing Falls. The Falls themselves, of course, represent the remnants of the dam and have as their Indian name "the Beaver's Rolling Dam".
