• Preface • Introduction • The River Gods • The Forts • The Documents • The Natural Setting • Geology and Landscape • Climate
• Flora • Fauna
• General History of the Conflict • The Indian Background • King William's War (1690-1697) • Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) • The False Peace (1713-1744) • King George's War (1744-1748) • The Building of Fort Shirley and Fort Pelham • The Siege and Capture of Louisbourg • The Building of Fort Massachusetts • The Fall of Fort Massachusetts in 1746 • The Rebuilding of Fort Massachusetts • The Second Attack on Fort Massachusetts • Another Peace (1748-1754) • The French and Indian War (1754-1763) Begins • Fort Massachusetts and Crown Point • The Dark Days • Turn of the Tide and the Close of the War
• The End of the Line of Forts • Fort Shirley
• Construction and Occupation of the Fort • Post-abandonment History of Fort Shirley
• Surface Features • Excavations and Stratigraphy • Excavation of the Well • Interpretation of the Excavated Well and Its Construction
• Architecture and Activity Areas • Fort Pelham • Post-abandonment History of the Site • Surface Features of the Site
• Excavations and Stratigraphy • The "Powder Magazine" • The Well
• The "Garden" Area
• Artifact Density and Distribution • Architecture and Activity Areas • The Artifacts of Shirley and Pelham • Prefatory Remarks
• Ceramics • Glass • Table Implements • Jackknives • Clay Smoking Pipes • Coins • Clothing Hardware • Miscellaneous Brass Artifacts
• Bone or Ivory Comb • Tin-plated Iron Artifacts • Miscellaneous Iron Artifacts • Lead • Gunflints • The Wood in Shirley's Well • Overview • Daily Life in the Line of Forts • The People in the Forts • Material Culture • Military Artifacts • Food and Drink • Health and Sanitation
• Recreation and Self-improvement • Religion on the Massachusetts Frontier • Summary and Conclusions • The Patronage Pyramid • The Consumer Revolution on the Massachusetts Frontier • Social Differentiation • The Line of Forts as a Real Estate Venture • Aftermath: Twilight of the River Gods • Appendixes - Military Foodways at Fort Pelham, a Faunal Analysis (by Joanne Bowen)
• Paleobotanical Remains • Forts in the Line and Related Forts • Biographical Sketches • John Hawks's Journal • Bibliography • Index