Machias River

Infobox_River
river_name = Machias River


image_size =
caption =
origin = Western Washington County, Mainecite book |editor=Saul B. Cohen |others= |title=The Columbia gazeteer of North America |url=http://www.bartleby.com/69/6/M00206.html |format= |accessdate=2008-08-26 |year=2000 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location= New York |isbn=0231119909 ]
mouth = Machias Bay
basin_countries = United Statescite web |url=http://www.pearl.maine.edu/watersheds.asp?NoOfInputs=1&InputName0=HUC_10&inputoperator0=et&inputvalue0=0105000205 |title=Watershed Overview and Data Access |accessdate=2008-08-26 |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, The University of Maine |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]
length = convert|65|mi
elevation = convert|1371|ft
mouth_elevation = convert|0|ft
discharge =
watershed = convert|498.3|sqmi

Machias is a river in Maine, USA. It flows through Washington County in the southeastern part of the state, through the five Machias lakes (Fifth Machias Lake through First Machias Lake) passing the town of Machias, and empties into Machias Bay.cite news |first=Douglas |last=Rooks |title=Mesmerized by a River in Maine - Machias River |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1169/is_2002_Oct-Nov/ai_92409057 |work=National Wildlife |publisher=National Wildlife Federation |id= |date= Oct-Nov 2002 |accessdate=2008-09-17 |archiveurl= |archivedate= ]

History

The name is believed to derive from a Passamaquoddy word meaning "bad run of water" or "bad little falls", either of which does describe the difficulty of canoeing some of the rapids in the river.cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project |authorlink=Federal Writers' Project |title= Maine - A Guide 'Down East' |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OfgBVf_jO3AC&pg=PA234&dq=%22machias+river%22+-wiki+-blog&lr=&as_brr=1&sig=ACfU3U1DgklqXL-WbUGW-_n4MIXFv8WV9g#PPA234,M1 |accessdate=2008-09-17 |edition= |series=American Guide Series |volume= |year=1937 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=1603540180 |pages=234-236 ] The river was used as a seasonal migration route by Indians. The first European settlement is believed to have been an English trading post in 1633, almost immediately destroyed by the French. The first permanent settlement in the area in 1763 was intended to be a site for the production of lumber, with 1,600,000 feet of lumber produced in 1764. The river mouth and offshore waters were the scene of the first naval battle of the American Revolution, occasioned by the British need for lumber for Bostoncite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | pages = 280-281 ] . Lumber remained a main industry along the river, with the river powering the sawmills. Production was high as 40 million feet in a year, but declined in the late 1800s to between 10 and 20 million feet per year (with a similar amount of lath also produced). The woods cut were originally pine, and later also hemlock and spruce. [cite book |last=Defebaugh |first=James Elliott |title=History of the Lumber Industry of America |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MxILAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA82&dq=%22machias+river%22+-wiki+-blog&lr=&as_brr=1#PPA82,M1 |accessdate=2008-09-17 |volume=2 |year=1907 |publisher=The American Lumberman |location=Chicago |pages=82-83 ] Natural water flow in the river varies seasonally, so dams were built to power the mills. The last dam was breached in 1973, and fully removed in 2000. [cite book |last=Wells |first=Walter, Secretary of the Hydrographic Survey |title=Provisional Report upon the Water-Power of Maine |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KA8KAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA194&dq=%22machias+river%22+-wiki+-blog&lr=&as_brr=1#PPA194,M1 |accessdate=2008-09-17 |year=1867 |month=December |publisher=Stevens & Sayward |location=Augusta, Maine |language= |isbn= |pages=194-196] [cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/FWMA/fishpassage/R5/R5EastMachias.htm |title=East Machias River, Maine |accessdate=2008-09-17 |last=Hawkins |first=Yvonne L |work=National Fish Passage Program |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Program]

ee also

*List of Maine rivers

References