Paddlin' Down to Hartford

Linked up with my friend Capt'n Dangerous (of the Adirondack Pirate Paddlers) Sunday morning to explore another bite-sized section of the Connecticut River.  Our plan was to paddle from Windsor Locks down to Hartford and explore a bit of the Farmington River along the way.  In doing so we would bring our total Connecticut River miles paddled to more than 200 of the river's 400 mile total length.

We launched from Windsor Locks Public Ramp a little downstream of the Route 91 bridge and paddled about 2 miles upstream to the Route 140 bridge at Warehouse Point.  This location is near the foot of a shallow and rocky stretch of river known as the Enfield rapids which in the past made the shipping of goods by boat difficult to say the least. The nearly 5-mile long Windsor Locks Canal was built back in 1829 to bypass the rapids, and for many years it facilitated river transportation.  These days the canal is no longer used for transportation but remains to serve the mills operating along it.  This outlet from the canal is located below one of the lock buildings near the canal's southern end...

..and may have served to release water from the canal's southern-most lock.

Over the course of our downriver trip to Hartford we saw numerous bald eagles which probably indicates a river in good health.  The first eagle was seen just above Route 91 on the east side...

Next an immature eagle was seen on the river's western shore...

  
Then a pair of adults sharing the same tree (west side)...

Finally, near Bissell's Ferry (east side), this loner...

Also seen along the way were kingfishers, blue herons, Canada geese, and ducks.

Following a lunch break on an island below Bissell's Ferry...

...we entered the Farmington River at the confluence...

In preparation for exploring this confluence I'd read up on its considerable historic significance of which previously I knew little.  The confluence became the site of the first "English" settlement in Connecticut and began with the building of a trading house in 1633 by a group from the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts.  They'd been invited to do so by the Podunk sachem Wahginnicut who may have been trying to strengthen his position relative to hostile neighboring tribes.  This link provides a historical account, and this link is to the only map I could find which shows the location for the trading house and settlement.  Note that on the map the Connecticut River is called "The Great River" and the Farmington is called "The Rivulet".
One group that long ago recognized the historical significance of the settlement was the Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth Chapter of the D.A.R. In 1898 they had a rock inscribed to mark the settlement's location.  However, I was unable to find specifics as to the rock's present day location.  After landing on the shore of the Farmington I embarked on foot in hopes of finding it.  Surprisingly the first person I encountered knew exactly what rock I was looking for and where it was located.  She provided directions to its location about 1/3 mile to the west of the river...

  A closer look...

It reads "This rock marks the first English settlement in Connecticut by members from the Plymouth Colony in 1633.  Dedicated by the Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth Chapter of the D.A.R. June 1898"

As to the location of the trading house I suspect it would have been close to the confluence and where it could be seen from either river.  I picked what to me would seem a logical spot and looked down from it upon the confluence...

I'd later find this account in The History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor written in 1898 by Henry Reed Stiles: "The Plymouth Trading House was erected on the bank of the Connecticut River 80 to 100 rods below present mouth of the Tunxis (about midway of the Plymouth meadow)."  This means the spot I picked on Sunday was approximately 1500 feet further north of the actual location.

In paddling up the Farmington we passed what might, these days, easily be confused for the confluence with the Connecticut...

Here, perhaps a quarter mile north of the original confluence, a channel was dug providing a second outlet to the Connecticut River.

Beyond that, these interesting ruins at river's edge...

Further upriver the Palisado Avenue bridge...

 ...and finally the railroad bridge and Windsor Town Boat Ramp located about 2 miles up the Farmington...

We turned about there and began paddling down the Farmington returning to its confluence with Connecticut (seen in the distance)...

Once back on the Connecticut we resumed our downriver journey to Hartford and just when it seemed the city was nowhere to be found, it magically appeared from behind a bend in the river...

We reached the takeout at Riverside Park in Hartford which has fine facilities...

A small haul of trash came ashore as well...

The post paddle boat shuttle was completed as the moon rose over the river...

It would illuminate the eastern sky as I drove homeward in that direction and wondered if the sachem Wahginnacut ever regretted his decision to invite the English to settle in his neighborhood.