Anno Regni Regis GEORGII, &c. Unducimo
At a Great & General Court or Assembly of His Majesty’s Province of the MASSACHUSETTS-BAY in NEW-ENGLAND, begun & Held at BOSTON upon Wednesday the 27th Day of MAY, Anno Dom. 1724. being the last Wednesday of said Month, and from thence continued by several Prorogations to Wednesday the Eleventh Day of November following, and then met, being the Second Session of the said Court.
The following Resolve pass’d, viz.
Resolved, THAT for the more Effectual Prosecution of the War against the Indian Enemy & Rebels, and putting the Frontiers into a better posture of Defence, there be suitable Number of good Effective Men in the several Towns hereafter Enumerated, at the Appointment of the Military Commission Officers within the same, who shall each of them forthwith provide themselves with a good suitable pair of Snow-shoes & Moggasins fit for Service, who shall be allowed & paid out of the Publick Treasury the Sum of Ten Shillings each, toward defraying the Charge thereof, upon their producing a Certificate under the hand of the Chief Officer of the Company or Troop to which said Snow-shoeMan belongs, that he duly is provided with sufficient Snow-shoes and Moggasins, as aforesaid.
AND if any person or persons who shall be Appointed to provide Snow-shoes and Moggasins in said Towns, shall neglect so to do within the space of Ten Days next his or their being so Appointed, he or they shall forfeit & pay to the use of that Company the Sum of Twenty Schillings, to be as the Law has provided in the Case of any defects of Arms, and improved for the procuring Snow-shoes & Moggasins for the said Company of Snow-shoe Men, to whom the deficient Man belongs.
THAT His Honour the Lieutenant Governour be desired to Appoint some suitable Officer or Officers in the said several Towns to Exercise the said Snow-shoe Men, in the use of Snow-shoes, by Running or Marching on the Snow, that so they may be Expert in the use thereof.
That upon an Alarm made at any of the Frontiers, Forts or Garrisons, with the Province, on Advice or Discovery of the Indian Enemy coming upon or Appearing near the same, the said Officers and Snow-shoe Men, or so many of them as can be drawn together as the Circumstances of the Case may require, shall, pursuant to the Orders given them by the Commander in Chief, for the Time being, March out forthwith after the Enemy, well fitted with Arms, Ammunition, Provision, and each of them a Blanket, to Pursue, Encounter, Repell and Destroy the Enemy: and the said Officers & Soldiers so taking to Arms, besides the Wages and Subsistence allowed to the Marching forces in the Service and pay of the Government, shall be Entitled to such other Rewards in Case they obtain any Plunder, Scalp of the Enemy or Captives, as is by Law provided as a Premium or Bounty for those who go forth as Voluntiers, without pay.
THAT the Towns and Number of Persons in each Town who shall be obliged to provide Snow-shoes and Moggasins, shall be as follows,
In the County of Hampshire
Springfield, Fifty: Twenty whereof to be on the West side the Great River. Westfield, Thirty. Northampton, Sixity. Hadley, Thirty. Hatfield, Thirty. Deerfield, Thirty. Sunderland, Ten.
In the County of Middlesex.
Dracut, Fifteen. Dunstable, Thirty. Chelmsford, Forty. Billerica, Twenty. Groton, Forty. Lancaster, Thirty. Rutland, Ten.
In the County of Essex.
Haverhill, Thirty.
In the County of York.
Berwick, Twenty. York, Twenty. Wells, Twenty.
THAT the said Snow-shoe Men be further Allowed and paid out of the Publick Treasury, the sum of Three Schillings each, for keeping said Snow-shoes and Moggasins in good Repair fit for Service, during the continuance of the present War, Yearly and once every Year
Attest. J. Willard, Secr.