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New England Tour - Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire
Living History
From the weathered mountaintops of the Appalachians to the bountiful sea, stories of a native people and a young democracy are tucked away in the quiet villages, small towns and country roads of New England.
Day 1 – Shelburne Falls to
White River Junction
The start of this living history lesson is Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. After the retreat of the glaciers, the Deerfield River crashed dramatically over what was then called Salmon Falls. The Mohawks and Penobscots met here in the 1700s and agreed to share the land in a fishing treaty. The treaty applied to "the area within one day's journey," a distance that was much less then than it is now. Subsequent generations throttled the river with a hydroelectric dam, constricting its flow and revealing the effects of thousands of years of rushing, tumbling and falling water. Just below the dam, the rocks have been smoothed and carved by the patient, relentless river. In the heat of summer, locals and visitors alike seek relief in the "glacial potholes" filled with cool river water.
Northward, hemmed in by gentle hillsides, the asphalt winds like a lazy river through intimate valleys of thinly settled farmland. It's a peaceful morning and northern Massachusetts segues into southern Vermont with little fanfare. ...
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