Thoreau was actually born in Concord, MA. This would mean that he was right near the Nashua river (which is a tributary of the Merrimack River, which is right along Concord, as you can see from this map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Merrimackrivermap.png). He lived there until he was 16, and then moved back to this area in 1837, when he was 20yrs old. So he was near the Nashua River for a long period of time and probably got to see it a great deal. And, since he liked hiking and canoeing, he probably traveled down it plenty of times.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Merrimackrivermap.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashua_River

Permalink | Report

http://www.walden.org/institute/thoreau/about2/C/Clark_Jill/JillClark.pdf
Permalink | Report

Henry David Thoreau wrote a book " A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers " (1849).The book is ostensibly the narrative of a boat trip from Concord, Massachusetts to Concord, New Hampshire and back Thoreau had taken with his brother John in 1839. As John had died in 1842, Thoreau wrote the book as a tribute to his memory.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

This is a book by Henry David Thoreau, first published in 1849. The book is ostensibly the narrative of a boat trip from Concord, Massachusetts to Concord, New Hampshire and back Thoreau had taken with his brother John in 1839. As John had died in 1842, Thoreau wrote the book as a tribute to his memory.

Its first draft was completed while Thoreau lived at Walden Pond. Upon completing the book, Thoreau was unable to find a publisher willing to publish it, and so had it published at his own expense. The book failed to sell, and Thoreau was left with several hundred extra copies, and put into debt. A slightly revised version of the book, based on corrections Thoreau had made himself, was published in 1868, six years after his death.

While the book would appear to be a travel journal, broken up into chapters for each day, the book is rarely about that topic, and in fact, the actual trip took two weeks. While given passages are a literal description of the journey from Concord, Massachusetts, down the Concord River to the Middlesex Canal, to the Merrimack River, up to Concord, New Hampshire, and back, much of the text is in the form of digressions by the Harvard-educated author on diverse topics such as religion, poetry, and history. Thoreau relates these topics back to his own life experiences, often framed by the rapid changes taking place in his native New England during the Industrial Revolution, often changes that Thoreau laments.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau

Permalink | Report