Biddeford's coastal location and partially navigable river meant that it was noticed quite early by Europeans. Bartholomew Gosnold, Martin Pring, Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain noted and mapped the area from 1602-1606. John Smith passed through in 1614. The men credited with European settlement of the area, however, were Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Richard Vines.
Gorges, an English aristocrat and member of the Plymouth Company, was determined to overcome the difficulties that had plagued the Popham Colony (Brunswick) in 1606-7. He was convinced that the climate was no less harsh than that of other thriving areas in the Old World, and commenced to prove it by arranging his own experimental colony.
Gorges engaged his friend Richard Vines to lead a settlement over the winter of 1616-1617, specifically to prove that the climate was habitable. Vines and the colonists settled at the protected area at the mouth of the Saco River, and called it Winter Harbor. They traveled up river and spent time among the native villages, where they were treated with kindness and generosity. Not much detail is known about that first winter, except that it was a success and led to further settlement of the area.
Over the next few years, the Plymouth Company became the Council of Plymouth. The Council granted large tracts of land to various gentlemen, including a tract along the western banks of the "Swanckadocke" River to Richard Vines and John Oldham, "containing in breadth by the sea four miles, and eight miles up to the mainland." The interior lands were referred to at that time as east or west Saco--after their orientation to the river. The use of these names continued for the next hundred years or so. Vines took possession of the tract June 5, 1630 in a ceremony witnessed by six fellow travelers and explorers. During these early years about 40 settlers were living in the area; the patentees were obligated to recruit 50 settlers within 7 years to fulfill their contractual duties.
The earliest settlers lived almost entirely in the area immediately near the mouth of the river and on the large hill overlooking the harbor which would become the village of Biddeford Pool.
Most of the settlers were employed farming, fishing or both. Some traded with the native populations, and there was a carpenter and a few mechanics among the group also. Forest resources were utilized right away, and "pine boards and staves (for barrells) and clapboards" were among the first things made for trading purposes.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
The European settlers traded with the native peoples, especially for furs, but relations with area bands were uneasy. The settlers encroached on the native hunting grounds and set nets which interfered with their fishing. The natives lived side-by-side with the settlers during those times of year when they made their homes nearer the sea, but there was a lack of understanding and respect between the two groups. The natives were "savages" and the settlers were "strangers", feelings which the two groups would never overcome.