Baker River (New Hampshire)

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox river

| name = Baker River

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| image = Baker River Plymouth NH.jpg

| image_caption = The Baker River at U.S. Route 3 crossing in Plymouth, New Hampshire

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| pushpin_map = New Hampshire#USA

| pushpin_map_size = 200 px

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| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = United States

| subdivision_type2 = State

| subdivision_name2 = New Hampshire

| subdivision_type3 = County

| subdivision_name3 = Grafton

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| length = {{convert|36.4|mi|km|abbr=on}}

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| source1 = Jobildunc Ravine, Mount Moosilauke

| source1_location = Benton, New Hampshire

| source1_coordinates= {{coord|44|1|28|N|71|49|0|W|type:river|display=inline}}

| source1_elevation = {{convert|3560|ft|abbr=on}}

| mouth = Pemigewasset River

| mouth_location = Plymouth, New Hampshire

| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|43|45|49|N|71|41|10|W|type:river|display=inline,title}}

| mouth_elevation = {{convert|465|ft|abbr=on}}

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| tributaries_left = East Branch

| tributaries_right = South Branch

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The Baker River, or Asquamchumauke{{cite gnis|871424|Baker River}} (an Abenaki word meaning "salmon spawning place"),{{cite book|last1=Huden|first1=John C|title=Indian place names of New England|date=1962|publisher=Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation|location=New York|page=33|url=https://archive.org/stream/indianplacenames00hude#page/33/mode/1up|access-date=19 May 2018}} is a {{convert|36.4|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}[http://www.granit.unh.edu New Hampshire GRANIT state geographic information system] river in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire in the United States. It rises on the south side of Mount Moosilauke and runs south and east to empty into the Pemigewasset River in Plymouth. The river traverses the towns of Warren, Wentworth, and Rumney. It is part of the Merrimack River watershed.

The Baker River's name recalls Lt. Thomas Baker (1682–1753), whose company of 34 scouts from Northampton, Massachusetts, passed down the river's valley in 1712 and destroyed a Pemigewasset Indian village. Along this river on April 28, 1752, John Stark and Amos Eastman were captured by Abenaki warriors and taken to Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec, near Montreal. John Stark's brother William Stark escaped, and David Stinson was killed during the ambush.

On the 1835 Thomas Bradford map of New Hampshire, the river is shown as "Bakers" River, originating on "Mooshillock Mtn."