Kennebec River

How Salmon Got over Ticonic Falls in Waterville, early 1800s.

"The fact is, that fish cannot ascend a long continuous pitch or cascade of water. We formerly have frequently watched the movements of salmon when ascending the Ticonic Falls on the Kennebec at Waterville in the spring of the year. They invariably selected those portions of the falls that were most interrupted by breaks or steps of the ledge forming little basins at different stages in the fall. They would fetch a spring and go up a pitch of water almost perpendicularly for four or five feet, and then rest themselves some time in the basins preparatory for another spring, and so continued their operations until the last pitch was scaled and they reached the smooth water above the falls. This fact indicates that if a direct passage could not be made in the [Augusta] dam, a series of short steps or falls would meet the requirements of the migratory fishes."

Source: Boardman, Samuel L. 'Aquaeculture': in Ninth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture. 1864. Augusta, Maine. Stevens & Sayward, Printers to the State. At p. 111.

Back to Atlantic Salmon History Project home page.