I needed to extend my paddling week by adding a make-up day yesterday in order to accomplish my objective for the week...reaching Moswetuset Hummock by boat. I had stumbled upon mention of it in an article The 'Indianized' Landscape of Massachusetts by Mark Jarzombek which included a great map of the Colonial Frontier ca. 1650. What I found most intriguing about this historically significant Native American site was that the Hummock is described as being pretty much the same as it was 400 years ago. No way I could pass on paying such a spot a visit.
The previous Monday, prior to learning about Moswetuset Hummock, I'd paddled out of Hingham Harbor on a beautiful morning when tide and wind were ideal for visiting Grape and Slate islands...
My first attempt at reaching Moswetuset Hummock (3 days later) came up short when, after launching into the Neponset River in Dorchester, MA, I encountered a steady and stiff wind upon reaching the river's mouth at Squantum Point. This caused me to rethink my plan of reaching the Hummock by paddling around Marina Bay and Chapel Rocks...
Thus I added the extra day and decided to make a second attempt approaching from the opposite direction. Launched yesterday at sunrise about 1.5 hours after high tide from Houghs Neck in Quincy, MA...
...I spotted the Hummock some 3 miles distant and watched it slowly grow larger and larger as I paddled across Quincy Bay...
It was just a little past mid-tide when I made landfall there...
...which left little time for exploring things as the area around the Hummock becomes a big mud flat at low tide.
The markers on the short trail running around the Hummock:
...
...this kiosk shows just how rich this area was in resources...
...
...the view from where the Massachusetts tribe's sachem, Chickatawbut, may have built his wigwam...
,,,an in-ground fireplace...
It's said that he hoped to avoid contracting disease by staying fairly isolated there. Sadly he died in 1633 possibly from smallpox.
The most legible part of the inscription...
...this kiosk shows just how rich this area was in resources...
...the view from where the Massachusetts tribe's sachem, Chickatawbut, may have built his wigwam...
,,,an in-ground fireplace...
It's said that he hoped to avoid contracting disease by staying fairly isolated there. Sadly he died in 1633 possibly from smallpox.
After visiting the Hummock I drove about a mile north to Nickerson Beach at the northern tip of Squantum to visit the Myles Standish cairn. According to historians, in 1621 Myles Standish landed here after traveling by boat from the Plymouth Colony. The Native American, Tisquanto (aka Squanto), was acting as his guide in locating Chickatawbut and his abode at Moswetuset Hummock. The cairn was created in 1895 to memorialize the spot where it's believed Standish and Squanto made landfall...
It's an interesting location with the prominent Nickerson Rock...
At dead low tide, a sandbar ran from Nickerson Rock across to Thompson Island...
...and the Sanctuary...
...had just crossed paths by Peddock's Island.
...which may have whet my appetite for islands and more wide open waters.
Other spots I visited in Squantum included Squantum Point Park which during World Wars I and II served as a Naval Air Station. I believe this grassy expanse was formerly one of the air station's runways...
From Squantum Point I could see the 350-passenger luxury yacht Sir Winston docked at Marina Bay...
Across the Neponset River's mouth was the Dorchester Gas Tank (aka "Rainbow Swash")...
Some wildlife encounters on my paddle across Quincy Bay included:
Terns...
Harbor seals, gulls, and ducks hanging around the Hangman Island vicinity...
A cormorant rookery seen a week ago in Hingham Harbor...
Most of the boats I encountered were providing ferry service between Boston and Hingham:
The Ruth E. Hughes...
A map showing my 3 Massachusetts Bay outings this past week: The yellow line is my route from Hingham Harbor a week ago; the blue line shows the section of the Neponset River I paddled on Thursday; and the red line shows yesterday's route from Houghs Neck to Moswetuset Hummock (marked in orange)...
Chickatawbut certainly chose a great spot for his wigwam. He had the open bay to one side and tidal creeks and flats to the other. I suspect that at high tide it became a true island. Back in the late 90's I recall reading of construction workers unearthing a set of Native American tools at the nearby Caddy Memorial Park. The tools appeared to have been deliberately buried and are believed to have been used in the killing and butchering of beached whales around 3000 years ago.
Way back, now more than a week ago, I got in a freshwater paddle to Fairhaven Bay on the Sudbury River...
Trash from the Sudbury River...
Trash from the Hingham Harbor area (mostly Slate Island)...
Trash from the Neponset River between Granite Ave and Squantum Point...
Trash from Quincy Bay was few and far between...
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