The waters of the Great North Woods have long served travel and transportation. Local bands of Wabanaki, the "People of the Dawnland," traveled the Connecticut and Upper Ammonoosuc rivers in dugout, animal skin, and bark canoes. The rivers later carried European explorers and settlers inland and sent logs downstream to help build coastal cities. In the 19th century, flour, grist, and saw mills powered by water were built along the Upper Ammonoosuc, and Groveton grew from a farming community into a timber-producing town. Although the great log drives ended on the Connecticut River in 1915, the Upper Ammonoosuc continued carrying wood until the mid-20th century. Today the mill in Groveton is the only one still operating along the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which follows ancient Native American travel routes through communities founded by European settlers and landscapes that support agricultural and forest-based economies, traversing 10,000 years of human settlement from subsistence and exploration through wars, industrial development, and conservation.