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The Pine Tree Riot: the tree that sparked a rebellion and inspired a flag
- Martie C
- Mar 29
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 9
The road to American independence is brightly lit, even after 250 years, with legendary events like the Boston Tea Party and the “Shot Heard 'Round the World.” Though rightfully commemorated, the radiance of these events sometimes obscures other happenings, equally rebellious or even treasonous from a British perspective. Time and memory can shift the focus. Take, for example, the phrase, “An Appeal to Heaven.” Somewhere in the last ten years, you might have heard that phrase or seen an image. Most likely, you have seen it on a flag featuring an image of a tree. No, not the image of the Liberty Tree, always a favorite during Revolutionary War remembrances. Boston’s fabled Liberty Tree was an elm. The tree that accompanies “An Appeal to Heaven” is a pine tree, specifically an eastern white pine, known to many historians as the tree that sparked a rebellion.
On April 14, 2022, the United States observed a different 250th anniversary: the Pine Tree Riot. You probably missed it. I know I did. Everyone (including me) has been planning for America250: big, bold, and fitting for what our nation has become today. The Pine Tree Riot was small and involved tree farmers and sawmill owners—good, solid colonists, but not exactly the image of “embattled farmers” lined up on Old North Bridge in Concord.
Their confrontation with the British had been in the works for a while. Even before the American Revolution, Great Britain had become a global naval power. But it had also depleted its forests by the 17th century and looked to the tall, straight white pines of Maine and New Hampshire to supply its appetite for timber for wooden ships, especially the old-growth pines for ship masts. To ensure that the best of the mast trees remained available for the Royal Navy and British ship builders, England declared the largest white pines of the colonies to be the property of the King, marked, protected, and harvested for the government's use.
In 1722, the New Hampshire General Court enacted legislation prohibiting the cutting down of white pine trees exceeding 12 inches in diameter, half the diameter of what had been previously set aside for Great Britain. These trees were designated for the Royal Navy and were to be utilized as masts for His Majesty’s fleet. This regulation effectively restricted settlers from harvesting white pines unless they first obtained approval from the Deputy Surveyor, who would mark the King’s trees with a broad arrow. Furthermore, settlers were required to pay a substantial fee to acquire a royal license to cut any remaining white pines on their own land—yes, on their own land—thus imposing significant challenges for colonial construction efforts.
Enforcement of these laws became more rigorous in 1766 when New Hampshire’s newly appointed Governor, John Wentworth, strictly implemented the regulations. He personally conducted inspections of properties to identify violators, and dispatched Deputy Surveyor John Sherburn to investigate sawmills for white pines that had been marked for the Crown.
During these inspections, Deputy Sherburn identified six mills in Goffstown and Weare that were in violation of the law. He reported these findings in the February 7, 1772, edition of the New Hampshire Gazette. The owners of these mills hired attorney Samuel Blodgett to represent them and negotiate with Governor Wentworth to have the charges dismissed. However, Mr. Blodgett did not effectively advocate for the mill owners. As a result, the Governor not only refused to dismiss the charges but also offered Blodgett the position of Surveyor of the King’s Woods, which he accepted. Upon his return from this assignment, Attorney Blodgett advised the sawmill owners to settle their penalties. The mills in Goffstown complied immediately. But the owners in Weare chose to resist payment!
On April 13, 1772, Sheriff Benjamin Whiting of Hillsborough County and his deputy, John Quigley, traveled to South Weare with a warrant to apprehend the leader of the Weare mill owners, Ebenezer Mudgett. Mudgett was arrested but subsequently released with the expectation that he would return the following morning to pay his bail.
The sheriff and his deputy spent the night at a local tavern. Following the news of Mudgett’s arrest and release, residents gathered at his home. Some offered to assist with his bail, while the majority sought to drive the Sheriff and Deputy out of town. Ultimately, they decided to retaliate in a memorable way.
The following morning, more than twenty men, their faces blackened (a tactic that the Sons of Liberty used at the Boston Tea Party a year later) and armed with switches, entered the Sheriff’s room under Mudgett's leadership. According to a historical account, the Sheriff seized his pistols and would have fired them, but the men overpowered and disarmed him. They restrained him above the floor, face down, with two individuals on each side, and beat him on his bare back. They made him regret any association with pine trees designated for masting the Royal Navy.
As Sheriff Whiting later told it: “They almost killed me.”
As for Deputy Quigley, the townsmen removed the floorboards from the room above his and began to beat him with elongated poles. Unfortunately, the horses belonging to the lawmen also faced the ire of the townspeople, who cropped their ears and sheared their manes and tails.
In effect, Sheriff Whiting and Deputy Quigley were “run out of town.” They departed toward Goffstown and Mast Road, ironically, the road historically used for transporting logs to the sea and subsequently to England for the King's vessels.
Eight individuals faced charges of rioting (though a much larger number of the townspeople rioted), disturbing the peace, and assaulting the Sheriff. This matter was resolved in September 1772 by four judges—Theodore Atkinson, Meshech Weare, Leverett Hubbard, and William Parker—before the Superior Court in Amherst. The defendants pled guilty, and each was fined 20 shillings, with an order to pay the costs of the court proceedings.
It was a small price to pay for what had happened. In its own way, what the British were attempting was “taxation without representation,” that famous rallying cry that the Sons of Liberty had created and used with such efficacy. In fact, the price that the colonists paid was so small that it was taken as proof that British rule could be defied, and the British did not try to enforce the demands after the riot. Some historians even believe that the Pine Tree Riot helped to inspire the Boston Tea Party the following year. As for the eastern white pine itself, despite extensive logging in the 18th and 19th centuries, the tree remains a valuable, sustainably managed resource today. Its historical significance and continued use in building applications tell of an enduring legacy.
The white pine tree also became so emblematic of the colonists’ struggle that it appeared on one of the first colonial flags. There are numerous reports of a Pine Tree Flag flown by colonists during the riot: a red flag with a pine tree within a white square in the upper-left corner. Following the riot, the pine tree became a central emblem of independence, eventually appearing on several other revolutionary banners. Although some suggest that the flag also included the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven,” that saying is really associated with the naval flag commissioned by George Washington later in 1775, which went on six schooners outfitted by Washington to intercept British vessels at sea. The saying originates with the British philosopher John Locke. To him, and to Revolutionary War thinkers, the concept of an appeal to heaven meant that when people face injustice and have no one on Earth to defend them, they must rely on a higher power and even take up arms in the fight for justice. Locke saw this as the only way to protect people's rights when laws and governments fail.
Ironically, more people are learning about the Pine Tree Riot today because of the Pine Tree and Appeal to Heaven flags. Just as our Revolutionary War ancestors turned to symbols to express their deepest feelings, today we look to our past for symbols that reflect our feelings and deeply held beliefs about our country. Whether we agree or disagree—and some do so vehemently— the resurgence of Revolutionary War symbols forces us to look back and learn. If we do that in the context of our modern world, our country as it has evolved, we will do it with faith in the future.
“For there is always light,” Amanda Gorman, our young American poet, says, “If only we are brave enough to see it…”
The power of myth guides us through life’s stages and connects us to shared human experience. The power of symbolism, embedded in our flags, does the same. Although I might not agree with what some interpret as the Appeal to Heaven flag's meaning today, I appreciate that it led me back to the Pine Tree Riot and helped me learn about its rebellious role in my country’s fight for independence. And I support the right of my fellow Americans to attribute their views to that and any Revolutionary War symbol.
Note: This article was written for the Daughters of the American Revolution's 2025-2026 American Heritage Contest, themed "The Road to Independence - Acts of Rebellion and Treason." It placed third in the national competition.
Works Cited
Evans, Connie. Ebenezer Mudgett and the Pine Tree Riot. Amazon, 2017.
Gorman, Amanda. The Hill We Climb. An Inaugural Poem for the Country. Viking Books, 2021
“Maine Forest and Logging Museum: Pine Trees: The King's Mark and Revolution.” Maine Forest and Logging Museum, www.lumbermuseum.org/pine-trees-the-kings-mark-and-revolution
“Site of the Pine Tree Riot” Atlas Obscura, www.atlasobscura.com/places/site-of-the-pine-tree-riot
Thomson, Tom. “250th Anniversary of the Pine Tree Riot.”New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, 4 Mar. 2022,
Fields, Gary, et al. “The ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Evolves from Revolutionary War Symbol to Banner of the Far Right.” AP News, 24 May 2024,
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