Either Side of Magunkaquag

On this past Sunday morning I ended my paddling week with a couple of paddles on waters unfamiliar to me.  Both paddles were on waters to either side of the late 1600s Native American village Magunkaquag in present-day Ashland, MA.  What brought me to Magunkaquog was this historical marker I came across the previous week near Farm Pond in Framingham, MA...

The marker made me curious to learn more about the tragic event.  At the Framingham History Center's website I learned that the incident involved a Native American (Nipmuc) man, Netus, who had long lived in the area and was familiar with the Eames family, and that there was more to the story than just a senseless and random attack.  At the height of King Philip's War a series of events unraveled which brought Netus and several other Nipmuc to the abandoned 'Praying Village' of Magunkaquog which was located about 3 miles southwest of the Eames homestead.  The chain of events got its start some 34 miles or so to the west in the Nipmuc stronghold of Menimesit in present-day New Braintree.  Menimesit was where many of the Native Americans (Nipmuc, Wampanoag, and Narragansett), refusing to yield to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, were encamped.  From the relative safety of this stronghold Netus and the others traveled to Magunkaquog in hopes of finding corn stores left behind when Magunkaquog's inhabitants, called by the English "friendly Indians", were forced by the Massachusetts Bay Colony to leave their homes. They were first sent to other Praying Villages and later, in December, interned on Deer Island in Boston Harbor.  When Netus got to Magunkaquog he found the desperately-needed corn was gone and apparently believed the Eames family had something to do with its disappearance.  Netus and the others went to the Eames home on the morning of February 1, 1676 to find out if the corn was there, and the tragedy ensued.

This left me wanting to locate and perhaps paddle a bit of the waters in and around Magunkaquog.   

Using information from both the Framingham History Center and the Ashland Historical Society I found that Magunkaquoug consisted of 3,000 acres in 1675 was located in the vicinity Megunco Hill.  This 1894 topo map shows Magunco Hill and its proximity to the Eames Homestead location...

The map also shows the location of Gryncel Park where I launched my boat into the Sudbury River.

I was only able to paddle a short stretch (less than a mile) of the river between the dam downstream at Metcalf's Mill and upriver to where it got too rocky and shallow near the confluence with Indian Brook.  This was the view looking upriver where the river runs along the base of Megunco Hill's northern end...

Downriver at Metcalf's Mill is Marathon Park which commemorates this mill's location as having been the original starting line for the Boston Marathon...

About a half mile upstream from the park was this stony apparition exposed by lack of vegetation...

The heart of the utilitarian building seems to have been this pump...

With the Sudbury River here allowing only a short navigable section I reloaded my boat and drove  over Magunco Hill to the nearby Ashland Reservoir located to the southeast of Magunkaquag...

   ...on the dammed waters of Cold Spring Brook.

The view looking down the length of the reservoir...

...plenty of water here as well as the scenic Daneger Island...

At the reservoir's northeast corner the brook is allowed to exit via a multi-step stone spillway that looks  like a stairway...

...and continues its journey towards the Sudbury River.

The afternoon sun provided more glare than warmth...

In recent days the issue of historical markers has been in the news.  The Town of Concord, MA is examining whether or not to remove a historical marker concerning the purchase of land from Native Americans at a place known as Jethro's Tree.  Coincidentally, the Jethro referenced on the Concord marker was a friend and neighbor of the aforementioned Netus.  In fact, both men escaped internment on Deer Island.   I believe the historical markers should remain provided they're not factually inaccurate as to place and event.  If additional narrative can expand upon what historians knew at the time the marker was made and erected, I think an additional marker should be placed alongside the original.  I've seen such a situation in Greenfield, MA where two historical markers stand side by side...each telling of the 1676 Turner's Falls tragedy from a different perspective. 

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, I paddled the Sudbury River's Fairhaven Bay...

...where its stone boathouse proudly stands sentinal...

Another handsome work of stone was Lee's Bridge spanning the river between Lincoln and Concord...

On the drive home I came across this old wooden water tower not far from the Sudbury River in Concord...

It formerly provided water for the Jones dairy farm where the milk bottle found last month originated.

On Friday I went to the Nashua River's Oxbow N.W.R at the bottom of Still River Depot Road in Harvard to find a sizable CSX freight train parked on the mainline with its headlights on (perhaps awaiting a new crew)...

Some 2.5 hours later the train was on the move and our paths conveniently crossed at the trestle over the Nashua River ...

A short distance upriver from the bridge the small stone chapel related to a monastery sat atop a small riverside hillock that much of the year is an island...

...and just a little beyond the chapel this cooler-in-a-tree attested to just how high the Nashua River got back in September...

Tuesday's trash from the Sudbury River in Lincoln/Concord was especially light...

Friday's trash from the Nashua River was a bit heavier and included 130 miniatures (aka "nips"...

Sunday morning's trash from the Sudbury River in Ashland...

No trash was encountered Sunday afternoon on the Ashland Reservoir though this overflowing trash barrel...

..was seen on the reservoir's otherwise scenic Daneger Island.