This river valley is called the "last green valley" in the sprawling Boston-to-Washington corridor. It is a green and rural island in the most urbanized region in our nation. Its 1,085 square miles are defined by the Quinebaug and Shetucket rivers. We took a drive through this area today,stopping first at Yantic Falls in Norwich Ct. Yantic Falls is also called "Indian Leap" because of a battle here between the Narragansett and Mohegan Indians. According to Indian legend in 1633 the Narragansetts,not wanting to surrender to defeat,fell to their deaths in the gorge. Next we stopped at Mohegan City Park. The city of Norwich gave the park its name in recognition of the fact that the Mohegans deeded land to the first settlers of this area in 1659. I have posted here a picture of the memorial to that tribe.It depicts an elder of the tribe relating history to young tribal members. The wolf is symbolic of the spirit of the tribe. From this park we drove through the beautiful river valley with its green rolling hills and ever present stone fences. In a few weeks this area will be covered with the colors of autumn. Already the leaves are starting to turn. Hopefully this quiet river valley will never be touched by any developer's bulldozer. Our drive stopped at the Woodstock county fair. More on that later.
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