the leadership of the colony from its citizenry; Phips sought to maintain peace with the Abenaki, while the local citizenry believed the killings did not merit punishment. Mob action freed the suspects on more than one occasion, and only one of the men accused in the deeds was tried; he was acquitted. The perceived failure to serve justice heightened tensions with the Abenaki, some of whom embarked on a series of raiding expeditions against frontier communities. Massachusetts authorities were able to smooth over relations by satisfying Abenaki demands for justice by providing valuable gifts to the affected families. It was not until 1752 that the matter was finally closed at a peace conference. A wider war, however, combined with frontier disagreements to again bring conflict to Maine. After hearing rumors of French fortifications on the northern Maine frontier, Shirley began rearming the province in March 1754. He ordered he construction of Fort Halifax on the Kennebec River, prompting the Abenakis to increase raiding activity. Because of these raids Massachusetts declared war on the Abenakis, "the Penobscot Tribe only Excepted", The Penobscots, however, were diplomatically trapped between the sides, seen as pro-British by the French, and distrusted by Maine colonists, and many Penobscots began siding with the French after an unprovoked attack by a group of New England militiamen on a native fishing party at Owls Head in July 1755. In November 1755, while Shirley was absent from the province, Phips issued a proclamation declaring war on the Penobscot, offering scalp bounties. Scalps for males over the age of 12 were to be worth 50 pounds, females of the same age 25 pounds, male children under 12 netted 25 pounds, and female children under 12 fetched 20 pounds. Within a year of the proclamation, the Massachusetts assembly voted to raise the ceiling on the bounty to an unprecedented 300 pounds. Following a major raid against St. George in spring 1758, Governor Thomas Pownall in 1759 would take possession of the Penobscot River and the tribe's homeland "by armed force". Second term and death Phips' second term as acting governor, begun after Shirley's recall, was brief, and dominated by Thomas Hutchinson, then a leading member of Shirley's administration. Phips was elderly and ill, and died six months after Shirley left for England. The council then held the reins of power until the arrival of the new governor, Thomas Pownall. Spencer, Massachusetts is