Native Americans spearing salmon at a falls

Before dams were constructed by white settlers, the Androscoggin teemed with fish, including thousands of Atlantic salmon that battled their way up the river and its tributaries each spring to spawn. The cold, clear waters of the river were also the year-round home to brook trout, while alewives and shad swam partway up the river each year. Aware of this abundance, the Abenaki sited fishing camps near the base of falls where fish collected as they made their way upstream. Native Americans also trapped beaver and otter on the river.