Most North Country residents in the Connecticut River Valley
know that up until 1791 Vermont was an independent republic
after breaking away from New York and New Hampshire. Many know
of the attempt by Vt. and N.H. towns in the Upper Valley to
create a separate state of New Connecticut. In addition, there
is a lesser-known republic that staked its claim to independence
from 1832 to 1836, the nation of the Republic of Indian Stream.
This independence movement at the headwaters of the Connecticut
River was born of confusion about ownership and fostered through
settler frustrations because two countries presumed to govern
them. Europeans settled the area under a land grant, not from
the King of England, but from the chief of the Native American
St. Francis tribe lead by King Philip. King Phillip made the
grant to a land speculation company with the understanding the
St. Francis tribe would always have access to the land to fish
and hunt and that the company would support King Phillip and his
family for as long a