The Abenaki and the Androscoggin River
(This post originally appeared on our Facebook page on July 14, 2021.)
This website is great to guide you through the history of the Androscoggin River and how its First Nation Abenaki Indigenous people used it in their everyday life long before European settlers came along.
From “Amascongan” to “Androscoggin”
“The river now known as the Androscoggin, and from which the tribe inhabiting its shores received its names, was variously called the Anasagunticook, the Anconganunticook, Amasaquanteg, and Amascongan. The latter is the original of Androscoggin, as appears by the deposition of the Indian Perepole. The name has been written in some sixty different forms, as its sound was received by the ancient hunters, owners, and settlers. There seems to have been a disposition to make it conform to known words in the English usage. The name 'Coggin' is a family appellation in New England; and it was easy to place before it, according to each man’s preference, other familiar names, and to call the stream 'Ambrose Coggin,' 'Amos Coggin,' 'Andrews Coggin,' 'Andros Coggin,' and 'Andrus Coggin.' Vetromile says that Coggin means 'coming'; and that Ammascoggin means 'fish coming in the spring,' and that Androscoggin means 'Andros coming,' referring to the visit of a former governor of the province. But the visit of Governor Andros was not made until 1688, while the river is called Androscoggin in an indenture, made in 1639, between Thomas Purchase and Governor Winthrop.”
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| Source: TravelingOtter on Flickr |
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