 Long before Europeans settled North America, Abenaki Indians used the Dead River to travel between the Androscoggin River valley and the Connecticut River valley.In later years, the Glen Manufacturing Company, later purchased by the International Paper Company, used the river to conduct log drives to get pulpwood to its mills located where the Smyth Hydro Park is today.In recent years, local interest in the river and its history has been renewed by Berlin Community Development Director Pamela Laflamme and Pierre Lessard, after Lessard erected a sign reading "Plumpetoosuc River" on his property near the river.