HISTORY OF NEW ENGLAND SALMON RIVERS. 79 



Connecticut River. — This magnificent stream was formerly one of the best of New 

 England rivers in which salmon are said to have been plentiful up to 1797, after which 

 they disappeared, owing to a dam just below the mouth of Miller's River. In 1866 the 

 four states which are drained by this river made joint effort to restore salmon to the river. 

 From time to time small lots of salmon fry were planted, and subsequently young salmon 

 were taken in the lower part of the river. 



In The History of New Hampshire, 1792, Belknap (1792, p. 179) says of the salmon 

 that it stiU ascended the Connecticut to its farthest head. 



In an article by Fred Mather (1886, p. 326) it is stated that Professor Baird restocked 

 the Connecticut River until the fish returned to spawn and the fishermen at the mouth 

 of the river sent all of the spawning fish to market and killed the fish which would have 

 laid the golden eggs. He then stopped work on that river, which had not had a 

 salmon in it for some 25 years, but which, five years after planting, sent so many fish to 

 market that 'Connecticut River Salmon' was a regular quotation in the market. 



Under the title of Old Connecticut Salmon Swims, Charles Hallock (1893, p. 100) 

 writes that in a once abounding salmon swim near Hadley few fish had been caught 

 since 1800. In this locality, he says, in the olden times were located three notable 

 salmon swims. According to Hallock, Sylvester Judd, historian of Hadley, stated that 

 'Salmon were seldom noticed in records of the seventeenth century. Salmon nets began 

 to appear in 1700, and some Salmon were salted in casks by famiUes before and after 

 1700. They were seldom sold, and the price in Hartford in 1700 was less than one penny 

 per pound. Fish were so plenty in the Connecticut and its branches that laws were not 

 necessary to regulate fishing for a long time. There was a law in Massachusetts against 

 erecting weirs or fish dams in rivers without permission from the Court of Sessions.' 



'Dammed for 100 years,' continued Hallock, 'the Connecticut has been a fruitless 

 stream.' At this time of writing, he said that reports had become current that salmon 

 had been taken in its upper waters, and he prayed that the noblest of New England rivers 

 would speedily become rehabihtated. 



Thames River. — Salmon formerly frequented the Thames and some of its tributaries 

 until dams effectually prevented ascent. There are no records of salmon since 1822. 



Pawtuxet and Pawcatuck Rivers. — It is stated that salmon were once plentiful in 

 these streams, but there appear to be no available records concerning their abundance. 



Providence River. — Atkins did not list the Providence River or its tributaries as a 

 salmon river, and there are no available data concerning these waters in early times. 



Merrimack River. — The Merrimack was once one of the best salmon rivers in the 

 United States, but for years after the erection of dams at Lowell, Lawrence, and Man- 

 chester no sahnon were able to pass them. In The History of New Hampshire, Belknap 

 (1792, p. 179) says that salmon still ascended the Merrimack to its 'farthest head.' 

 Later fishways enabled some salmon to pass and the river having received Uberal plants 

 of young salmon showed signs of recovery. From time to time adult salmon appeared 

 in the river and were seen in the fishways and occasionally in the upper waters. Sub- 

 sequently neglected fishways and pollution destroyed the river as a salmon stream. In 



