The Back River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

located in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

to the

Powwow River The Powwow River is a river located in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the United States. It is a tributary of the Merrimack River, part of the Gulf of Maine watershed. River course The Powwow River rises in the center of Danville, New Hamps ...

, part of the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

watershed. Approximately of the river are in New Hampshire, with the remaining in Massachusetts. Prior to European settlement in the early 17th century, Native Americans of the

Pennacook The Pennacook, also known by the names Penacook and Pennacock, were an Algonquian-speaking Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and southern Maine. They were not a united tribe but a netwo ...

tribe lived in the area, and used both the Back River and parent Powwow River for transportation and fishing. The native population was essentially destroyed by the 1617-19 epidemic in the area. In the 1950s, the Clarks Pond Dam was built in

Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the 202 ...

, creating the pond of that name. Since the pond's creation, it has been degraded by residential building in the area, and was considered "threatened" in a 2013 report, by residential run-off and silt deposits. The Back River rises in

Kensington, New Hampshire Kensington is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,095 at the 2020 census. History Once a parish of Hampton, Kensington was incorporated in 1737 by New Hampshire governor Jonathan Belcher. Of the 27 town ...

, and flows southeast, almost immediately entering the town of South Hampton. The river turns south and enters Massachusetts in Amesbury, joining the Powwow River at tidewater just downstream from the city's center at the falls of the Powwow.

References

Tributaries of the Merrimack River Rivers of Essex County, Massachusetts Rivers of New Hampshire Rivers of Massachusetts Rivers of Rockingham County, New Hampshire {{NewHampshire-river-stub

See also

References