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The Saco River ( / ˈ s ɑː k oʊ / SAH -koh , Abenaki : Sαkóhki ) is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States . It drains a rural area of 1,703 square miles (4,410 km) of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland , emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Saco Bay , 136 miles (219 km) from its source. It supplies drinking water to roughly 250,000 people in thirty-five towns; and historically provided transportation and water power encouraging development of the cities of Biddeford and Saco and the towns of Fryeburg and Hiram .

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61-587: Samuel de Champlain sailed a portion of the river in 1605 and referred to it as Chouacoet , which he said was the name used by the Almouchiquois people. Various sources also give their name as "Sokoki" (a term also used for the Missiquoi people of western New England) and as being either the ancestors or close relatives of the Pequawket who lived along the river near present-day Fryeburg. William O. Bright attributed

122-531: A convent. The couple had no children, and Champlain adopted three Montagnais girls named Faith, Hope, and Charity in the winter of 1627–28. On 29 March 1613, arriving back in New France, he first ensured that his new royal commission be proclaimed . Champlain set out on May 27 to continue his exploration of the Huron country and in hopes of finding the "northern sea" he had heard about (probably Hudson Bay ). He travelled

183-423: A family of sailors, Champlain began exploring North America in 1603, under the guidance of his uncle, François Gravé Du Pont . After 1603, Champlain's life and career consolidated into the path he would follow for the rest of his life. From 1604 to 1607, he participated in the exploration and creation of the first permanent European settlement north of Florida, Port Royal , Acadia (1605). In 1608, he established

244-522: A group of Haudenosaunee. In a battle that began the next day, two hundred and fifty Haudenosaunee advanced on Champlain's position, and one of his guides pointed out the three chiefs. In his account of the battle, Champlain recounts firing his arquebus and killing two of them with a single shot, after which one of his men killed the third. The Haudenosaunee turned and fled. While this cowed the Iroquois for some years, they would later return to successfully fight

305-644: A large Spanish fleet to the West Indies , again offered him a place on the ship. His uncle, who gave command of the ship to Jeronimo de Valaebrera, instructed the young Champlain to watch over the ship. This journey lasted two years and allowed Champlain to see or hear about Spanish holdings from the Caribbean to Mexico City . Along the way, he took detailed notes, wrote an illustrated report on what he learned on this trip, and gave this secret report to King Henry, who rewarded Champlain with an annual pension. This report

366-464: A permanent settlement. Minor skirmishes with the resident Nausets dissuaded him from the idea of establishing one near present-day Chatham, Massachusetts . He named the area Mallebar ("bad bar"). In the spring of 1608, Dugua wanted Champlain to start a new French colony and fur trading centre on the shores of the St. Lawrence. Dugua equipped, at his own expense, a fleet of three ships with workers, that left

427-414: A second expedition to New France in the spring of 1604. This trip, once again an exploratory journey without women and children, lasted several years, and focused on areas south of the St. Lawrence River, in what later became known as Acadia . It was led by Pierre Dugua de Mons , a noble and Protestant merchant who had been given a fur trading monopoly in New France by the king. Dugua asked Champlain to find

488-489: A site for winter settlement. After exploring possible sites in the Bay of Fundy , Champlain selected Saint Croix Island in the St. Croix River as the site of the expedition's first winter settlement. After enduring a harsh winter on the island the settlement was relocated across the bay where they established Port Royal . Until 1607, Champlain used that site as his base, while he explored

549-420: A wide range of canoeing on lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds, and streams. The summer Olympics include canoeing competitions . Canoe slalom (previously known as whitewater slalom) is a competitive sport with the aim to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of hanging downstream or upstream gates on the river rapids in the fastest time possible. It is one of the two kayak and canoeing disciplines at

610-451: A young man deliver Du Val, along with 3 co-conspirators, two bottles of wine and invite the four worthies to an event on board a boat. Soon after the four conspirators arrived on the boat, Champlain had them arrested. Du Val was strangled and hung in Quebec and his head was displayed in the "most conspicuous place" of Champlain's fort. The other three were sent back to France to be tried. During

671-465: Is required from the State of Maine for campfires along any unposted river beaches. The Saco is a major attraction for canoeists. One area of the river, Walker's Rip, is a set of rapids that has caused less talented canoers to capsize, although it can be navigated successfully. Several canoeing rentals are available throughout the river's distance. The Saco River is also famous for sport fishing, even though

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732-545: Is the location of the battle, 10 miles (16 km) south of Canastota, New York . Champlain attacked the stockaded Oneida village. He was accompanied by 10 Frenchmen and 300 Wendat. Pressured by the Huron Wendat to attack prematurely, the assault failed. Champlain was wounded twice in the leg by arrows, one in his knee. The conflict ended on October 16 when the French Wendat were forced to flee. Although he did not want to,

793-615: The Appalachian Mountain Club and now maintained by the Saco River Recreation Council) to Brownfield, Maine . There are many sand beaches along the Saco when not at flood stage, and camping is allowed along some of these beaches for free. Misuse, including large quantities of garbage left behind by users and illegal fires, as well as discourtesy toward landowners, has led many beaches to be posted and monitored. A permit

854-676: The Beaver Wars against the Iroquois . He learned and mastered their languages. Late in the year of 1615, Champlain returned to the Wendat and stayed with them over the winter, which permitted him to make the first ethnographic observations of this important nation, the events of which form the bulk of his book Voyages et Découvertes faites en la Nouvelle France, depuis l'année 1615 published in 1619. In 1620, Louis XIII of France ordered Champlain to cease exploration, return to Quebec, and devote himself to

915-568: The Compagnie des Cent-Associés (the Hundred Associates) to manage the fur trade. Champlain was one of the 100 investors, and its first fleet, loaded with colonists and supplies, set sail in April 1628. Canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle . Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of

976-648: The Internationalen Representation for Kanusport , the forerunner of the International Canoe Federation (ICF). Canoeing became part of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1936 . The main form of competitive sport was canoe sprint using a sprint canoe . Others include canoe polo , whitewater canoeing , canoe marathon , ICF canoe marathon , and playboating . More than 170 national canoe associations and federations are members of

1037-561: The Ottawa River , later giving the first description of this area. Along the way, he apparently dropped or left behind a cache of silver cups, copper kettles, and a brass astrolabe dated 1603 (Champlain's Astrolabe) , which was later found by a farm boy named Edward Lee near Cobden, Ontario . It was in June that he met with Tessouat , the Algonquin chief of Allumettes Island , and offered to build

1098-672: The Rivière des Iroquois (now known as the Richelieu River ), and became the first European to map Lake Champlain . Having had no encounters with the Haudenosaunee at this point many of the men headed back, leaving Champlain with only 2 Frenchmen and 60 natives. On 29 July, somewhere in the area near Ticonderoga and Crown Point, New York (historians are not sure which of these two places, but Fort Ticonderoga historians claim that it occurred near its site), Champlain and his party encountered

1159-414: The "Big River" in small boats bringing the men and the materials. Upon arriving in Quebec, Champlain later wrote: "I arrived there on the third of July, when I searched for a place suitable for our settlement; but I could find none more convenient or better suited than the point of Quebec, so called by the savages, which was covered with nut-trees." Champlain ordered his men to gather lumber by cutting down

1220-456: The "Compagnie des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo" and "Compagnie de Champlain", which bound the Rouen and Saint-Malo merchants for eleven years. He returned to New France in the spring of 1615 with four Recollects in order to further religious life in the new colony. The Roman Catholic Church was eventually given en seigneurie large and valuable tracts of land, estimated at nearly 30% of all

1281-627: The Atlantic coast. Dugua was forced to leave the settlement for France in September 1605, because he learned that his monopoly was at risk. His monopoly was rescinded by the king in July 1607 under pressure from other merchants and proponents of free trade, leading to the abandonment of the settlement. In 1605 and 1606, Champlain explored the North American coast as far south as Cape Cod , searching for sites for

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1342-557: The Caen brothers. After some tense negotiations, it was decided to merge the two companies under the direction of the Caens. Champlain continued to work on relations with the natives and managed to impose on them a chief of his choice. He also negotiated a peace treaty with the Iroquois. Champlain continued to work on the fortifications of what became Quebec City, laying the first stone on 6 May 1624. On 15 August he once again returned to France where he

1403-613: The French and Algonquin for the rest of the century . The Battle of Sorel occurred on 19 June 1610, with Samuel de Champlain supported by the Kingdom of France and his allies, the Wendat people , Algonquin people and Innu people against the Mohawk people in New France at present-day Sorel-Tracy , Quebec . Champlain's forces armed with the arquebus engaged and slaughtered or captured nearly all of

1464-455: The French port of Honfleur . The main ship, called Don-de-Dieu (French for Gift of God ), was commanded by Champlain. Another ship, Lévrier ( Hunt Dog ), was commanded by his friend Du Pont. The small group of male settlers arrived at Tadoussac on the lower St. Lawrence in June. Because of the dangerous strength of the Saguenay River ending there, they left the ships and continued up

1525-632: The French settlement that is now Quebec City. Champlain was the first European to describe the Great Lakes , and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the Natives . He formed long time relationships with local Montagnais and Innu , and, later, with others farther west—tribes of the Ottawa River , Lake Nipissing , and Georgian Bay , and with Algonquin and Wendat . He agreed to provide assistance in

1586-527: The ICF, including the American , Canadian , British , Scottish , and Welsh . Most present-day canoeing is done as or as a part of a sport or recreational activity. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an Open canoe . A few of the recreational forms of canoeing are canoe camping and canoe racing such as canoe sprint and canoe marathons . Other forms include

1647-540: The Iroquois. The party passed Lake Ontario at its eastern tip where they hid their canoes and continued their journey by land. They followed the Oneida River until they arrived at the main Onondaga fort on October 10. The exact location of this place is still a matter of debate. Although the traditional location, Nichols Pond, is regularly disproved by professional and amateur archaeologists, many still claim that Nichols Pond

1708-489: The Mohawks. The battle ended major hostilities with the Mohawks for 20 years. One route Champlain may have chosen to improve his access to the court of the regent was his decision to enter into marriage with the twelve-year-old Hélène Boullé. She was the daughter of Nicolas Boullé, a man charged with carrying out royal decisions at court. The marriage contract was signed on 27 December 1610 in presence of Dugua, who had dealt with

1769-511: The Savages: or travels of Samuel Champlain of Brouages, made in New France in the year 1603"). Included in his account were meetings with Begourat , chief of the Montagnais at Tadoussac, in which positive relationships were established between the French and the many Montagnais gathered there, with some Algonquin friends. Promising to King Henry to report on further discoveries, Champlain joined

1830-410: The Wendat country and returned to Quebec before heading back to France on 2 July. Champlain returned to New France in 1620 and was to spend the rest of his life focusing on administration of the territory rather than exploration. Champlain spent the winter building Fort Saint-Louis on top of Cape Diamond. By mid-May, he learned that the fur trading monopoly had been handed over to another company led by

1891-419: The Wendat insisted that Champlain spend the winter with them. During his stay, he set off with them in their great deer hunt, during which he became lost and was forced to wander for three days living off game and sleeping under trees until he met up with a band of First Nations people by chance. He spent the rest of the winter learning "their country, their manners, customs, modes of life". On 22 May 1616, he left

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1952-408: The activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other activities such as canoe camping , or where canoeing is merely a transportation method used to accomplish other activities. Most present-day canoeing is done as or as a part of a sport or recreational activity. In some parts of Europe canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking , with a canoe being called an open canoe . A few of

2013-522: The administration of the country. In every way but formal title, Samuel de Champlain served as Governor of New France , a title that may have been formally unavailable to him owing to his non-noble status. Champlain established trading companies that sent goods, primarily fur, to France, and oversaw the growth of New France in the St. Lawrence River valley until his death in 1635. Many places, streets, and structures in northeastern North America today bear his name, most notably Lake Champlain . Champlain

2074-495: The end of 1594). By 1597 he was a "capitaine d'une compagnie" serving in a garrison near Quimper . In year 3, his uncle-in-law, a navigator whose ship Saint-Julien was to transport Spanish troops to Cádiz under the Treaty of Vervins , allowed Champlain to accompany him. After a difficult passage, he spent some time in Cádiz before his uncle, whose ship was then chartered to accompany

2135-551: The father, and the couple was married three days later. Champlain was then 43 years old. The terms of the contract called for the marriage to be consummated two years later. Champlain's marriage was initially quite troubled, as Hélène rallied against joining him in August 1613. Their relationship, while it apparently lacked any physical connection, recovered and was apparently good for many years. Hélène lived in Quebec for several years, but returned to Paris and eventually decided to enter

2196-519: The firearms of his time: he acquired this practical knowledge when serving with the army of King Henry IV during the later stages of France's religious wars in Brittany from 1594 or 1595 to 1598, beginning as a quartermaster responsible for the feeding and care of horses. During this time he claimed to go on a "certain secret voyage" for the king, and saw combat (including maybe the Siege of Fort Crozon , at

2257-495: The great rapids of Sault Ste. Marie , where Lake Superior enters Lake Huron, some of which was recorded by Champlain. Champlain continued to work to improve relations with the natives, promising to help them in their struggles against the Iroquois. With his native guides, he explored further up the Ottawa River and reached Lake Nipissing . He then followed the French River until he reached Lake Huron . In 1615, Champlain

2318-452: The king's annual pension, gave the young explorer a great deal of independence, as he did not need to rely on the financial backing of merchants and other investors. From 1601 to 1603 Champlain served as a geographer in the court of King Henry IV. As part of his duties, he traveled to French ports. He learned much about North America from the fishermen that seasonally traveled to coastal areas from Nantucket to Newfoundland to capitalize on

2379-528: The king's assent. Champlain's first trip to North America was as an observer on a fur-trading expedition led by François Gravé Du Pont . Du Pont was a navigator and merchant who had been a ship's captain on Chauvin's expedition, and with whom Champlain established a firm lifelong friendship. He educated Champlain about navigation in North America, including the Saint Lawrence River . In dealing with

2440-472: The lands granted by the French Crown in New France. In 1615, Champlain reunited with Étienne Brûlé , his capable interpreter, following separate four-year explorations. There, Brûlé reported North American explorations, including that he had been joined by another French interpreter named Grenolle with whom he had travelled along the north shore of la mer douce (the calm sea), now known as Lake Huron , to

2501-694: The natives there (and in Acadia after). The Bonne-Renommée (the Good Fame ) arrived at Tadoussac on March 15, 1603. Champlain was anxious to see all of the places that Jacques Cartier had seen and described sixty years earlier, and wanted to go even further than Cartier, if possible. Champlain created a map of the Saint Lawrence on this trip and, after his return to France on 20 September, published an account as Des Sauvages: ou voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouages, faite en la France nouvelle l'an 1603 ("Concerning

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2562-474: The number of fish in it has decreased tremendously throughout time. Multiple violent and reportedly alcohol-related incidents in 2001 led to increased police patrols and efforts by livery companies, landowners, and government agencies to improve conditions. Listed from source to mouth: Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain ( French: [samɥɛl də ʃɑ̃plɛ̃] ; 13 August 1574 – 25 December 1635)

2623-479: The nut-trees for use in building habitations. Some days after Champlain's arrival in Quebec, Jean du Val, a member of Champlain's party, plotted to kill Champlain to the end of securing the settlement for the Basques or Spaniards and making a fortune for himself. Du Val's plot was ultimately foiled when an associate of Du Val confessed his involvement in the plot to Champlain's pilot, who informed Champlain. Champlain had

2684-696: The origin of "Saco" to an Eastern Abenaki language word meaning "land where the river comes out", which he connected to similar place names like Saugus , said to come from the Pawtucket word for "outlet". The river rises at Saco Lake in Crawford Notch in the White Mountains and flows generally south-southeast through Bartlett and Conway in Carroll County, New Hampshire before crossing into Oxford County, Maine . Shortly after entering Fryeburg, Maine,

2745-478: The recreational forms of canoeing are canoe camping and canoe racing . Other forms include a wide range of canoeing on lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds and streams. Canoeing is an ancient mode of transportation. Modern recreational canoeing was established in the late 19th century. Among early promoters of canoeing as a sport was Carl Smith , who introduced canoeing to Sweden in the 1880s. In 1924, canoeing associations from Austria, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden founded

2806-407: The rich fishing grounds there. He also made a study of previous French failures at colonization in the area, including that of Pierre de Chauvin at Tadoussac . When Chauvin forfeited his monopoly on the fur trade in North America in 1602, responsibility for renewing the trade was given to Aymar de Chaste . Champlain approached de Chaste about a position on the first voyage, which he received with

2867-557: The river branches into the "Old Course" Saco River and the more commonly used "Canal River". Constructed in the 1800s to be more convenient for farmers, the 6-mile-long (10 km) canal is 15 miles (24 km) shorter than the old course and is now considered to be the official course for the river, as the upstream end of the old course is largely silted over. The two channels merge again near Lovell, Maine . After running through six hydropower stations operated by NextEra Energy Resources (including Skelton Dam and Bonny Eagle Dam ),

2928-619: The river enters York County , crosses under Interstate 95 , and passes between Saco and Biddeford, where it is bridged by U.S. Route 1 . It enters Saco Bay on the Atlantic with Camp Ellis in Saco on the north shore and Hills Beach in Biddeford on the south shore. The United States government maintains two stream gauges on the Saco River. The first is at Conway, New Hampshire ( 43°59′27″N 71°05′29″W  /  43.99083°N 71.09139°W  / 43.99083; -71.09139 ), where

2989-432: The river's watershed is 385 square miles (997 km). Discharge (stream flow) here averages 962 cubic feet per second (27.2 m/s) and has ranged from a minimum of 40 cubic feet per second (1.1 m/s) to a maximum of 47,200 cubic feet per second (1,340 m/s). The second is at Cornish, Maine ( 43°48′29″N 70°46′53″W  /  43.80806°N 70.78139°W  / 43.80806; -70.78139 ) where

3050-603: The summer of 1609, Champlain attempted to form better relations with the local First Nations tribes . He made alliances with the Wendat (called Huron by the French) and with the Algonquin , the Montagnais and the Etchemin, who lived in the area of the St. Lawrence River . These tribes sought Champlain's help in their war against the Iroquois , who lived farther south. Champlain set off with nine French soldiers and 300 natives to explore

3111-595: The tribe a fort if they were to move from the area they occupied, with its poor soil, to the locality of the Lachine Rapids. However, Champlain's ownership of the astrolabe has been questioned by modern scholars. By 26 August, Champlain was back in Saint-Malo . There, he wrote an account of his life from 1604 to 1612 and his journey up the Ottawa river, his Voyages and published another map of New France. In 1614, he formed

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3172-436: The watershed is 1,293 square miles (3,350 km). Flow here averages 2,756 cubic feet per second (78.0 m/s) and has ranged from a minimum of 244 cubic feet per second (6.9 m/s) to a maximum of 46,600 cubic feet per second (1,320 m/s). The Saco is a popular recreational river, drawing an estimated 3,000 to 7,000 people per summer weekend, mostly on the stretch from Swan's Falls (a campground formerly maintained by

3233-495: The work probably was authored by Champlain. On Champlain's return to Cádiz in August 1600, his uncle Guillermo Elena (Guillaume Allene), who had fallen ill, asked him to look after his business affairs. This Champlain did, and when his uncle died in June 1601, Champlain inherited his substantial estate. It included an estate near La Rochelle , commercial properties in Spain, and a 150-ton merchant ship. This inheritance, combined with

3294-517: Was a French explorer, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec City , and New France , on 3 July 1608. An important figure in Canadian history , Champlain created the first accurate coastal map during his explorations and founded various colonial settlements. Born into

3355-521: Was born about 1580 in Brouage, France." Liebel asserts that some authors, including the Catholic priests Rainguet and Laverdière, preferred years when Brouage was under Catholic control (which include 1567, 1570, and 1575). Champlain claimed to be from Brouage in the title of his 1603 book and to be Saintongeois in the title of his second book (1613). He belonged to a Roman Catholic family in Brouage which

3416-874: Was born to John Pork Champlain (also written "Anthoine Chappelain" in some records) and Marguerite Le Roy, in either Hiers-Brouage , or the port city of La Rochelle , in the French province of Aunis . He was born on or before 13 August 1574, according to a recent baptism record found by Jean-Marie Germe, French genealogist. Although in 1870, the Canadian Catholic priest Laverdière, in the first chapter of his Œuvres de Champlain , accepted Pierre-Damien Rainguet's estimate of Champlain's birth year as 1567 and tried to justify it, his calculations were based on assumptions now believed, or proven, to be incorrect. Although Léopold Delayant (member, secretary, then president of l'Académie des belles-lettres, sciences et arts de La Rochelle ) wrote as early as 1867 that Rainguet's estimate

3477-514: Was encouraged to continue his work as well as to continue looking for a passage to China, something widely believed to exist at the time. By July 5 he was back at Quebec and continued expanding the city. In 1627 the Caen brothers' company lost its monopoly on the fur trade, and Cardinal Richelieu (who had joined the Royal Council in 1624 and rose rapidly to a position of dominance in French politics that he would hold until his death in 1642) formed

3538-402: Was escorted through the area that is now Peterborough, Ontario by a group of Wendat. He used the ancient portage between Chemong Lake and Little Lake (now Chemong Road) and stayed for a short period of time near what is now Bridgenorth. On 1 September 1615, at Cahiagué (a Wendat community on what is now called Lake Simcoe ), he and the northern tribes started a military expedition against

3599-743: Was most of the time a Catholic city, Brouage was a royal fortress and its governor, from 1627 until his death in 1635, was Cardinal Richelieu . The exact location of his birth is thus also not known with certainty, but at the time of his birth his parents were living in Brouage . Born into a family of mariners (both his father and uncle-in-law were sailors, or navigators), Samuel Champlain learned to navigate, draw, make nautical charts , and write practical reports. His education did not include Ancient Greek or Latin , so he did not read or learn from any ancient literature. As each French fleet had to assure its own defense at sea, Champlain sought to learn to fight with

3660-665: Was published for the first time in 1870, by Laverdière, as Brief Discours des Choses plus remarquables que Samuel Champlain de Brouage a reconneues aux Indes Occidentalles au voiage qu'il en a faict en icettes en l'année 1599 et en l'année 1601, comme ensuite (and in English as Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico 1599–1602 ). The authenticity of this account as a work written by Champlain has frequently been questioned, due to inaccuracies and discrepancies with other sources on some points; however, recent scholarship indicates that

3721-428: Was wrong, the books of Rainguet and Laverdière have had a significant influence. The 1567 date was carved on numerous monuments dedicated to Champlain and is widely regarded as accurate. In the first half of the 20th century, some authors disagreed, choosing 1570 or 1575 instead of 1567. In 1978 Jean Liebel published groundbreaking research about these estimates of Champlain's birth year and concluded, "Samuel Champlain

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