Resolved The Battle of Caribou was a minor and ultimately bloodless skirmish between U.S. and British (Canadian) armed lumberjacks during the Aroostook War.

It added to the growing tensions between the respective governments and encouraged the mobilization of local militias to the area, which nearly sparked an armed conflict.

Lumberjacks from both Maine and New Brunswick each wished to harvest wood to the exclusion of their competitors from across the border, and by December 1838, competition coupled with fierce national pride led both sides to carry weapons for their own protection.

On December 29, 1838, New Brunswick lumberjacks were spotted felling trees on the estate that had formerly belonged to First Barbary War hero William Eaton.

In Maine, Governor John Fairfield ordered the local militia to the site to arrest the "unruly wood thieves" in February 1839.