Amoskeag Falls Traditional Cache
Team Bullis: After discussions with PSNH security, it has been decided that it would be best not to have a cache in this location. The parking lot is used by employees and they would feel more comfortable without cachers peeking around. They have offered to have it located in another area, but due to restrictions of the nearby railroad, we cannot. I hope you will still come check out the public viewing platform and the historic riverwalk trail system, but be cautious where you park. Thanks for visiting this cache.
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This is a small magnetic cache, well camouflaged. This is meant as a quick fun cache with plenty of parking. While here, (at least during the warm months when the gates are open) check out the Amoskeag Falls viewing platform and walking history trail. BRING YOUR PEN/PENCIL
The name "Amoskeag" ( pronounced ah moss keg ) is derived from the Penacook word "Namoskeag" which means "the great fishing place”. The word "Merrimack" means, “place of strong current” or “a long and continued place of water for fishing”. Nomadic people visited the site of Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River for thousands of years to fish for the plentiful runs of salmon, shad, alewives, sturgeon, and eels which swam up the Merrimack River from the Atlantic Ocean each spring.
The main Namoskeag village was located on the high bluff on the east side of the river above the falls at the site of the New Hampshire Insurance building and parking lot. Smaller encampments were also located on the west side of the river. Significant prehistoric artifacts have been found on both sides of the Merrimack River in the area of Amoskeag Falls during archeological excavations in 1967-1969 and 1985.
In 1729 a road approximately 10 miles long was built from Londonderry to Amoskeag Falls through the wilderness because of the importance of the Amoskeag Falls area. John McNeil is believed to be the first settler at the falls about 1733 in the area known as Happy Town located on the west side of the falls. Eventually the area around Amoskeag Falls was named Deerfield in 1751.
Around 1810, Samuel Blodgett saw the great power potential of the falls and built a canal and lock system starting just to the SouthWest of where the cache is located. Since a mill town was pictured here, he also petitioned to change the name from Deerfield to Manchester in memory of Manchester, England, which at that time, was the greatest textile center of the world. In 1811, Manchester had 600 residents and the rest is history.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Lbh yvtug hc zl yvsr
Treasures
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