The Saint George River is a river in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

with a watershed of in a unique and historic area of mountains, sea coast, lakes, tidal streams and inlets. The origin of the Saint George River is the outflow of Saint George Lake () in

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. The river follows a winding course U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed June 22, 2011 south to Thomaston, where the river flows into the estuary and runs about southwest to

Muscongus Bay Muscongus Bay is a bay on the coast of Maine, United States, between Penobscot Bay and John's Bay. Muscongus was the name of an Abenaki village meaning "fishing place" or "many r largerock ledges." John Smith recorded the river in 1616 as Nusc ...

, forming the border between Cushing and St. George.

Indigenous settlement

Paleo-Indians first appeared in the Saint George River area about 7,300 BCE. Little is known of Paleo-Indians history in this area. The Wawenock or Walinakiak Indians resided on the banks of the Saint George River at European contact in 1605. The Wawenock Indians were one of four related tribes of the

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pre ...

, who inhabited central and southeastern Maine. ''Walinakiak'' means "People of the bays". Numbering about 10,000 people in 1500, the Wawenock tribe was decimated by a series of

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

s during the latter 16th century and through the 17th century, falling to about 1,000 people by the end of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. Two members of the Wawenock tribe were captured by Captain Weymouth in 1605, and one Wawenock was returned from England in 1607 aboard either the ''Gift of God'' or the ''John & Mary'' by the

Plymouth Company The Plymouth Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of Plymouth, was a Division (business), division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for British colonization of the Americas, colonizing the east coast of America between 38 ...

. The Wawenock along the Saint George’s lived on cultivated products including pumpkins,

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

and beans, along with fish, shellfish and game. A large Wawenock shellfish midden at Damariscotta dates back 2,200 years. Captain Weymouth observed this midden in 1605.

European settlement

George Weymouth George Weymouth (Waymouth) () was an English explorer of the area now occupied by the state of Maine. Voyages George Weymouth was a native of Cockington, Devon, who spent his youth studying shipbuilding and mathematics. In 1602 Weymouth was ...

, captain of the ''Archangel'', made the first documented European landfall at

Monhegan Island Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine located in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located about off the mainland. Th ...

on the lower estuary of the Saint George River on May 17, 1605. On June 11, 1605, Weymouth led an overnight exploration from Monhegan Island which resulted in the identification of “a most excellent river”, which Weymouth named the Saint George. In 1606 and 1607 the

sent ships into the area to colonize, but the settlers of the

Popham Colony The Popham Colony—also known as the Sagadahoc Colony—was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America. It was established in 1607 by the proprietary Plymouth Company and was located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Ma ...

and those who settled along the Kennebec River returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1608. 127 years would pass before the first permanent European settlers came to live along the Saint George River. In 1630

John Leverett John Leverett (baptized 7 July 1616 – 16 March 1678/79In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, dates between Ja ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

sent five traders to establish a trading post in the Saint George estuary below “the head of the tide”. The trading post lasted a number of years, falling to one of the various Indian wars by 1650. In 1735,

Samuel Waldo Samuel Waldo (August 7, 1696 – May 23, 1759) was an American merchant, land speculator, army officer and politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Biography He was born in Boston, the son of Jonathan Waldo and Hannah Mason. In 1722, h ...

of Boston, having acquired most of the land at the mouth of the Saint George River, encouraged 35 families to settle the area now known as St. George, thus creating the first permanent European settlement on the river. By 1760, 175 families lived along the estuary.Gould, page 35.

References

*
Maine Streamflow Data from the USGSMaine Watershed Data From Environmental Protection Agency
* *

Bibliography

* Gould, Albert T., ''The Saint George’s River'', Athoensen Press, Portland, ME, 1950 {{authority control Rivers of Maine Geography of Knox County, Maine Geography of Waldo County, Maine

Indigenous settlement

European settlement

See also

References

Bibliography