Waylaid at Wicasee

Had an idyllic day this past Monday for paddling around the above pictured Wickasee Island (aka Tyng's Island) in the Merrimack River.  I was returning to where I had paddled the previous week and found myself wondering about the canal lock that long ago served in helping boats navigate around the rapids known as Wicasee Falls.  I'd recently stumbled upon "A Plan of Dunstable and Tyngsborough (Massachusetts towns)" drawn by surveyor John G. Hales back in 1831.  The plan was found on the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center's website...

Shown clearly within the area depicted on the plan is Wickasee Island, Wiccassee Falls, and the canal around the island, along with the lock and lock-tender's house.  Also within the area depicted on the plan, upriver-traveling boaters John and Henry Thoreau in 1839 encountered two fellows hoping to gain passage aboard their boat.  The incident is described by Henry D. Thoreau in his book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.  Thoreau's description of the event begins with the longest sentence I've ever read...133 words.  As I understand it, the Thoreau brothers opted not to utilize the canal as  fifteen years earlier, in 1824, the creation of the Pawtucket Dam in Lowell submerged Wicassee Falls.  Thus in 1839, the lock and canal were, for the most part, redundant.  Subsequently, they rowed past the canal and remained in the river's main channel hugging the island's west shore to avoid the current.  Working their way upriver they kept the submerged rocks of Wicasee Falls to their left.  This rock poking above the surface is one of the few remaining signs of Wicassee Falls...

This small hill that rises on the island might be where John and Henry were hailed by two men...

Thoreau describes them as "two men who looked as if they had just run out of Lowell, where they had been waylaid by the Sabbath, meaning to go to Nashua (about 8 miles upriver)."  The men "called out from the high bank above our heads to know if we would take them as passengers, as if this was the street they had missed; that they might sit and chat and drive away the time, and so at last find themselves in Nashua." The Thoreau brothers explained that their boat was already loaded to capacity "and moreover required to be worked, for even it did not progress against the stream without effort; so we were obliged to deny them passage".   Nonetheless the two fellows ran along the shore trying to keep up with the boat until they ran out of real estate at the island's north tip...

As the Thoreau brothers rowed away from the island they watched as the two men came to the realization, perhaps for the first time, that they were on an island. Henry wrote "They ran about like ants on a burning brand..."  Thoreau also surmised how he thought the men got onto the island "probably crossed upon the locks below."   After rowing a mile or so above the island John and Henry may have made camp near the present-day American Legion Hall in Tyngsborough...

Their Sunday had been a long and tiring day starting early from where they'd camped alongside the river in Billerica.  They'd guided their boat down the Concord River through the Fordway to North Billerica where they left the river and entered the Middlesex Canal for 6 miles to Middlesex Village.  There, despite it being the Sabbath (when recreation on Sundays was frowned upon), a friendly lock-tender lowered them down through the locks and into the Merrimack River. Then came more rowing, now against the current, up to and past Wickasee Island. Once encamped they "were kept awake by the boisterous sport of some Irish laborers on the railroad, wafted to us over the water, still unwearied and unresting on this seventh day, who would not have done with whirling up and down the track with ever increasing velocity and still reviving shouts, till late in the night." (the Lowell and Nashua Railroad was being built across the river from their campsite).  One of the brothers had a good and restful night's sleep while the other suffered nightmares.  Thoreau isn't clear as to which of them had the nightmares. My guess is it was Henry.   

I returned to the island's north end and entered the canal in hopes of visiting the aforementioned lock.  Passed one sign related to the island's history...

...and another relating to its present use...

Near the downstream end of the 0.75 mile-long canal is where Hales' 1831 plan shows the lock as having been located fairly close to the present-day golf cart bridge spanning the canal (photo from under bridge)...

In the Middlesex Canal Association's publication Towpath Topics (Vol 39 Numbers 1 and 2, and Vol. 47 No.2) I found a series of articles written by Bill Gerber entitled "Locks and Canals of the Merrimack River" describing the system of locks and canals allowing navigation all the way up to Concord, NH.  In Towpath Topics Vol. 47 No. 2 Gerber provides John L. Sullivan's description of the Wicasee Falls dam and lock: "A rapid for a half mile between an island and the western shore is crossed with a dam of stone and timber, 200 yards. This raises the water above (the dam) about a foot, which saved digging on the other side of the island where the lock is placed.  This side afforded a passage for high water, six rids wide (99 feet).  From the lock to its entrance is 1900 feet.  This space was encumbered with masses of rock of every size and with earth, estimated at 4,000 square yards.  The lock is placed in the middle of the stream (canal), its side walls are 100 feet in length, connected with the shore by wing-walls, each about 50 feet."  Gerber added that "It appears the lock was operable by 1815; a lock-tender's house was added by 1817.  The lock and dam at Wicasee may have been short-lived.  The Pawtucket Canal (in Lowell) was rebuilt in 1824, much enlarged to supply water power for the textile mills.  At this time, a large stone dam was constructed across the river at the head of Pawtucket Falls.  This raised the water level by an additional 5 feet, so that it flooded the Wicasee structures."  Therefore, I'm guessing that as the Thoreau brothers rowed past the canal's downstream entrance they would have seen something resembling two 50-foot wing-walls on either side of the lock; and this might explain how the two men they encountered gained access to the island.  Aside from the lock still being there in 1839 there doesn't appear to be any record of it later being dismantled.

 

My view of the same place on Monday shows the approximately 100 foot-long golf cart bridge spanning the canal at roughly the spot where the lock once stood...

Guess it makes sense that the golf course would place their cart bridge close to where a previous structure spanned the canal.  Perhaps using some of the wing-wall's abutments?
  

Another thing Gerber mentioned was that the Cromwell Lock and Wicasee Lock were similar to each other.  I'd paddled through the Cromwell Lock this past August when it looked like this...

 

As I was exiting the canal at Wickasee and rejoining the river an eagle was seen landing in a pine tree on the river's far side.  Upon getting a little closer I found not one but two...

Other wildlife seen in the vicinity of Wickasee Island was this heron...

This Bunker Hill Marine barge was out working on the river...

 ...its crew later installed a boom at Wickasee Island's north end...

By the way, the spelling of the Pennacook word Wicassee has many variations depending on how Europeans thought they heard it.  These are ones I've come across: wicassee, wicasee, wiccasee, wicosucke, wicosuche, weikeset, wekesoak, wicassic, wickasee.  The word is similar to the name for a town in Maine, Wiscasset.  In the book Native Names of New England Towns and Villages by C. Lawrence Bond the author lists a meaning for the word Wiscasset provided by Maine writer, ornithologist, and folklorist Fannie Hardy Eckstorm: "Comes out from but you don't see where".  That could accurately describe any vessel emerging from behind Wickasee Island.

Trash gathered up along the way included 9 "nip" bottles, 8 cigarette lighters, and 20 golf balls...

  

Some TLC for the Assabet River

 

Joined with folks from the Maynard Assabet River Coalition yesterday for some trash removal on the Assabet River between the Powder Mill Dam in Acton, MA and the Waltham Street Bridge in Maynard, MA.  We were participating in OARS 39th Annual River Cleanup.   Our event was coordinated by Sarah and Abbie.  At the same time other groups were cleaning up other sections of waterways within the Assabet, Concord, and Sudbury rivers watershed.

Our group gathered up this trash in a couple of hours...

A bit more from the Acton section nearer to the dam...

A cluster of old medicine bottles were found just below the Waltham Street Bridge.  A few of the intact ones after cleaning...

Not So Fair Fairhaven

 

This swamped canoe was the first thing I saw yesterday upon paddling into the Sudbury River's Fairhaven Bay.  Obviously someone recently had a very bad day while out in the bay.  As I paddled around the bay I came across various items that had, most probably, floated away from the canoe: two Frabill Flow-Trail bait containers, one tackle box, an Isolator Fitness Bag, and a paddle.  Thinking the canoe's owner will be returning at some point I secured these items to the canoe's bowline...

The bay was otherwise very peaceful with hardly any wind and cloudy but rain-free skies.  The only other person encountered was this fisherman with his well equipped setup...

He reported conditions being perfect for excellent fishing.
  

It now being two days past the equinox, some fall foliage is starting to appear...

Saw this bald eagle...

...receive a visit from a hawk a few limbs away.  The hawk appeared to be trying to present itself as a larger bird...

The eagle moved to a more solitary perch...

An unusually sedentary kingfisher was seen near Martha's Point...

Yawning?...

Trash was on the light side with one Mylar balloon and a few plastic water bottles...

Summer's Last Moments

 

The Merrimack River in Chelmsford and Tyngsborough, MA on Monday morning proved an ideal place to spend the last few hours of summer.

Launched at Southwell Park in North Chelmsford and enjoyed the river between the mouth of Stony Brook...

...and a little ways above Wickasee Island's northern tip.

The nearly mile-long island also known as Tyng's Island...

A little north of the island in a shallow cove are these rocks...

...one of which retains an iron loop...

...where, perhaps long ago, riverboats laden with freight tied up while waiting to enter the lock and short canal around Wicassic Falls.

I wasn't the only one enjoying summer's last moments...

Trash gathered up along the way...

One additional piece of trash encountered after the above photo was this plastic donut?...

...in corporate colors?

Colors Flying, Drums and Fifes a Playing

My first time out on the water with cataract-free eyes coincided with the 250th anniversary of the Arnold Expedition's disembarking from Newburyport, Massachusetts enroute to the Kennebec River in present-day Maine.  

Yesterday morning, September 19th, I paddled over from my encampment at Salisbury Beach State Reservation to Newburyport's Old Waterfront, specifically Tracy's Wharf...

...which is said to have been "Base for American Privateers and British prizes captured during the Revolutionary War".

On this day back in 1775, a fleet of 11 vessels described by expedition member Sgt. John Pierce as "Brigs, Sloops, and Schooners" sat at dock.  Onboard were 1100 soldiers and officers of the Arnold Expedition hoping to use the element of surprise to reach and hopefully capture Quebec City.  Col. Benedict Arnold was awaiting word from 3 vessels he'd sent out on September 16th to scout coastal waters for British "men of war or cruisers".  Once Arnold was told  "the coast is quite clear", the mission got underway.  The fleet had been assembled by Newburyport's Nathaniel Tracy at the request of George Washington for what Washington called "a secret expedition".

Thanks to Kenneth Roberts' book March to Quebec, which includes first-hand journal entries by several participants, the names of 9 vessels were preserved: the Abigail named by Capt. Simeon Thayer, the Betsey on which Sgt. Pierce was aboard, the Britannia with Maj. Return J. Meigs aboard, the Broad Bay (lead vessel) with Arnold and, according to Dr. Isaac Senter in addition to himself, included "Mr. Spring, the Chaplain, and a number of other gentlemen, several of which were volunteers of distinction", the Conway mentioned by Capt. Simeon Thayer, the Eagle mentioned by Arnold, the Hannah with Ephraim Squier onboard, the Houghton mentioned by Arnold, and the Swallow mentioned by many as having run aground before getting out of the river.

Some ship captains mentioned by Arnold were: Capt. James Clarkson on the Broad Bay, Capt. Somersby on the Houghton, and Capt. Maby on the Eagle.

On the Sunday before their departure a special service was held at the Old South Presbyterian Church...

...where the expedition's chaplain, Rev. Samuel Spring, is said to have given an inspiring sermon.

According to the History of Newburyport, Mass 1764-1905 by John James Currier, one soldier, 22 year old Joseph Ware wrote: "Early this morning weighed anchor with a pleasant gale, our colors flying, drums and fifes a playing, and the hills all around covered with pretty girls weeping for their departed swains."

This 1830 map found on the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center shows the approximate route the vessels followed for 3 miles to reach the open ocean beyond the "bar"...

All but the Swallow made it out of the river without incident.  With the Swallow having run aground, men had to be transferred to other vessels.  Eventually a rising tide helped to re-float the Swallow and it later caught up to the fleet. It took the fleet 4 days to travel the approximately 130 miles to their destination on the Kennebec River, near present-day Gardiner, ME.  

After pushing away from Tracy's Wharf in Newburyport I had this view toward the ocean...

Like Joseph Ware, I also had a "pleasant gale" as I passed the Salisbury Harbormaster's dock...

Further along on the Newburyport Waterfront are the range lights installed in 1873  to help guide mariners entering the river (photo taken on 9/18)...

About a mile and a half from the river's mouth I waved goodbye to the fleet as they sailed out and over the bar...

The day before (9/18) I ventured a little closer to the river's mouth by the "Butler Toothpick"...

...where I reflected on the tragedy which occurred here last month when a 47 ft power boat "The Great White" capsized while trying to exit the river through rough seas related to Hurricane Erin.  One of the two men onboard did not survive.

While on land in Newburyport and Newbury I visited several locations where officers and soldiers found meals and lodging:

The encampment at Newbury's Upper Common described below...

The home of Nathaniel Tracy where officers such as Maj. Return J. Meigs reporting having dined on Sunday 9/17...

Today it's the Library...

Nearby is the home of Tristram Dalton where Maj. Meigs reported having dined Monday 9/18...

George Washington, himself, would later be entertained in this house...

 

Another stop in Newburyport was the Maritime Museum in the Custom House building...

...where a second floor room is devoted to the Arnold Expedition.  

 

Behind the Maritime Museum is a full-sized Batteau...

...

...which is representative of the vessels the expedition transitioned to upon their arrival near Gardiner, Maine.

On the website The American Revolution.org I came across this detailed description of Arnold's small army by John Codman author of Arnold's Expedition to Quebec published in 1901: "The detachment, as a whole, was of the very flower of the colonial youth, young men of a spirit not easily to be restrained by their elders, when parental warnings of the fatigues and perils to be encountered only served to fire with more ardent yearnings for a share in the glory of success.  Two hundred and fifty came from Rhode Island, one hundred from Connecticut, four hundred from Massachusetts, including the District of Maine, one hundred from New Hampshire, two hundred from Pennsylvania, one hundred from Virginia, and a few volunteers from New Jersey.  Even at that time America was glad to accept the aid of the sons of Erin, and there were in the little army nearly two hundred "emigrants" - fully a sixth of the detachment - from the old country, a large majority of whom were from Ireland."

While the mission ultimately didn't succeed in capturing Quebec City, and many men perished, the expedition is still considered an admirable endeavor.

No trash was encountered on the water.  Stopping to stretch my legs on an island upriver from the Route 1 bridge resulted in this rounded-up assortment of flotsam...

Greatly enjoyed 2 nights camping at the Salisbury Beach State Reservation Campground where the sound of breaking waves was easy to go to sleep to.