colburn sped to maine, making plans for the expedition. once home, he put his crew to work building the bateaux and procuring the foodstuffs from the local citizenry, many of them tories unsympathetic to the patriot cause. he ordered maps and sent three scouts to explore the upper dead river ahead of the coming army. colburn made three trips to cambridge during august of that year while the crews, under the supervision of his brothers, oliver and benjamin colburn, and partner thomas agry, labored to fill the contract. they had only fifteen days to complete the task. due to the short time frame and time of year, no dried pine was available and he was forced to cut fresh green pine to attach to the oak ribs.