Sunday, August 29, 2021

The Charles and into Winthrop's "Neipnett" Waters

 

My paddling week got underway on Tuesday morning as the remnants of Tropical Storm Henri were preparing to finally exit the area.  After launching into the Charles River at a better than average boat launch on Woerd Ave in Waltham, MA, I set out to explore the river upstream from the Moody Street Bridge where things were looking rather moody(photo above).  Waltham is known as the "Watch City" thanks to the sprawling Waltham Watch Company plant...

...where watches were made on an assembly line from the 1850's until the 1950's.

A map stands between two buildings at Waltham Watch, and its left portion shows a good bit of the Lakes District...


In a sleepy part of Night Cap Cove was this green heron...


Improving skies began approaching from the southwest...


Folks paddling the Charles for the first time in the vicinity of Lily Point might catch a glimpse of "wildlife" and a "Native American" not expected to be seen around these parts...




....

Further upstream I stumbled upon a strong current entering the river which turned out to be Stony Brook...

... and was navigable for a short distance close to where a paper mill once stood near South Street...

  
This brook is sizable and enters the Charles near the location of Norumbega Tower...
...with its 63 step spiral stairway.
  
Excuse me for the history digression here, but...this Stony Brook may be the brook Governor John Winthrop designated as Masters' Brook when he visited the area in the winter of 1631/32.  Winthrop in his journal entry for January 27th wrote: "The governor and some company with him went up by the Charles River about 8 miles above Watertown, and named the first brook, on the north side of the river, Beaver Brook...Thence we went to a great rock, upon which stood a high stone, cleft in sunder, that four men might go through, which they called Adam's Chair....Thence they came to another brook, greater than the former, which they called Masters' Brook....Thence they came to another high pointed rock having a fair ascent on the west side, which they called Mount Feake....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 40 miles off, and to the N.W, the high hills by Merrimack, above 60 miles off."  

Because Winthrop didn't provide sufficient details, historians have long differed as to the actual locations of Adam's Chair, Masters' Brook, and Mount Feake.  Most agree the first brook encountered was and still is Beaver Brook and that the the "very high hill due west, and about 40 miles off" is Mount Wachusett.  After reading many different theories as to "Adam's Chair" and "Masters' Brook" mentioned by Winthrop, I came across E.G. Chamberlain's theory in the publication "Appalachia, Journal of The Appalachian Mountain Club, Vol. XIII 1913-1915 entitled "Governor Winthrop's Outing to Doublett hill in 1631" which, to me, seems the most logical.  Chamberlain shows Adam's Chair being located on the present-day campus of Brandeis University and Masters' Brook being present-day Stony Brook.  He also makes a compelling argument for West Doublet Hill in Weston being the promontory from which Winthrop gazed out over "Neipnett" or what is more often referred to as "Nipmuc" territory towards Mount Wachusett.  Interestingly Chamberlain, years earlier, had drawn a "Map of the Auburndale Boating Ground or Charles River Between the Dams of Newton Lower Falls and Waltham dated 1870 (revised in 1901).  On this map he shows locations for Adam's Chair (A), Stony Brook (Masters' Brook) (B), and Doublett Hill (C)...
E.G. Chamberlain is said to have been one of the early members of the Appalachian Mountain Club and is credited with naming Doublett Hill.   This morning I looked unsuccessfully for Adam's Chair on the Brandeis Campus off of Old South Street, stopped where Stony Brook flows beneath South Street, climbed Norumbega Tower, and visited Chamberlain's Doublet Hill.  Views to the westward from the west promontory were not available but this view eastward from the east promontory shows the Boston Skyline (Winthrop's "City on a Hill")...
    
  
After reaching the noisy tangle of Routes 90, 95, and 30 I turned around and headed back downriver.  The day had improved considerably and Henri was fast fading from memory....



On Wednesday and Friday I paddled 2 rivers within Governor Winthrop's "Neipnett" country.  The Assabet River below Powdermill Dam in Acton, MA provided a swift downstream ride on a moving sheet of swirling water...

...to a good turn around spot at Damon Mill...

The paddle back upriver was a slow and steady affair with each eddy providing a brief resting place.

Ended my paddling week early Friday morning on the Nashua River in Devens, MA launching from Hospital Road and heading upriver before the sun got to work ...

...and began to climb the trees...

By paddles' end the heat of the day was fast building...


The ramp there is a bit of a novelty...
...where a paddler can enter and exit the river without getting his/her feet wet.

Trash for the week:
Tuesday...

Wednesday...


Friday...

Some 52 nip bottles on Friday resulted in a total of 77 nips for the week.

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