New Brunswick's Roads Older than Rome's

History in New Brunswick is often told from the riverbanks up. But high above the Saint John River, stretching across the Appalachian ridges of Porten Hill toward Benton, lies a forgotten piece of human engineering: The Great Highland Portage.

1. A Road Older Than Rome

New research utilizing advanced LiDAR technology has confirmed that the traditional "Meductic-Eel River" path was not just a trail—it was a sophisticated Highland Transit System. Evidence suggests this corridor has been in use for over 12,000 years, serving as the primary "terrestrial interstate" connecting the Saint John, St. Croix, and Penobscot watersheds. These highlands provided the "Dry Carry" necessary for ancient peoples, French military units, and early surveyors to move heavy cargo across the province.

2. A Staging Ground in Crisis

Our surveys have identified a series of Diagnostic Cultural Features on the ridge summit—stone-built platforms, navigational markers, and logistical hubs that correlate perfectly with 18th and 19th-century military surveys.

However, this site is currently facing a terminal threat. The ridge is being actively utilized for industrial logging and road building.

The Problem: Heavy machinery is currently "plowing" through these undocumented archaeological layers.

The Consequence: Once these stone features are moved or crushed, the mathematical and historical "context" of the 9 km corridor is lost forever.

3. Why We Aren't Sharing "The Map"

To protect the integrity of these sites from unauthorized disturbance, we are not publishing coordinates or specific descriptions of findings. The physical evidence—including photographic documentation of surveyor monuments and subsurface anomalies— will remain confidential and will only be available for:

The New Brunswick Archaeology Branch

The Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture

Key Industrial Land Managers

4. How You Can Help

We need the public to demand that the government and industry stop and look before they log. We aren't asking for the world; we are asking for a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for the Meductic-Benton highlands.

Please contact your MP and the Minister of Heritage. Tell them you support the protection of the "Porten Hill Highland Corridor." Tell them that 12,000 years of history is worth more than a single season of timber. Feel free to edit ans add any vital information you may also have. 

Send to: thc-tpc@gnb.ca

Subject: URGENT: Request for Heritage Impact Assessment – Meductic-Benton Highland Corridor

Dear Minister,

I am writing to formally request an immediate Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) and a temporary stay on industrial activity within the highland corridor spanning the Porten Hill ridge between Meductic and Benton.

Private research utilizing LiDAR technology and on-site field surveys has potentially identified a sophisticated, multi-layer archaeological system. This corridor represents a 9 km "Highland Spine" with features suggesting over 12,000 years of human transit. The site includes:

Logistical Staging Features consistent with pre-contact and 18th-century transit.

Diagnostic Cultural Markers that align with the 1827 Military Survey and the 1777 retreat of Colonel John Allan.

Currently, this landscape is under threat of heavy industrial use and private land sales. Mechanical logging and road construction are actively destroying undocumented stone structures and altering the historical stratigraphy of the ridge. Under the Heritage Conservation Act, the Province has a mandate to protect such sites once they are identified.I urge your department to prioritize this site before this irreplaceable chapter of New Brunswick’s history is lost to the blade of a bulldozer.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address/City]

Letter 2: To the Member of Parliament (MP)

Send to: Find your MP's email here

Subject: Protection of Federally Significant Military & Indigenous Heritage – Porten Hill

Dear [MP Name],

As your constituent, I am bringing to your attention a matter of national historical importance. A significant "Highland Highway"—a transit corridor used for millennia by Indigenous peoples and later as a vital military route during the American Revolution—has been rediscovered in the highlands between Meductic and Benton.

This corridor is not merely a local path; it is a trans-border heritage asset that connects the Saint John River system to the watersheds of Maine. Despite its significance to Canada’s military history (specifically the 1777 retreat of Colonel John Allan) and its 12,000-year legacy, the site currently has no federal or provincial protection.

At this moment, industrial activities are causing irreversible damage to the stone foundations and navigational markers that define this route. I am asking for your support in:

Urging the Provincial Government to halt industrial activity in the identified sensitive zones.

Advocating for federal recognition of the Meductic-Benton Portage as a site of National Historic Significance.

We have a narrow window to preserve this "Appalachian Spine" before it is erased. I look forward to your response regarding how the federal government can assist in protecting our shared heritage.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Phone Number]

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