Early History
Early European settlement of the watershed was northerly up the Cold River valley from Fryeburg, Maine through Evans Notch and then down Evans Brook to Gilead. Evans Notch and Evans Brook were named for Captain John Evans, who commanded European militia against the indigenous people of the Americas in 1781. The town of Gilead was incorporated in 1804. The Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad from Portland, Maine to Montreal followed the south bank of the Androscoggin River and reached Gilead in 1851. The railroad bridge was the first river crossing durable enough to withstand runoff events from winter storms. Peak runoff events were similarly destructive to attempts to construct water-powered mills adjacent to the river. Construction of the road now known as Maine Highway 113 commenced in 1866. In 1882 Major Gideon Hastings obtained title to large tracts of timberland and commenced operations of the Hastings Lumber Company.
Read more about this topic: Wild River (Androscoggin River)
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or history:
“In early times every sort of advantage tends to become a military advantage; such is the best way, then, to keep it alive. But the Jewish advantage never did so; beginning in religion, contrary to a thousand analogies, it remained religious. For that we care for them; from that have issued endless consequences.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“the future is simply nothing at all. Nothing has happened to the present by becoming past except that fresh slices of existence have been added to the total history of the world. The past is thus as real as the present.”
—Charlie Dunbar Broad (1887–1971)