Metallak
Metallak was the last survivor of a band of Native Americans known as the Androscoggin, Cowasuck or, more properly, the Arosaguntacook. The band, part of the Abenaki nation, inhabited the upper Androscoggin and Magalloway rivers along the northern border of New Hampshire and Maine. They also lived in the village of St. Francis in the Canadian province of Quebec. Metallak was, by at least one account, the youngest son of Piel, chief of the tribe.
Metallak was well known by early European settlers in the area and was on friendly terms with most of them. Blinded by accidents in his later years, Metallak died a pauper in February 1847 at the reputed age of 120. His name survives in place names such as Metallak Island in Umbagog Lake and Richardson Lake, Metallak Pond, Metallak Brook, and also two different Metallak Mountains, one in Maine and one in New Hampshire. A locomotive at the Mount Washington Cog Railway is also named after him. He was a friend of Governor Enoch Lincoln.
Metallak is buried in Stewartstown, New Hampshire. On the gravestone is written "last of the Coashaukes". Along Route 145, a New Hampshire historical marker notes his nearby gravesite. It reads:
Various spellings of his name include Metalluc, Matalak, Metalak, Mettalak, Metalluk, and Netalluc.
