An Abenaki Legend enjoy

[ERIC SHARP]

When Glooscap came in from the sea, he was riding his canoe, which was made of stone. He ran aground near what we now call St. John. He had been chasing two giant beavers. He was trying to stop them from raising any trouble.

He tried to stop them right there, where the Reversing Falls is today. He built a dam so they couldn't go up the river. But still, the beavers managed to get past Glooscap, and traveled up the "Beautiful River", which is now called the St. John River.

Glooscap took two stones and threw them at these beavers. One stone landed a long way up the river and became Grand Falls.

The other stone hit the beaver. It landed in a rocky area, which is now called Plaster Rock. To this day, you can still see the red clay on the river bank. They say that this comes from the blood of the beaver.

Glooscap often used animals who were bad to make something good. He paddled up and down this Beautiful River (St. John) many times.

Even near Kingsclear where Glooscap came up, long before the Mactaquac Dam was built, he used the ledges to hold on to when he fell. Glooscap even left his image on those rocks. And where he left his snowshoes is where they were transformed and turned into The Snowshoe Islands.

These are all sacred places. Even the little people lived near the village of Kingsclear.