township of Madawaska after the Maine legislature re-emphasized its claims to the disputed northern area. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he avoided apprehension by fleeing into the woods and warning several neighbors, who joined him in taking cover outdoors. Nine years after that, in 1840, Baker was convicted and fined £20 for "having enticed several soldiers to desert from the detachment of the 58th Regiment stationed at Madawaska." After the undeclared Aroostook War (1838–39), the United States and the United Kingdom signed the Webster–Ashburton Treaty on August 9, 1842, finally settling the boundary question. One provision of that treaty appears to have applied in effect only to Baker and the estate of his neighbor. The region was thus annexed to Canada East (now named Quebec) and following an arbitration period, was awarded to New Brunswick through the New Brunswick Boundary Act of 1851. Today's influence The Republic of Madawaska is still commemorated by some locals, who refer to themselves as brayons. A flag of the republic was created in 1938, bearing a bald eagle and an arc of six red stars on a white field. This flag flies at the city hall of Edmundston, New Brunswick, and at Madawaska festivals. The sitting mayor of Edmundston, the largest municipality in the region, also assumes the honorary title of "President of the Republic of Madawaska". According to a pamphlet entitled "The Republic of Madawaska" and published at Edmundston, "The myth of the 'Republic of Madawaska' (because it is not a true Republic in a political sense) draws its origins from an answer given to a French official on a tour of inspection during the troubled times by an old Madawaska colonist. Thinking the official a little too inquisitive, he said 'I am a citizen of the Republic of Madawaska' with all the force of an old Roman saying 'I am a citizen of Rome,' and the pride of a Londoner declaring 'I am a British subject.'" Canadian author Will Ferguson includes a chapter on "The Republic of Madawaska" in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada, his anthology of trans-Canadian vignettes. Notes External links Republic of Madawaska The Upper Saint John River Valley history and genealogy City of Edmundston 1827 establishments in North America Madawaska Madawaska History of Maine Pre-Confederation New Brunswick History of Quebec by location Aroostook County, Maine Madawaska County, New Brunswick Former country