Umpachene River
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The Umpachene River is an 8.3-mile-long (13.4 km)[1] tributary of the Housatonic River in New Marlborough, Massachusetts. Issuing from small ponds and wetlands on the east side of town, it meanders generally westward through mostly wooded areas before emptying into the Konkapot River near the village of Southfield.
The name of the river was derived from a Native American sachem of the Mohicans, Aaron Umpachene (1676–1751), who lived in Massachusetts in the vicinity of Great Barrington and Sheffield.[2][3] Accounts told of him making his summer camps in the meadows alongside the river.[4]
During the early 19th century, settlers in the area harnessed the waters of the Umpachene River to operate waterwheel mills. One author noted in 1829 that as many as four mills were situated along its banks.[5]