Early Life Along Otter Creek in Vergennes

Early Life Along Otter Creek in Vergennes. . , The Wilderness , Shhh. Imagine Otter Creek 300 years ago when it was pristine wilderness. The river teems with fish, herons, ducks and other waterfowl. Deer and moose tracks dot the river's edge. Downed trees, trampled shrubs, and mounds of mud, branches and twigs are the work of industrious beavers. Sleek river otters glide gracefully through the water. Otters were so plentiful that the Native Peoples named this river Wanakake-took, Otter River.

Lifeblood of Native Peoples , The river flows 102 miles to Lake Champlain from its source near the town of Dorset in Bennington County. Iroquoian and Algonquian Native Peoples traveled on the river and lived in its fertile valley for nearly 8000 years. They fished, hunted and gathered edible plants for food. Animal pelts and skins were used for clothing and shelter. Clay was dug and formed into pots and utensils. Tools, bows and arrows, and baskets were made from the native ash, white oak, willow, swamp maple and basswood. Deposits of chert yielded stone for projectile points and tools.

Exploration and Settlement , French trappers and fur traders journeyed to Lake Champlain in the mid-1600s in search of beaver pelts, which were made into fashionable men's hats in Europe. Much of northwestern Vermont, including Vergennes, was part of New France until after the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Colonists began settling along Otter Creek near the falls in the 1760s, following the defeat of the French forces in the Champlain Valley. Some acquired land through grants made by the royal governor of New Hampshire, while others claimed their land under a New York charter. Throughout western Vermont, land disputes flared up. Ethan Allen erected a blockhouse near here in the mid-1770s to protect the New Hampshire grants. Vermont was an independent republic from 1777 to 1791 due, in part, to these conflicts.