The Kennebec River and its succession of inhabitants have a long
and interesting record. The first settlers, the Abenaki Indians,
had a permanent settlement at Cushnoc, on the east bank of the
Kennebec River, near the falls, in what is now Augusta. Mary
Calvert, author of "The Kennebec Wilderness Awakens", wrote,
"The Kennebec River was one of the earliest rivers to be
explored on the eastern seaboard. A succession of European
explorers sailed the Maine Coast and laid claims to the land of
the Abenakis for their European sponsors." The Italian explorer
Giovanni da Verrazanno visited the mouth of the Kennebec River
in May of 1524. He was soon followed by French explorer Samuel
De Champlain in 1604 and the English explorer George Weymouth in
1605. The English had the first and most lasting effect on the
settlement of the region. In 1620, the King of England granted a
charter to establish the Plymouth Company at Devon County,
England and further granted the territory of modern day New
England to that company. By