History of the Connecticut River

Libby Klekowski


At the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago, the present-day Connecticut River came into existence. Since that time humans have lived along its shores. The first people to inhabit the Connecticut River Valley were Native Americans (Paleo-Indians) who hunted caribou, wooly mammoth, and other cold-adapted animals. Native American populations flourished in the valley as the climate became progressively milder and more temperate.

Native American Petroglyphs Along the River at Bellows Falls, Vermont

In 1614, the first Europeans entered the Connecticut River estuary and by the 1630s fur trading posts extended into Massachusetts. In the following century, English colonists moved farther and farther up river into Vermont and New Hampshire, displacing the Native Americans.

Fort Number 4 Reconstruction, Charlestown, New Hampshire

The incidents listed below are just a few of the interesting historical events that have occurred along the river. Keep checking back to see new additions to our story of the Connecticut River.

PREHISTORY IN NEW ENGLAND

PREHISTORIC "ARROWHEADS" FROM HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS

NATIVE AMERICAN LEGEND OF A GIANT BEAVER AND A LAKE IN THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY

EARLY EXPLORATION OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER

PLANTS NATIVE AMERICANS USED

CLASHES BETWEEN THE AMERINDIANS AND THE ENGLISH FROM 1675 TO 1676

SKIRMISHES AFTER KING PHILIP'S DEATH IN 1676

CANALS, BOATS, BRIDGES AND TRAINS

INTERESTING TALES

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