Penobscot River

[[Image:Penobscot River.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Panorama of the Penobscot River in [[Millinocket, Maine|Millinocket]]]] The '''Penobscot River''' is a {{convert|109|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} river in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Maine]]. Including the river's [[West Branch Penobscot River|West Branch]] and [[South Branch Penobscot River|South Branch]] increases the Penobscot's length to {{convert|264|mi}}, making it the second longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains {{convert|8610|sqmi|km2}}. It arises from four branches in several lakes in north-central Maine, which flow generally east. After the uniting of the West Branch with the [[East Branch Penobscot River|East Branch]] at [[Medway, Maine|Medway]] ({{coord|45.604|-68.531 |format=dms |type:river_region:US-ME |name= Penobscot River source}}), the Penobscot flows {{convert|109|mi}} south, past the city of [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]], where it becomes navigable. Also at Bangor is the tributary [[Kenduskeag Stream]]. It empties into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in [[Penobscot Bay]]. It is home to the [[Penobscot people]] that live on [[Penobscot Indian Island Reservation|Indian Island]]. The United States government maintains three river flow gages on the Penobscot river. The first is on the East Branch in Grindstone (an unincorporated settlement approximately {{convert|10|mi|km}} south of [[Stacyville, Maine|Stacyville]]) ({{Coord|45|43|49|N|68|35|22|W |region:US-ME |name=Grindstone}}) where the rivershed is {{convert|1086|sqmi|km2}}. Flow here has ranged from 400 to {{convert|1,300|cuft/s|m3/s}}. The second is in [[West Enfield, Maine|West Enfield]] ({{Coord|45|14|12|N|68|38|57|W |region:US-ME |name=West Enfield}}) where the rivershed is {{convert|6671|sqmi|km2}}. Flow here has ranged from 4,410 to {{convert|9,660|cuft/s|m3/s}}. The third is in [[Eddington, Maine|Eddington]] ({{Coord|45|14|12|N|68|38|57|W |region:US-ME |name=Eddington}}), {{convert|0.4|mi|km}} downstream from the Veazie Dam where the rivershed is {{convert|7764|sqmi|km2}}. ==History== [[Image:PostcardBucksportMEBucksportHarborOnThePenobscot1905.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bucksport Harbor, about 1905]] [[Image:Penobscot River near Winterport, postcard, 1906.jpg|thumb|right|250px|View near [[Winterport, Maine|Winterport]] about 1906]] === French Colony === The first [[Europe]]an known to have explored the river was the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] Estaban Gomez in 1524, followed by the Frenchman [[Samuel de Champlain]] in 1605. A few years later [[French people|French]] [[Jesuit]] priests came among the [[Penobscot people]] as missionaries and converted them to [[Catholicism]]. The French settlement of Pentagouet, now [[Castine, Maine|Castine]], was founded at the point where the river becomes [[Penobscot Bay]], and the Penobscot people made a permanent settlement at Indian [[Old Town, Maine]] on an island above the [[head of navigation]], around the Catholic mission. Throughout the 16th and half of the 17th centuries, these were likely the only permanent settlements on the river, although the Penobscots considered the entire river and bay their hunting ground and maintained other seasonal villages along its banks. In 1669, the [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] tribe made raids from the west that were very destructive to the Penobscot people. The [[English people|English]] settlers in [[Massachusetts]] also sent periodic raiding parties to the Penobscot in this period but were not strong enough to wrest the area from French control until the 1750s. In a treaty of 1752, however, Massachusetts laid claim to the entire Penobscot watershed, and in 1759 the Pownall Expedition, led by Governor [[Thomas Pownall]], established [[Fort Pownall]] on [[Cape Jellison]] in what is now [[Stockton Springs, Maine|Stockton Springs]]. This signaled the beginning of English domination, and the incorporation of the Penobscot River valley into [[New England]]. === British colony === The first permanent English settler on the river was Joshua Treat (1726-1802), who was initially the armorer and translator at Fort Pownall. His oldest son, Joshua Treat, Jr., built a [[log house]] and [[sawmill]] at Marsh Bay in what is now [[Frankfort, Maine|Frankfort]], and other members of their extended family, joined by additional settlers from Massachusetts and [[New Hampshire]], pushed ever further up-river, eventually restricting the Penobscot people to Indian [[Old Town, Maine]], the present Penobscot Indian Reservation. === American Revolution === The river and bay were the site of battles in both the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] and the [[War of 1812]]. In both cases the [[Royal Navy|British navy]] won, and in 1814 they sacked the town of [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]]. To prevent this from happening a third time, and because the nearby boundary between the United States and British [[Canada]] was still contested into the 1840s, the Federal government in 1844 began constructing a huge [[granite]] fort, [[Fort Knox (Maine)|Fort Knox]], opposite the town of [[Bucksport, Maine|Bucksport]], near the mouth of the river. The fort never fired a shot in anger, but remains one of the Penobscot's major man-made landmarks. [[Image:PenobscotNarrowsBridgeBucksport.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Penobscot Narrows and [[Fort Knox (Maine)|Fort Knox]] in 2007]] In the 19th century the river was a conduit for the transport of [[logging|logs]] from the [[Great North Woods|northern woods]], to be sawn into [[lumber]] at mills around [[Old Town, Maine|Old Town]] and [[Orono, Maine|Orono]], and transported on ships from Bangor, at the [[head of tide]]. (The average high tide at Bangor is {{convert|13|ft|0}} as of 2009.) A secondary economic use made of the river late in the century was as a source of [[ice harvesting|sawn ice]] for urban markets. In the 20th century, lumbering was largely supplanted by [[papermaking]], in the form of large [[wood pulp]] and paper mills located all along the river from [[Millinocket, Maine|Millinocket]] and [[East Millinocket, Maine|East Millinocket]] in the north, to [[Brewer, Maine|South Brewer]] and Bucksport in the south. The development of cheap [[hydropower]] also attracted other types of light manufacturing, like [[textile]]s and [[shoe]]s. In the 21st century, with the sudden decline of the Maine paper industry, and the divestiture of its woodlands, the Penobscot watershed is becoming more and more associated with recreational use (fishing, hunting, boating, and tourism) and less with manufacturing. ==Angling the Penobscot River== [[Angling]], especially [[fly fishing]], has always been popular on the river. The West Branch is known as a world class [[atlantic salmon|landlocked salmon]] river, while the East Branch is known for its [[smallmouth bass]] [[fishery]]. In 2008, the Atlantic Salmon Commission opened the main stem of the river to [[catch and release]] fly fishing for [[Atlantic salmon]]. ==Popular culture== Author [[Stephen King]] placed his fictional town of [[Derry, Maine]] on the Penobscot. It is also featured in the [[The Hunt for Red October (film)|film adaptation]] of the [[Tom Clancy]] novel, ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'' as the location chosen in which to hide the Soviet submarine from spy satellites. ==See also== * [[List of Maine rivers]] * [[Waldo-Hancock Bridge]] * [[Penobscot Narrows Bridge]] * [[Fort Knox (Maine)|Fort Knox]] ==External links== * Real-time river flow data at [http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=01036390 Eddington] - height only. * Godfrey, John E. *[http://CPRR.org/Museum/BMLRR/Penobscot.html ''The Ancient Penobscot, or Panawanskek.''] as transcribed from The HISTORICAL MAGAZINE and Notes and Queries concerning The Antiquities, History, and Biography of America. (Third Series, Vol. I, No. II; Whole Number, Vol. XXI, No. II) February, 1872. (Morrisina, N.Y., Henry B. Dawson) pp. 85-92 (illustrated & annotated) * [http://books.google.com/books?id=WtE-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA169&dq=%22Joshua+Treat:+The+Pioneer+Settler+on+Penobscot+River&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%22Joshua%20Treat%3A%20The%20Pioneer%20Settler%20on%20Penobscot%20River&f=false "Joshua Treat, The Pioneer Settler on Penobscot River."] ''The Bangor Historical Magazine'', vol. 4, 1888-1889. * [http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc_name.html USGS River Basin Info] * [http://www.penobscotriver.org "The Penobscot River Restoration Project"] * National Weather Service [http://newweb.erh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=car forecast] of river levels and flow.