Native Americans called it the "Musketaquid" or "grass-grown" river, because its sluggish waters abound in aquatic or semi-aquatic vegetation and its banks are fringed with wild grasses and sedges which stretch for miles along both sides of this placid stream. This creates a good environment for a variety of fish, including bass, shad, and alewife (river herring), pickerel, carp, and American eel. Native Americans wove sticks in intricate designs to trap Alewives and other migrating fish at the mouths of rivers throughout this region.