by Edited by Rebecca Brown
University Press of New England, 2009
An Atlas of the Connecticut River Watershed in Vermont and New Hampshire
The Connecticut River divides and connects the Twin States yet borders the less-populated side of both. As a result, the longest river in New England does not always receive its full due of appreciation, attention, and protection.
No organization has done more to change this than the Connecticut River Joint Commissions (CRJC), created in the late 1980s by the legislatures of New Hampshire and Vermont. So it seems fitting that this past summer – while waterskiers kicked up spray in Lake Winnipesaukee and museums commemorated 400 years of Europeans on Lake Champlain – the group wrapped up a five-year effort and published a comprehensive soft-cover atlas that takes full measure of this remarkable river.
Where the Great River Rises focuses on what the book terms the Upper Connecticut River Watershed, a 7,751-square-mile region that runs from the river’s headwaters in a series of mountain lakes near the Canadian border to the mouth of the Deerfield River in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The watershed encompasses all the land that drains into the smaller rivers and streams that flow into the Connecticut, so it cuts west and east far enough to skirt sections of both the Green and White Mountains.
With 36 chapters that document the evolution of the region and the river from the Paleozoic era to the present day, 51 maps, and hundreds of illustrations and graphics, this is the ultimate reference book for residents and visitors who already know and love the Connecticut River and for those who want to know more.
The 41 contributors include New Hampshire state geologist David Wunsch and Jon Kim of the Vermont Geological Survey. Wunsch and Kim provide such a clear and succinct overview of the tectonic history of the region that you’ll never experience the drive up Interstate 91 the same way again. A chapter on water quality in the Connecticut by Adair Mulligan, conservation director of the CRJC, paints a dramatic portrait of the river’s polluted past in the 1950s as “New England’s best landscaped sewer” and the remarkable progress that has been made since then. The river still contains some problem areas, and Mulligan imparts practical advice on where and when you should not swim.
The author of the forestry chapter, ecologist Charles Cogbill of Plainfield, Vermont, elaborates on his own study of property surveys performed during the early years of European settlement of New England. Surveyors sometimes used trees as lot markers, or “witness trees.” Today, these historical records amount to a random survey of tree species circa 1800 and provide the basis for a series of maps that show how during subsequent settlement maple replaced beech in southern forests and fir became dominant over spruce in the north.
There are interesting facts to be gleaned in every section, including tidbits about the weather, native culture, colonial history, and the current economy of the region. Here’s a quick sampling:
• River valleys are subject to extremes of temperature because there is less wind to mix hot or cold layers of air. The hottest and the coldest days on record in Vermont occurred in communities along the Connecticut River: 105°F in Vernon on August 2, 1975 and, on December 30, 1933, 50°F below zero in Bloomfield.
• The founders of Dartmouth College negotiated with female leaders of the Abenaki natives for use of the land around Mink Brook, according to the tribe’s oral history.
• Twice during the turbulent 1770s, a group of New Hampshire towns along the river tried to secede and join Vermont. Civic leaders on both sides of the river also discussed forming a third cross-river state called New Connecticut.
• The nine hydro dams along the Connecticut River represent approximately 10 percent of the installed power-generating capacity in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Like other atlases, this is not a book easily devoured in one sitting. It is better enjoyed as a resource, for resolving arguments during dinner, researching school projects, or satisfying idle curiosity. Regardless, it will provide many hours of satisfaction. And it should help restore the mighty Connecticut to its rightful place at the heart of the Twin States.