Chapter 1, Boyhood on the River Summary and Analysis

The story opens as the boys of Concord, Massachusetts excitedly pass the word that a canal boat is coming down the river, loaded with lime and bricks. The river men who push the boats are heroes to the children because they they know every inch of the river, living on the huge rafts called "scows."

Inspired by the river men, Henry David Thoreau and his brother John decide to build a boat of their own. It is a small, rough little boat, but good enough to take their older and younger sisters out for rides on the Concord River. More often the brothers row out on the boat by themselves and explore nearby woods where they pretend to be Native Americans. (The author refers to Native Americans as Indians or Savages in this...