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Short History of Rivers, Streams and Lakes
Kennebec River
Kennebec River, Maine
Length - 230 miles
Drainage Area - 5,870 square miles
Discharge - 5,893 million gallons/day (avg.)
The Kennebec River flows out of Moosehead Lake in West Central Maine and flows 230 miles to discharge into the Atlantic Ocean near Popham Beach.
Moosehead Lake
Fed by numerous small tributaries and the Roach River, Moosehead's primary contributor is the Moose River, which flows from Brassua Lake. Moosehead Lake is the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. The Kennebec River begins at two points in the lake, the West Outlet, ad, Maine and flows about three miles southwest to Indian Pond. The Kennebec flows past the Harris Station Dam at the southwest end of the lake and proceeds through central Maine to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. US Route 201 follows it to Solon Maine, when it diverts away from the river. At Solon, Maine State Road 201A follows it on the west to its terminus at Norridgewock. US Route 2 follows it for a short distance to its intersection with US Route 201, which proceeds along its west bank through Augusta, Maine to Gardiner, Maine. Maine State Road 24 follows the river on the west bank from Gardiner to south of Richmond, where it diverts to the west. State Road 127 follows the east bank for a distance. The river enters the Atlantic near Popham State Park.
Popham Beach State Park
10 Perkins Farm Lane
Phippsburg, ME 04562
(207) 389-1335
https://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/doc/parksearch/details.pl?park_id=22
The Kennebec is navigable by ocean vessels for about forty miles of its length, to the state capital at August.
History
French explorer Samuel de Champlain navigated as far as Bath on his mapping expedition in 1605.
August 13, 1607 - Popham Colony Established
George Popham led a colony to current Maine to found a colony along the Kennebec River as a venture for the Plymouth Company.
George Popham (1550–1608)
The son of Edward Popham and Joan Norton Popham, Edward was native to Somerset, England. Historians know little of his early life until he emerged as leader of the expedition that founded the colony that bore his name. He died in December, 1607, leaving command of the colony to twenty-five year old Raleigh Gilbert.
The Expedition Begins
King James chartered the Plymouth Company at the same time he chartered the Virginia Company that founded Jamestown. The purpose of the companies was to raise private capital through the sale of stock to found the colonies. The charter for the Plymouth Colony included the area between 38° and 45° N. The Virginia Company's charter included the area between 34° and 41° N. The area overlapped and the two companies were to found colonies in the areas that did not overlap. Whichever colony proved successful would receive the overlapping area in between. George Popham led the expedition that departed Plymouth, England on May 31, 1607, on two ships, the Gift of God and the Mary. The expedient included over 100 men and boys. The purpose of the mission included prospecting for precious metals, furs and spices. The men also wanted to prove that the trees of the New World were suitable for building ships. The ships arrived at the mouth of the Kennebec River on August 13, 1607. The men started building a fort they would call Fort St. George almost immediately. They would begin building the ship a few days later.
Excerpted from the Author's Book
Colonial American History Stories - 1215 - 1664
Revolutionary War
Benedict Arnold followed the Kennebec as he began his invasion of Quebec in 1775.
Early August, 1775 - Benedict Arnold Meets with Washington
While Benedict Arnold was at Fort Ticonderoga he had spent time devising a plan to attack Quebec City to provide a diversion for General Schuyler's attack against Montreal. Arnold wanted to follow an old Indian trail up the Kennebec River through Maine and then travel down the Chaudière River to a point across from Quebec. Arnold's intelligence led him to believe that the British had only 600 men to defend the entire Quebec Province. An American thrust to capture Quebec and Montreal might persuade the Canadians to join the American cause. General Schuyler's attack from the south would divert British strength to defend against this threat, leaving Arnold's attack against Quebec almost undefended. Washington studied Arnold's plan and approved them, but he wanted Arnold to wait for General Schuyler's approval before proceeding to implement it.
September 19, 1775 - Benedict Arnold and His Force Depart Newburyport
Benedict Arnold, commanding 1100 men, departed from Newburyport, Massachusetts on September on ships bound for the mouth of the Kennebec River.
Arrival at Kennebec River
The voyage to the mouth of the Kennebec took just twelve hours to complete. Upon arrival, Arnold sent scouts upriver and inspected the bateaux constructed for the expedition. Hastily built, the boats were of poor quality and promised to cause many problems as the force moved up the Kennebec River. Arnold had his men begin construction more of the boats. The force spent the next three days camped at the site, building more bateaux and gathering information.
Bateaux
The word "bateaux" derives from the French word for "boat." The craft was a flat bottomed boat with pointed ends, usually from twenty-four to fifty feet wide and about eight feet wide, though the size of the boats varied widely due to its proposed use and materials available for construction. It was possible to mount a small sail on the boat; however the flat bottom made it difficult to navigate. The boats worked well in rivers and streams as the flat bottom provided a shallow draft and provided a suitable platform for cargo. Usually builders used sawn lumber to construct the boats, however builders used whatever resources they had available to build them. The boats found extensive use in colonial times and Revolutionary War soldiers used them extensively to shuttle troops and supplies.
September 23, 1775 - Arnold's Force Reaches Fort Western
Arnold's force departed the mouth of the Kennebec River and traveled upstream to Fort Western, which was about ten miles upriver. Upon arrival, he sent out two teams of scouts Lieutenant Archibald Steele, in command of the pioneer corps, was to blaze a trail along the Kennebec river for the army to follow. The other under Lieutenant Nathaniel Church, was to do surveys of the area to determine the distance Arnold's force would have to travel each day to reach their destination.
Lieutenant Archibald Steele (1740 - October 19, 1832)
The son of William and Rachel Carr Steele. Archibald was native to Drumore, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Historians know little about his early life other than that he was a farmer and had married Jane, last name unknown, three months before the beginning of the Revolutionary War. When word of the fighting reached him, he left his plow in the furrow, took his rifle gathered a half dozen or so local Lancaster lads and traveled to Boston.
Pennsylvania Riflemen
Steele was chosen as First Lieutenant of the company of the men, who were all expert riflemen, using the rifles made in their home Lancaster County. After their arrival near Boston they joined the Pennsylvania Riflemen. At Boston they became part of the front line trenches. Here the company quickly gained a reputation with the British as a company that could fire accurately within six inches from a 300 yard distance.
Mission to Quebec
Steele's company was one of the companies that joined Benedict Arnold's mission to Quebec. The company departed from Cambridge Massachusetts and traveled by ship to the mouth of the Kennebec River. From there the force traveled by bateaux upriver. At their first destination, Fort Western, Arnold appointed Steele to lead the pioneer corps, which was to travel ahead of the army blazing the trail. Arnold allowed Steele choose any eight men from the army for this important task. Steel chose men from his own company. Before the end of this difficult mission two of the men would succumb to the rigors and leave the unit and rejoined Arnold's army. Two others died before the end of the mission.
Difficult Mission
Steele and his men faced a difficult task eking out a route through rough, unmapped terrain through the Kennebec River's course. Traveling by canoe, the men had to portage around rapids and waterfalls and risk drowning in fast currents and in the cold Maine weather. The small company lost all their supplies when the canoe capsized in one difficult stretch of the river. The company finally reached the St. Lawrence River after a cold, hungry, harrowing mission and waited for Arnold's army to catch up with them.
Nathaniel Church (October 22, 1732 - February 5, 1825)
The son of Caleb and Deborah Woodworth Church, Nathaniel was native to Little Compton, Newport County, Rhode Island. Historians know little of his early life. He married Sarah Wood, with whom he would have one child. At the outbreak of hostilities, Church offered his services by joining Colonel Thomas Church's regiment where he served as a first lieutenant. The Church regiment went to Cambridge to join the Siege of Boston in May, 1775. While in service there, Nathaniel Church joined Benedict Arnold's mission to Quebec.
Fort Western
Constructed in 1754 by the British during the French and Indian War, the fort is the United States oldest surviving wooden stockade fort. The fort's main purpose was to serve as a storehouse supporting Fort Halifax, about seventeen miles upriver. Supplies from Boston arrived at the fort on ships about four times a year. After unloading, they traveled upriver by bateaux to Fort Halifax. The fort was never attacked, but staffed by a British garrison until 1767, which was the last time soldiers were stationed in the fort. That was the last military use for the fort, except as a staging area for Benedict Arnold's force in September, 1775. Arnold and his force occupied the fort and surrounding grounds for about a week as they acquired more supplies, gathered information and repaired their boats.
September 28, 1775 - Benedict Arnold's Forces Reach Fort Halifax
Benedict Arnold's expedition reached Fort Halifax on September 28, 1775, where they would camp for several days, repairing boats and making further preparations for their Canada campaign.
Fort Halifax
Construction began on Fort Halifax on July 25, 1754 when British Major General John Winslow arrived at the site with 600 British troops during the early stages of the French and Indian War. The general chose a site at the confluence of the Sebasticook and Kennebec rivers. The fort occupied an old Indian village and was at a major strategic point. The fort would provide protection for the residents of Maine from Indian incursions and serve as a trading post. Winslow named the fort after George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, President of the Board of Trade at the time. An 800 foot palisade surrounded the structures inside the fort. Two two-story blockhouses flanked it on the north and south sides and a sentry box occupied another corner of the fort. The buildings inside the stockade included the soldier's barracks and the "fort house." The fort house served as officer's quarters, armory and a supply depot. The fort included several pieces of artillery. Two fierce bulldogs guarded the fort's gates. In addition to this, two more blockhouses stood on a hill overlooking the fort. When the war ended the British government sold the fort to Dr. Silvester Gardiner, who leased it to surveyor Ephraim Ballard. Ballard, who served as a caretaker of the fort, occupied the fort when Arnold's advance team led by Lieutenant Archibald Steele. The fort included a tavern. Steele and his men had arrived at the fort, which by this time was in a deteriorating condition, on September 23. The fort was on the northern fringes of the frontier in 1775.
Further Preparations
Arnold's men camped on the grounds outside the fort while Arnold and the other officers took accommodations with some of the settlers' homes in the area. The soldiers repaired the bateaux and hauled them around the rapids and waterfalls upstream on the Kennebec River.
Excerpted from the Author's Book
1775
https://mossyfeetbooks.blogspot.com/2019/04/time-line-of-american-revolution-1775.html
Logging, Shipbuilding and Ice
A major ice business began in and around Gardiner, Maine in 1814. Farmer's idled by the winter weather cut ice and floated to ice houses where it was packed in sawdust. In the spring, the ice was loaded on ships, packed in sawdust and sent south to markets in the West Indies and the southern United States. The city of Bath, referred to as "The City of Ships" emerged as a major shipbuilding site. North of Augusta the Kennebec served as a transportation medium for logs cut from the forests upstream and floated downstream to Bath, Augusta and other cities along to river to build ships, furniture and provide pulpwood for papermaking.
