The Way to Wamesit

 

Monday was the last of a string of beautiful summer days and proved a perfect day to get out on a section of the lower Merrimack River starting in Methuen, MA.  I paddled up the river's sunny side passing this floating Tiki Bar between river cruises...

Pine Island was looking especially splendid...

Five miles up from Methuen I reached a point about half a mile below Duck Island in Lowell, MA which became my turnaround point.  Up ahead in the next few miles are Hunt's Falls (1 mile), the confluence of the Concord and Merrimack rivers (aka Wamesit at 1.5 miles), and the once great Pawtucket Falls (2.75 miles).  Daniel Gookin, an associate of John Eliot, in 1674 described Wamesit as follows:"...this place is situate upon the Merrimak river, being a neck of land, where Concord river falleth into Merrimak river.  It is about twenty miles from Boston, north north west....The land is fertile, and yieldeth plenty of corn.  It is excellently accomodated with a fishing place; and there is taken variety of fish in their seasons, as salmon, shads, lamprey eels, sturgeon, bass, and divers others.  There is a great confluence of Indians, that usually resort to this place in the fishing seasons."

The name "Wamesit" is said by C. Lawrence Bond in his Native Names of New England Towns and Villages to mean "there is enough for all" and I'm guessing the "enough" is primarily referring to "fish".

Before heading back downriver I noted my proximity to Wamesit which lay ahead on the Merrimack's west side...

...and planned to later explore the area which lies partly in Lowell and partly in Tewksbury.

Starting downriver I noted this travel bag atop a mostly submerged rock...

...perhaps an aid to navigation?

Checked out the mouth of Trull Brook...

...which flows down from a great swamp located a little to the east of Wamesit.

One other small craft encountered was the TRYAK a unique vessel I occasionally encounter in my travels.  Didn't get a photo on Monday but this photo is from a previous encounter...

Trash gathered along the way on Monday included 20 "nip" bottles...

Yesterday morning, before the rain got started, I ventured to Wamesit by car.  This map found in my copy of John Pendergast's The Bend of the River shows the Wamesit area with the Concord River being shown as Muskatequid...

I started my Wamesit visit upon exiting Route 495 where this sign...

...let me know I was in the right part of Tewksbury.  On Richard Howe's Lowell Politics and History website I read an article "The Wamesit Trail of Tears" by Jay Gaffney where I learned of there being a statue known as the "Wamesit Indian".  I found the statue just a stone's throw from Wamesit Lanes and it stood atop a boulder within the Wamesit Indian Park. It was sculpted by Milo Kaufman and unveiled in 1989. The Native American man stands with a speared fish at his feet...

Leaving the park I drove into Lowell and hiked a portion of the Concord River Greenway...

...which starts at Wamesit Falls...

Back in 2023 a downriver paddle from Talbot Dam terminated at this spot so, until yesterday, I'd never seen the river below the falls.  I walked about a half mile alongside it down as far as Rogers Street.  While not navigable for me, I believe the National Park Service conducts whitewater rafting trips here in the springtime. There were several ledges and one spot with a significant drop at a bend... 

Leaving the greenway I drove over to Rogers Fort Hill Park where the Sachem Wannalancet (son of Passaconaway) is said to have built a palisade fort in 1669 for protection from anticipated Mohawk attacks...

A paved path brought me to the top of the hill where the palisaded fort is said to have stood...

An example of a native palisaded fort from Pendergast's The Bend in the River...

 

In the course of my visit I saw these inspirational messages:...

...

I'm left believing there were 2 Wamesits, one before the arrival of the Europeans and a smaller, more concentrated one, after the Europeans became established.  In the smaller Wamesit the Europeans sought to convert the Indians to Christianity.  Daniel Gookin in 1674 described annual visits he and John Eliot made to Wamesit: "At this place, once a year, at the beginning of May, the English Magistrate keeps his court accompanied with Mr. Eliot, the minister: who at this time takes his opportunity to preach, not only to the inhabitants, but to as many of the strange Indians, that can be persuaded to hear him: of which sort, usually in times of peace, there are considerable numbers at that season.  And this place being an ancient and capital seat of the Indians, they come to fish; and this good man takes this opportunity to spread the net of the gospel, to fish for their souls."

Eventually, on May 6, 1674, Mr. Eliot did catch the Sachem Wannalancet (in his net), and Wannalancet agreed to stop passing in his "old canoe" and instead to embark in a "new canoe".

I should note that Wannalancet's older brother, Namamcocomuck, after being jailed in Boston by the English, left the area wanting to have nothing to do with the English.  Namamcocomuck's son, Kancamagus, also famously resisted the English in present-day New Hampshire.  I can't help but wonder what I would have done if I was in their place.  Was there really any correct choice?

Poking Around Salem Sound

 

Launched into the Danvers River in Salem, MA, and before heading out into Salem Sound I poked into Salem's North River this past Friday (above photo).  The day was a beauty with clear skies, perfect temperatures, and a morning high tide.  Paddled up to the culvert where the North River disappears...

While paddling back to the Danvers River a northbound commuter train ran alongside the shore...

Once back on the Danvers River I paddled out of its mouth and into Salem Sound along the Beverly shoreline to Hospital Point Range Front Light established in 1872...

...and named for a smallpox hospital which once stood further back on the point in the 1800s.

I'd later learn from the website Lighthousefriends.com that since 1927 this lighthouse has worked in conjunction with the Hospital Point Range Rear Light which is located in the steeple of Beverly's First Baptist Church about a mile to the northwest.  The Hospital Point Range Front Light (above photo) has a focal height of 70 feet, whereas the light in the more distant church steeple has a focal height of 183 feet.  Vessels entering the Salem Channel just north of Bakers Island could safely follow the channel by keeping the 2 lights aligned one atop the other (front and rear range lights to left side of map below)...

 

Long before these navigational aids existed, back in 1630, Governor John Winthrop entered the same channel aboard the Puritan Migration's flagship Arbella.  Winthrop described in his journal their approach as follows: " ...passed through the narrow strait between Baker's Isle and Little Isle and came to an anchor a little within the islands." ...bringing to completion their Atlantic crossing.

Somewhere in the approximately 1.5-mile stretch of coast between Hospital Point and Allen Head is believed by historians to be the spot where the Arbella stood at anchor on June 12, 1630 having reached its destination.

The view from Allen Head of the islands Winthrop mentioned the Arbella being "a little within".  My kayak's bow points to Little Misery Island.  Bakers Island is to the right and Great Misery Island is to the left...

 On my way back from Allen Head a bald eagle was seen near Smith Point...

Also saw this common tern...

...and this high-perched osprey...

Trash was on the light side...

...whereas the prices for marine fuel are on the rise...

Almost At a Standstill On the Nashua

 

Found the Nashua River between the towns of Harvard and Lancaster, MA to be close to "still" yesterday (above photo).

I launched before 7am at...

...at the end of Still River Depot Road in Harvard, MA where a good-sized CSX freight train was found to be taking an extended nap just to the north of the railroad crossing...

The train would later awaken at 9:30 am and pass over the Nashua River...

...on its way to Selkirk, NY.

Headed upriver to where the river was blocked by several fallen trees.  Turned about there and headed downriver...

Despite the river being still this little green heron had difficulty standing still long enough for a photo...

  

Trash was typically plentiful in this stretch of river...

...and included 71 "nip" bottles and 16 plastic cigarette lighters.

While preparing to leave the area a Norfolk Southern double-stacked container train passed through on the way to its final destination at Ayer MA.  After the train's passing I drove over the crossing and noted this stack of tires someone left neatly stacked...

Looks like someone purchased a new set of tires but decided to skip paying for disposal of the old ones.  I believe having disposal costs included in the purchase price would go a long way in helping to prevent this kind of improper disposal.    

Stopped at Prospect Hill to admire the view of Mt. Wachusett 13 miles to the west...

It reminded me of Governor John Winthrop describing his January 27, 1632 first viewing of Wachusett from Mt. Feake, alongside the Charles River, in either Waltham or Weston, MA: "On the west side of Mount Feake, they went up a very high rock, from whence they might see all over Neipnett, and a very high hill due west, about forty miles off, and to the N.W. the hills by Merrimack, above sixty miles off." 394 years ago!

When the Smoke Cleared

 

Wednesday's smoke-filled air had gone elsewhere by Friday morning when bright and crisp blue skies returned to eastern Massachusetts.  In anticipation I launched early that morning into the Concord River from near Jug Island in the Riverhurst section of Billerica, MA.

The sun was still behind the trees as I headed downriver...

...with the Talbot Mill Dam in North Billerica being my destination.

Several white-tailed deer were out and about such as this doe and her fawns at the river's edge...

Nearby this fellow stayed still but I didn't while braking and snapping a photo at the same time...

Passed under the route 3A bridge...

...and the intake structure for Town of Billerica's drinking water treatment facility...

... before reaching the river's Fordway Bar where paddlers need to slow down and proceed with caution...

...because of the bar being shallow with numerous rocks both above and below the water's surface.   The bar begins just above the Pollard Street Bridge and runs for about a quarter of a mile to the millpond behind the dam.

I went ashore near the spot where the Middlesex Canal once allowed canal boats to leave the Concord River and travel to and from the Merrimack River via the canal.  This photo was taken from a footbridge over the canal with the view being from west to east and the millpond in the background...

The water's surface is covered with water chestnut plants.
  

A sign near the canal lock explained its significance...

There's an ongoing process aimed at removing the Talbot Mills Dam thus allowing the river to return to its natural course of flow.  Migratory fish will be able to pass upriver unfettered for the first time since the early 1700s. Since then a dam of one kind or the other at this location has hindered their passage.

   

After my short walkabout it was back upriver through the bar...

Trash was light with most of it found at spots where folks fish from the shore...

The river itself was, for the most part, trash-free.